Reply With QuoteNo problem. A 10% cut works for me, thanks.
Have you had to reset your press at all? I just stalled at 157.5lb and am going to reset down to 140.
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Thanks for the timely advice Oldster. I was debating whether or not to try a medium day benching and you tipped the scale for me so I did a light day of overhead press instead. Pec feels pretty good now but I'll back off on the weight, concentrate on the elbows in, and re-start at 190 (75% of 1 RM) next week. Sound about right? Full speed ahead on the overheads for now though.
5 minute warmup on the bike.
Overhead Press: 115 x 8 x 3 + 10. This went very well with no associated discomfort from the pec whatsoever.
Hammer Row: 370 x 5 x 5
Pinch Grip: 137 x 40 seconds PR! Since I had just started a new month on my excel spreadsheet that I take to the gym, I wasn't sure if I had the right weight entered since I sometimes forget to carry over my last effort from one month to the next so I gave it some Kentucky windage and ended up making a 5 lb. jump from the last time.
By the way RobCor, I contacted Michael Connelly at his website and got permission to use the phrase Blue Religion. It turns out he contributed to a collection of short stories with that title, but graciously permitted use of it even so. Thank you so much for the suggestion, I would have never thought of it or attempted to get permission if you hadn't spoken up.
On an entirely unrelated note, how many older guys here take naps? I do several times a week in my car over my lunch hour at work. Anyone else find them restorative?
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No problem. A 10% cut works for me, thanks.
Have you had to reset your press at all? I just stalled at 157.5lb and am going to reset down to 140.
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10% sounds fair to me if it ever sees the light of day in publication. Have your people call my people. Wait, I don't have any people. Ah hell, we can do lunch anyway. Sound Hollywood enough? I hate to talk about it for fear of jinxing it, but the overhead press is going well so far. It seems entirely unaffected by the pec issue, but I'll find out on Friday when I try going heavy at 185. Damn, I hope I haven't screwed myself now. Seriously though, the last press session had 180 going up without horredous strain for 5 sets of 3, so my confidence is high.
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Sounds good to me as long as you are able to start out PAINFREE and with no elbow flair. Any elbow flair when restarting will mean it was too much weight for your triceps to handle. Do you ever do much for close grips? I'm talking about a 16" wide version unless you have a super wide chest.Originally Posted by Mark E. Hurling
ME ME ME! I just woke up from one, my Grandkids wore me out! I see that I woke up first.........! I can't sleep more than about 6-6 1/2 hours per night unless I am physically exhausted. I just won't stay asleep. So what works best for me is to keep my overnight sleep at 6 hours and then take a 30-60 minute nap during the after noon, somewhere around 2-3 p.m. I wake up feeling great!On an entirely unrelated note, how many older guys here take naps? I do several times a week in my car over my lunch hour at work. Anyone else find them restorative?
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On a related note, fixing my elbow flare and keeping bar contact at just below the nipples had 237.5lb flying up yesterday, whereas lesser weight had been very difficult when my elbows were at 90 degrees. Also had no elbow pain.
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Good to know and very encouraging RobCor. As far as hand spacing on bench presses since I took them up again these days Oldster, I measured this morning in the gym. I didn't lift, I just brought my tape with me. I have been using a 16" wide spacing with a 52" chest. Most of that is my lats and traps, I'm pretty certain. So things look about right there. Mmmm, naps good! Just wait RobCor, you'll see, as unlikely as it might seem just now.
So, back in the gym today with my metrics OCD having been triggered by reporting the health markers I track. Like the 4-6 week cycle on measuring VO2 max on the cardio machines. I hit 42.4 today, which was back up around what I've come to determine is normal for me, despite a 36 VO2 max measured the last time. Must have been an outlier from unrecognized early flu symptoms. This puts me in the excellent category for 60+ geezers once again so I'm a happy man.
Lots of foam rolling and stretching. The pec feels 100% this morning, but I'm not going to tempt fate. I will restart and reprogram myself like you've advised Oldster. Once again, thanks so much guys.
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In my haste to trumpet my VO2 max triumph yesterday I left out jujitsu goings on. Wednesday saw Master Bellman feeling under the weather, so he had me riding herd over the kids class with just some advice here and there. Happily, the kids were relatively on track. The adult class had me teaching the new people the basics from the ground up. Master Bellman advised me at the start to use a lot of physical demonstration with a minimum of verbal explanation. I figured this was another test for me to be evaluated on, and mayb it was but I discovered (and Master Bellman confirmed at the end of class) that one of the teens had high function autism. It was never really clear to me how much of the words were getting through or being processed through his filter and he had troble getting the concept of a full finger grip, but he did kind of OK. He was also very strong, so his grip issues may have coached into him by parents and teachers so as not to hurt someone by accident. It took a lot of patience, but he tried hard and thanked me for teaching him at the end of class. It made me tear up a little.
Lifting today: Pec feels 100% but no benching until next week.
5 minute warmup on the bike.
Overhead Press: 185 x 5 x 3. Got all my reps in all the sets, and while sets 2 and 3 got a little less hard, I had to dig in to lock out the last rep in sets 4 and 5. It wasn't too close to failure, but the bar went up slow but without stopping at any point, so yay! No 10 rep set at the end since I had already done this earlier in the week with the light day. I am so encouraged by this today I am thinking of trying for a new max single PR of 200 next Friday. Since I'm regrouping on the bench press this seems like a good moment to go for the gusto. My previous max single PR was 195 over 3 months ago. Any thoughts on this Oldster?
Back Extension: 90 x 3 x 10.
Foam roller and stretched.
RobCor, tertius asked me a question about the difference between cop groupies and fire fighter groupies in a thread in Ends and Pieces titled Snow in Frisco? Skip to page 6, unless you are interested in more of my anti-climate change polemics (I doubt you are). In it there are a couple of tales from the blue religion about cop and fire folk antics. It called some stuff to mind I had forgotten and hadn't planned on writing about because it went down the memory hole.
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Very cool. For the next week, eat like it's your job. Plenty o' meat and good fat. That 200lb rep will shoot right up.
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Good stories, MEH. Thanks for pointing that out. I avoided that thread once it got ornery.
Also, did you see my question above regarding stalling on the press?
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If you don't mind me piping in here -
The reset is a good idea. Your log shows nice improvements on your other lifts and you're having fun with the Oly stuff. Topping out at 157.5 was a good run. During the reset I'd really concentrate on form, as soon as the bar gets past your eyes GET UNDER the bar and lock it out. Be as tight as you can be on every rep including warm ups. Before you get to the next sticking point start micro loading in smaller increments and you'll march right on past 157.5.
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