Low Spirits

Monday & Tuesday are in the books and now they'll be on the web. Here's what we did:

••••••••••

Monday 7/13

TRAP BAR DEADLIFTS:

(Basing these weights on the trap bar weighing 60lbs. I'm really not sure)

148lb x12

192lb x10

236lb x8

(258lb x5) 3x

LAT PULLDOWN:

(narrow, to the stomach)

85lb x12

85lb x8, x4

85lb x12

ISOLATERAL ROWS:

High & Wide / Mid & Wide / Narrow:

(no rest between each position)

20lb x10 / x10 / x10

25lb x8 / x8 / x8

30lb x6 / x6 / x6

ISOLATERAL Z TWIST:

5lb x10

(10lb x5) 2x

SEATED REAR FLY:

(forward lean)

70lb x10

(75lb x6) 2x

MACHINE CRUNCHES:

(80lb x15) 3x

Tuesday 7/14

DB BENCH:

35lb x10

40lb x8

45lb x6

(50lb x5) 3x

INCLINED BENCH / CALF RAISES:

Mid Grip / Narrow Grip:

Bar x12 / x10  / x15 calf raises empty machine weight

Narrow grip:

Bar x22 / x15 calf raises

55lb x15 / x18 calf raises

DECLINE BENCH:

Narrow:

Bar x20

(65lb x15) 2x

SEATED CABLE FLY:

Single / Single / Double:

40lb x20 / x20 / x20

50lb x15 / x15 / x15

60lb x10 / x10 / x10

SEATED CHEST PRESS:

Single / Single / Double:

50lb x10 / x10 / x5

55lb x8 / x8 / x4

40lb x10 / x10 / x5

••••••••••

     I settled on trap bar deads this week because I haven't done them in some time and I felt like giving myself a little ego boost. When I wrote my notes at the gym I actually had some adding errors on the weight. It was a nice surprise tonight when I realized I had in fact, lifted 8lbs more than I thought I had. Go me! Even with that, I feel as though my lower body is not not as strong as I would like it to be. I can say that I'm truly working to change that  but feel like I'm getting nowhere fast. 

     My shoulder is still sore and weak but I was at least able to press the bar on the incline and decline bench. It's pitifully light weight, but there's been progress so how can I really complain? 

     My spirits are in the tank, but I'm used to them being there. It's discouraging to see all these people plastering their successes on the socials. I mean, I'm happy for them, I suppose, but I can't deny that I may be a wee bit envious. I feel as though I'm running twice as fast to stay in exactly the same place. Frank has made awesome progress, even though he can't see it, and he's gotten numerous people complimenting him on how much weight he's lost and how great he looks. I fought tooth and nail to lose 14lbs and about 9 of them have come back. I look almost the same as when I started this over a year ago and I think that one lady is the only one who said anything positive to me, but that was directed at both Frank and I. Like I said, it's discouraging. I'm fat, I'm old and I look like holy hell. Yet here I am, 5 days a week, killing myself and busting my ass (and shoulder, and knees) for what? Tonight, I'm just not sure.

     I'll watch some TV, get a restless night's sleep and get back at it tomorrow afternoon. Another revolution in whatever cycle this is that I'm stuck in. *sigh*

Wonky and Wigged

     My schedule is kind of wonky now that I'm adding in Wednesdays as a training day. I wanted to use that as an extra leg day, but if I change things up too much, Frank gets wigged out. I thought I had a solution, but for some reason, it didn't work out this week. It could very well be that I screwed up, but it's way more satisfying to blame the Frankenberry. While we're pointing fingers, you can read my training notes below.
••••••••••

PREACHER CURLS:

EZ Curl Bar, inner / outer:

20lb x15 / x15

30lb x10 / x10

40lb x8 / x8

DB CURLS:

Gladiator:

20lb x12

(30lb x8) 2x

Reverse:

(20lb x5) 3x

CABLE CURLS:

30lb x10

35lb x8

40lb x5

CABLE TRICEP PULLDOWN:

35lb x10

(40lb x6) 3x

CABLE KICKBACKS:

Overhand:

15lb x6

Underhand:

15lb x4

Neutral:

15lb x4

DB ROLLBACKS:

20lb x12

25lb x10

30lb x8

STANDING CALF RAISE / SHRUG:

+45lb x12 / x20

+70lb x10 / x20

+95lb x8 / x20

••••••••••

     Not too much to say about tonight as everything went ok. I'm not a fan of preacher curls though because they always irritate my joints. Maybe I'm just not accustomed to them but I feel as though my arms are oddly extended. It could also be the fact that I am a wee bit hyper mobile in my elbows. I prefer strict standing curls. 

     I forgot to start today with calf raises but I did remember to end with them. I threw in some shrugs while I was there for good measure. I like shrugs. I hope this helps some of the puffiness in my legs. It certainly can't hurt and maybe I'll even start to see some sort of definition in my calves; it sure would be nice to be able to wear shorts. It's hot enough to begin with in that place but wearing leggings makes it nearly unbearable at times. 

     Tomorrow Frank is doing shoulders, but I'm not sure if I'll join in or do something different. I'll probably try to do some pressing and if it hurts, I'll stop. My shoulder is sore as of right now, but maybe by tomorrow it will feel OK. We'll see. I'd say that I'll sleep on it and see, but it hurts to sleep on it. 🙄

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.