The Oldman's Log

[Oldman]

I've been lurking around the forums, reading and learning a lot, but not posting much. My wife (Squat Queen) put up her log, which got me to thinking (always dangerous), so I am putting up mine.

I am 54 yo, 5'8", and 215 (up from 185 when I started). For anyone who wants more info, with some (possibly interesting and unusual) medical background on me, I have also posted an intro in the Elderly forum (thanks for all the welcoming responses!), titled "Another Old Guy Posting..." The intro also has info on where I started in my lifts and where I've ended up, just prior to the start of this log.

At this point, I am on the Texas Method template, lifting on a T, Th, Sat schedule, except for when life intervenes, which is fairly often in our family. I tend to be cautious in my workouts, to avoid injury, and to be a plodder: I try to find a way to keep things going, show up at the gym (even when I have to travel), and do my lifts, without getting greedy (which is hard).

Here are the last few weeks of workouts, with just the work sets, so as to keep things a bit briefer (I may include warm up sets afterwards):

T, 11.13.12, Volume Day

SQ: 260x5x5
OHP: 110x5x5
CGB: 150x2x5 (ran out of time for the fourth set)
RDL: 265x3x8

Th, 11.15.12, Light Day

FRONT SQUAT: 210x3x3 (this is my fourth time doing FS on light days)
BP: 135x2x5, 135x12
OHP: 80x3x10 (I've been trying to do extra light OHP reps to improve the lift)
Rack Pulls: 365x4 (first time doing these)

Had to skip intensity day due to a soccer tournament in Georgia. Decided to repeat my workouts from last week:

M, 11.19.12, Volume Day

SQ: 260x5x5
OHP: 110x5x5
RDL: 270x3x8

Tu, 11.20.12

FS: 215x3x3, 225x1, 230x1 (I wanted to see what I could do; these felt good)
CGB: 152.5x8, 152.5x2x7
Rack Pulls: 375x4 (after a bunch of warm ups; my first time doing them)

Sat, 11.24.12, Intensity Day

SQ: 305x5 (first two reps were shallow, the next three were maybe parallel--I may repeat this next week); 235x10 (back off)
OHP: 130x4 (PR), 100x10 (back off)
DL: 395x2 (PR); 245x10 (deficit deadlifts, back off--I have been using deficit deadlifts for my warm ups and back off set, which seems to be helping my DLs off the floor)
LTE: 55x3x8

So that's where I have ended up as of Saturday. I will post tonight's workout separately.

[Oldman]

Here's tonight's workout:

M, 11.26.12, Volume Day

SQ: 45x2x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 250x1, 265x5x5
BP: 45x2x5, 95x5, 115x3, 135x2, 145x1, 152.5x5x5
Rack Pulls: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 345x4, 375x3, 385x4

This was a good night of lifting. My squats felt a bit harder than I expected them to feel, but I was trying to focus on getting depth since last Saturday's 305x5 did not have me at depth for every rep. Tomorrow I will be back in the gym for my light day, because evening meetings and other commitments won't allow me to go on Thursday. My wife and I have to plan things out each week to ensure that we get our work in, or something close to it, anyway.

[weightliftingfan1]

Omg old man i love you

[Oldman]

T, 11.27.12, Light Day

Can't work out on Thursday, so I am lifting two days in a row. Life keeps getting in the way, as it is wont to do. Will do my Intensity Day on Saturday.

FS: 45x2x5, 95x3, 135x3, 165x3, 185x3, 210x1, 220x3x3 (PR), 230x1, 235x1 (PR--I'm really liking the front squats; the 3x3 felt good, so I went for a PR single, which felt pretty solid)
OHP: 45x2x5, 75x5, 90x3, 100x3x5
CGB: 45x2x5, 95x5, 135x3, 152.5x8, 152.5x7, 152.5x7 (wanted 3 sets of 8, but it wasn't there; I'll keep at it, though--I need bigger triceps for my bench and press)
LTE: 35x5, 45x5, 57.5x3x8

This was a pretty good day of lifting, for a light, recovery day. I used to do some rack pulls on the light days, but they got heavier, so now I'm alternating them with RDLs on my Volume Day. I feel like the front squats are helping me strengthen my quads and my adductors, which I am hoping will pay off for my LBBS and my DLs.

[Oldman]

Omg old man i love you

Hey, Z! Thanks for the good word!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Good start. Don't worry for the most part about adding the warmup sets. Maybe later when you decide to go for the gusto and hammer out a max single PR.

[Oldman]

Thanks, Mark. I have never really tried for a max single and would not know how to go about it. I am working on some doubles in the DL and figured that when they crap out (I hope not before 405!), I would return at a lower weight to 5s and work back up, through 5s, 3s and 2s. I read about this in Justin Lascek's TM books, and have had some success so far. Any advice on this is welcome. It would be great if I could get the DL, Squat and Bench up to respectable levels, so that I could try a meet. I really like competing, but don't really worry about being at the top of the pack, per se; it's really that I would like to avoid humiliating myself, if you know what I mean.

[Oldster]

Great stuff Oldman! I especially like that front squat PR just because things felt good! I'm a huge fan of FS's, it is one of my core movements that I am currently taking a break from after a decade of pounding it.

What is an 'LTE'?

[Mark E. Hurling]

You have a while to build your base and foundation before trying singles and max PR's. No rush on that. Not for months yet. Oldster is a good source of information on that too. Little by slow for us.

[Oldman]

Great stuff Oldman! I especially like that front squat PR just because things felt good! I'm a huge fan of FS's, it is one of my core movements that I am currently taking a break from after a decade of pounding it.

What is an 'LTE'?

LTE is the Lying Triceps Extension. I watched Rip's video, where he called it the "fourth power lift." That's why I started doing it. My weakness in the bench, I think, is partly due to my weak triceps for the lockout. (It's either that or the pec muscles they carved away when they did my open chest surgery for my tumor!) Anyway, when I watch the big guys bench, I notice that their triceps are huge, so that's what I'm thinking I need to get...