RickinNH Log - 52yo NLP

[RickinNH]

First a word of thanks: I am not one to share much personal stuff, online or otherwise. Thank you to all of you who have posted your stories, questions and training logs. You have all helped me screw up the nerve to put my numbers out there. It's not dramatic or inspirational, no accidents, military service, or major hurdles other than the ticking of the clock. I just want to be as strong and fit for as long as I can be. Hopefully my numbers will provide a few data points that the knowledgeable people here can put to use and a few pointers that are helpful to me.

You are a remarkably positive and supportive community existing in wasteland of internet snark.

About Me: 52 year old male who formerly participated in many sports on many levels (Div 1 college soccer, HS wrestling, HS track events not involving a lot of running , alpine skiing (continuing to this day) tennis, golf (horribly), luge and bobsled (true!) hiking and climbing.....)

First meniscus surgery was at 18, and three subsequent, the last about 10 years ago. All arthroscopic, no ligament damage ever. Substantial osteoarthritis in my left knee.

Sedentary job.

I have concerns about fat gain under the SSLP. My family has had major weight/food issues my whole life. My father was morbidly obese (5'10, 360 lbs) until he had the surgery. His life is vastly improved. I have been lucky and mostly stayed reasonably fit, although it has been a see-saw battle. 5 years ago I topped 230, bought a bicycle, and rode 4000 miles one year. My weight got as low as 175. I liked it but felt weaker in the upper body that I was accustomed to. Started mucking around with weights and put on some muscle (and some fat) and felt good around 195-200, then injured my elbow doing untrained cross-fit-style power cleans that were outside my skill range. I couldn't lift for a year and riding hurt as well. My weight climbed back to 210-215.

Given my personal and family history with fat, I am very leery of the SS encouragement of weight gain, including fat, but I am trying to put that aside.

Weight Training History:

I have always mucked around with weights, never taking any coaching and never sticking with it for more than a few months at a time. The past several weeks on the NLP is the most systematic weight lifting I have ever done.

The Numbers:

220 pounds
5'10
~34% BF according to electric measurements in two different scales.
~2300 calories/day, ~195g protein, ~145 carb, ~90 fat

Progression: (I had been noodling around with weights in my basement, started on a "Big 3" idea from the internet, before reading Starting Strength and beginning systematic programming 3x5)

WO#1 5/28
Sq 185
Bench 175
DL 185

WO#2 5/30
Sq 185
Bench 175
DL 205

WO#3 6/1
Sq 195
Press 90
DL 225

WO#4 6/4
Sq 205
Bench 180
DL 235

WO#5 6/6
Sq 215
Press 95
DL 245

WO #6 6/8
Sq 225
Bench 185
DL 255

WO #7 6/11
Sq 235
Press 100
DL 265

WO #8 6/13
Sq 245
Bench 190 (5, 4, 4)
DL 275

6/15 WO #9
Sq 255
Press 105
DL 285

6/18 WO #10
Sq 265
Bench 190 (5, 5, 4)
DL 295

6/19 Indoor cycle
37 minutes, 328 kCal, avg HR 120

6/20 WO #11
Sq 270 (form fell apart)
Press 110
DL 305 (form fell apart)

6/21 Indoor cycle
40 minutes, 380 kCal, avg HR 127

6/22 Indoor cycle
46 minutes, 500 kCal, avg HR 130

6/23 WO #12
Squat 275
Bench 190
DL 310

6/24 Stationary bike
28 minutes, 359 kCal, avg HR 147

6/25 Casual bike ride with lovely wife.
13 miles, 58 minutes, 563 kCal, avg HR 113

WO #13 6/26
Squat 265 YouTube
Press 115
Deadlift 320 (3 reps only)




I know it is cautioned against, but old habits die hard. I used to ride a bicycle for an hour or so a day (indoors or out) with an average heart rate of about 150 over the full time. I have backed that down to 30-40 minutes, at an average heart rate of about 125-130 and I'm thinking that is closer to the "active recovery" that is discussed in the books. that is a very easy rate for me to maintain. I'm curious if folks think I am damaging my progress substantially. My reluctance to give it the riding is based largely on my concerns about weight.

Nice to meet you all.

RickinNH

[carson]

I would ride the bike on rest days, not on lifting days. You said that your form fell apart on Sq and DL. Do you have a video? It may or may not indicate a nearing of the end of Novice. You may wish to check with a certified SS coach. Welcome. Keep up the good work.

[sinker]

Hey, that's a pretty solid start, and I'll be following to see what you learn about weight control while lifting.

I'm a cyclist as well (mostly trails), and have found that lifting heavy (relatively, I'm a 59-yr-old novice) really doesn't leave much left for an aggressive trail ride. I've accepted the fact that I'm only going to ride once or twice a week, and those rides are going to be pretty easy.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Solid start indeed. I'd like to see a video as well.

[RickinNH]

Hi guys, thanks for your responses. Carson, you are correct about not riding on lifting days. I should have said that. On days I weight train, I only ride 10-15 minutes at low pace to warm up. I know Rip says it's a waste of time, but it feels to me like it loosens my joints up and warms the muscle, and the 10-15 minutes usually isn't that crucial to me, so I'm going to continue to do it. Last Thursday I spent several hours standing at a concert and felt that a day to rest was in order. Trained Saturday and then felt a sharp and new pain in my hip that I have never experienced before, so I took 2 days off again, then got back at it this morning. Today I used lighter weight for squats today to try to work a little on technique without pushing limits. I will post a video from this morning shortly.

Is the better protocol to keep a running chart on the first page of a thread, or just to update daily workouts with a new post?

Here is the video. YouTube
(Going to have to do something about the paunch.)

Thanks for any thoughts about form.

Glad to know you all.

[carson]

Your feet seen an inch or two too far apart.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Paunch will recompose itself, given adequate time and training, brother.

1) Angle's hard to see, so I can't be sure but: Starting at rep 3, depth looks slightly high.

2) You've got some knee-cave to deal with.

3) Some upper body looseness to deal with.

As for the cues that will solve those problems: The SSCs on the form thread are great at giving cues that make instant practical improvement.

Good on you for making this journey!

[RickinNH]

Well, bad news. Doing warmup squat progression yesterday, felt a tweek/spasm in my back (potentially spinal erector, not sure) left side. Shut down right away and did not try to complete training. Hopefully the healing will go quickly, but this is the first set back.

[RickinNH]

Paunch will recompose itself, given adequate time and training, brother.

1) Angle's hard to see, so I can't be sure but: Starting at rep 3, depth looks slightly high.

2) You've got some knee-cave to deal with.

3) Some upper body looseness to deal with.

As for the cues that will solve those problems: The SSCs on the form thread are great at giving cues that make instant practical improvement.

Good on you for making this journey!

Thanks. I took a look with an unweighted bar from another angle and I agree that I am not going deep enough. This could be a problem with knee flexibility on my left side.

[carson]

As has often been said by a multitude of people on this forum "The best training for all aspects of a lift is to do the lifts."