It Is What It Is

     Alrighty folks, tonight is a three-fer event. Not one, not two but three, yes THREE nights of training notes! Not sure how you got so lucky? Blame it on my early onset dementia (just kidding...I think)

••••••••••

Thursday 7/2

BENCH:

Bar x10

Narrow:

Bar x12

55lb x10

Stopped here do to too much pain in right shoulder

DB SHRUG / INCLINE PRESS:

20lb x15 / x12

30lb x15 / x10

35lb x10 / x6

40lb x8 / x5

Just this small switch from the straight bar to the dumbbells made all of the difference in the world. The change in grip / angle alleviated the shoulder pain!

DB DECLINE:

35lb x10

40lb x10

50lb x6

CABLE ROWS:

Narrow, Single/Single/Double:

55lb x5 / x5 / x12

55lb x5 / x5 / 85lb x8

60lb x4 / x4 / 90lb x5

TRICEP WORK:

DB Rollbacks:

20lb x12

EZ Curl Skull Crusher:

50lb x5

This was a little too heavy so I lightened it up a bit

EZ Curl Curl/Skull Crusher:

(40lb x10) 2x

Monday 7/6

CALF RAISE / SHRUG / INCLINE PRESS:

25lb x15 / x15 / x15

35lb x15 / x15 / x10

40lb x15 / x15 / x8

DB BENCH / BENT ROW:

40lb x10 / x10 ea. side

45lb x6 / x6 ea. side

50lb x5 / x5 ea. side

DB INCLINED FLY:

FAIL. 

I tried these, but there was too much strain on the shoulder.

CURLS:

EZ Curl Bar:

40lb x15

DB Gladiator:

25lb x10 ea. side

DB Zottman:

25lb x7

CABLE SHOULDER ROTATION:

External:

(5lb x10 ea. side) 3x

Internal:

(10lb x15 ea. side) 3x

SEATED FLY:

Single/Single/Double:

30lb x15 / x15 / x15

Only did one set and stopped because my shoulder was grinding. 

SEATED CHEST PRESS:

Single/Single/Double:

40lb x12 / x12 / x12

50lb x10 / x10 / x10

60lb x8 / x8 / x5, x3

Tuesday 7/7

DEADLIFT:

133lb x10 / x10 calf raises

199lb x3, x7

(241lb x2) 2x

221lb x1

KB RDL:

Single Leg:

(35lb ea. hand x6 ea. leg) 2x

I was having balance issues on my right leg

Single KB:

35lb x10 ea.

45lb x8 ea.

50lb x6 ea.

LAT PD / CHEST ROW:

20" V-Bar:

90lb x8 / x8

95lb x6 / x6

100lb x4 / x4

SEATED CABLE ROWS:

Narrow, Single/Single/Double:

(55lb x5 / x5 / 85lb x5) 3x

••••••••••

     I'm aggravated literally and figuratively. On some days, my shoulder feels like it's healing and then other days, simple things cause pain. I'm basically just trying things, seeing if it hurts and adjusting the game plan accordingly. I was pissed that I couldn't bench, but then Frank told me to stop crying about it and just figure out what to do. That's when I grabbed the friggin dumbbells and got serious. Amazing what a small tweak of a grip and arm angle can do for pain. So, for the time being, the dumbbells will be my go-to for pressing. That's OK, my grip needs the work anyhow. I think overhead pressing is still on the "do not do" list. I might some light weight with the dumbbells and see where that takes me. 

     Today sucked. For whatever reason, I had absolutely no desire and no energy to much of anything on those deadlifts. I got through it the best I could but kind of fizzled there at the end. Even the KB RDL's sucked ass. I had no balance whatsoever. Now my low back is angry at me and I feel nothing in my glutes or hams. Ugh. Whatever. It just was not a good day. 

     I'm trying to add in calf raises wherever I can because I do believe that I have lipedema in my legs. I'm going to discuss it with my doc when I go in a couple of weeks to get the "expert opinion" but I'm fairly certain it's an issue. I was reading and I think it's why I carry so much fat in my legs, why they bruise so easily and why no matter what I do, they never get very muscular looking and they always swell. There's no cure or remedy, but obviously, creating more muscle will help push fluid back up my legs. However, from what I've been reading, the process of building the muscle itself can cause some fluid retention, so to alleviate that a bit, do calf raises at the beginning and end of training sessions, to help squeeze everything around. It certainly can't hurt to try. 

     Other than that, things are what they are and I'm trying to stay positive. As usual, that's the hardest thing to do. 

Loosey Goosey and Bloody Maria

     I'm still going slow and "taking it easy" but I tagged along with Frank to the gym today He worked on shoulders, but I just did some KB work and light pressing. Here's what got done:

••••••••••

COYOTE KB WORKOUT:

35lb bell. I substituted gorilla rows for the pushups because the pushups were bothering my shoulder. So the circuit looked like this:

15 swings

5 goblet squats

5 gorilla rows (ea. side)

I only did 10 rounds today and took me about 30 minutes.

CABLE LATERAL RAISES:

I had to do different weights on each side to keep the pain manageable.

(5lb x15 right side, 10lb x5 left side) 3x

SINGLE ARM LAT PULLDOWN:

30lb x12 ea. side

40lb x12 ea. side

50lb x8 ea. side

CONVERGING CHEST PRESS:

30lb x15

(35lb x10) 2x

••••••••••

     And that's all she wrote. I feel like a chump only doing a little but like I said, I'm trying to listen to my body. I was disappointed that I couldn't do the pushups today, but I didn't want to try and just push through it and then screw myself up even more. I think it's on the mend so I want to give it time to really heal. Keeping my shoulder tight to me and using neutral, narrow grip gives much less strain and pain. Anything wide, with a deep stretch is a definite no-go. And absolutely no heavy weight for now; baby weights only. 

     Other than that, It was a good conditioning session and I surely sweat some toxins out. I think the gym is having some sort of issue with their AC units so it gets a wee bit warm in there. Then I came home and did all of my watering for the veggies so I got a little bonus workout. I can't just stop moving - that ends up causing more issues than staying mobile and loose. 

     Now that all of my "work" is done, I can relax, enjoy the summer heat and get some painting projects done. I believe a Bloody Maria is also in order. 

Half As Good

     I think I'm going to ease up for a week or two on the lifting. I feel like my body is telling me it's struggling to recover. When the body talks, you should probably listen. I don't want to just totally stop doing everything though. I mean, stagnation is no better than burning out. With that in mind, I decided to do my old favorite kettlebell routine - The Coyote.

     For those not in the know, The Coyote is a deceptively simple kettlebell circuit that consists of 3 movements repeated for 20 rounds. I chose a 35lb KB for mine and this is what it looked like this:

     • 15 KB swings

     • 5 Goblet squats

     • 3 Pushups

That's eat. Simple right? Yeah, that's what everyone thinks until they try it. I used to be fairly proficient at this particular gem; not so much any more. I'm slower, like way slower, but I pushed through and drove that struggle bus over the finish line. All told, it took me about 54 minutes to complete. I used to be able to finish this in about 30 minutes. Now, in my defense, I was outside in the heat and it was sucking the life out of me, but still, I'm sloooooow. I'm happy to say that the pushups didn't really aggravate my shoulder. It's a wee bit sore and tired, but no real pain and I even managed to do all the squats with no knee sleeves and also no pain. I'm glad that I did it even though I'm almost positive that I died twice. It felt good to be out there pushing and grinding and making the neighbors wonder about my sanity.

     In other news, I also have some progress on the doctor front. I was able to switch my health insurance plan and now I can finally get a doctor in town that doesn't have a waiting list. Maybe I can find some relief from this hormonal issue that's been plaguing me. Fingers crossed.

Shouldering the Pain

     I'm still dealing with this crappy shoulder pain. It's annoying and it makes it difficult to train bench and really, any upper body. I didn't want to stop altogether though, so I did just enough to keep moving. I've also got notes here for Monday's squats. We skipped yesterday.

••••••••••

Monday 6/22

SQUATS:

Sumo:

95lb x10

Standard:

135lb x8

155lb x6

175lb x4

175lb x5

175lb x3

Front Squats:

Bar x10

65lb x10

95lb x5

45° LEG PRESS:

Sumo:

(4 Plates x10) 3x

Calf Raises:

(4 plates x10) 3x

SEATED HAMSTRING CURLS:

Forward Lean:

110lb x12

120lb x10

130lb x8

LEG EXTENSIONS:

100lb x12

120lb x10

130lb x8

Wednesday 6/24

BENCH:

3" Block:

Bar x15

95lb x13

115lb x9

(135lb x5) 3x

ROMAN CHAIR:

Leg Raises:

(x10) 2x

x8, x2

Knee Raises:

(x10) 3x

DECLINE SIT UPS:

Overhead KB:

(20lb x10) 3x

DEAD HANGS:

17 seconds

24 seconds

26 seconds

SEATED CHEST PRESS:

Single/Single/Double:

(Singles were done cross-body)

30lb x12 / x12 / x15

40lb x10 / x10 / x13

50lb x8 / x8 / x11

TRI. ROPE PULL-DOWNS:

30lb x10

40lb x5

45lb x5

••••••••••

     Squats went well on Monday. I thought I would be able to get 3 full sets of 5 at the 175lb, but alas, it 'twas not to be. I'll get it next week though, I can feel it. I switched up my foot position on the calf raises and ending up tweaking my muscle a bit, but it's feeling better.

     Today, the bench was less than stellar, but it's truly all I could muster. I used the empty bar to where in my ROM I had the most pain. It ended up, of course, at the very bottom so that's why I threw the 3" block on there. I can't say that it made it pain free, but it did lessen it quite a bit. Honestly, that tricep work at the end was just a throwaway set. I didn't feel like doing it, my shoulder was aching and I was over the whole thing, but Frank was doing them, so I did them.

I was going to tape my shoulder before we went tonight, but I forgot. I'm definitely taping it tomorrow morning though because it does seem to take some of the pressure off of it. 

     Other than that, things are just sort of meh. I'm at a bit of a low point, morale-wise. I feel like I'm just floundering and not making the progress that I want to. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd really like to go see a doctor to find out if my hormones are tanked or what. I've contacted my insurance company and they're supposedly going to help me find a doctor. Maybe if I could get the freaking hormones in check, my mood would get a boost as well. Here's hoping.

Shoulder Pain Whats Good For Pain GIFfrom Shoulder Pain GIFs

Don't Be a Sisyphus

     Just as I'm getting my knees and my SI joint back to where they should be, my damn shoulder blows a gasket. Always chasing my tail. Here's what I did over the past two days:

••••••••••

Tuesday 6/16

Bench:

Legless:

Bar x10 wide

Bar x10 narrow

Standard:

95lb x10 narrow - SHOULDER PAIN

135lb x3

135lb x1

*The pain was just too uncomfortable for me to keep going. 

FLOOR PRESS:

Bar x15

67lb x12

89lb x12

(111lb x6) 2x

111lb x5

*The floor presses didn't bother the shoulder as much. Still some discomfort, but not unbearable.

EZ BAR SKULL CRUSHERS:

I did my own little invention here. I call them my 3 part Tri Crushers. I start off with a triceps extension to the throat, then one to the nose, then one past my head into a pull over. All three movements count as one rep.

20lb x10

30lb x8

40lb x6

50lb x2

DB ROLLBACKS:

20lb x7

(20lb x10) 2x

ROMAN CHAIR:

Leg Raise:

(x10) 3x

Alternating Knee Raise:

(5 ea. side) 3x

HANGING WORK:

Knee Raise / Leg Raise:

(x3) 2x

SEATED FLY:

Single/Single/Double:

(60lb x12 / x12 / x12) 2x

*These were a bad idea but I got a couple sets in anyhow.

Wednesday 6/17

DEADS:

133lb x10

177lb x10

(221lb x6) 3x

DB ROWS:

Narrow:

25lb x10

30lb x10

40lb x10

Lat Sweep:

30lb x10

40lb x10

50lb x5

LAT PULLDOWN / HIGH ROW:

Narrow, Underhand / Wide:

85lb x10 / x8

90lb x8 / x5

95lb x6 / x3

••••••••••

     I kept today fairly straightforward because my energy was low. This is normally my rest day, but I'm trying to kick it up a notch. This shoulder thing is a total PITA and it was those damned high to low flys that did it. Curse them. I swear on the graves of all of my ancestors that I shall never fly like that again. I've got some KT tape on it and it feels ok but it's certainly not 100%. Tomorrow is normally overhead presses, but that's not happening for me. Frank may still press but I'll probably focus on bi's, tri's and core. All of those areas need help anyhow so it's just as well. 

     My back is fine, even my knees feel OK. As usual, I'm tired and not sleeping very well but not much I can do about that. Some nights are better than others and the shoulder pain certainly isn't helping any. 

     I swear, If Sisyphus wants to hang out I'd be game, we could probably relate really well. Maybe we could could just get together on the same hill and chat while we push our boulders.

Catching Up

     Today you get Presses from last week and squats from today. Let's get into it!

••••••••••

Thursday 6/11

OVERHEAD PRESS:

Strict:

45lb x15

67lb x8

77lb x4

Push:

77lb x1

87lb x8

99lb x3

109x1

*At this point, the pain in my SI joint was too much. I switched to the Swiss bar for shits & giggles.

Swiss:

106lb FAIL

87lb x3

SWISS BAR CURL/PRESS:

(The swiss bar weighs 42lb)

Bar x10 

52lb x10

62lb x7 strict/push

72lb x4 push

SWISS BAR TRI EXT.:

(Bar x12) 3x

SHOULDER ROTATION:

External:

(5lb x10) 3x

Internal:

10lb x12

(15lb x8) 2x

CABLE TRI KICKBACK:

15lb x10 Overhand

20lb x4 Overhand

15lb x5 Underhand

TRI PULLDOWN:

Straight Bar:

25lb x12

30lb x15

40lb x8

Monday 6/15

SQUATS:

Sumo:

95lb x10

95lb x4 - Needed a bathroom break lol

Standard:

115lb x10

135lb x10

155lb x6

135lb x8 (weird pop/crackle in rt knee, no pain)

Sumo:

65lb x10

SEATED LEG PRESS:

Sumo Stance / Inner Calf Raise:

(120lb x10 / x10) 3x

LEG EXTENSION / SPLIT SQUATS:

100lb x10 / Body Weight x10 ea.

110lb x10 / x10 ea.

120lb x10 / x10 ea.

LAYING HAMSTRING:

Single/Single/Double:

50lb x5 / x5 / 90lb x5

40lb x8 / x8 / 80lb x8

30lb x10 / x10 / 60lb x10

••••••••••

     Last Thursday was not a good day. I was having a fair amount of SI pin on my right side but I thought I could press through it (ha ha, see what I did there) and get some good work done. I was incorrect. The more I did, the more it hurt and it hindered how much I could hoist overhead. When I tried for the heavy ones, I felt my balance go as I raised my arms, my back arched too much and I knew it was no bueno. As I was pressing, I was watching myself in the mirrors at the front of the room. My right arm was a good inch higher than my left. I know from past experience that means my SI joint is wigged, but did I listen to reason? No, of course not. I was, and still am, still dealing with shoulder pain so at that point, I was dealing with both shoulder and SI joint pain. Fun times.

     The next day my entire back was tight and cramped, I was walking and standing crooked and I was miserable. Needless to say, squats never happened. I rested up over the weekend and I'm feeling much better now. I decided to switch things up and this week's schedule is a little different. Monday & Friday will be squats, Tuesday will be bench, Wednesday is for deadlifts, and Thursday remains presses. 

     The squats went well tonight. I did have a weird pop in my right knee, so I stopped squatting because I didn't want to press my luck. It feels fine now, so I'm guessing it was just getting tired. Other than that, I'm pleased and feel actually, pretty damn good. I'm exhausted, but I feel like an almost normal human. Almost. The right shoulder is still nagging me but I know that shoulders take forever to heal. I'm just adjusting grips and arm positions, etc. to alleviate as much strain as I can. Ever onwards, ever upwards.

They're Watching

     Good day at the gym, not too much to explain so let's get into it.

••••••••••

DEFICIT DEADLIFTS:

About 1.5" - 15kg Rubber coated plate

133lb x10

199lb x8

243lb FAIL

*Not sure why I made such a big jump, to be honest

(221lb x5) 3x

SEATED REAR FLY:

60lb x10

70lb x8

80lb x5

60lb x9

*I made a concerted effort to really keep my scapulas down so I wouldn't engage my traps so much.

SEATED CABLE ROW:

EZ curl attachment, wide grip:

55lb x10

65lb x10

75lb x7

85lb x5

LAT PULLDOWN / HIGH ROW:

EZ curl attachment:

70lb x10 / x10

85lb x8 / x8

90lb x6 / x3, x3

SEATED ISOLATERAL ROW:

Z Twist:

5lb x10

10lb x8

High Rows:

15lb x10

25lb x10

30lb x7

BACK RAISES:

25lb x12

35lb x10

45lb x10

••••••••••

     Everything went pretty well tonight. Nothing hurt, so that's always a positive. I have some stiffness in my neck and my knuckles (arthritis) right now, so I'll take some ibuprofen before bed to make sure I get a good night's sleep and nothing locks up. There was something that happened that kind of took Frank and I both by surprise though.

     We were at the back, in our normal deadlift spot and we were resting in between sets. An older woman, who I had seen, I think, once before came up and asked if we were using the PVC bar. We said nope and that she could take it. As she was walking back to her spot, she said (and it's not exactly word for word) that she had been watching us since we started and that we've done really well and made good progress. I thanked her and we shared some pleasantries and then went back about our business. 

     Like I said, I only remember seeing this lady one other time, but apparently, she's been there, watching us. At first, I felt a little weird that someone has been watching me, but then I felt kind of good about it. We've been showing up and putting in enough work that it's noticeable. Even though it may not feel noticeable, at times, to me, other people take notice and see improvement. How can that not make you feel good?  It also kind of gives me a little bit of accountability. Not that I owe anyone anything, but if I think people are watching, how can I slack? I have to push and hold myself to that higher standard. Sometimes peer pressure is a good thing, even if it is only in my head.