The Resurrection of an Aging Athlete

Ive spent most of my life in pursuit of one athletic goal or another, always training for a sport or for work. That is until the birth of my first daughter just over three years ago. At that point I really let myself goâ?¦ I inflated up to a very soft and very weak 235 lbs. Last December I made a choice to get my life and fitness back on track. Through diet and strength training Iâ??ve gotten my weight back down to a manageable 220 and my strength metrics back up to near respectable numbers.

Due to future job requirements I will need to maintain a level of mechanical efficacy and proficiency in the dreaded low intensity cardio (aka running/jogging). I have most recently been following a push (shoulders)/road work/pull/push(chest)/legs weekly split with a bonus workout on the weekends, usually arms or sprint/agility work. I get in my training during lunch around 1400 every weekday; on M/W/F I train twice a day at 0530 or 600 and again during lunch.

Today’s workout looked like this:

Incline DB press: 60x6/65x6/65x6/85x3/85x3/85x3/85x3/85x3

BB Bench Press: 135x10/135x10/135x10/135x10/135x10 explosive with 45 sec timed rest

Incline DB Power Flyes: 45x5/40x6/30x8 max contraction superset with rear delt raise

Seated DB rear delt raise: 20x10/20x10/15x10/15x10/10x20/10x20 (do 100 reps of these or band pull-aparts everyday to (p)rehab a shoulder injury)

AM Session - 0540

Trying CT’s new layer system w/High Pulls from Blocks

Ramp - 45x5/95x5/115x5/135x3/155x3/185x2/205x1
Cluster - 165x8/5/4
HDL - 5/4/3/2/1x135x3

Pullover machine - 95x15/Dropset 170x5/140x5/110x7/80x10

Looking forward to legs for my session at lunch.

PM Session 1430

Legs

DB Goblet Squats - 65x5/85x5/105x5/110x5/110x3 (heaviest DB’s available)

BW Bulgarian Split Squat - 4/5 (cage freed up after second set)

BB Squat - 135x7/185x5x5 - lower back was a bit toast from goblets; paused in the hole each rep. Trying to transition to low-bar and having difficulty getting to depth under load.

Single Leg Press 90x10x5 Superset with rear delt raise
Rear Delt Raise 15x20x3/15x10/10x10 Last 3 sets holding by the bell

Leg Press - 90x15

Had to wait for a while before I could get into the cage to do BB Squats. Decided to take the opportunity to change things up.

No sessions over the weekend, but I was able to get in some activity volunteering at a Christmas tree lot. Who needs a sled when you’ve got 8 foot douglas firs. Spent close to 5 hours dragging them 2 at a time across a hanger bay.

Missed my AM session today as well. Just couldn’t get moving this morning; just means I’m going to have to turn up the intensity at lunch.

A couple days of activity to catch up on.

12/17 - Lunch

Push Press - 95x6/115x5/135x4x2/155x3x2/175x1/155x3x2/Stripset 155x3/135x3
Lean Away DB Raise - 25x15/22.5x15/17.5x15/15x20/15x20
Rear Delt Raise - 15x15/10x15/5x30/10x30x2

12/18 - Lunch

High Pull - 45x6/135x4/155x3x3/135x3x3 - weight felt heavy; had a hard time getting into the second pull. Probably should have ramped slower and performed them from the hang.
Seated Rear Delt Raise - 15x20/15x15/15x10/15x5/15x10x4/10x20 - 1 sec of rest per rep (ie 20 seconds of rest following a set of 20 reps). insane pump/burn. Shoulders have been feeling much better since adding these in daily.

12/19 - Lunch

Conventional DL - 135x5/185x5/225x3/275x1/275x3x2/295x3/325x3/275x2x2
DB Row - 60x10/70x10/50x10/80x10x2
Lat Pulldown - 150x6/150x2 Alarm went off warning my lunch was almost over. Cut it short.
Rear Delt Raise - 10x15/10x10x4/5x25 10 sec rest b/n sets

12/20 - Lunch

DB Incline Press - 60x5/70x5/75x5/90x2x2/80x4/75x4/70x4
Power Fly - 35x8/45x7/45x6
Machine Chest Press - 110x10/110x8/110x6/110x5 30 sec rest b/n sets
Rear Delt Raise 10x10x10 10 sec rest b/n sets until set 9. Had to take a little longer on the last 2.

Everything for the past week has felt a bit off. Strength is down a little bit, but more a matter of coordination, timing, and getting activated. Could be from having to stay at the in-laws house for 10 days. It’s colder that a witch’s tit and the bed is just bad.

12/21 Lunch

Wannabe Crossfitters in the cage. No squats on leg day. Shoulders are a bit sore anyhow.

Single-Leg Machine Hack Squat - 90x5/180x5x2
Maching Hack Squat - 180x11/270x5
Leg Press - 180x10/360x6/540x3/450x4/360x8/360x6/180x20
Single Leg Press - 180x10/x8/x6/x5/x4 alternating legs, no rest
Rear delt raise - 5x10x6 15 sec rest intervals
Band Pull Aparts - 1/2"x10x4
Put some vertical jumps in between each leg exercise. 2-3 sets of 4-6 jumps

12/22

Band pull aparts and hip thrusts.

12/23

Pinkies up DB raises - 5x15x10 10 sec rest intervals

Found out today that I have an agility test scheduled for 1/4/13. Gives me less than 2 weeks to get lighter on my feet. The course and required time are not challenging, but my goal time might be a stretch with only a few days to prep.

12/24

Shoulder is still a bit tender. Shifting focus to agility and explosiveness. Going to aim for 3 sprint sessions before the test and one plyo ciruit every day. Not really sure how I’m going to round out the rest of the 2 weeks.