Grassroots Strength Training - Bodybuilding, Power Lifting, Etc.

In reply to Nicole Suddard :

Vibram builds soles for Merrell now too.  They have a of nice offerings with great soles for a variety of purposes. 

In reply to tuna55 :

I hope it recovers fast.  Neck pain is a real bummer.  We have one of those rice bags you pop in the microwave for that.  That and tiger balm are pretty good at calming nerves and muscle pains. 

And a lot of muscles are connected in ways many never realize.  Move your fingers as an example.  You can see muscle movement all the way up to the elbow.  Anything involving shoulders and chest will put stress on the neck.  I had a knee scoped a few years ago.  When it starts hurting now, I know my hip flexor, calf and groin muscles need to be stretched and rolled out.  It's kind of amazing how everything is interrelated. 

I ate something yesterday (after going through a kettlebell strength circuit I'm working on) that gave me the old gurgle guts so I had to skip the open roll today and instead stayed home and fumigated myself until the windiness passed. Then, around 3:00 pm I went to the gym and had an amazing workout. 

I'm continuing to mix things up slightly and I did:

The usual biking, abs, stretching, and KB halo warm up with a couple of rounds of the speed bag thrown in and lots of rotator cuff work since my shoulders (the right one in particular) are getting a bit crunchy.
Next was leg extensions super setted with leg curls 3 x 12
Then deadlift EMOM
weighted dips plus Lu raises 3 x 15
reverse flyes on the crossover cables 4 x 12
Incline dumbell press 1 x 9 (failure) with a pushup dropset
light curls and pressdowns for a quick pump
strict, "hollow body" pullups 3 x failure

In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks!

A colleague mentioned those percussive massager things were great. I bought one which was highly rated by BuySide. It made the stupid thing hurt worse than before. It's going back today. The gym today was 100% pain free, just a bit tight.

Thanks for caring. 

I had a moment with Tunakid yesterday. He was showing me how he can get close to doing some arm lift with a 10 lb weight. I grabbed both of the 10 lb weights and did it with my left, then handed them back. He's trying, and it's fun to see how getting stronger. At 13, I need to make sure he knows Dad is way stronger, so that when he's 20 and I'd 48, he won't realize that he's surpassed me.

Yesterday I biked 22 miles and also got in 12k steps doing chores.

I often have trouble winding down and falling asleep. Last night I was out like a light, much earlier than I usually go to sleep. I got nine hours of good, solid rest, and I feel pretty good today. 

This is the final clue that I need to get my sleep patterns more regulated. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

22 mi is a solid ride.  

In reply to tuna55 :

I think staying healthy and fit your kids and family is the best reason.  Doing things with them is a great way to get time that doesn't involve screens too.  

I'm getting fitter, anyhow. I'll never be fast again, but I'll keep going further.

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

I'm doing an event tomorrow.  I may finish DFL but it's better than becoming a couch potato.  11 min miles for a 10k is respectable for a normal human.  Ima lot slower than that right now trying to get back to where I was 10 years ago.  It's a process and at the end of the day you are really just competing against yourself.  

AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

 It's a process and at the end of the day you are really just competing against yourself.  

Exactly this, especially at my age.

Good luck at your event!

Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:

AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

 It's a process and at the end of the day you are really just competing against yourself.  

Exactly this, especially at my age.

Good luck at your event!

It's the first one in about 9 years.  I'm in it for the experience.  I will work on faster this winter.  

Another night in FITNESS COURT. 

The prosecution NEVER RESTS. 

Also getting back to my PR pace of 8:30 @ 3 miles:

I never run more than 30 minutes at a time after watching a review of some of the literature on how running affects strength training. 

I was going to add sprints to my routine but I'm about to move and I've decided to just find a heavy bag or buy one, finally. 

Turns out my last event was 8.5 years ago.  Then I had knee surgery and got way out of shake again.  This time around I do enjoy the journey more.  The event went as I expected except the water was way too damn cold.  I hate cold water.  The bike ride was 21 miles and included 1000 ft of climbing.  The jog was also hilly.  I now have a base time to see how much I improve next year!  The event was fun, the people great and the area nice too.  
 

And this weekend the family may go trail riding with me.  
 

I still lane on lifting twice a week as I know it helps at my age.

I just had the best post-workout shake OF MY LIFE!


Or, at least in recent memory.


I haven't been riding my bike as often as I usually do so I reduced my carb intake a bit. This past week, for no reason in particular, I decided to cut them out almost entirely and save them for this weekend. I had some bananas languishing on the counter that started to get overly ripe so last night I peeled them, broke them into chunks, put them in a ziplock bag and tossed them in the freezer. I also had some dates (I LOVE dates!) waiting patiently to be consumed, most likely judging me for cutting out carbs again.


Today was a boxing workout so, after waking at around 7:30 I downed some coffee with stevia and coconut oil then did some house work until about 11:00. I rode my bike to the gym and, much to my dismay, discovered the boxing/cardio room was ocupied by a cardio class. So, I ran through my warm up three times and patiently waited for my turn to use the punchy things. 

After about 30 minutes of blunt force catharsis I rode home and assembled my shake.


Into the blender I tossed:
two dates
about 1.5 bananas worth of frozen chunks
one scoop of O.N. Vanilla Ice Cream whey protein
two packets of non-sugar sweetener
a splash of vanilla soy milk

After the first sip I literally said, "Holy E36 M3!"

That shake was amazing!

Today was the third day I've been able to do some decent grappling after a multi-year hiatus. The rust is quickly being scrubbed off, my skills are returning and I no longer feel helpless. 

There is one Judo black belt in particular that I'm using for motivation. He started his Judo journey shortly after I had to walk away in '19 and he's been training steadily, gaining experience and climbing the ranks during these past several years. He actively competes in Judo and Jiu Jitsu, I believe. During the previous open roll session he caught me with a Kimura and wasn't very nice about it. Today we were pretty much dead even, we rolled for an entire six minute round and neither of us tapped. He still has better technique but, despite the fact that he has a 40 pound weight advantage and is 10+ years younger than me, I am quite a bit stronger. Being a striker myself I sometimes rely on my strength to save me when I'm grappling which isn't ideal but, it works. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to the club this coming Sunday and give him a little payback.


I'm generally overly nice and constantly worried about hurting people, even if they're much better than me but, I will use this man's training faux pas as motivation. It always helps to have a concrete goal to strive for.  

I've been cautiously pushing my strength recently, and I've made some notable accomplishments:

Doing the entire stack for 6-7 reps on triceps pushdowns
Benchpressed 275 for 3 reps

My weight is up to almost 180, which makes for a 40 pound gain in two years. I'm really starting to feel it; walking up stairs is hard, I get winded easily, I can really feel the extra weight. So I'm taking a week or two, switching up my workouts to a 5X5 style split and doing cardio every other day. Goal will be to lose 2-3 pounds of fat, after which I'll go back to gaining. The extra cardio will do my heart and lungs good as well. I walked uphill on a treadmill today and found I couldn't go hard enough to get myself out of breath—my calves got exhausted first, due to them adjusting to my heavier body. I'm looking good though! I even started a tiktok and posted a few videos. I might try my hand at being one of those fitness influencer people. Then again, I don't enjoy making videos that much so maybe not. We'll see.

My wife pointed out that my hamstrings have visibly grown, so that's good as well. 

More punching today.



*Lunatic Fringe plays over a training montage*

I cobbled together another tasty post-workout meal, pancakes this time. Also instead of doing the usual kettlebell Rite of Passage I did a clean and press Haiku; 5 reps, 7 reps, 5 reps.

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup hulled hemp seeds

2 scoops (40 grams) collagen protein

1 cup soy milk

Blend until smooth, then cook like pancakes. I drizzled some raw honey on top and it was amazing!

I took a spill on my moto and tweaked my shoulder. It's been annoying trying to do any sort of workout with limited shoulder mobility. Was able to do light front squats with arms crossed, and light low rows. But no bench, no curls, nothing overhead, etc. I just want to work my chest dangit.

Wednesday I had the first workout since I started in April where my body felt solid and powerful the rest of the day after the workout, then after this mornings workout it does as well. It feels like it's all coming together and I'm on the cusp of moving into intermediate shape, from beginner. Maybe another month I'll be at that point. Then I was talking to my wife about getting a kerosene heater for the garage so I can work on the cars this winter (I've used the plug in units in the past and they just don't keep up below 30 degrees.) and she said "oh that will be great for you to use when you work out." I swear you could see the light bulb turn on in my head. I had not thought of that, but of course! I get up at 445am to hit my gym in the garage and that will be freaking awesome this January-February. It's funny to me that I had not thought anything about that yet. Did I mention my wife is the smart one in this relationship?

Being a veteran, today being Veteran's Day and having a history of mental illness in the family, I figured it was a good day to run a virtual Strava 10k benefit challenge thing:

I went a bit further to set my age 50+ distance record, too.

My right knee has been acting up a bit so I got some of those neoprene knee sleeves. Took a second to get used to them, but it really helped. I did some squats today and didn't feel 100%, but felt much much better than without the sleeves.

Also cutting sucks. I've been keeping my calories low and doing cardio every other day, but I'm not losing fat like I wanted to. I'm down to 172, but I feel my love handle area hasn't budged. It's only been a couple weeks, so I just have to be patient and keep doing my cardio.

How has everyone's training been going?


An old friend and former coach made it to the open roll today which was amazing, I haven't seen him and his wife in several years. He effortlessly obliterated me but, it was great rolling with them again. 

I also rolled with my nemesis for two six-minute rounds and each session ended in a stalemate. I had him in danger a few times but, I was unable to capitalize and vice/versa.


I was talking with the guy who runs the gym and he uses a program/ap called Juggernaut BJJ. He gave me a quick rundown of it and it seems like something I'm going to have to try. :)


 

In reply to The_Jed :

Funny you should ask. This morning when I came in from my workout my wife told me she was proud of me for sticking with working out this time. From her thats a huge compliment. She has been with me for over 30 years and has been there with 90% of my on and off again gym experiences. Anyway, its going super fantastic. I started taking calcium last week as a supplement after not having any supplemental calcium for over a year and two days after I started taking it on my next workout it was like I had a strength explosion. I looked it up and apparently I had a slight calcium deficiency that got corrected because calcium is a major player in intracellular muscular communication and all of the sudden, weakness gone, pain gone, ligaments and tendons, strong. So happy about that. I've also reached a point where I'm going up in weights by inches instead of feet and Im seeing definition begin to show itself. I'm getting ready to add HIIT once a week and Vo2 max training once a week on days when I don't lift. I just need to decide the best way to do those where I don't have to be outside since past December it can get very cold outside around here. Thanks for asking!

In reply to The_Jed :

I've been suffering a lot of setbacks recently. It feels like I keep taking two steps forward and then two steps back. Every time I think I'm ready to start making progress and getting into a rhythm to start building things back up, something happens to make me stop.

Started trying to get back into pushing myself with squats these past two weeks, and recovery is just taking ages. Squatted Sunday last week, by Wednesday, my quads still ached. Saturday, started doing lunges, and my right quad started aching uncomfortably very quickly.

Going to be lifting with the trainer this afternoon. Hopefully things are doing better today...