Paul's log - Staying strong past 50

[irongeek]

Yesterday - 2/13/22
Treadmill - 30 minutes. Every 5 minutes, jump of treadmill and do 8 pullups or 12 dips.

Today - 2/13/22
SSB w/belt - 370 x 5 x 3
Press w/belt - 167.5 x 5 x 3

Both press and squat getting heavy. Going to change squat to have a light day on Wednesday. That may keep the good times going for a tad longer.

[irongeek]

Cardio - HIIT focus

Super sets:
Pullups 6 8 8 7 6
Plate Swings 60s 60s 60s 60s 60s

Treadmill - 17 minutes @3.5mph @ 5deg - about 1 mile.

Easy workout. The supersets provided some HIIT. The treadmill provided some LSD cardio.

[irongeek]

SSB w/belt - 335 x 5 x 3
Bench - 267.5 x 5 x 3
DL w/belt and straps - 420 x 5

This was supposed to be a "light" squat day. It was harder than I would've liked, but I can say that I was certainly justified in adding a light day to the program at this point.
DL went well - felt lighter than last time, but it's been about 2 weeks since I did a heavy DL day.

Bench felt like last time, but I did more weight - so I got a tad stronger.

[irongeek]

Cardio Day:

30 minutes Treadmill @ 3.5 mph, 5 deg incline.
Every 5 minutes, pause treadmill and do 8 pullups.
Total pullups completed: 56

Surprisingly, sets of 8 pullups were pretty easy.

[irongeek]

SSB w/belt - 375 x 5 x 3
Press w/belt - 170 x 5 x 3
DL w/straps (beltless) - 370 x 3 x 5 (EMOM)

A little later, did 25 minutes of snow shoveling. This counts as cardio as far as I'm concerned.

Pretty good day, overall.

[irongeek]

Bench - 270 x 5 x 3

Super set -
Dips - BW + 45 - 7 reps
Plate Swings 60s

Performed 4 each of the above super-sets.

Good workout. Those swings really get the heart rate pumping. Bench is getting ever slightly harder. Happy to get 270 for three sets. Goal is 275 x 5 x 3. If I can get that, I'd be pretty happy.

[irongeek]

SSB squat w/belt - 380 x 5, 5, 5
Press w/belt - 172.5 x 5, 5, 5

LP continues to progress. Squat felt surprisingly good the first two sets. Third set, the fatigue caught up with me and the last 2 reps were tough, but there was never any doubt about completing the rep.
Form on Squat getting a little haphazard as I'm trying to get a bit more out of the bounce at the bottom.

Press felt solid. I think I can continue LP on lifts this week. We'll see how long I can keep this going.

[Derf123]

I was contemplating getting an ssb bar myself, do you use it exclusively these days?

Lifts are looking good.

[irongeek]

I was contemplating getting an ssb bar myself, do you use it exclusively these days?

Lifts are looking good.

Hey Derf! Thanks!
I pretty much use the SSB bar exclusively now. I've done a few workouts with front squats or low bar squat, but only rarely now.
I like the SSB bar for several reasons:

1. Easy on the elbows. After I changed to the SSB bar, my elbow tendinitis has disappeared.
2. Easy on the shoulders. I was using the SSB bar about once per week until early last year, when I hurt my shoulder. Without the SSB bar, I would have had to give up squatting until my shoulder healed - it took about a month.
3. Low back issues. When I was low-bar squatting, I developed a nice case of sciatica that I had for several years. I was slowly recovering from it, but when I switched to the SSB bar, nearly all of my sciatica symptoms disappeared over the course of about 6 months. I must admit that this may have nothing to do with low-bar squatting, but, I really don't want sciatica again - it was a pain.
4. I am no barbell coach - as evidenced when I was trying to teach my son to do the low-bar squat. I gave up after about half an hour and had him try the SSB bar. The first set he did just locked him in - he looked great. Now he is using the SSB bar exclusively as well. Basically, it was easy for him to get up and running on the squat and adding weight without a lot of coaching from me.
5. Upper back strength. I notice, especially at higher weights, that the SSB bar acts like a guillotine about 1/2 to 2/3 the way up on a heavy squat. If the upper back strength is not there, you will go down hard just when you think you have made the rep. I think this has helped my deadlift quite a bit.
6. It has nice, comfy pads on the bar.

I have the EliteFTS version of the SSB. It was pricey - over $400. There is a Titan Fitness version that is, as I understand it, a cheaper version of the EliteFTS. It may be a good alternative.

Bottom line: I love the bar and use it 2 to 4 times per week. One of my best purchases!

[irongeek]

Today - HIIT and some LSD cardio:

Super-sets of:
Pullups (BW): 8, 8, 8, 8
Plate Swings: 70s, 70s, 70s, 70s
HR hits about 150 after each superset. Waited until it dropped below 110, then repeated next set.

20 minutes treadmill @3.5mph @6 deg incline - 1.15 miles total. HR started @140 and dropped to low 130s by the end of workout.