Weight Lifting Challenge: October / November 2008!!

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by traycon

I have never done BFL. I don't have any recent pictures but here is me before & after. Before is 210 after is around 160. I pretty much lost all my weight by lifting. I don't do any structured cardio. I do play vball every Thu for 2-3 hrs but that is hit or miss as far as being a good workout.

Traycon,

You look great. It is clear that you have dramatically changed your body composition, but even more important is the look on your face. In the first picture, you look very stern and not particularly happy. In your after picture you are beaming with a great big smile. Way to go!

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by WolfmanJacque

Bench Press: 3x8x200
Seated Bench Press: 3x8x240 (PR)
Hammer Machine Lat Pulldown: 3x8x250
Hammer Machine Lat Row: 3x8x240
Military Press: 3x8x60
Leg press: 3x15x450 (PR)
Assisted Dip: 3x8x130 (PR)
Shrugs 3x8x200 (PR)

Four PRs in one day is another kind of personal record! Shoulder injury and knee injury appear to have healed up completely, today was the first time I had no pain in either area....first time I've been injury-free in months!!

Great work! You mentioned earlier that you have weak shoulders. You may want to be careful. Your military press is seriously lagging your bench. You might want to back off the flat pressing and just focus on overhead work for a while.

[BrianSCohen]

Back to the gym last night. Today was volume day


Squat - New PR for 3 reps
Bench - New PR for 3 reps
Row - New PR for 3 reps

Trying new triceps accesories. Used the Cybex triceps pressdown. Had to use the seatbelt, it seems an awkward position.

Then did lat pulldowns

Visited my doctor today. She gave me a lecture for gaining 5 pounds in the last 5 months. I did not have the heart to tell her I did it on purpose. She also lectured me to get back to the cardio since that is what really makes you healthy. I'll consider the cardio. I really don't place a lot of faith in diet and exercise advice from doctors.

[WolfmanJacque]

Originally Posted by BrianSCohen

Great work! You mentioned earlier that you have weak shoulders. You may want to be careful. Your military press is seriously lagging your bench. You might want to back off the flat pressing and just focus on overhead work for a while.

I believe ya! I seriously dislocated my left shoulder in 1990 and 1995, and came back too soon from the last injury...where I promptly injured my RIGHT shoulder overcompensating for a weakened left!

I had been doing slow but steady shoulder work once I started lifting again earlier this year...Monday was the first time both shoulders felt "good", but yesterday I couldn't raise my left shoulder over my head and I felt the bones "clicking" in my shoulder...NEVER a good sign.

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by WolfmanJacque

I believe ya! I seriously dislocated my left shoulder in 1990 and 1995, and came back too soon from the last injury...where I promptly injured my RIGHT shoulder overcompensating for a weakened left!

I had been doing slow but steady shoulder work once I started lifting again earlier this year...Monday was the first time both shoulders felt "good", but yesterday I couldn't raise my left shoulder over my head and I felt the bones "clicking" in my shoulder...NEVER a good sign.

I've suffered from rotator cuff problems. The clicking is a looseness in the joint, you are right, probably not a good sign. I was lucky that I only suffered a strain or small partial tears and was able to rehabilitate. It did however result in months of problems. For a while, I had difficulty sleeping with the shoulder impingement and was on a steady diet of ibuprophen and heating pads. Since then, I've tried to focus on keeping my shoulders strong and balanced. I've been doing military presses and working to get them up to something like 60% of my flat bench.

[ChrisNTX]

Originally Posted by WolfmanJacque

I believe ya! I seriously dislocated my left shoulder in 1990 and 1995, and came back too soon from the last injury...where I promptly injured my RIGHT shoulder overcompensating for a weakened left!

I had been doing slow but steady shoulder work once I started lifting again earlier this year...Monday was the first time both shoulders felt "good", but yesterday I couldn't raise my left shoulder over my head and I felt the bones "clicking" in my shoulder...NEVER a good sign.

What kind of rehab did you follow? I wouldn't focus on just building shoulder strength. You have to look at the body as a whole. Thoracic mobilty, scapular stability, shoulder mobility, length/tension relationship of muscles/muscle groups, grip etc all contribute to healthy and strong shoulders. Go to a professional and get yourself looked at.

[Bobby]

I finally got something done. No Pr's or anything, just a light whole body workout. Still feel kind of beat up from last weekend and working allot this week. Only 3 more 12 hour shifts and a training class until my next day off. Anyway, I'll get back after it next week.

[WolfmanJacque]

Originally Posted by BrianSCohen

Great work! You mentioned earlier that you have weak shoulders. You may want to be careful. Your military press is seriously lagging your bench. You might want to back off the flat pressing and just focus on overhead work for a while.

Seated Bench Press: 3x8x250 (PR)
Hammer Machine Lat Pulldown: 3x8x270 (PR)
Hammer Machine Lat Row: 3x8x250
Military Press: 3x8x80
Assisted Dip: 3x8x130
Shrugs 3x8x230 (PR)

Brian, great minds think alike. I looked over my training logs and found that on days when I increased my flat bench I had terrible shoulder problems the next day, probably due to sloppy form.

I noticed looking in a full length mirror that I am looking assymetrical lately...Lats, chest, trapezius, even triceps getting bigger, but shoulders lagging.

I made one key adjustment to my workout today: did shoulders first thing, while I was fresh. It made a difference! Form was good and I was able to increase weight by 20 pounds...we'll see what sort of DOMS I'll have tomorrow. No pain immediately after workout, which is very positive.

One very positive note: 3 weeks ago I did one rep of 270 on the Hammer Lat Pulldown for a personal record and it almost killed me....today I did 3 sets of 8 reps of 270!! My lat development has been a pleasant surprise, I'm gaining considerable strenght there. I've never really focused on lats before.

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by WolfmanJacque

I looked over my training logs and found that on days when I increased my flat bench I had terrible shoulder problems the next day, probably due to sloppy form.

Wolfie,

You make a good point. I always keep a log, but often don't note things like when I have pain during my lifting or afterwards. After time, everything kinda melts together and without a log of these things you really can't put them together.

You have made serious progress on your lats. At that level, I presume you are belted in. Once you get within 10% of your bodyweight, you will find that the exercise becomes difficult to progress, you have to use your core a lot more to keep your body in place. If you can hit 3x8 on the lat pulldown within 10% of bodyweight, then you are ready for pull-ups. You might think about working some in. There are assisted pull-up machines at my gym, but you could probably knock off a few reps already.

I worked out Saturday, just before dinner.

Squat - New PR for 5 reps
Bench - New PR for 5 reps
Row - New PR for 5 reps

Lat raise machine, then home for dinner. Took my blood sugar, half hour after workout 165 mg/dl. That is high for me. Good news is I ate dinner within two hours of that reading 82 mg/dl. I don't like spiking but at least I come down to normal promptly.

[Bobby]

Pressing workout today. The only PR was on the Tricep MDS I got all 3 sets of 8 with 40# DB's.

Warmed up doing Incline Bench Press, bench set at about 45 degrees and DB shoulder front/side/rear raises...
135x10 Incl. BP
x10 shoulder raises each direction
185x8 Incl. BP
x10 shoulder raises each direction
205x3 Incl. BP

Strict Press (off the rack)
155x5
165x5
175x2
I was supposed to do 5 reps on the last set. Just didn't have it in me.
Next time I'll just do log press instead of strict pressing.

Tricep MDS 40# DB's 3 sets of 8 each exercise. PR

Standing DB Overhead Press
50'sx6
60'sx6 push pressing

Core:
Single Armed DB Bench Press 3 sets of 10 each arm. Switched arms non-stop, 10 left, 10 right, 10 left, 10 right, 10 left, 10 right with one 30# DB. I'll use a 35 next time.

Abs:
Kneeling Cable Crunches

Oblique Side Bends

[Bobby]

Dead lift workout tonight, no PR's but a good one none the less.

How is everyone else doing?

[meb2004]

Traycon, AWESOME results!!

[meb2004]

Originally Posted by BrianSCohen

I've suffered from rotator cuff problems. The clicking is a looseness in the joint, you are right, probably not a good sign. I was lucky that I only suffered a strain or small partial tears and was able to rehabilitate. It did however result in months of problems. For a while, I had difficulty sleeping with the shoulder impingement and was on a steady diet of ibuprophen and heating pads. Since then, I've tried to focus on keeping my shoulders strong and balanced. I've been doing military presses and working to get them up to something like 60% of my flat bench.

is that your shoulder clicking? my joints pop or make clicking sounds sometimes, but i didn't think there was anything you could do about it

[meb2004]

Lower Body Workout: (still working back up in weight, hopefully i'll keep steadily increasing for a while)
Squat 3 sets of 6 @ 70 lbs
Lunge 3 sets of 6 @ 45 lbs
Calve Raises: 3 sets of 15
DB Bicep Curl: 3 sets of 6 @ 15 lbs
Triceps: 3 sets of 6 @ 20 lbs
Planks: 35 seconds, 25 seconds

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by meb2004

is that your shoulder clicking? my joints pop or make clicking sounds sometimes, but i didn't think there was anything you could do about it

Joints will click from time to time. Some people have looser joints and are more flexible. They may click all the time. I am old. I am not flexible. I should have occasional clicks. When my joints click during lifting, it is because they have become weak and that is not good. The shoulder is pulling out of the socket enough to make a click. There is a complicated set of small tendons and muscles that keep your shoulder joint in place and stable. If you have a weak shoulder, like me then heavy bench pressing or shoulder pressing can pull the shoulder into an unstable position where bad things happen. I was lucky, I had a strain.

When I had the strain it inflammed the joint. Some people suffer from bursitis a similar condition. The swelling caused a compression of the nerves, thus the impingement and the pain. I don't wish that on anyone.

When lifting you may have some clicking in your warmup sets as you stretch through the range of motion that should be considered normal. If you notice ongoing clicking in your heavy work sets you need to be concerned.

[WolfmanJacque]

I just do not understand my body. Seriously. Saturday I had a fantastic workout, broke a lot of personal records, and to my amazement, had next to NO muscle soreness for the next few days.

Today I am feeling much the same, pumped up (pun intended) and ready to hit the gym hard. I decided to do assisted dips first....my progress had been lagging a bit there so I wanted to do that machine first. I shoot for a personal record of 105 (prev is 130). My shoulders and back feel strong, I can do this.

One set...and the lights go out. My blood sugar crashes. Okay, this happens 2 to 3 times per year, no big deal. Got a 100% orange juice drink from the froo-froo smoothie bar at the gym, 20 minutes later I'm as good as new.

Do my second set, I'm okay now. Third and final set I struggle through.

Hit the hi-lat machine and struggle through three sets..and I realize I'm getting progressively weaker with each set.

I move to the seated bench and my chest, shoulders and back are in outright rebellion...through sheer willpower I finish three sets and I just cannot do anymore.

My diet and fluids have been fine, I'm getting sleep, I'm taking my creatine on schedule, but I just couldn't finish my workout today. Very disappointing. I did drink two diet cokes today, that is the only thing out of the ordinary (no soft drinks on workout days out of habit) but I sincerely doubt that that was the problem.

Any ideas? I'd hate to think I'd have to go four days between workouts. Did I overtrain by doing so many PRs on Saturday?

[WolfmanJacque]

Originally Posted by BrianSCohen

Wolfie,

You make a good point. I always keep a log, but often don't note things like when I have pain during my lifting or afterwards. After time, everything kinda melts together and without a log of these things you really can't put them together.

Actually I hadn't made the correaltion between pain and lifting until I was reviewing some of my earlier posts here in this thread!

Originally Posted by ChrisNTX

What kind of rehab did you follow? I wouldn't focus on just building shoulder strength. You have to look at the body as a whole. Thoracic mobilty, scapular stability, shoulder mobility, length/tension relationship of muscles/muscle groups, grip etc all contribute to healthy and strong shoulders. Go to a professional and get yourself looked at.

I had both a physical therapist and an occupational therapist that I was seeing 4 days a week. "Scapular stability" was one of my PT's favorite phrases. I don't remember exactly the regimen, it was 13 years ago, I just recall it wasn't very pleasant....maybe I'm repressing!!

[traycon]

DB front raises 3x10x20
DB lateral raises 3x10x12
DB shoulder press 3x10x30
Upright row 1x10x30 2x10x40
DB flat bench press 3x10x35
incline bench press 3x8x65
DB decline bench press 3x10x30
db flies 3x10x20
cable pull downs 1x10x75 1x10x80 1x10x85
DB single arm tricep extensions 3x10@12
DB kickbacks 3x10@15

3x15 incline crunches

Have done a couple of work outs between this & my last posted one but did not post.

[traycon]

Originally Posted by meb2004

Traycon, AWESOME results!!

Thanks, meb!

[BrianSCohen]

Was supposed to workout monday, but it slipped to last night, but perhaps it was worth it.

Squat - Light day, at least that is what I call it.
Military Press - 5 reps for new PR
Deadlift - All 5 reps on new PR ***

Curl - ok, I admit it
HS high row for finish

*** This is a big deal for me. I failed at this weight 11 weeks ago. After repeated attemps, the most I got was 3 reps before regressing. I deloaded, started deadlifting at a backed off weight and worked up. It is only now that I reached my previous plateau. After only getting 4 reps last week, I attacked it quickly this week as my grip gives out first. Next week I win a prize, I move up to a heavier weight.

As a final note, I am on new medication and my blood sugar has been better. Before dinner 85 mg/dl and before workout 75 mg/dl. After workout, only 128 mg/dl, far below my usual. This is a good sign!

[traycon]

Yesterday

Leg extensions 3x10x125
Seated leg curls 3x10x120
leg press 3x10x300
plie squats 3x10x55
deadlifts 3x10x95
abduction/adduction machine 3x15x145/3x15x100
seated calf raises 3x15x90

[traycon]

Did back & biceps today...no PRs & I skipped abs.

[Bobby]

Did stuff I need to get done for the week, front squats, log pressing and axle cleans being the highlights. No pr's but working towards some new ones especially in the log press. Light abs also.

[Jenn_in_NJ]

Originally Posted by WolfmanJacque

I just do not understand my body. Seriously. Saturday I had a fantastic workout, broke a lot of personal records, and to my amazement, had next to NO muscle soreness for the next few days.

Today I am feeling much the same, pumped up (pun intended) and ready to hit the gym hard. I decided to do assisted dips first....my progress had been lagging a bit there so I wanted to do that machine first. I shoot for a personal record of 105 (prev is 130). My shoulders and back feel strong, I can do this.

One set...and the lights go out. My blood sugar crashes. Okay, this happens 2 to 3 times per year, no big deal. Got a 100% orange juice drink from the froo-froo smoothie bar at the gym, 20 minutes later I'm as good as new.

Do my second set, I'm okay now. Third and final set I struggle through.

Hit the hi-lat machine and struggle through three sets..and I realize I'm getting progressively weaker with each set.

I move to the seated bench and my chest, shoulders and back are in outright rebellion...through sheer willpower I finish three sets and I just cannot do anymore.

My diet and fluids have been fine, I'm getting sleep, I'm taking my creatine on schedule, but I just couldn't finish my workout today. Very disappointing. I did drink two diet cokes today, that is the only thing out of the ordinary (no soft drinks on workout days out of habit) but I sincerely doubt that that was the problem.

Any ideas? I'd hate to think I'd have to go four days between workouts. Did I overtrain by doing so many PRs on Saturday?

What does your pre-workout meal look like? Do you have anything while working out, like a protein drink or amino acid drink?

[Bobby]

Originally Posted by WolfmanJacque

Any ideas? I'd hate to think I'd have to go four days between workouts. Did I overtrain by doing so many PRs on Saturday?

Actually that happens to me when I do a deadlift max, not so much on pressing movements. It takes me a month or so to get over it. Like a couple of weekends ago I was fooling around doing farmers picks, going as heavy as I could. That's not the same as deadlifting but similar enough that when I went to deadlift a week and a half later it was tough for me to get my scheduled deads in.

I also have to agree with Jenn_in_NJ too. That same workout, that was tough deadlifting, I didn't eat my customary oatmeal and whey protein meal before either. I eat that a couple of hours before lifting and it seems to help allot. Today I probably should have had a protein drink while lifting cause I'm sure I'd have finished better if I did. I left it about three hours after the oatmeal before starting my workout and I was getting hungry by the time I was done.

[meb2004]

Monday's Workout: Lower Body
Squat: 3 sets of 6 @ 75 lbs
Lunge: 3 sets of 6 @ 50 lbs
Calve Raises: 3 sets of 12
Dumbbell Bicep Curl: 3, 2 @ 20 lbs, 5 @ 15 lbs
Triceps: 2 sets of 5 @ 25 lbs
Planks: 31 seconds, 30 seconds

pretty much upped all my weights by 5 lbs today!

[BrianSCohen]

Originally Posted by WolfmanJacque

I just do not understand my body.
...

Any ideas? I'd hate to think I'd have to go four days between workouts. Did I overtrain by doing so many PRs on Saturday?

Now you say your blood sugar crashed. Do you think you might have diabetes? If you really went hypoglycemic, that can really throw you off. Even when you get your blood sugar back to normal, you will still feel off kilter.

Overtraining can be complicated to detect, but a single bad workout is not overtraining. Here are some symptoms of overtraining:

Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
Pain in muscles and joints
Sudden drop in performance
Insomnia
Headaches
Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
Decrease in training capacity / intensity
Moodiness and irritability
Depression
Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
Decreased appetite
Increased incidence of injuries.
A compulsive need to exercise

These symptoms will be observed over time. If you go several sessions with decreased performance, that is a good sign you may have overtrained.

Keep in mind that as you get older, you will have less capacity for work and you will take longer to recover. I keep track of my workout volume total weight moved times reps. I slowly move that up over time.

If you had a particular intensive workout, you may have just overreached. That is good. You will need to take a day or two more to recover. My bet is that with a day or so of extra rest, your return to the gym will find that you are back in full force. I am getting old enough that three days a week is nearly too much for me to recover from. You should be able to train 2 days a week at least.

[BrianSCohen]

Gym on friday (halloween). It was dead. Only a few of the diehards.

Squat - New PR for 3 reps
Bench - New PR for 3 reps
Row - New PR for 3 reps

Tricep pushdowns on the high cable
HS pullovers

Sunday at the gym was the opposite of friday. We went early and everyone who missed friday must have been there.

Squat - New PR for 5 reps
Bench - New PR for 5 reps
Row - 4 reps on the PR ***

*** First fail in 22 weeks. I had not realized how much my row had lagged. It is now within 10% of my bench. I think I will repeat this weight a couple times to see if I break through the stall. If I am really stalled, then I think it just may be time to switch to power cleans.

I also bought some stuff this weekend. My gloves had worn through (they also smelled pretty bad) so I bought some new ones. I also purchased a lifting belt. I am going to try it and see if it helps.

[traycon]

Did legs today...first workout since Friday...have been feeling run down. Did my entire workout except deadlifts & did not go for any prs.

[Bobby]

Yesterday evening I did my back workout. I added 30 pounds to my hypers but won't really count that as a Pr, it's mostly a warm up movement. I was feeling pretty weak in that I had to concentrate to really get all my reps in and even then I didn't on a couple of exercises. I was busy at work the night before and ate probably half my normal calories, I'm hoping that was the cause and I'll be feeling better/stronger tomorrow.

Hypers 3 sets of 10 with 30 pounds added for more resistance.

Deadlifts
Warm up
135x10 dbl over hand grip
225x6 dbl over hand grip
315x3 alt grip
Worksets (added belt)
340x3
360x3
385x3

BB Rows
225x6 each from a dead stop and strict form
225x6 good form, 3 reps quick then 3 more
225x4 slow not so good form

Good mornings
3 sets of 6 with 225

Lat Pulldowns (going to try and work these in slowly, if the muscle spasm returns I'll give them up)
3 sets of 10 with 135

DB Bicep Curls
3 sets of 6 with 50's

Abs, well I did one set of six on the cable crunches and had enough.

My lower back was pulling some on the deadlift worksets. I'm right between holes on my lifting belt and just can't seem to get a lot of support. Maybe another 5-10 pound loss will get me there. The rest of the exercises except the db curls seemed to be less effective after that. I went to sleep and slept two hours and woke up and logged this in.

I hope everyone is doing good.