Chest - Plate loaded seated incline press
50 lbs x 10
70 lbs x 8
90 lbs x 6
110 lbs x 4
130 lbs x 2 150 lbs x 9 115 lbs x 14 75 lbs x 12
Chest - Single arm low2high cable flye
15 lbs x 10
20 lbs x 8 25 lbs x 6 15 lbs x 15
I’m getting to the point where I’m going to have to find a way to brace myself with my off-arm if I want to continue doing these single-armed.
Triceps - Cable pressdowns
37 1/2 lbs x 10
45 lbs x 8
52 1/2 lbs x 6
60 lbs x 4 65 1/2 lbs x 9 32 1/2 lbs x 20
Triceps - Overhead cable extensions
37 1/2 lbs x 10
45 lbs x 8
52 1/2 lbs x 5 60 lbs x 4 (!) 30 lbs x 20 (!)
Shoulders - Seated DB Arnold press
30 lbs x 8 x 3
Shoulders - Seated DB lateral raises
20 lbs x 8 x 3
50 band pull-aparts (20/20/10) during the chest work. 50 band over-and-backs (10/10/10/10/10) during the shoulder work.
90 minutes start to finish.
Put the stationary bike together yesterday. Mrs. Burien Top Team was thrilled; it will be her primary exercise outlet. I’m looking forward to using it, also. For some reason I’ve always preferred treadmills and rowers - and even stairmills - for cardio given the choice, So this will be a great opportunity to add even more variety
Chest - Incline DB press
50 lbs x 10
60 lbs x 8
70 lbs x 6
80 lbs x 4
90 lbs x 4
100 lbs x 4 110 lbs x 9 90 lbs x 15 (!)
Still testing my shoulder. Starting light and working my way up slowly. Weight is total of both DBs.
Chest - Pec Deck
50 lbs x 10
70 lbs x 8
90 lbs x 6
110 lbs x 4
130 lbs x 8
150 lbs x 6 170 lbs x 4 125 lbs x 20 (!)
Same here. Still finding the weight.
Chest - Cable sternal press around
35 1/2 lbs x 10
37 1/2 lbs x 8
42 1/2 lbs x 6
This didn’t work. Managed to brace myself with the other pole of the cable machine, but I couldn’t position myself in a way that prevented the cable from dragging against my triceps. Will take another look at the technique. May also need to go lighter and higher volume - especially as a third chest exercise.
Triceps - Cable pressdown
47 1/2 lbs x 10
47 1/2/ lbs x 8
52 1/2 lbs x 6
57 1/2 lbs x 4
62 1/2 lbs x 8
67 1/2 lbs x 6 72 1/2 lbs x 9 (!) 42 1/2 lbs x 20
Accidentally started off at 47 1/2 lbs instead of 42 1/2 lbs.
Triceps - Overhead extensions
42 1/2 lbs x 10
47 1/2 lbs x 8
52 1/2 lbs x 6 (!)
57 1/2 lbs x 4 62 1/2 lbs x 5 32 1/2 lbs x 15 (!)
Decided to give my shoulders the week off. Session ran a little longer than usual at 105 minutes since I did more sets than normal in a couple of exercises.
Did a few minutes on the bike at home while watching the UFC prelims. Just getting used to all that time in the saddle. TBH, I don’t know how those skinny, no-ass Tour de France dudes do it …
Back squat
bar x 10
135 lbs x 8
160 lbs x 6
185 lbs x 4 205 lbs x 4 (!) 125 lbs x 20
Three shots at 205 lbs and topped out at the minimum four reps each time. Will swap out the exercise for leg press, then hack squat, then circle back to the back squat down the line. A little disappointed. But I’ve got a number to beat now.
RDL
bar x 10
95 lbs x 8
115 lbs x 6
135 lbs x 4
155 lbs x 4 170 lbs x 9 (!) 120 lbs x 10, 10
Forgot to bring straps (it was leg day!), so the RDL volume set suffered a little. The top set, however, was fine - though my fingers were toast.
Seated leg curl
75 lbs x 10
95 lbs x 10 115 lbs x 10 55 lbs x 20
The machine’s weight adjust knob was jammed in place at +5 lbs, so I could only use the standard levels plus five pounds. First time I’ve come across that. Tried to wedge a weight from the cable machines in there as I think others have done, but it didn’t really work and would have added only 2.5 lbs.
Abs- HLRs
BW x 10 x 3
superset with
Posterior chain - Glute-Ham raises
BW x 10
+25 lbs x 10
+25 lbs x 10
Chest - Seated machine bench press
70 lbs x 10
90 lbs x 8
110 lbs x 6
130 lbs x 4
145 lbs x 2 160 lbs x 9 115 lbs x 20
Chest - Incline barbell bench
bar x 10
95 lbs x 8
115 lbs x 6
135 lbs x 4 155 lbs x 4 110 lbs x 12
Chest - Machine pec deck
70 lbs x 10
90 lbs x 8
110 lbs x 6
130 lbs x 4
150 lbs x 4 170 lbs x 9 130 lbs x 13
Triceps - Cable pressdown
62 1/2 lbs x 10
67 1/2 lbs x 8
72 1/2 lbs x 6
77 1/2 lbs x 4 82 1/2 lbs x 9 (!) 47 1/2 lbs x 20
Triceps - Overhead cable extension
42 1/2 lbs x 10
47 1/2 lbs x 8
52 1/2 lbs x 6
57 1/2 lbs x 4 62 1/2 lbs x 6 32 1/2 lbs x 20
Incorporated some ideas from Mike Van Wyck. Not sure if “activation work” is the correct term or the correct way to think about it. But I liked doing some machine pressing first, then going into free weight pressing. Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to go as heavy with the free weight pressing, I decided to use incline bench. Was still able to put up some halfway decent numbers. Was a little cautious due to my shoulder issues and the set-up in the rack (i.e., no safeties). Maybe 2 RIR? My kingdom for a Swiss bar …
Was crying in my protein shake about the fall-off in my squat. It’s pretty big. But I’m feeling okay with where my bench press is, pushing 155 lbs for 4 on the incline today (PR is 185 lbs x 5 on the flat bench). Less concerned about the deadlift and OHP. I’ll probably be doing more RDLs/SLDLs and rack pulls than deadlifts going forward. And as far as overhead pressing is concerned, dumbbells and the Smith machine will be my tools of choice.
Scale and waistline not moving as I’d like. Have met weekly BW goal for two weeks in a row. Going to have to work a little harder this week to make my number (Fri/Sat average < 152.9 lbs).
Conditioning
Warmup - Rower
5 minutes
Zone 1 Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.5 miles / 355 calories / 45:28 minutes
Upper back - Face pulls
25 lbs x 10
27 lbs x 10
30 lbs x 10
32 1/2 lbs x 10 35 lbs x 10
Upper back - Chest support row/High grip
70 lbs x 10
90 lbs x 8
110 lbs x 6
130 lbs x 4 150 lbs x 9 w/straps 130 lbs x 20 (!) w/straps
Lats/Horizontal - One arm plate loaded row
70 lbs x 10
90 lbs x 8
110 lbs x 6
130 lbs x 4 150 lbs x 9 (!) 75 lbs x 20
Lats/Vertical - Chins BW x 10 BW x 10 (!) BW x 6
Biceps/Forearms - Rope hammer curls
35 lbs x 10
45 lbs x 8
52 1/2 lbs x 6
62 1/2 lbs x 4 70 lbs x 6 (!) 35 lbs x 20
Picked up a nice pressing cue from an old Mike Van Wyck video. Rolling the shoulders to get behind the press. Looking forward to trying that out on my next Push day.
Spent some time watching Mike Van Wyck videos on YT. He makes a great point about the difference between weightlifting and bodybuilding. As a “beat the log book” guy, I always appreciate the reminder that the weight is there to simply serve a purpose and has no mean in and of itself.
Quads - BB Back squat
bar x 10
135 lbs x 8
160 lbs x 6
185 lbs x 4 205 lbs x 9 (!) 130 lbs x 15 (!)
Thrilled to get 9 at 205 lbs. Was stuck at four reps for the past three weeks and was getting ready to swap in leg press for a bit. Glad I gave the back squat another shot. I think it was just a matter of getting used to the lift after stepping away for awhile.
Hams - BB RDL
bar x 10
95 lbs x 8
135 lbs x 6
165 lbs x 4 190 lbs x 9 120 lbs x 15 (!)
The 190 lbs lift was a mistake: I had a 25 lb plate on one side and a 35 lb plate on the other. Felt the imbalance after the first rep, but didn’t want to break up the set. Will probably stay here despite the 9 reps because my form could be more precise
Hams - Seated leg curl
70 lbs x 10
90 lbs x 8
110 lbs x 6
130 lbs x 4 150 lbs x 7 (!) 90 lbs x 20
Hams/Glutes - Glute/Ham raise
BW x 10
+25 lbs x 10
+25 lbs x 10
superset with
Abs/ Hip flexors - HLRs
BW x 10
BW x 10
BW x 10
90 minutes start to finish. Grateful for the squats (and finding a seated leg curl machine that works!)
Chest - Seated machine press
90 lbs x 10
110 lbs x 8
130 lbs x 6
145 lbs x 4 160 lbs x 9 120 lbs x 20
Chest - Low incline BB press
bar x 10
95 lbs x 8
115 lbs x 6
135 lbs x 4 155 lbs x 5, 5 115 lbs x 12
There are no safeties on the benches, so I don’t want to go to real failure here. Did two sets with one or two reps in the tank in both top sets.
Chest - Machine pec deck
90 lbs x 10
110 lbs x 8
130 lbs x 6
150 lbs x 4 170 lbs x 9 130 lbs x 14
Triceps - Cable pressdowns
67 1/2 lbs x 8
72 1/2 lbs x 6
77 1/2 lbs x 4
82 1/2 lbs x 2 87 1/2 lbs x 9 (!) 52 1/2 lbs x 20
Triceps - Overhead triceps extension
47 1/2 lbs x 8
52 1/2 lbs x 6
57 1/2 lbs x 4
62 1/2 lbs x 2 67 1/2 lbs x 6 40 lbs x 20
50 band pull-a-parts during the first exercise. 50 shoulder band over and backs during the pec dec. About 100 minutes start to finish. Not too bad. I could strip out the 10 rep warmup set in the first three exercises, but how much time would that really save? Maybe 10 minutes total? Not nothing - and I’d still get three warmup sets …
Zone 1 Cardio Incline treadmill walk
2.5 miles / 356 calories / 45:28 minutes
I’m probably at optimal muscle-gaining weight (as far as that goes at 56 yo). I don’t mind the way my upper body feels. I guess losing the three pounds at the waistline while retaining everything else is the Holy Grail of recomp that everyone talks about - and the reason why the pros recommend losing fat as slowly as possible. If I can get my waistline back to 34" without losing too much weight, that would be a great sign of progress …
The back squat, while my favourite, has always been the lift that requires the most commitment from me.
Whenever I go back to it after a hiatus I am always humbled at how ‘light’ I feel like I need to start, and then how ‘quickly’ it all starts to come back with consistency
(our nemesis!)