Better With Age

[Mr.City]

Younger guy? 22 isn't young anymore?

Edit: To clarify, by staring date I meant when you started SS.

[fnet]

Oh, what I wouldn't give to be 22 again....and 6'3", 240'ish, for that matter. None of which is happening for me any time soon. As I mentioned in my intro, I wish I had discovered this program years earlier instead of wasting all those years dicking around the gym. The sky's the limit for you, City. I'll be tracking your progress, fellow Chicagoan.

[fnet]

Today's work sets:

Front Squats 165 LBS x 5 x 3
Overhead press 137.5 x4. Took off Microplates 135 x 5, 5
Medium band goodmornings 15x3
Pull-ups 6, chins 6, pull-ups 5

[fnet]

I'm closing in on 190 LBS. An unintended by-product of all the squats and milk is that a lot of my clothes no longer fit me. Especially older clothes. I had to go to a wake last night. I couldn't for the life of me find anything to wear. My suit is probably about 15 years or so old. Its a standard dark gray one that never goes out of style so I've gotten a lot of mileage out of it. I was probably about 135 LBS when I bought it. It no longer fits. Neither did most of my jackets. I eventually found a pair of pants and jacket into which I managed to stuff myself. I Worried all night about rippage or the button shooting off my pants and accidentally blinding somebody. I've gotten so much bigger on a linear barbell training plan and eating like a man than I had in all my previous 8 years or so of "working out" combined. I'm not looking for 6-pack abz but I wouldn't mind losing some belly fat. Maybe time to cut some of the junk out of my diet.

[fnet]

Took some ibuprofen for a headache before hitting weights. It probably kept my elbow pain in check as well. I think I'll stick with this bastardized advance novice set-up. I probably won't do the two light days next week as indicated in the book.

Today's work sets:
Squats - 295 LBS 5x3
Bench - 212.5 LBS x 5,5,4. Once again struggled with rep number 4 of 3rd set. Although I bench in a power cage, I have no spotter and have to be smart. It would still hurt if I missed that last rep. One of these days...
cleans - 140 LBS 3x5 Form varies from rep to rep. Some feel right, the bar brushing my thigh and the jump, etc. On others, I stop to brush the thigh and it becomes a shrugging reverse curl thingy. Must find some consistency.

[fnet]

Fuck! Shit! Piss! Balls!

I was all set to lift today. Nothing out of the ordinary. I usually follow a Sat./Mon./Wed. schedule. Two days rest. Decent night's sleep. Good breakfast, etc. I was even going to record my squats. Not having much of a life these days, I live for this shit. This is my golf or fishing or whatever the hell guys my age do for fun. I set up to do my warm-up sets. I felt tight. Did a couple extra empty bar squats, really working on my form (chest up, knees out, no butt wink, etc.). Nothing unusual but felt a little tight in the hamstrings. My last warm-up of 275 LBS felt heavy. I was set to do my scheduled 300 LBS. Came out with my feet too wide. Only got 4. Next set, I only managed 2. My elbow pain came back as bad as ever. As I reracked the bar, I was overcome with an overwhelming feeling of defeat. I felt really, really depressed. WTF? Its only a hobby for me. Its not life or death. I usally manage to power through. Today, I was too disgusted to go on. Do I try again tomorrow, or do I wait til Monday (my 45th birthday, BTW)? Last time I stalled out at 310 after a few attempts at 305. I thought I would have no trouble with 300.

[Mr.City]

These things happen. I felt like shit when I hit a stall, many actually. You need to look at this as an going progress. Certain things can be tweaked and adjusted, much like a chemistry experiment. And don't worry about progress you should be making. Just focus on making progress. I was actually kicking myself in the ass when I realized I probably wasn't going to make 405 for 5x3 on SS. I remember when I used to daydream about doing 315.

[fnet]

I was not going to let my last day at 44 years old go down without a fight. I finished Saturday's session.

Squat 300 LBS x 5 x 2
OHP 137.5 LBS x 5 x 3
Deadlift 385. Failed on first attempt. Then managed 3 reps.

My elbows are barking at me, but I'm glad I finished. I hate to let a good weekend session go. I have much more energy. Often times after work, I am beat and the last thing I want to do is get under the iron.

Bought a cheap glute-ham bench off Craigslist. Footplate's a bit small, but maybe I can modify. I wanted a good Texas Power Bar form my B-day, but I can make do with my cheapo bars a little longer.

[fnet]

Its my 45th birthday and I celebrated by eating a slab of ribs.

[fnet]

Didn't feel too bad after celebrating my 45th with a few Mojitos last night.
Here are today's work-set numbers:

Front Squat: 170 LBS 5 x 3

Bench: 212.5 LBS x 5 x 3. Finally got that last rep of that last set up. It was touch and go but I went for it. Kept thinking I did not suffer the indignity of wiggling out from under the bar.

Glute/Ham Raises. Finally got to break in my newest toy. I had to play with the settings because I was squishing my balls. 3 sets of 10.

Alternating: Chin-ups 8, Pull-ups 5, Chin-ups 5

Just wanted to add that I set a goal last year of pulling 400 LBS before my birthday and I did it a couple weeks ago. Maybe I should set a similar goal of a 400 LB max squat for my next birthday.