Long time lurker here at T-Nation. I’m back lifting after losing my Dad with a prolonged illness, moving, teenagers…you know the story. I was active over at StrongLifts a few years ago and about the time Mehdi went to the pay version was when I was going through all my stuff at home. When I came back all my friends were gone and the community had changed. Not faulting the guy for trying to make a buck, that’s just the way it is.
I’ve been floundering without much motivation for a while, spending more time on the golf course and the 19th hole than the gym, until my 14 year old expressed an interest in lifting. I have a great son and although he played sports when he was little, he wasn’t much of an athlete so I let him slide on sports and exercise. He’s a gamer and a nerd but a smart one. He made 21 on the ACT as a 7th grader. Now that he’s in HS and caring more about girls, I think he’s motivated to do some working out. So, my son and the fact I’m 46 and need to stop the backward slide of all the effort I put in a few years ago, is my motivation.
We’ve been at it about 2 months following the 5x5 plan. I started at 135 on bench and deads, 95 on squat and my son with just the bar. He squatted 100lbs 5x5 last night!
Glad to be here at T-Nation. I’ve been reading through a few training logs and I see a lot of guys in the same boat as me and I’m catching the fever again!
Cleave
Current Stats:
Bench 180 5x5
Squat 155 5x5
Overhead Press 120 5x5
Dead Lift 195 1x5
Yes, welcome, it is true many here did the life routine thing and realize that getting a bit older a person loses muscle progressively permanently if activity is not maintained. If the son needs less maintenance due to age, go for it.
Going through both your logs now, shit BullDog your a beast! That 500lb squat video was impressive. Like porn for the strength obsessed. I like the variety of your lifts. My plan is to stick to the 5x5 but about once every couple of weeks and also on a six to eight week rotation throw in some farmer walks, tire flips, and whatever else I can think of.
Found a great and cheap weights for Farmer Walks. I grabbed the guys delivering water to my office and got two 5 gallon water cooler bottles from them. They’re about 45lbs a piece and have a handle.
Going through both your logs now, shit BullDog your a beast! That 500lb squat video was impressive. Like porn for the strength obsessed. I like the variety of your lifts. [/quote]
My workouts are coming along nicely. I backtracked quite a bit in strength from where I was a few years ago but it’s all coming back now. My son however is a little discouraged because we did his first de-load on Overhead Press and on Bench the next workout, but that’s how it goes. Everyone fails on Overhead Press first anyway. He’s still doing well on squats and his form was actually the best it’s been so far last night. He mentioned that we needed some posters for the gym. Anyone know where I can find some cool old school lifting posters? Not just Arnold but maybe Dave Draper and others.
Welcome. I have a 14 year old son as well. So far he is not interested in lifting a whole lot. He does help me at meets, however. Good luck to you both.
Good workout on Saturday - Squats still feel great but I’m about to fail on Overhead Press. 125 was tough, I’m gonna go for 130 next but we’ll just have to see. My inverted rows were lousy. I barely got 5, and that was marginal. I want to be able to do 10 really good pullups and I’m a little discouraged because of how far off I am but I’m just going to keep going.
As I drop weight that will be a big plus. I weighed in on Saturday morning at 267. That’s down from 292 from when I started a couple of months ago. The weight isn’t coming off fast, but a steady 2 to 3 pounds a week.
very similar situation to yours, turned 50 couple of months ago and decided I had to
put all i have read here to good use.
I have a decent gym only 300yards from my office chair and I now use my lunch break
to work myself through the StartingStrenght program.
Chose that because of simplicity of progression and the basic lifts.
There is no-one at that gym doing squats, deadlifts or power cleans and I have no prior
experience, so I have to carefully ease my my way into the technique,
learning from the book and videos.
Weights moved are too humbling to mention yet but just by cutting carbs and booze,
getting lots of protein and sleep, i am very happy with the results for the past
two months, although i read here that no significant size gains are to be expected at
my age.
The only real problem is matching my new eating habits with the rest of the family
without getting on everyones nerves.
[quote]PenDuick wrote:
Weights moved are too humbling to mention yet but just by cutting carbs and booze,
getting lots of protein and sleep, i am very happy with the results for the past
two months, although i read here that no significant size gains are to be expected at
my age.
The only real problem is matching my new eating habits with the rest of the family
without getting on everyones nerves.
[/quote]
Pen,
Thanks for checking in and I feel ya. You’ve got to get your family to buy-in to proper eating. The habits your trying to make for yourself will be good for the entire family. What helped us get motivated was my son’s Doctor said he needed to drop some weight and go on a low-carb diet. That was it for us and we limited the eating out, the fried food, and started eating clean again.
I’m glad to hear your doing well on your diet and don’t be embarrassed about pushing lighter weights than the guys around here. One of the hardest things for me was to put my ego aside and start with a low weight or just the bar, go up gradually, and follow a plan. I post in a forum like this for the camaraderie and support. Even though I’m new here, especially in this 35 and older forum, there’s a lot of supportive guys in the same boat as us.
Good one last night:
Bench 190 5x5
Squat 170 5x5
Kettle Bell Swings 3x10
Dips 3xFailure
Breakfast: Spinach Omelet with chicken
Snack: Almonds
Lunch: Vegetable Beef Soup with Cabbage - no potatoes or corn, low carb
Dinner: Several Slices of Roasted Turkey Breast and more soup
Had some red wine and a piece of Dark Chocolate while watching TV with wifey
The weight is definitely feeling heavy at this point. I’m hoping to make it to 225 on squat and bench before a failure but I’m not sure if I’ll make it on bench.
Cleave, welcome. The bond of lifting with your son, sharing the PRs, etc. is a gift many will never know. My step-son is wanting to get back into training and a 2 year hiatus from HS football.
Pen, don’t believe a word of it. I just turned 50. We have to train smarter than we did when we were 20. Gains can and are made.
Forgive me for I have sinned. My last workout was Thursday the 26th. Such is life. Wifey and I went out of town for a much needed date weekend and along with other factors, outside of 30min on the treadmill I haven’t done much sweating. Anyhow I think the timing might be ok.
My son and I have been at it for a couple of months making great strides; we’ve had to de-load on a couple of lifts so I think the break should be good. The plan is to lift tonight after work before the trick or treaters start arriving.
Last Thursday
Squat 175 5x5
Overhead Press 115 5x5 Backed off and de-loaded on this one after a failure on the prior attempt
Inverted Rows 3xF
Prone Bridges 3x30sec
Like I said in the above post, my son and I have been at it a few months and we’ve both been hitting a wall when it comes to adding weight. We worked out the Thursday after Halloween after a full week off but it kind of sucked. We were both weak and still unable to make any progress so last Sunday did a substantial de-load on all lifts except deads and had a great workout.
I dropped all the down to 95lbs on overhead press and 155 Squat and we’re going to work our way back up and through the wall that’s been slowing us down.
On the positive though I weighed in at a nice 263 and clothes are fitting a lot better. I’m back in my 38 jeans and XL shirts vs XXL.
