Rob's shiny new Geezling (mostly TM) log. In Brooklyn.

[Rob Israel]

***September 23rd Update***
Tested lifts at the end of Sept:
Squat: 385
Dead: 405
Press: 180
Bench: 225
Age: about to turn 46
Weight: 187ish

***May Update***
Tested lifts at the end of May:
Squat: 375
Dead: 400 (missed 405)
Press: 172.5
Bench: 215 (didn't test
Age: still 45
Weight: 185ish


***March Update***
Competed in my first meet March 3rd and got this:
Squat: 360
Dead: 400
Bench: 215
Age: still 45
Weight: 181ish

Will be doing Texas method Squat and Bench with 5/3/1 Press, halting deadlifts. Pulls will be Power Cleans, T-row bar, chins and RDL's. Will be adding conditioning back in, mainly with a prowler 2-3 days a week.

*** November Update****
1 Rep maxes as of Nov. 2nd:
Squat: 350
Dead: 380
Press: 170

My last mass gain I added more body fat that I would have liked. I'll need to lean out a bit and then try to add again-- at my age I can't just add-add-add. I need to add 4-7 pounds, pause and lose 2-3 and the go back to gaining otherwise it's just too much fat.

Program:
Squat: TM
Presses: Still haven't exhausted linear as I still haven't missed again on the bench. Missed at 150 on press. Will reset and do linear again on both....
Deadlift will be primarily rack pulls and deficit pulls.
High pulls from the ground instead of cleans: rack is messing up my bad wrist.
Chins on volume day and scattered through out week. Maybe I can finally get a set of 10 before the end of the year if I lose 5 pounds?
Prowler and short intense conditioning 2 days a week.

----------------------

From: 8/29/11
Tonight I begin a new cycle after deloading and recovering from a sprained wrist and food poisoning.

Age: 44
Weight: 180ish
Height: 5'8"

1 Rep maxes as of late April:
Squat: 340
Dead: 365
Bench: 210 Got up to 192.5 x5x3 in August
Press: 155 (July) Got up to 142.5 x5x3 in August
Clean: 170

I will be doing the TM on the Squat and will synch the end of the linear progression for the presses. Deadlift will be linear for the time being as well.

I had a lot of success doing the linear on presses all summer until I sprained my wrist. Reset presses 9% last week.

Sunday: Volume
Squat 5x5, Press or Bench 3x5, Chins, Prowler

Tuesday: Recovery,
Squat: 3x3, Press or Bench 3x5, Clean 3x3, Prowler

Thursday: Intensity
Squat, usually a rep out to a max of up to 10, Press/Bench 3x5, Deadlift, Prowler

[Mark E. Hurling]

Welcome Rob and some nice numbers there, especially the squats and deads.

[Rob Israel]

Thanks Mark! I hope to finally raise all my 1RM's in two months. I haven't made much progress this summer-- it's just been one thing after another. I may have something to build on though and plan/hope/pray/wish to PR everything in October.

[Rob Israel]

Couldn't start Sunday as the gym was closed due to the "hurricane." I have deloaded after getting sick and am back to my numbers in July. Oh well. Starting over again.

Squat: 245x5x5
These felt strong and fast for 21 of them. A couple I came forward out of the hole and couple were a little grindy, but I had a strong bounce and felt tight.

Press: 132.5 x5x3
Slightly easier than 130 last week. I'll take it.

Chins: 5-4-4-5
So annoying.

Prowler: 8 runs of about 80 feet with 50 pounds. 30 seconds rest between, this was harder than the shorter runs with more weight and less rest.

Because of scheduling shift I'm going to skip my light day this week and just do Intensity day on Thursday.

[MLJD]

Your 1 RMs are in the neighborhood of mine in most lifts. It will be interesting to see how you progress. I'm trying a split routine doing each of the main lifts once a week and a linear progression every week.

[Rob Israel]

Hi MLJD,

It's been a rough summer of minor injuries and sickness that has led to a stand-still but I think I've gained strength throughout. Hopefully i can keep a 6-8 week cycle this time and do 1-RM tests at the end and at my peak.... I'll check out your log. Thanks for writing.

[Rob Israel]

So much for turning the page and my shiny new log. It is already tarnished: I re-injured my sprained arm spotting on Wednesday. It still wasn't 100% and torque under load=bad. Overall it was rough week work/sleep/stress wise so I skipped my intensity day and dialed it back a little today.

Squat: 225x8x2
Dumbbell Press: right hand only 50x8x3
Barbell Row: 105x12x3
Prowler Pushes: 30 pounds x 80 feet for 8 rounds with about 30 seconds rest.

I plan on hitting volume Sunday and will attempt to do chin-ups and press. Hopefully my arm will be up to it. It's a lot better today. The main problem at this point is rotation, so if I can get under the bar without that, I'll be OK. The grip is definitely better than a 2-3 weeks ago, so that's a good sign that the set-back is minor. I really need to get back to Deadlifts. Hope by Thursday the arm is ready to pull 315 for reps.

[Rob Israel]

Back in the gym Sunday morning and was not feeling it.

I warmed up Ok (it was super humid and I was sweating bullets again) and the first squat set felt pretty good. However by the 3rd set I felt totally gassed. I called it.

Not enough sleep? Too much booze over the weekend? Under-recovered? Not enough food? All of the above? Anything but awesome.

Squat: 245x5x3

Press: 125x3x3
I felt so shitty I used my last warm-up as my work sets. Of 3.

Prowler: This went OK. I reduced weight again, but finally did mostly 100 yards. 20 pounds, 8 times, 90-100 yards. First 6 20 seconds rest, last 2 were 35 seconds.

Nutrition:
I ate more yesterday and got to bed earlier. For the first time in quite awhile, my appetite is just not there. Saturday I had an amazing rib eye and couldn't finish it. Sure, it was huge, but I couldn't help thinking something was wrong with me. I also have been going more low-carb than I actually like/intend, so I'm going to make sure I get in more sweet potato and white rice this week.

[Michele Knaub]

how's the wrist?

[Rob Israel]

Hey Michele, it's doing better, thanks... Surprising, I was able to bench today (I was working out with Jack and he was benching-- so that was cool). I set back a little bit, but it was worth getting a reasonable 3x5 in. I couldn't do chins though. Just holding the bar with that internal rotation hurts-- I didn't even pull. I did rows instead:

Squat; 225x3x3 Felt OK. Wish it felt lighter, but it moved fast enough I guess.
Bench: 170x5x3 was surprised to be benching. i was going to test the press again, but my workout parter was benching, I tried, got reasonably heavy and the bar moved well. Will do a 5 pound jump on Sunday.
Barbell row: 115x10x3 Upped 10 pounds from last row. Will stay here until I can do 12. It felt heavy. Wrist hurt first set, so I taped the crap out it and it really helped.

Conditioning: 1 minute each: Box jump (20"), DB thruster 35#, row for calories. Two rounds with 1 minutes rest between. I did a 'bonus round' of 20 box jumps and 10 calorie row in about 2 minutes. Thruster suck ass and make me suck wind. Cannot catch my breath.

Overall a more enjoyable and stronger workout than Sunday. Not exactly sure what I'm going to do Thursday...