pdubya3 (and son) journey

[pdubya3]

Hi everyone! I've been browsing the forum and realized there was a place for people's logs and history. So, here I am to tell my story and keep track of the progress.

Age: 42
Ht: 5'10.5"
Wt: 185 (approximately, need to hop on a scale)
Current fitness level: Overall, for 42 years old, I am in above average shape. I workout at least 6 times a week, primarily cardio (treadmill, bike or outdoor walk/jog/hiking)
Current strength level: Definitely much lower than I was in my peak during HS, but overall, above average probably.

I believe I was around 13 when I first started to lift weights and continued to lift heavily all throughout HS as a football player. My peak numbers:

Age: 17
Ht: 5'10
Wt: 220

Squat - 525
DL - 485
Bench - 295

I ended up going to college planning to play football, but then life happens and I never played again and focused on getting degree. I remember lifting a bit a year or so after freshman year, but then pretty much never saw the weight room with heavy weights again. My weight went up, fat increased from muscle mass and I once hit close to 240lbs a couple years into college.

I changed focus junior/senior year to eat better and do more cardio and eventually graduated around 215lbs. Got married and weight eventually rose again over time and hit about 230. I finally took a drastic change of lifestyle in 2008 and within the next 12 months, dropped to my current weight and have stayed there since.

My son just turned 12 this September and he has shown in interest in lifting some weights. He is a smaller than most of his peers, but an excellent athlete and very strong for his size. At first, I was against him lifting yet, but then did some research and felt that if he is taught the correct form and technique, I'd allow it with my supervision. I am almost finished reading all of SS and its helped me fine tune some of the technique that I had used or thought I knew from my past experience.

There was an old squat rack still over at my dad's house and I brought it to our house and set it up in the basement workout room. I found an olympic bar and weight set on Craigslist and also got my son a lighter 1" bar for his bench and press workouts. I'm really excited about getting back my strength, spending time with my son and helping him also get stronger.

Son stats...
Age: 12
Ht: 56"
Wt: 82lb

So, anyway, I look forward to spending time on this forum and sharing our journey together.

[pdubya3]

Oct 28th, Workout #1

S - 45x5x3
P - 45x5x3
D - 95x5x1

I took video and was just working on form and to test out the app. None of the lifts were challenging.

[pdubya3]

2017-10-30

S - 115x5x3
B - 85x5x3
D - 115x5x1

I was pretty confident I could do heavier weight sets, but still working on correct form and don't want to overdue it. Squat and DL were slightly straining, but not near exhaustion.

I need to get some lighter 1" weights for my son to use and might have him start him on his own program tonight if he wants to have a bit more organized plan, but I am not going to push him.

[gnelson]

Hey pdubya3! Thx for posting on my thread! I would agree that we are similar in stats and pretty cool that we are starting at the same time! My 11 YO and 14 YO are both very interested in lifting. Not my 16 YO. There’s still hope!

I too had a similar epiphany/lifestyle change back in Jan, 2009 and started getting healthy and focusing on building back up my endurance. That has continued for years. Back in February of this year I bought a new full suspension 29” mountain bike which has been a blast to ride. I can’t wait to see how my strength journey improves my mountain bike riding.

Which 1” bar did you purchase for your son and where did you get it? I am looking to get one for my boys too.

-Gil

[pdubya3]

Hey pdubya3! Thx for posting on my thread! I would agree that we are similar in stats and pretty cool that we are starting at the same time! My 11 YO and 14 YO are both very interested in lifting. Not my 16 YO. There’s still hope!

I too had a similar epiphany/lifestyle change back in Jan, 2009 and started getting healthy and focusing on building back up my endurance. That has continued for years. Back in February of this year I bought a new full suspension 29” mountain bike which has been a blast to ride. I can’t wait to see how my strength journey improves my mountain bike riding.

Which 1” bar did you purchase for your son and where did you get it? I am looking to get one for my boys too.

-Gil

My wife is a group fitness coordinator/instructor and the kids have been exposed to a household of fitness from a very young age, so its been naturally for them find interest. I first started looking on Amazon and there seem to be some good products, but ended up finding a local fitness store that had a very large selection and purchased the 1" bar and assortment of weights there.

[hondotbt]

So, anyway, I look forward to spending time on this forum and sharing our journey together.

Fantastic to see that you will share this with your son, what a great experience for both of you! Welcome and I look forward to watching your progress.

[pdubya3]

2017-11-01

S - 130x5x3
P - 60x5x3
D - 130x5x1

Modified the Working Set weights to be higher than what the app suggested as I felt confident I bump them up. Everything felt good, minor strain on the last few reps, but still feel like I could do more weight across each of the exercises.

My son was down with me and he continued to work on form with bench/squat/DL. He wants to add more weight, but I keep telling him I need to see more control and great form before he can move on to adding anything.

[pdubya3]

Here are some video clips of current form for myself.

[pdubya3]

And clips of my son:

[pdubya3]

2017.11.04

S - 145x5x3
B - 100x5x3
D - 170x5x1

Both the S and DL seem to be at the level where I am needing to be dialing it back to 10lbs increments from 15lbs. B working set should probably be bumped up to at least 115lb next session. Everything felt good and ready to keep making gains.