Day 4 week 9

Another gorgeous day after a little rain this week. In a town that gets 12 inches of rain each year, a little clouds are welcome to break up the monotony of perfect weather. That said, I'd leave California in a moment if I could -- too many nuts.

Really, really needed training today. Just needed weight for my mental health. I'm sure you know. I knew today would be tough, but I feel pretty good. Been sleeping for crap lately and am draggin' a lot, but still...

Bodyweight is up this week again. Eating ravenously, but the gains are microscopic. Not sure what to make of it -- certainly not Shelby's problem, and I'm sticking to the plan pretty stringently. On super-high carb days I eat over 2.5 pounds (yes, pounds) of carbs alone and yet don't gain weight. Most don't realize what that takes until you consider that I eat ten meals a super day with at least 125g carbs, and four cups of breakfast cereal is about half a meal's worth. My caloric intake is frightening, particularly for a guy pushing 50. But genetically I'm not even halfway to the grave, as everyone in my family lives to eclipse 100. I'm still a pup by familial standards. Anyway, I'm celebrating even one pound gains in bodyweight when others gain just by hearing about what I eat.

Started with the usual nutrition, elbow sleeves, wrist wraps, eventually briefs (squat) and knee sleeves.

Lots of dynamic work and a lot of bar work to warm up before getting to it.

All exercises were 3 sets of 5-7 with 180s between.

Military press, seated, fat bar: 3 x 7 reps with last week's weight plus five kilos per side for the first set, then down the 5kg. Seat was at 80 degrees (more/less). Again I did these in the rack with pins set low so I at least have a bail-out that's not my lap. Still keeping them strict and hit five reps each set. Pretty sure I can't go up next week, but I'll try to make more reps and more sets with the extra five.

Seated french press: 3x7. Raised the weight a couple of kilos again just to keep gaining. Got all 7 reps each and could stand to go up for the first couple of sets next time. Elbows felt great, so I might go up again next week. I feel these in the lateral head in particular. Might not do much for benching, but it'll beef up the horseshoe.

Squat: 3 x 7 and up another 5% from last time. I'm about ten kilos per side from a weight PR, which is a little scary. I hit seven reps each set but the last, all with the same weight. On the last set I was at five reps and the weight slipped off my delts and I dumped it. After I convinced myself that my elbows were ok, I just stopped and left the rumpus room. I never leave the weight on the bar, but I figured the juju was bad enough that I'd best just leave. At those weights a lot of my success is between my ears, and I was feeling a little wimpy all of a sudden. Better not to risk anything for two reps. So I walked. First time I've dumped in as long as I can remember. Nothing is hurt, so I chalk it up as a good session regardless.

I'll post my youtube channel info here when I get vids up next week.

Great day. Thanks for looking.

Day 3 week 9

Got to go get the little man and take him to his Little League game, so not much chitchat today. I'm sure many are relieved.

Wife's back in town today -- this is a very good thing.

I started with the usual pre-workout nutrition, wore sleeves and wrist wraps. Warmed up with a little dynamic work and a lot of bar work.

All sets 5-7 reps, 180s between, all to positive failure (or worse). Extreme stretches afterward except biceps (again).

Rows: 3 sets x 7 reps. I took off the chains this time and raised the weight. I lowered the incline angle quite a bit and pulled to upper chest. I had a sufficient arch going that I basically received a total-back pump/spasm that was quite eye-opening. These were intense, and I have to say I like it. A lot.

Fly fat DB: 3 x 7 with monster weight. I kept the same weight as last time. I finished with handles on some chains on the decline bench, concentrating on keeping tension constant and squeezing the finish. I did them Doggcrapp stylee, doing each burn-out set to failure with ten deep breaths between each set. I got about 30 reps the first set, about 15 the second, and about 10 the last. My chest was toast at this point and the extreme stretches were absolutely brutal.

Single-arm Scott curl: 3 x 7 x a bunch. I stuck with last week's weight and pumped them out slowly. Time to move the weight up.

Seated calf: Ironmind super squat belt and did standing calf raises with a bunch of weight on the pin. Legs a little wide to clear the plates, same weight as last time, got all 100 in one set. Very tough.

Ab twists: Used the 10" stone (45#) for these and did three sets of 50.

Great day, needed to get it in and did. Hope I'm awake for the evening with the family, though I suspect my wife will be beat too.

Have a great day, all. Thanks for checking in. Videos next week.

Day 2 week 9

Gorgeous day today. My wife is out of town visiting a sister who is ill and my stepson is at his dad's for the weekend. He had a ballgame this morning, which they won fairly easily. They're now 12 and 1; in a league of eight teams, it's a two-horse race that they're leading at the moment. Their stats are fairly gaudy, which is surprising since there are only one or two real stars on the team.

Anyway, had the day to myself after the game to be filled with lifting and eating. Sweet. Strongman Bob's workout got me fired up to do some serious damage; even though he's only got a couple of years on me, he works through a lot more pain and adversity than I do. Inspires me.

Today's a super-high carb day -- the kind that makes most people gain weight by talking about it. I even get to have fun on super-high days. Can't let Shelby know how much fun, though. Weight was up two pounds this week. Slow but sure.

Started with the usual nutrition and a serious insulin spike. Wore loose briefs, knee sleeves for the squats, elbow sleeves throughout, and wrist wraps for the first two exercises. Warmed up with a lot of dynamic work and the usual weight work. Pounded through it.

Gironda swings: 3 sets of 10 reps with 25# DBs. The DBs were skinny -- these are brutal enough without the fat DBs. Anyone want to know about the form, let me know. I decided to switch up to these just because the 60-rep laterals were boring me to death. They're tough but boring. These were very hard. Finished off with heavy band work just to sap the last from my delts before moving on. Honestly, I just grab the band with hands about six inches apart and open my arms out wide completely.

Skullcrushers: 3 sets of 10 reps with the EZ curl bar this time. Raised the weight again a little, took the reps super slow, and elbows and shoulders felt great. Everything ached afterward. Perfect. I used the angle bench set at it's lowest setting, so my angle was maybe 30 degrees -- just enough so I was looking up a little.

Front squat: 3 x 10. Set up the pin with six 50-kilo plates and ran them to the floor below parallel from a pair of six-inch platforms. Feet are wide. These felt remarkably good, though I broke a blood vessel in my left calf and now have that itchy burning pain that comes with it. I noticed with the raise in weight I lean forward a little to keep the belt on my narrow hips. May need to tighten the belt a little to stop that. Still, no knee, hip, or back pain.

Finished with ab twists with the 45 pound stone. Did several sets until I was sucking serious wind. It's funny that I dread these and yet love them while I'm doing them. Took pics afterward.

All weights go up next week. Feel good about that.

Got work to do this afternoon around the house -- need to make sure my wife comes home to a neater place than she left. If you saw her, you'd know why I'm totally whipped and man enough to admit it. Will work on video issues while I'm at it.

Hope all have a great day.

Day 1 week 9

Been raining here for a couple of days. Yesterday was seriously blustery, too, with hard gusting winds. I love it.

Finally made some time to get back in the gym, only a day late.

Started with the usual elixir. I gained a couple of pounds, which is cause for celebration. Not sure why, but I'll run with it.

Wore elbow sleeves and wrist wraps for sanity.

Pull-ups, fat grip, wide: 3 x 8 smooth. All sets were +40kg. No pain today, did them all smoothly, got 9 reps on the last set. I was determined to make a little progress, even if it was just one rep.

Bench press, regular bar: 3 x 10. Started with last week's high weight and stayed there. Tightened form a little on the second and third sets, getting a little bit better push off from my heels. Made a big difference in comfort and confidence, and I pounded out the reps. These felt really good today.

Incline bicep curl: 3 x 10 with 25 kilos on the skinny DBs. These felt great and caused no additional elbow or biceps issues. Same as last time, I think -- no improvement. Biceps screamed at the end, making the extreme stretches a little slice of heaven.

Standing calf: I did them as usual, hitting all 100 reps in one set. Man, does that hurt.

No pain, no joint problems, everything working at the moment. Hard to complain.

My wife and I are thinking of buying a new house nearby that's many times nicer. Trouble is it would stretch us pretty hard financially and I'd have nowhere obvious to put the rack and stuff. Gonna have to figure something out. Got to have somewhere to train and the garage is tiny. While my rumpus room is a dive, it's a perfect dive for iron. Gonna have to think this through.

Night all. Thanks.

Day 4 week 8

What an awesome day. My wife and I are trying to buy a new place, which would be an unbelievable blessing, so some of my thought today has wandered toward that. Still when the time came to lift, I was all there.

The boy has had five baseball games in three days and has three this week alone. He's exhausted, which puts me close behind him. It's been crazy and needs sorting pretty badly.

I think I've gotten my video production issues figured out and will open a channel soon. When I do, I'll post the link here. Honestly, it's just not a priority, but I should make it one. I need proof.

Started with the usual nutrition, elbow sleeves, wrist wraps, eventually briefs (squat) and knee sleeves.

Lots of dynamic work and a lot of bar work to warm up before getting to it. I kept last week's order.

All exercises were 3 sets of 5-7 with 180s between.

Military press, seated, fat bar: 3 x 7 reps with last week's raised weight. Seat was at 80 degrees (more/less). Again I did these in the rack with pins set low so I at least have a bail-out that's not my lap. These were pretty tough, honestly, but represent another rep PR. Man, these are slow up and down; video would look like slo-mo. But the margin for serious fubar is tiny, so discretion remains the better part of valor.

Seated french press: 3x7. Raised the weight a couple of kilos just to keep gaining. Got all 7 reps each and could stand to go up for the first couple of sets next time. Just taking it easy on my elbows in the meantime. Paranoia.

Squat: 3 x 7 and up another 5% from last time. I pushed really hard on these and am now approaching PR territory. A few more weeks of little raises and I might get there, which pumps me up no end. I was a little intimidated today for some reason -- think my knee tweak a couple of days ago had me worried, but it was fine. I had to slow down the descent a good bit; first set was only 5 reps because I dropped too fast and got a little out of sorts. Only way to hold the right positions is to take it slow and tight. Lucky I didn't dump it. Last two sets were super-solid. I have to say, I was thrilled. Torked for the first set.

Great day. I skipped abs because mil/squat day is so tough over all, it's a gift to myself. I always make it up.

Thanks guys.

Day 3 week 8

Sleepy today -- super-high carb days drag me down. I don't think that's normal, but 'normal' is seldom used to describe me. Warm day, too.

I started with the usual swill, wore sleeves, wrist wraps, and a frown. Warmed up with a little dynamic work and a lot of bar work. Did a lot of rearranging too, since the gym isn't re-sorted yet since the flood. Some worked, some didn't.

And I got to it. All sets 5-7 reps, 180s between, all to positive failure (or worse). Extreme stretches afterward except biceps -- for some reason I forgot even though my biceps were on fire. Go figure. Getting old.

Rows: 3 sets x 7 reps. I stuck with last week's weight and added a bunch of chains set to leave no links on the ground at the top. I got seven each set, though it wasn't easy by any measure. Used a band finisher at the end from several angles to burn off anything left in my upper back.

Fly fat DB: 3 x 7 with monster weight. I kept the same weight as last time and was a little afraid of it, which is never good. Got seven on all three sets with control, but getting it up was an adventure. Not sure what I'll do from here, as the bars can't hold much more. I could move to a screw-type collar and go up another plate each end, but I'm not sure how I'll control it without a spotter and without hooks to lift them off a barbell in the rack. I need to make those hooks, because I love the fat dumbbells.

Single-arm Scott curl: 3 x 7 x a bunch. I stuck with last week's weight and pumped them out slowly. Felt great.

Seated calf: Ironmind super squat belt and did standing calf raises with a bunch of weight on the pin. Legs a little wide to clear the plates, same weight as last time, got all 100 in one set. Very tough. I'd tweaked a knee a little deadlifting the DBs on the flys and felt it when getting into position here. I lived. Nothing a little bourbon can't fix.

Ab twists: Used the 10" stone (45#) for these and did three sets of 50. Still very hard.

A good day, but could have been better. I torked a lot during the rows, trying to wake up. Felt like my blood pressure was high all day. Just a little off. Better next time.

Thanks.

Day 2 week 8

Had vertigo earlier in the week due to ear trouble. Everything's fine now, but I couldn't train for days. Wore me out -- I need my weight time. It's a mental health thing, and I'm usually hanging by a thread anyway.

Hazy day today. Got funeral services for my friend tomorrow. The details are weirder by the report, but it doesn't change the reality. Had some great news at work this week, so things have been pretty good when I didn't have the spins.

Started with the usual nutrition and a serious insulin spike. Wore loose briefs, knee sleeves for the squats, elbow sleeves throughout, and wrist wraps for the first two exercises. Warmed up with a lot of dynamic work and the usual weight work. Pounded through it.

Straight-arm anterior/medial/posterior fly: 60 reps per set, 20 each direction, three sets. Took the weight up a few pounds each hand again. Smooth and painful. Forgot extreme stretches afterward, unfortunately.

Skullcrushers: 3 sets of 10 reps with the EZ curl bar this time. Raised the weight again, took the reps super slow, and elbows and shoulders felt great. Everything ached afterward. Perfect.

Front squat: 3 x 10. Set up the pin with 255 kilos and put mats down until I could hit depth without hitting the floor. Moving that weight into position is tough, but the movement is easy once I'm there. Very smooth and very specific -- my quads are cooked after these, as they're the primary target. Starting to really love these, enough to want to set up a platform to make it easier to get into position. Right now I'm about six inches above the floor, so range of motion is to below parallel.

Felt great after all of this. I couldn't wait to get in the room, despite the fact that it's still a mess after the flood. Nothing is where it was except the rack and weight trees. This weekend is all baseball -- at least three games -- so I won't get it fixed then either. I need some time off work to get stuff done.

Have a great evening.

Day 1 week 8

Gorgeous day. Thankfully warm enough to dry out the gym a little. I looked at my patch to stem the tide and it's still seeping a little, so I'll have to get a plumber in Monday to have some bonding and insurance behind the repair. Yeah, I have a class C contractors license (past life), but I still know when it makes sense to make sure you're covered.

Dragging today for some reason. It's a super-duper high carb day, and I seem to drag on these days. Insulin is super-high too, which might make a difference. Have to ask a diabetic. Didn't sleep too well last night, either, which never helps. That's just whining.

Threw batting practice to the boys this morning. Probably threw 300 pitches at low velocity -- maybe 70-75. But my biceps barked after a few curves and slurves. We'd see what we'd see when the iron hit them.

Started with the usual elixir. Shelby and I have bumped everything this week -- more fats, more carbs, more protein, more everything. Weight is stubborn. I'm a weight-gaining anomaly. So I Spiked a single can in my peri-workout drink to fight the lethargy. I'll be all abuzz for the afternoon, I'm sure. At the risk of sounding like a Biotest or Spike flack, I love the stuff.

Wore elbow sleeves and wrist wraps for sanity.

Pull-ups, fat grip, wide: 3 x 8 smooth. All sets were +40kg. Right bicep bitched a little, but it was ok. All in all, these were pretty powerful and felt pretty good when I didn't jerk around. Kipping sucks with that much weight hanging, so smooth is the name of the game.

Bench press, fat bar: 3 x 10. First set was my old 5/3/1 3-rep max and I only got 8 clean reps. Decreased weight by ten kilos each side and ripped out the last two sets at 10 reps. Felt great to go back to a full ROM bench. As much as bench has frustrated me, I missed it.

Incline bicep curl: 3 x 10 with 25 kilos on the skinny DBs. These felt great and caused no additional elbow or biceps issues. Frankly, I might be able to do a little more. We'll see.

Standing calf: I wussed out and skipped them. I'll make them up next time.

I feel pretty good now. I still have about 50 soaked cardboard boxes to throw out and a bunch more to go through to see how many books and stuff I lost. So be it. What else do we have to do? Hah.

Will try to take the wife out for a date night; as long as I'm buzzing, I might as well make use of it.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Day 4 week 7

My wife's out of town and I'm Mister Mom for my stepson. Took a couple of days off to spend time with him while he's on Spring Break. No one on their deathbed ever wishes they spent more time at the office, so why not? We've had a lot of fun and spent a ton of time on baseball and movies. Tomorrow I give him back to his dad, and it's back to normalcy for me. Sigh.

In the meantime, I needed to get into the gym. I love Days 4, so it was no burden. I did have a big fatty lunch today, though, so I was dragging a little for what I knew would be a tough session.

Started with the usual nutrition, elbow sleeves, wrist wraps, eventually briefs (squat) and knee sleeves.

Lots of dynamic work and a lot of bar work to warm up before getting to it. I switched up triceps work today to do something different for my elbows. And I ended up rearranging the order back to the original sequence.

All exercises were 3 sets of 5-7 with 180s between.

Military press, seated, fat bar: 3 x 5 reps with weight up another 5%. Seat was at 80 degrees (more/less). Again I did these in the rack with pins set low so I at least have a bail-out that's not my lap. For whatever reason, these weren't too bad even though this is a weight PR. I had to go back a bit in my log to check, but it was in fact a PR for weight and reps with this weight (obviously). I like that.

Seated french press: 3x7. These were interesting. My elbows didn't complain at all, but my wrists did when letting the weight down. I'll have to figure out a rack adjustment that eases this. My weight today was good -- I truly reached positive failure on each 7th rep. I suspect these will be good if my elbows don't bark. Used the EZ Curl bar to alleviate elbow stress, but need an Elite swiss bar, I think. Now to convince my wife of that...

Squat: 3 x 5, up another 5% from last time. I pushed really hard on these -- saw lots of very interesting colors. Fired them up well, though the walkouts were a bitch. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself so I checked whether this too was a PR for weight. Not even remotely close. Maybe for these reps, but nowhere near my weight PR. Oh well. I felt it for a few seconds.

Tough day but gains continue. I spent some time early wondering why I'm doing this, though the strength gains are too intoxicating to stop. I admit I love it -- it's a mental health thing. But I wonder at what age I might feel ok backing off a little. I think, at least for now, it'll be a while.

Thanks, all.

Day 3 week 7

Another gorgeous day in Sandy Eggo. I got started a little later than anticipated, but no big deal. Had some peace to work in during the afternoon, so I took it.

Started with the usual Shelby elixir set. I'm getting more and more particular about being exact and honestly I think it helps. We're still monkeying with my insulin levels, so all kinds of things are changing. Frankly, I'm starting to look bigger even if my weight isn't changing much. He keeps increasing my food and carb levels all the time, and my fats on non-super-high-carb days are up too. The walking physio experiment, I am. Everything Strongman Bob is to his chiro, I am to Shelby, I think. Bob at least gets instant relief.

Wore elbow sleeves and wrist wraps. Worked with my shirt off because I'm alone and it was very warm, particularly in the rumpus room. No mirrors, no vanity.

Warmed up with a little dynamic work and a lot of weight work.

Set to it. All sets 5-7 reps, 180s between, all to positive failure (or worse).

Rows: 3 sets x 7 reps. I added twenty kilos this week and added a bunch of chains set to leave one link on the ground at the top. I got seven each set and saw God during the final set. Wow.

Fly fat DB: 3 x 7 with monster weight. I added twenty kilos to each hand, which made the weight downright obscene. Last weeks were too easy, so I decided to go bold. The went up well, actually, though I only got 5 on the last set and saw God again. It is Easter weekend and He is risen, so it could happen. The last set was outrageously hard and failure was complete on the sixth rep. I loved it, finally.

Single-arm Scott curl: 3 x 7 x a bunch. I added 80% more weight this week. 80%. That's a little scary. I got 7 on each set, but dropped the weight by 10% for the second and third -- same weight for both. That's where the sweet spot was. Biceps were screaming and the sets were perfect. I was seriously pumped and chuffed after these, since they were finally what I need them to be.

Seated calf: Ironmind super squat belt and did standing calf raises with a bunch of weight on the pin. Legs a little wide to clear the plates, same weight as last time, got all 100 in one set. Weight was up 80% for these too. Just felt like keeping it going. These were brutal and I might have cried. Hard to tell.

Ab twists: Used the new 10" stone (45#) for these and did three sets of 50. Wow, were these hard, at least on my wind. I'm definitely going to have to make a 12" stone now, or add lead to another 10 incher.

Fantastic day. I grunted and growled so much my throat is sore. I'm beat, ready to sleep, and it's only 8:00. What a wimp. Whatever the case, happy to see some gains rolling in again. Big day.

Ok, one of my dogs is farting horrible green farts behind me and the rest of the clan is dyeing Easter eggs. I'm out. Happy Easter, all.

Day 2 week 7

Body weight has stagnated again, so we're tinkering again. Already messing with insulin levels, massive carb amounts, 90g protein shakes before bed, and about a gallon of olive oil every few days. The experiment continues.

In the meantime, I keep upping the intensity in the rumpus room. Pretty soon I'm gonna bust or break. Today, though, I felt good.

Warm, beautiful day after rain this morning. Cool evening tonight by recent standards, but due to be 80s in a few days.

Wore elbow sleeves and wrist wraps for the first two, loose briefs and knee sleeves for the squats. Forgot abs again. Dang.

Started with Shelby's nutritional regimen and some dynamic work. Worked with the weights to get up to speed, plugged in the shuffle tunes, and went at it.

Straight-arm anterior/medial/posterior fly: 60 reps per set, 20 each direction, three sets. Took the weight up a few pounds each hand. Still feels good, still making progress, still want to puke when done. Perfect.

Skullcrushers: 3 sets of 10 reps with the EZ curl bar this time. Raised the weight, took the reps super slow, and elbows and shoulders felt great. Hit the triceps hard, but probably need a finisher.

Front squat: 3 x 10. Set up the pin with well over 200 kilos and put mats down until I could hit depth without hitting the floor. I love that IronMind safety squat belt. Just awesome. I'll keep working on form and method -- it's a little tough hobbling around with around 500 pounds between the ankles trying to get into position. I squat with a pillar in front of me a couple of feet away so I can stabilize if needed. Really feels good.

All in all a productive day. I'm starving right now, so off to eat as much as possible before dinner.

My concrete stone -- can I call it an atlas stone when it's only 42 pounds? -- worked like a champ. I got impatient and unmolded it today, and everything looks great. Now to let it cure, bondo any pips on the outside surface, and use it. I'm pumped. Next will be a considerably bigger one, and after that I may just start making them for people. Maybe. Right.

Off to it. Have a great evening.