Pushing 60 Years Old

Wouldn’t you just know it. One of my students was sniffling and coughing, and had a lot of questions, so I had to sit next to them to answer stuff. Sure enough, I woke up the next morning with a scratchy throat. Please, not now - not the beginning of Spring Break. So I slugged down veggies and fruit, lots of protein, cups of tea, endless squirts of throat spray, and rest, rest, rest. Saturday I felt - well, not great, but just good enough for gym. I needed to go, it’d been two weeks since my last deadlift session and didn’t want to get behind. So I went. Didn’t push too hard, it went okay.

Deadlifts
135 x 12
135 x 12
195 x 9 - hmm, a bit easier than last time
205 x 8
205 x 8

probably could have pushed it a bit harder, but decided against it.

Chins
x 6
x 6
x 6
x 6

Bar curl
30 x 12
40 x 10
40 x 10
40 x 10

Pretty good workout, didn’t really aggravate the cold. The scratchy throat had turned into a cough, no problem except when it came time to sleep and just couldn’t doze off without coughing. Finally did it.

Well, finally got over the cold. Took a week, dammit. Back to gym. It’s deadlift Saturday again.

Deadlifts
135 x 12
135 x 12
205 x 9 - good, was hoping to gain a bit.
215 x 8 - good, but wasn’t really fighting at the end
225 x 7 - now that was good. Last one was tough, but got it

so got stronger on deadlift. Maybe I should have colds more often.

Chins (sortof)
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5

Seated Cable Row
80 x 12
90 x 9
90 x 9
90 x 8

Bar Curl
40 x 12
50 x 7
50 x 7
50 x 8 - better than I expected

Good workout. Meanwhile, the gym staff were fussing with something in the corner. I took a look, and glory be, it’s a lifting platform! With hooks for bands! Maybe this place is going to be a real gym!

Squats on Monday, bench today.

Squats
95 x 12
125 x 10
155 x 9
165 x 8
165 x 8

very hard work, but I made it through all the reps.

Some leg extension. Then plate loaded leg press:
90 x 14
180 x 12
270 x 9
360 x 6
360 x 6
360 x 6

Today:

Bench
45 x 12
95 x 10
125 x 8 - started easy, but got hard real fast
120 x 6 - hmm, trying to get 8 reps
115 x 6
115 x 6
115 x 6
95 x 8

my goal is to do 135 for reps, and I’m pushing as hard as possible. After all the years I spent to get to this level, I hope to push past it, but will take lots of determination.

Dips
5 x 5

OH press
55 x 10
65 x 8
65 x 7
65 x 6
65 x 6

every set taken to near failure, last one went to full failure. Seems to have lost a bit of strength in this, just have to push hard year after year and see if anything happens.

Tri pushdown
60 x 12
65 x 10
70 x 8
75 x 7

DB front raise
7 x 15
10 x 10
12 x 8
12 x 8

Yay, I get to use the brand new lifting platform! Let’s see . . . a pair of 45 lb bumper plates, perfectly circular (the plates here are the hex nightmares), a yoke to jack the bar up . . . great. It’s all crammed into a corner and hard to move around, but works like a charm.

Deadlifts
135 x 12
185 x 9
225 x 8 - a PR. I was tearing the damn thing up and only lost steam at the end
225 x 5
205 x 8 - wore myself out on the previous ones, that’s fine

Forgot to mention, I’d dug out the old COC grippers and been grinding at them for the past couple of weeks. Guess what - grip was much better on the deads.

Chins
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5

Good Mornings (I really want to build up deads)
45 x 10
95 x 8
95 x 8
took a bit to get used to it, been a while since doing them

Seated rows
100 x 11
100 x 10
100 x 10
100 x 9

Bar Curls
60 x 4
60 x 5
60 x 6
60 x 5

Spent the weekend grading. And eating. What do you know, I set a squat PR!

Squat
95 x 12
135 x 10
175 x 8
175 x 8
175 x 5
I was thrilled, to say the least. Probably could have done another rep or two, but was just surprised.

Leg Extension
180 x 10
200 x 6
200 x 6
200 x 6
I was putting some real speed into this, only slowed down on the last. It’s another increase.

Plate Leg Press - I decided to skip the warm-up sets and go straight to the fun sets. turned out to be a mistake.
270 x 10 - putting oomph into these
360 x 9 - really going at them, then on the last set heard a kind of “squoirt” in my pelvis. Squoirt??

Walked around, no pain, figured it was no big deal. Sat down for another set, did about 5 reps and started to feel some hurt down there. Stopped for the day. Didn’t feel anything walking around or anything, but figured I’d wait and see if there was anything to be concerned about.

Congrats on your rep PR in squat. That’s fabulous!

Thanks, Snap. A few years back I did 185 for 5, but that was like 5 max reps and form was awful. This one just went up and down.

Congrats on the PR. Keep chipping away and you’ll set more soon.

Dang a squoirt… Hopefully not the bad kind!

Squat PRs are the best, well done Cav.

Thanks, everyone.

Got a little ache down there, not too bad, will have to see if I need to work around it. So angry. I got carried away and form slipped.

Bench stuff Wednesday.

Bench
45 x 12
95 x 8
135 x 3 - I was really, really curious if I could just get 135 going. I’ve done a few reps with this in the past, but form seemed a bit smoother - guess I’ll treat it as a PR.
135 x 4
125 x 5
125 x 5

Dips
x 5
x 6
x 6 - getting a tiny bit easier

OH Press
55 x 10
75 x 7
75 x 6
65 x 7

Tri pulldowns
60 x 12
75 x 9
80 x 9
85 x 7

DB front raise
15 x 7
15 x 7
15 x 7
15 x 7
surprised these went so well. Good, I desperately need more shoulder.

Good deadlift session.

Deadlift
135 x 12
185 x 8
235 x 5
235 x 5
215 x 8
I’m going to call this a PR, it felt good and solid.

Chins
x 7
x 6
x 6
x 5

Good Mornings
45 x 10
95 x 8
95 x 8
last time I was only going half way down, now a little less afraid and going all the way.

Seated row
110 x 7
110 x 6
110 x 6
110 x 6

Bar curl
60 x 6
60 x 6
60 x 6
these went great, but had some aches in hands, left it at three set.

Also, been squeezing my grippers several times a week. Getting results, better grip on deadlifts. Looks like some good gains, yay!

I’d be interested to hear more of the PTSD stuff you found on the web. More and more people in the workplace are suffering from it, due to (IMHO) this “new era” of HR warriors that gets all their info out a textbook and thinks to implement it in the workplace on unsuspecting victims… I can’t tell you how many people I know that have gone off on long-term disability due to horrible management and some of the worst HR advice I’ve ever heard of…

Got a link to the article? I’d like to pass it on to a few people that could use the help…

If the forum wouldn’t let you post it, can you PM me? I’d be very interested…

Smallfry, I can’t remember exactly where I found it. And I’m a bit hesitant to promise much, since I only know of my own case. The National Center for PTSD has a web site where they summarize treatments, including EMDR, the one I referred to.

I’ve just read about the stellate ganglion block being administered (largely) to vets for PTSD issues. It essentially somehow reboots the brain to its pre-trauma stage. Very fascinating.

Hadn’t heard of that Snap, but does sound interesting.

Squats
95 x 12
135 x 10
185 x 6
185 x 5
185 x 5

Yay, squat PR. I’d done 185 once before, but was very difficult. This was more of a normal set, just up and down. Wasn’t sure if I could jump up to 185 so quickly, but damn, went just fine. Still have a little twinge in my hip when get down deep and adduct, so was careful going down too far. Think it worked okay.

Plate leg press
no go. When my legs were brought up high, the twinge started in. Need a machine without so much movement.

Cybex leg press.
150 x 15
210 x 12
250 x 10
290 x 8
290 x 8
290 x 8
Set this thing pretty far out so not much range of motion, but felt fine.

Leg extension
200 x 9
200 x 7
200 x 8
200 x 8

Great workout.

Took a week off. Was getting pretty stressed, body getting beaten up. It doesn’t help that my school has cut hours I can work on top of all the other crap they’ve done. This is my last semester, looking for another job.

Weirdly, I lost a couple of pounds, even though I kept eating. Probably need to increase carbs a bit.

Squats
95 x 12
135 x 10
195 x 5 *** PR ***
175 x 9
179 x 9

Because of the hip injury, I didn’t go all the way down, just to almost parallel. Otherwise, form was good. For the first time in my life, I put my bodyweight on my shoulders and squatted good form. I is happy.

Leg Extension
200 x 11
200 x 11
200 x 9
200 x 9
hmm, got somewhat stressed out by this, didn’t think it would be so tough. Rested between sets a bit more and was okay.

Leg Press
330 x 8
330 x 8
330 x 8
330 x 8

Good workout.

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Happy birthday to me. Today I turn 60.

Haven’t posted much since there didn’t seem to be much interest. But definitely ought to do something for this event.

Got really tired of beating my body up, so took weights down (grrr) and pushing through with good form. Also went with full body workouts. Seems to be doing some good - of course, progress is always glacially slow, so we’ll see.

Was thinking about doing something special, like deadlift bodyweight for 60 reps, or 60 lb DB bench for 60 reps, something like that. But decided I didn’t want to beat myself up. I like the current routine.

So’s here my workouts for the past week, leaving out warmups:

TUESDAY
Squat 145 x 8 145 x 8 145 x 8
Bench 115 x 7 115 x 7 115 x 7
Chins halfway x 7 x 7 x 7
Smith machine OH press 50 x 8 50 x 8 50 x 8
Donkey Calf 280 x 16 280 x 15 280 x 15

THURSDAY
Deadlift 185 x 9 185 x 9 185 x 9
Machine dip 120 x 8 120 x 8 120 x 8 120 x 8
Leg Extension 120 x 12 120 x 12 120 x 12
DB front raise 17 x 10 17 x 11 17 x 10
Bicep machine 70 x 9 70 x 6 60 x 6
Rear delt 70 x 9 70 x 9 70 x 9

SATURDAY
Squat 145 x 10 145 x 10 145 x 10
Incline bench 95 x 9 95 x 9 95 x 9 95 x 9
Seated row 110 x 9 110 x 9 110 x 9
Delt machine 30 x 9 30 x 9 30 x 7 30 x 8
Hyper extension 15 x 10 15 x 10 15 x 10

Squats and deadlifts are good, challenging and tough, but not tearing me up. I seem to getting a tad stronger. Bench has always been brutally hard, but I seem to be getting into the groove. Been eating lots of meat and carbs, definitely helping.

So there I am. Forty years of weight lifting, pushing the heavy ass weights, fighting with everything I got to get big and strong.

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Happy Birthday! Hope you are having a great day! I would like to thank you for your help. It hurt at the time, but you were right and got me on track. Thanks again.