Quest For Strength

[Ken_L]

Kettlebell Presses Rule! Have you pressed the 70 (32 KG) with both arms yet?

Nope but it is a goal that I want to reach. I have done the 50's. Mine are 50 not the normal 53. Pressing 140 on a bar is easy, not so with kettlebells!

My kettlebells are made by Cap. They are inexpensive compared to the big names but still decent quality. The handles need a little sanding to clean up the seam but other then that I am happy with them. A deal breaker for many people is that they are powder coated. I keep them in a garage so it works for me. The powder coating can be removed from the handles for a traditional feel and to hold chalk better.

I have 2X20lb (for the wife), 2X35lb, and 2X50lb. Next on my list is a 70 and maybe a 62 to reduce the jump for pressing. I will go with Rouge this time as they are priced good for the high quality level. We have a 35,53,and a 70 at the work gym. They are definitely a step above the Cap's.

[Ken_L]

7/30/2018 Monday


AM@Work

Bench 225(5,5,5,5,4) I should get 225X5X5 next week.

Squat 4RG30 240(7,7,6,5-25)

One Arm DB Row 3RG25 90(10,10,10) Still holding at 10 reps per set and not getting any harder to complete. The mild tendentious that I was starting to get from barbell rows seems to be gone now. DB rows were a good alternative exercise that did not irritate it and let healing take place.


PM@Home My weights and bar at home are heavier then marked so reps will be slightly lower then at the work gym.

Press 4RG30 120(7,6,6,6-25) Definitely lost some off of my press when my shoulder started acting up a couple weeks ago. The press still hurts a little at least when warming up. By the time I hit my work sets all pain was gone and after I was done my shoulder felt really good.

Curls 85(8,8)

[Ken_L]

7/31/2018 Tuesday @Work

Cardio 2 miles on TM at 6.2mph Time 19:11 I didn't make the prescribed breath changes at 1.25 and 1.8 miles. I needed more air after 1 mile, so I will repeat the same speed next week.

Had a visitor in the gym today. We did some yoke walks and sled pushes, nothing heavy as I didn't want to kill him.
We also did some accessories. He wanted to know what I did for biceps and triceps.

Lying Triceps Extentions 100X10X2
BB Curls 85X10X2 Last night at home I was 8,8 on these. It shows the difference in what the weights actually weigh. I am finding that unless you have expensive calibrated weights this is quite common.

[Ken_L]

8/2/2018 Thursday @Work

The visitor came back to the gym this morning for a 6AM session. He is a good kid 18-19 years old. He played football in high school, that's where he learned to lift. I did get to help him with a lot of form issues but couldn't fix everything in one session. There was to much bad form deeply ingrained from school. For example he was only doing half squats. I got him going to about an inch above parallel and explained how hamstring involvement protects the knees. He has to go more toes out knees out to get that last inch of depth. At least he wanted to learn and correct his form which is not the norm for today's youth. It baffles me why such bad technique is taught in school. Isn't the goal to have better athletes that are not on the bench due to a weight lifting injury, caused by incompetence? This kids back still hurt because of his strength coach in school! Hopefully better form will get him on the road to recovery.


Medium Squat 245X5X3 I was still a little sore going into the workout but by the time it came to doing the work sets it was gone.

Medium Bench 210(8,7,7) Defiantly not 100% recovering any more from Mondays volume workout. When fresh 210 is good for 10 or 11 reps. I guess as the weight increases it applies more stress increasing recovery time. I will continue light/medium Thursdays and probably not attempt to go back to a 2 day Texas Method. This way recovery will be complete by Monday where an intensity set can be done as the first set followed by 4X5 for volume.

Chins BW(16,8,10) Not enough rest between sets. Still really pleased with the number of reps! For now at least, 20 is the goal. I didn't use my timer today since there were 2 of us lifting. I use an app called interval timer. It lets you set the time for worksets, rest, and the number of sets. 1 minute for the workset and 5 minutes rest is just about right for most exercises.

Deadlifts 290(8,5) 3X8 was the goal but my back said NO! It was very fatigued and still is as I type this. I need to have more separation between squats and deads. I usually squat in the morning then go back at lunch for deads. Today will be very busy and if they weren't done this morning they wouldn't get done at all. At the very least deads should have been done between bench and chins with a nice break before starting. Everything was rushed today due to time constraints and that fact that I was working out with someone much younger that recovers faster between sets.

Triceps Did them on Tuesday

Running on Tuesday does seem to use up some of my recovery resources. But it is an important part of my training since weight lifting alone does not provide enough cardio to keep my blood pressure low plus I have a 5k to prepare for. I'll have to keep a close watch on the program to make sure that I am fully recovered on Monday's. If not some minor tweaks will be applied to make that happen. It could be 1 less volume set or 1 less set on Thursday. I am also going to make sure to have a protein shake every day. My protein intake is a bit low without the shake, another 30g from a quality source can't hurt.

[Ken_L]

8/3/2018 Friday @Work

HIIT Cardio Day

It is raining today so no sled work. The only time that I had to get in a cardio session was at lunch. Otherwise work hours for today are 7:30am-10:00pm. The college gym has 3 kettlebells. One each of 35, 53, and 70lbs. I don't think that I have logged kettlebell work in my log, except for a little last week. I used to do a lot of it before I stretched my left shoulder out enough to squat. After that the kettlebells took a back seat to the barbell. They are back for Friday HIIT sessions and to help in the recovery of my left shoulder.


Swing
15 X 35lb, 15 X 53lb, 15 X 70lb

Swing/Clean/Squat/Press
10R, 10L X 35lb

Swing/Press
4R, 4L X 53lb Could have continued but my left shoulder had enough after 4 reps. The strength is there but it still feels a bit squirrely.
1R X 70lb Didn't want to push the left shoulder with a 70lb kettlebell press. The last thing that I want to do right now is injure it again. I had never tried pressing more then a 53lb KB in the past. I just wanted to see if I could do it, and it went up fairly easily.

Swing/Press
10R, 10L X35lb

[Ken_L]

8/6/2018 Monday @Home

My shoulder got about half way better but is still hurting some. I am going to cut back the volume for a while and let it heal completely. The weight was also lowered and the rep range increased. I have always done well in a slightly higher rep range and it will relieve some stress on the joints. Most likely I will add some isolation and cable exercises to get in more volume with reduced joint stress. During this time I will also focus a little more on cardio and some strongman stuff that is shoulder friendly and fun.

This workout was done at home so the weight is 5-7 pounds heavier then stated. My bar and weights all weigh more then rated. This workout is an experiment to see weather or not I can make progress on less volume while my shoulder heals. More volume will be added to the squat in a couple of weeks if needed but I want to experiment first. Squats, Deads, Rows, and Chins do not irritate my shoulder, just pressing. I can already tell that the reduced volume is making a difference in the way I feel. This happens once or twice a year. My shoulder will be fine for a long while then it will flare up and need rest to recover. I have been hitting upper body pretty hard for a good 3 months now which is about the limit.

All exercises have the standard SS warm up but I don't log them, just the work sets.

Bench 2RG18 210lb.(7,7-14) At the work gym I have no problem getting 10 reps with 210lbs. when fresh.

Squat 2RG18 235lb.(7,8-15) Defiantly felt heavier then 240 did at work last week which shows the inaccuracy in the weights.

BB Row 2RG18 185lb.(8,10-18) These were regular rows, not pendlay. The bar was not set down between reps.

Press 2RG18 110lb.(7,10-17) My left shoulder was giving out on the first set but the second felt good.



8/7/2018 Tuesday @Work

I brought my Yoke into the gym at work. It is a Titan Fitness T3 Yoke. A while back Titan had a really good sale on the Yoke that could not be resisted. Today it was used with an Atlas Stone and for a walk just for fun.

Atlas Stone Carry (150lb. Rogue Atlas Stone sandbag) I also have a 200lb sandbag atlas stone that I will be bringing to the work gym.

Stone Over Bar (on yoke)

Stone To Shoulder

Run 2 miles @6.2mph Time 19:11, one of my favorite numbers. Today I made the requirements to advance, add 0.1mph next time.

Rowing Machine Cool Down. This was only a few minutes.

Yoke Walk 300lbs. Once across the gym and back.

This was a fun workout!

[Ken_L]

8/9/2018 Thursday @Work

Stopping the high volume on the presses has made a big difference. During the past week I have been doing a lot of stretches for my shoulder because it has gradually been getting tight again since initially stretching out out last summer. Between those two things I am much better. I will stay on low stress presses for quite some time, maybe a month or 6 weeks and then reevaluate the situation. Health is more important then weight on the bar. Hopefully I will at least maintain my current level of strength in both presses or make slow progress. Due to the shoulder acting up there was a little regression but not much. This was a good week and at this point the tide has turned.


Squat 2RG18 240(10,8-18) Met the goal, add 5lb. next week. I did a very thorough warm up today because I tweaked my back a little last Thursday. It is the muscle in the lower right of the back. On the first set of squats at 240 I racked the bar after 5 reps because my back was hurting. After a few minutes of stretching it felt much better and I was able to proceeded as planed. The belt was snugged up one notch tighter then usual, yep had to really suck in the gut! On Monday my back was a little sore but wasn't a problem. The difference was that I lifted in the evening. Moving around all day loosens things up. Today's workout was done at 6AM. I think that it is probably better to workout late in the day when dealing with strains or sore muscles.

Bench 2RG18 210(8,8-16) Didn't push to hard. For now I want to stay a rep or 2 away from failure to insure good form. Felt good.

Chins 2X +25lbs. (5,7) 1XBW (17) Picked up 2 reps with a 25lb. plate strapped on and another one with just body weight! I can smell 20 reps coming in a couple months.

Deadlift 275X3, 320X5, 290X5 Did these later in the day. Looking back it seems that every time I try to deadlift in the same workout as squats I have trouble. A few hours in between makes a big difference for me. The other variable is that the 6AM workout is done before eating, It could simply be that I do not have enough energy to do both squats and deads without eating. Even my bench suffers when squats are done first, they are energy suckers.

[Espen Lund]

Smart decision to hold back

[Ken_L]

Smart decision to hold back

Yep I go through this every so often. After about 3 months of pushing hard I need a break because my shoulder acts up. It starts grinding, clicking/popping, and feels unstable with a heavy load. Some pain accompanies this. The feeling is deep within the shoulder and is more of an achy feeling. The original injury was a shoulder dislocation over 30 years ago. I suspect it is a labral tear and or fraying, the tear being caused by the original injury. Eventually it will probably need to be surgically repaired. But for now if I back off for a while I should be able to make another run at it, more conservatively next time so that progress is slower but sustainable.

[Ken_L]

Tuesday 8/14/2018 Left Shoulder Rehab Week 1 @Work


Changing tactics to give my shoulder a break and to promote healing. Switching to band exercises for upper body to reduce the strain on the shoulder joint. Using bands the right way results in a serious workout. It is more body builder style but that is fine with me. The other option is not to train which ain't gonna happen. The pain is about 95% gone and the clicking/popping has stopped. It was only the presses that gave me trouble. Chins, rows, squats, and deadlifts seem fine. Even still I am going to hold off on chins, rows, and deadlifts for a few weeks. After that I will introduce the exercises gradually and run a conservative/slow LP. When I add the presses back in 4-6 weeks it will be with super strict form (no stretch reflex for the press) and probably only once per week. I am thinking about pin presses with both the press and bench. For bench it will keep the arms from going below parallel which is where the pain was. For the press the pins will eliminate any bounce.

This was a good workout and contributed to my shoulder feeling even better. You may initially want to laugh at the use of bands but this was extremely challenging, every bit as much as free weights. The difference is without the momentum that strains joints. After squats were completed the rest of the workout was done as HIIT which resulted in a nice cardio session as a bonus. After finishing I was soaking wet and looked like I had jumped in a pool!


Squat 3RG25 245(7,5,5-17) This was the only exercise done with iron today.


Supperset Fly/Row

Modified Band Fly 3X10, 1X15 These are harder then you would think. All sets done to within 1 rep of failure.

Row (Band) 1X20, 2X10, 1X15


Superset Bi/Tri (Band) 2X10


Abs misc.

Band Face Pull 2X10

Rotator Cuff (Band) Internal/External Rotation 4 different exercises 1X15 each.