Powerlifting Past 40: Doing the Best I Can with What I Have

[K.Diesel]

If all goes well, I'll train again tonight, and then I'll just be goofing around at the Disney resort gym until Tue. 8/29.

I did train that night, and I thought I posted the session here. Obviously, I was wrong, so I'll include it in this post. Also, it turns out the resort I stayed in was one of the only Disney deluxe resorts that doesn't have its own gym. So I ended up going 13 days without training. I hope it was all for the best, but time will tell.

Thu. 8/17/17

1. Squat
135/6; 205/4; 275/2
added mouthguard
345/2
added wrist wraps
385/2 @7 RPE
added belt
425/2 @6 - got a serious boost from the belt
445/2 @7
465/2 @8.5
415/4 @7

2. Bench Press
95/6; 145/4; 185/2
added mouthguard
225/2 @5
added wrist wraps
250/2 @5 - my benches tend to get better from set to set, up to a certain point of course.
270/2 @7
280/2 @8
290/2 @9.5 - I probably could have doubled 295
255/4 @8

3. Deadlift
225/4; 315/2; 395/1
added belt & Versa Gripps
445/1 @5
485/1 @7
505/1 @8, 1 @8.5

Wed. 8/30/17

* NOTE: I weighed 217.2 lbs this morning.

1. Bench Press
95/5; 145/5; 185/5; 215/5
added mouthguard
235/5 @6
255/5 @7.5
265/5 @9.5
275/2 @8
285/1 @9
225/9 @9 - this last set was with a close(r) grip

2. Barbell Rows
135/8; 185/6; 235/6 @7
added Versa Gripp
255/6 @8
added lighter belt
275/8 @6.5
295/8 @8
245/10 @8

3. DB OHP
30's/12; 50's/10; 65's/10 @8.5

NOTE: I've had a nagging pain in my right forearm/bicep for a few weeks. It got no better during a long rest. It flared up worse than ever during this session. Today, it felt/feels much better. I don't know if the relief will last long, but if it does, I have no answers.

Thu. 8/31/17

1. Squat
135/6; 205/4; 275/4;
added mouthguard
335/4
added wrist wraps
385/4 @6.5
added belt
425/4 @7.5
315/10 @6

I was sharing a rack with my 6' tall cousin, and we went with a rack height that is 1 more than I normally use, and one shorter than he would normally use. Clipping the hook of the rack at 425 took too much out of me, and I knew it would only get tougher with more weight.

2. Leg Press (on "Squat Press" Machine)
180/20
360/15
540/10 @6
720/8 @7

This part was my cousin's idea.

3. Deadlift
155/4, 3 - break between sets was long, because I had to get my son out of Stay & Play on another floor, then set him up somewhere else in the gym near me.
245/3; 315/2;
added Versa Gripps
365/2
Added belt. Also, by this time, it had become a pull party on the platform, with 4 guys deadlifting on the same bar. So instead of doing singles on the clock as usual, I just did a few multi-rep sets.
415/3
465/4 @7
505/3 @8.5

Hopefully, I'll get some video up tonight, but I keep telling myself that I'm going to cut my vacation a few days short and return to work tomorrow. Either way, I need more food and more sleep right about now.

[K.Diesel]

Here are some of the sets from the 8/30 session recorded in my last post. In this clip, I top out with 265 x 5, 275 x 2 and 285 x 1.



Also, here's how much hiking I did in Disney World. It's almost like I was work, just without the stairs. No wonder I barely gained any weight, even with all the buffets and desserts.

Mon. 8/21 (airport and Polynesian resort): 4.6 miles; 12,353 steps; 4 floors climbed

Tue. 8/22 (Epcot): 6.2 miles; 17,676 steps

Wed. 8/23 (Magic Kingdom): 6.3 miles; 19,503 steps; 1 floor climbed

Thu. 8/24 (Disney Studios): 4.6 miles; 14,433 steps; 2 floors climbed

Fri. 8/25 (Animal Kingdom): 6.2 miles; 17,100 steps; 2 floors climbed

Sat. 8/26 (Hollywood Studios): 6.5 miles; 19,445 steps

Sun. 8/27 (Disney Studios & Polynesian/Grand Floridian): 4 miles; 11,924 steps; 1 floor climbed - We ate dinner at the Grand Floridian, and when we went to return to the Poly, the monorail was down, so we walked back.

[K.Diesel]

I didn't plan to do any training on Friday. My wife decided to go to the gym, and she asked me to go with her, so I found something constructive to do while there.

Fri. 9/1/17

1. Unilateral Leg Curl - plate loaded machine

25/10L + 10R; 50/10L + 10R; 70/10L @8 + 10R @9; 80/8L @8 + 8R @9

I'm not sure why I feel off-center on this thing when doing my right side, but whatever. They're leg curls.

2. Barbell Push Press

95/6; 115/6; 135/6 @6; 155/6 @7.5; 165/6 @9; 135/10 @8

Right shoulder was feeling all sorts of weird. Mercifully, my wife was done, because so was I. A few hours later, and my shoulder felt fine with no ice, extra stretching or pain relievers. I give up on trying to figure this out.

Sun. 9/3/17

1. Squat
135/5; 205/4; 275/3
added mouth guard
335/2
added wrist wraps
385/1 @5
added belt
435/1 @5
460/1 @7.5
480/1 @8.5
405/5 x 2 sets. RPEs were @7, @8

2. Bench Press
95/5; 145/5; 195/5
added mouth guard and wrist wraps
225/5 x 4 sets. RPEs were @5, @6.5, @7, @7

Mon. 9/4/17

1. Bench Press

135/6 - this was actually an incline press. The gym closed at noon, and we got there after 11am, so I started warming up while someone finished on the flat bench. Once I got on the flat bench...

185/4; 225/2; 245/1
added mouth guard and wrist wraps
265/1 @6
285/1 @7.5
300/1 @9
250/5 x 2 sets. RPEs were @7, @8

2. Seated Cable Row
105/15; 150/10; 180/10; 210/10; 240/7-8 @8. I lost my count, and my grip (no Versa Gripps today).

I actually started alternating sets of rows and BP after the 225 BP set. Time was short. Considering I got all of that done in 35-40 minutes, I'm happy.

Also, here's the video from the 8/31 squat session. Among other things, it shows why I don't like sharing the rack with tall people.

[K.Diesel]

After working 2 straight days of 11-12 hours, I was more than happy to be left off the schedule for today (my regular day off). They called me this morning - half hour before the report time - to ask if I was available to come in. Not happening, captain. But, it turned out to be a near perfect day to get in the gym during the afternoon.

9/7/17

1. 2-cou1nt Pause Squat
135/4; 205/4; 275/4
added mouth guard
325/4 @5
added wrist wraps
370/4 @8
added belt
405/4 @9
425/2 @8
445/1 @8

2. Inclince Bench Press
95/8; 135/6; 165/6 @6
added mouth guard and wrist wraps
185/6 @7
205/6 @8
225/4 @8

3. Deficit Deadlift - used 35 lbs plates to create the deficit
185/3; 255/2; 325/1, 1
added Versa Gripps
395/1; 445/1
485/1 @6
465/5

This was a different YMCA than the one I usually go to. One of my primary reasons for going there are because they have 35 lb plates, which allow thI e safest, most consistent way of doing deficit deadlifts IMO, even though you're limited to how high or low the deficit will be. I wanted to go heavier than the 485, and have done so before here, but I must have used a different bar before. I didn't have enough room for all of the plates. Once I saw how it was going, I aborted the mission and backed off from there.

4. Prone Leg Curl

90/12; 115/10; 135/8; 150/6 @8


Also, here's the video from the Labor Day session that I logged in my last post. Thanks in advance for watching!

[K.Diesel]

Here's the video for the session I logged in my last post. That one included pause squats up to 445 x 1, incline bench up to 225 x 4, and deficit deadlifts up to 465 x 5.



Sunday's session marked the first time in a long time that I did 2 consecutive sessions at a gym other than my normal one. I expect that I'll be back at my normal Y this week. If you're in MD, this is the YMCA in Towson.

Sun. 9/10/17

1. Squat
135/4; 225/3
I actually switched bars here. For some reason, the one I was using kept clipping the hook on the rack.
295/2
added mouth guard
355/1
added wrist wraps
405/1 @5
added belt
445/1 @6
475/1 @7
495/1 @8
425/5 @8

NOTE: 2a/2b means I was alternating between exercises, but with the same rest periods (one set of a, then one set of b, then one set of a...)

2a. Bench Press
135/5; 175/5; 205/5
added mouth guard & wrist wraps
230/5 x 4 sets. RPEs were @5, @5.5, @5, @6

2b. Barbell Row
135/10; 185/8; 225/6 @6
added Versa Gripps
255/6 @8
added small belt
285/6 @8; 6 @8

Overall, I felt much stronger during this session than I did in the comparable session 7 days prior to this one.

[K.Diesel]

Here's the video from the session I logged in my last post, where I topped out squats with a 495 lbs single, and then 5 reps at 425 lbs.



Body weight this morning: 215.2 lbs (down about 2 lbs)

Since returning to work after Labor Day, the EARLIEST I have punched out is 7:30 pm. For a mailman, those are crazy hours. Twice in the last week, I've been delivering up to 9:00 PM. Gym time has been scarce. I haven't been eating as much either, so I'm not surprised by the small weight loss. I'm off today, so I definitely plan on training this afternoon. Meanwhile, this is what my phone says I've been doing lately in terms of urban hiking:

Tue. 9/5 - 7.8 miles, 18,133 steps, 13 floors climbed
Wed. 9/6 - 6.2 miles, 14,495 steps, 13 floors climbed
Thu. 9/7 - 1.0 mile, 3,033 steps, 9 floors climbed * this was a day off. I don't know how I did so many floors.
Fri. 9/8 - 7.6 miles, 17,967 steps, 18 floors climbed
Sat. 9/9 - 9.0 miles, 20,708 steps, 28 floors climbed
Sun. 9/10 - 1.0 mile, 2,965 steps, 2 floors climbed * this was a day off.

Mon. 9/11 - 9.0 miles, 22,253 steps, 19 floors climbed
Tue. 9/12 - 9.7 miles, 22,303 steps, 26 floors climbed
Wed. 9/13 - 10.6 miles, 24,424 steps, 22 floors climbed

Finally, I decided not to enter USAPL Raw Nationals after all. The main factors were travel time, costs for flights/hotels, not having a lot of leave left at work (I used A LOT due to my wife's illness) and wanting to make sure I have enough for a cruise we have planned in November. I must have made the right decision, because I felt relieved. While this means I'll have to wait at least a year and a half before I have a chance to get in the selection pool for the USAPL's masters team at the NAPF championships (I think either Raw or Equipped World's is a really LOOOOOOOONG shot), I'm content. I' m planning on doing a small meet in Delaware at the end of October. It's on a Sunday (10/29), and with such a short drive from Baltimore, I won't have to miss any time from work. Sounds good to me.

I'm seriously considering doing an OCB bodybuilding show next March. I've been a bodybuilding fan for most of my life, and I've thought about doing one myself for years. The show is in Baltimore County, and there's nothing major on my powerlifting horizon in early 2018. It feels like one of those situations where the proverbial stars are lining up, and allowing me to scratch another item off of my bucket list. We'll see.

[hbriem]

Very impressive work lately Kaisheem.

Bodybuilding is an interesting sidestep. Look forward to seeing what you decide.

[K.Diesel]

Very impressive work lately Kaisheem.

Bodybuilding is an interesting sidestep. Look forward to seeing what you decide.

Thanks Helgi! After watching the Mr. Olympia festivities, I'm even more intrigued now by the new "classic physique" division. For one, there are less poses to do. Second, the trunks provide much more coverage than the bodybuilding speedo/thong. That might be a happy medium, because I surely have no interest in "physique" (the board shorts division), and I know I'd be more comfortable in something that looks like underwear that I actually wear. We'll see what the next couple of months bring.

Meanwhile, here are the last 3 sessions I've done, along with video for the first one. Neither session was very long, so this recap won't take much time.

Thu. 9/14/17

1. Bench Press - I would have squatted first, but someone was in the rack when I got there. He was done before I finished my 2nd warm up set, but I didn't want to move at that point.

95/5; 145/4; 185/3; 215/2; 245/1
added mouth guard
245/1 - better than the last one. I find that my bench presses tend to improve as the session goes on.
added wrist wraps
265/1 @5
started getting handoffs
285/1 @7
300/1 @8.5
305/1 @10 - I was hoping this would be a 9-9.5, but I don't think I could have pressed another ounce.
back to unracking it myself
260/4 x 2 sets. @8 -set 1, @9 - set 2

2. Squat
135/6; 225/4
added mouth guard
315/4
added wrist wraps
365/4 @6
added belt
405/5 x 2 sets. @7 - set 1, @8 - set 2

Here are a few video clips from this session:




Sun. 9/17/17

1. Squat
135/6; 225/3
added mouth guard
315/3
added wrist wraps
375/3 @7
added belt
425/3 @7
455/3 @8

2. Bench Press
95/6; 155/5; 205/4
added mouth guard and wrist wraps
240/4 x 5 sets. RPE's were @6, @6, @6, @7, @7.5

3. Deadlift
155/4; 245/2; 335/1 x 2 sets
added mouth guard
405/1
added belt and Versa Gripps
455/1 @6
485/1 @7
515/1 @8
535/1 @9.5 - probably good for 540-545.
465/1 x 5 sets. Did the singles in 5:00 (end of 1st to end of 5th).


Thu. 9/21/17

1. Squat
135/5; 225/4; 295/3
added mouth guard
365/2
added wrist wraps
415/1 @5
added belt
445/1 @5
480/1 @8
My wife said I was going too deep on these squats, and she was probably right. I could cut a bit off of it and still hit legal depth. Plus I'm just realizing that I took a bigger jump from 445-480 than I took from 415-445. I never do that. Not sure what was up with my math here.
495/1 @9.5 - Went just as deep as I had the set before. This was 1/2 an RPE harder than I expected. I was hoping for @9.
450/3 @8
410/5 @8

That was a wrap.

Body weight this morning was 215.2 lbs.

As I write this, I'm optimistic that my work schedule is getting back to more of what I consider "normal", meaning I may only work 9-10 hours a day instead of 11-12. This should allow me to get back to training 3 days per week, with a little more time and energy to commit to the gym. We'll see. I have too much other life stuff to do to get in there today. Sleep has been really odd the last few days, and I've had a strange feeling in my neck upon arising and at different parts of the day. I don't know that it's pain, but that's about the best way I can describe it. There's also a WWE pay per view tonight, and depending on how good it is, I may watch Raw for followup tomorrow night and get back to training on Tuesday. I know, I know...

[K.Diesel]

After a few haphazard and lackluster training sessions in the last week of September, along with some solicited feedback from my wife, I've decided not to do the meet on October 29. She told me that she believes I'm stressed out, and right now I don't need the added pressure that I inevitably put on myself when getting ready for a meet. I'm inclined to think that she's right. I haven't been sleeping much, or well, and I don't know that my nutrition - macros and micros - has been where it should be either.

Sleep and nutrition are simple, though not necessarily easy, to fix - especially sleep. I would imagine that I'm not the only sleep deprived or challenged person in here. Training is a bit more complicated, but for me, it's the most fun problem to tackle. My main focus for the next 2-3 months is hypertrophy. If I end up doing the bodybuilding show in March, this will set me up well for it. If I don't, but I find a meet to do sometime between January and March, then any additional muscle can only help since I routinely give up 15-18 lbs of bodyweight to the top of the weight class. If I end up getting back into equipped powerlifting, then it will help me fill out the old suits and shirt that I already have.

For now, I'm planning on training 2-4 days per week, rotating through a 3 day cycle. I'm going to do a heavy single and backoff for each competition lift (or a close variation) once per week. If I'm really short on time or energy, I'll skip the backoff set. This will be just to monitor where my strength on them is. I don't expect a big return as far as 1RM gains, and for the moment, that's fine. It's about the SWOLE right now. After the competition lift, then I'll have something of a bodypart split for each day with a higher intensity/lower volume approach, using some combination of straight sets, rest-pause sets, and drop sets. With the competition lifts, everything should be getting trained 2-3 times per week.

The Split
Day 1: Squat (single & backoff), horizontal press, horizontal row, biceps, abs and/or calves
Day 2: Bench (single & backoff), lower body: quads, hamstrings, abs and/or calves
Day 3: Deadlift (single & backoff), vertical press, vertical pull, triceps, abs and/or calves

I got started with this today. Here's how it went:

Thu. 10/5/17 - Day 1

1. Squat
135/6; 205/4; 275/2
added mouthguard
335/1
added wrist wraps
385/1 @5
added belt
425/1 @5
455/1 @6.5
475/1 @8
415/5 @8

2. Incline Bench Press
bar/10; 95/10; 145/6; 185/5
added mouth guard and wrist wraps
Rest-pause set: 205/12 total reps (6 @9 + 3 @8 + 3 @9)

3. Seated Cable Row - medium width "W" shaped bar until final set
90/12; 135/10;
added mouth guard
180/8 @6
Rest-pause set: 210/14 total reps (8 @8 + 6 @8) - switched to the close-grip "W" shaped bar during the rest

4. EZ-Bar Curl - I'm not sure if the bar is 15 or 20 lbs, so I'm only listing the weight of the plates.
25/10; 50/10
added mouth guard
Rest-pause set: 75/15.5 total reps (8 @9 + 4.5 @10 + 3 @10)

5. Ab Wheel - done at home, 4.5 hours after I left the gym
BW/10, 10, then an unplanned rest-pause on the 3rd set that went 5 + 3 + 1.5 where I just collapsed on the extension. My abs were cramping up in a serious way on that last set.

I was in and out of the gym in 75-80 minutes, and felt like I did some decent work in a fairly short amount of time. I was cutting it close on getting children from school, so I didn't get to the ab wheel until I got home. This was fun, and somewhat refreshing. I liked it, and I'm looking forward to the next session (hopefully after work tomorrow). My wife and I are taking advantage of the federal holiday on Monday with an overnight getaway on Sunday. Unless there's a miracle and I get off work early on Saturday, then tomorrow is my last chance to train until Monday or Tuesday.

Thanks for reading all of this and for being along for the ride! I hope you'll stick around.

[K.Diesel]

1. Bench Press
95/5; 135/5; 175/4; 205/3; 225/2; 245/1 @6
added mouth guard
265/1 @6.5
added wrist wraps
280/1 @7
290/1 @8.5
300/1 @9 - this felt almost exactly like the 290, if not smoother
260/5 @9

2. Squat Press (plate loaded machine, sort of a "floating" leg press that doesn't slide on a track)
180/10; 360/6; 540/6
added mouth guard and thin velcro belt.
720/6 @7
810/6 @8
900/6 @9
650/12 @9 - I wouldn't call this a "rest-pause set" because I never re-racked it, but I took a few seconds to catch my breath after reps 5 and 10. Had I done this again, I could have done more than the 12, but I'm calling it @9 because I more is all I had left without another breather.

3. Snatch Grip RDL (changed from Oly shoes to slippers)
135/10
add Versa Gripps
225/8
added mouth guard
275/6
315/6 @8
245/12 @8

4. Calf Press (on the actual leg press)
4 sets w/180: 10 slow reps, 10 slow reps, 15 moderate reps, 20 fast reps

Done in 1 hour and 50 minutes. It took a while to load and unload those plates, but other than that, it was another good session. I hope this plan yields some positive results, because so far, this is fun.