My Worthless And Weak Log

[johnreynolds]

Hi everyone. I'm back, older and stupider. I was in here 7 years ago. I'm 62, 5' 5" 155lbs with arthritic knees.
I didn't think I would buy another weightlifting book, but I bought Sullivan's Barbell Prescription. He scared the hell out off me in the first chapter with his Phat Phil story, so I figured I'd better hit the weights.

I'm going to do an abbreviated strength routine with only a couple of working sets per
workout, followed by a back off set. I'll be doing 5 or 6 warmup sets starting with an empty barbell
and working up to heavier doubles and singles. My warmup will be 10 minutes on the treadmill,
max incline, ramping up the resistance, followed by barbell complexes using a PVC pipe doing pulls, regular and overhead box squats, and presses etc, then complexes using an empty barbell, finishing up with stretches.
I'll be working out every other day using an A/B routine. The A-day will consist of some kind of heavy pull, either
a regular dead, trap bar, or an RDL. Then an OHP out of the rack. The B-day will be power cleans or high pulls off the floor. I'll follow it up with 3 sets of dumbbell curls, alternating regular and hammers on A and B days and a couple of sets of hanging off a bar doing knee tucks. That's it.

I would like to get back to doing a BW power clean and OHP and a 2xBW dead.

I'll only show my working sets in the log as: sets x reps weight

01/20/2017

Trap bar dead, low handle grip:
1x5 255 lbs
Standing OHP:
1x5 112.5 lbs

The trap bar takes some stress off my lower back. With my bad knees, my legs are weak relative to my lower back.

01/22/2017
Snatch grip high pulls from floor:
5x3 115 lbs
Never did these before. Working on some explosive power.

I walk my Bichon for cardio

[BrooklynJerry]

The story of Phil was sure a true to life scene. I sure lost more strength then I should have because I stopped working out for a few years at the same time I retired. Your plan looks like an good one. It seems.it never to late to improve,just takes a little longer.good luck

[johnreynolds]

The story of Phil was sure a true to life scene. I sure lost more strength then I should have ...

Thanks Jerry, I wasn't as bad as Phil ,but I was running into various minor injuries and life stresses the last few years that derailed my training. Not that I was on course to break any WL records Good luck to you too.

[johnreynolds]

01/24/2017

Trap bar dead, low handle grip:
1x5 260 lbs
Standing OHP:
1x5 112.5 lbs

Had to cut back some warmups, was late for my dog's grooming.

[MBasic]

"worthless and weak" . . . a Twisted Sister reference?

good luck with your program

Sn hi pulls are great !!! loads of fun

[johnreynolds]

Thanks Mbasic, Yes, Twisted Sister, you must also be a musicologist. I'll try to have fun without dropping a nut ...

[johnreynolds]

01/27/2017
Snatch grip high pulls from floor:
3x3 115 lbs
I'm dropping down to 3 sets.

[johnreynolds]

01/28/2017

Trap bar dead, low handle grip:
1x5 265 lbs
Feels heavy

Standing OHP:
1x2 115 lbs
Was trying for 4 reps but bombed on first one and squeezed out 2. Getting weaker

[johnreynolds]

01/30/2017
Snatch grip high pulls from floor:
3x3 115 lbs
I'm starting to get the hang of these and pulling higher.

[johnreynolds]

02/01/2017

Trap bar dead, low handle grip:
1x5 265 lbs
The working set felt better than the 70% drop set

Standing OHP:
1x3 115 lbs
Will try 4 reps next time. Felt better today with adequate sleep and warmups, shocking