On Pause

SHRUGS:

60lb DB x35

••••••••••

DEADLIFTS:

(Not touch 'n go)

135lb x10

155lb x8

185lb x6

(205lb x2) 3x

PAUSED DEADS:

(135lb x5) 3x

••••••••••

SEAL ROWS:

(25lb x10) 3x

CALF RAISES / CHEST PULLS:

(25lb DB x25 / 80lb x10) 3x

••••••••••

H.K.R.

(10x) 5x

••••••••••

I should have thrown in some Nordic Curls or blown up my swiss ball and done hamstring curls and GHR's, but honestly, I wasn't that into it today. I'll tack them onto the end of my upper body workout this weekend just for shits and giggles. I intentionally moved slower today and I also threw in a set of paused deads because I don't think I've ever done them. They suck. I think I'll keep them in rotation! 

I wasn't too sure how the calf raises would feel on my toes but they felt pretty OK. For those not in the know, I sprained or strained the ligaments in the toes of my right foot while weeding( no laughing please, that's the way my life rolls). They've been in pain for about a month, but the past week or so I can actually bend them without too much discomfort. I haven't directly trained my calves in forever, so I know they'll be killing me in a couple of days. My upper back is quite tired at the moment, so I know I was hitting where I wanted to. 

With all that being said, I feel good. Now, I'm sweaty and I smell and the dog needs to pee. Peace out!

Buggin' Me

BENCH:

Bar 1.5 x10 (working top range)

65lb x10

85lb x8

95lb x6

(100lb x5) 3x

••••••••••

BARBELL ROWS:

bar x15

55lb x15

65lb x10

75lb x8

•••••••••

DB BENCH / TRI. EXTENSION

(15lb x10 / x10) 3x

CHEST FLY:

(15lb x10) 3x

••••••••••

H.K.R.

(x10) 3x

••••••••••

82°, 60% humidity in the basement. It's crowded, messy, and dank. Perfect environment for working out (insert sarcastic tone). We're sorting through our crap, again, so the weight room is serving as a sorting platform and temporary storage area. Because of that, the space is even more limited than usual. The floor is also nasty, so there was no way I was doing any sit ups down there! The only thing I forgot to do were my seal rows. I got interrupted by the Terminix man and it screwed me all up. Maybe he heard about my spider legs?? 

Overall, I got done what I wanted to and increased the weight by 5lbs. I also got more reps on the DB bench/Tri. Ext. Go me!

SPIDER LEGS

SQUATS:

Bar x10

65lb x10

95lb x8

125lb x6

(165lb x3) 3x

••••••••••

GOBLET BENCH SQUAT:

20lb KB x10

35lb KB x10

55lb KB x10

••••••••••

STEP UPS:

(to 2nd stair of staircase)

20lb KB x10 ea

35lb KB x10 ea

55lb KB x10 ea

••••••••••

H.L.R / H.K.R.

(x3 / x7) 5x

••••••••••

It was a hot, humid, sweaty session today. It was about 82° in the basement with about 71% humidity. It was like working out in someone's armpit. Ugh. But I got it done. I was not able to complete 5 reps with the 165lb, so the weight will stay the same next week. I do believe it's time for a much better belt though. I really need a prong belt. This Velcro one has worked well, but it's worn out and it popped off 3 times while I was squatting. It's annoying and really messes with my concentration. It's served me well. 

A quick note about the step ups - Unless you have legs on the longer side, I don't think I'd recommend skipping the first step on the staircase. If your legs are shorter, It's going to put you at an awkward angle when you step up. I have spider legs (to go with my monkey arms) so it wasn't that bad for me. 

All in all, not bad. Now to drink water and cool down.

Monkey Arms

SEATED OVEREHEAD PRESS:

(Bar x10) 2x

50lb x8

55lb x6

(60lb x5) 3x

55lb x6

50lb x8

(Bar x10) 2x

•••••••••

SEAL ROWS:

(25lb x10) 3x

REVERSE DB FLY

(15lb x10) 3x

•••••••••••

BUS DRIVERS:

10lb plate 30 seconds

(25lb plate 15 seconds) 2x

10lb plate 30 seconds

••••••••••

STANDING OVERHEAD PLATE RAISE

(25lb x10) 3x

25lb x20

•••••••••••

HANGING KNEE RAISES

(x10) 5x

•••••••••••

Tonight was a good night. No crazy weights were thrown around, but my shoulder still has zero pain. I'm so glad to be getting beyond all that. Shoulder issues are a nuisance and take forever to get rid of. I decided I would raise my bench to do the seal rows. I can never get a very good extension because of my monkey arms.

This still didn't allow for a full extension, but it was better than what I was doing. I didn't eat very much today and what I ate was crap, but I'm not going to beat myself up for it. Tomorrow's another day. 😎

Get A Grip

DB SHRUGS:

(60b x20) 2x

••••••••••

DEAD LIFTS:

135lb x10

155lb x8

175lb x6 -----> Left grip started to fail on about #5

(205lb x1) 5x

135lb x10

••••••••••

SEATED CHEST PULLS:

60lb x15

80lb x10

100lb x5 (10 second hold on the last one)

••••••••••

SINGLE LEG RDL:

20lb KB x10

35lb KB x10

55lb KB x10

•••••••••

I'm still no where near consistent on the 205lb, so it looks like I'll be at that weight for the near future. I'll keep working towards at least 3 sets of 5 on that. Tonight, the thing that was hindering me the most was my grip. I simply don't do enough lately to work my grip strength and it shows. Oh well, at least I always have plenty of things to work on!

The diet change is going OK. I haven't had any junk food - cookies, ice creams, that sort of thing. I did make some frozen banana treats, but they used peanut butter and dark chocolate, so they truly weren't that bad. I've included a link to the recipe below. The only thing I changed, was that I made some that were covered in peanut butter. I just melted the peanut butter with the coconut oil and it worked pretty well!

Frozen Banana Treats

Hot Bench

BENCH:

Bar 1.5 x10 (working bottom range)

65lb x10

75lb x5

(95lb x5) 3x

••••••••••

BARBELL ROWS:

bar x15

55lb x10

65lb x10

SEAL ROWS:

(25lb x10) 3x

••••••••••

CHEST FLY:

25lb x5

(couldn't get a full range of motion)

(15lb x10) 3x

••••••••••

(15lb DB bench / tri ext x5) 3x

••••••••••

SITUPS:

25lb plate pullover back to front / 25lb plate situp x10

25lb plate pullover back to front / 25lb oh plate situp x10

••••••••••

I was very pleased to see that I could get full depth on the bench press with no shoulder pain! I can once again start working the weight back up. It was a sticky 84° in the basement today, but that was 4° cooler than upstairs. I've gotten strict on cutting the majority of my carbs and eating nothing but fruits, veggies and meats. I've noticed a decrease in the swelling in my legs and I was down 6lbs. That being said, I indulged in 2 hard ciders on Sunday and they made me feel like shit and retain a ton of fluid. Never again. I'm sticking with home-brewed ice tea and water with the occasional Gatorade type drink thrown in. I put weight back on overnight but I know that's going away once I flush my system. I've noticed definite changes to my body as I've gotten older and had hormonal changes. Not that I'm over the hill or beyond hope, just something that I wasn't expecting and now I have to adjust to it. 

Anyhow, we've been following a blend of keto and clean eating. Frank is down about 11 pounds and he's feeling better as well; aside from being totally drained by this friggin heat! Tonight's dinner is shrimp and cauliflower curry. The link to the recipe is below.

Shrimp & Cauliflower Curry

Back to Squats

BACK SQUATS:
bar x10 paused
65lb x10
95lb x10
125lb x10
(155lb x5) 3x
95lb x10
••••••••••
BENCH SQUATS:
20lb KB x10
35lb KB x10
55lb KB x10
••••••••••
PLATE PULLOVERS:
(with full front extension)
25lb x15
35lb x10
45lb x5
•••••••••
SIT UPS:
(25lb plate OH x10 / 25lb plate on chest x10) 3x
••••••••••
The squats felt good on my knees and back. My left shoulder felt somewhat tight, but there was no real pain. It was good to get my ass moving again. (figuratively and literally)