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Super Ape

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It's no wonder that your body is a little dinged up if you are pulling 400 + at under 200 pounds! That is hellacious strength. I'm at 110 kilos now and haven't tried to pull more than 140 kilos (3 plates per side plus the bar) in years and years. Of course, I am 55 years old so I have to be careful. Takes me forever to recover from injury these days. Also, I have never used a trap bar. That looks like fun, and it looks safer than regular deadlifts, too. 

Interestingly, though I have been almost exclusively focused on sandbags, kettlebells, suspension training, and so on since getting back to the gym in late October, with no specific bodybuilding or powerlifting, I feel like I'm getting relatively jacked and strong. Maybe because my diet has improved and I'm getting more protein lately? I've been just tossing around the 30 kg dumbbells (the heaviest my gym has, which is common in Japan)for cleans and snatches. I'm thinking of trying to break my post-50 PR in the barbell clean & press (75 kg, around 165 pounds) if/when I have sufficient free time and no nagging injuries. That's not too impressive, pound for pound or otherwise (Ken Patera at his peak could clean & press 500 pounds!!), and it's certainly no double body weight deadlift, but it would qualify as a satisfying feat of strength in my own mind. 

Hope you feel better soon. Sharty!

Edited by El Gran Gordi
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Thanks, man! I'll be fine, once the roads clear back up. Until then, I'll also try to keep my stretching as frequent as possible, as my legs are getting stiff as well as my neck. But I did manage one more workout as well as stretching/warm-up session yesterday, so I guess it was a good week.

I have a co-worker who's just about your age and he has found plenty of joy in getting back into working out at the gym in our factory. He's making PR's in his mid fifties and it's been a joy to witness, even though we rarely use the gym at the same time (we leave notes to the list we keep in order to track the usage of gym).

As far as the trapbar goes, not only is it easier on the lower back, it's also very soothing for the ego, since you are likely to move heavier weights than with the traditional straight bar, due to the handles being slightly higher than a bar would. Give it a go, if you get a chance.

Over here the gyms are closing in a week for three weeks due to covid situation getting worse. So once again, I'll be in pretty privileged position of having a gym at my place of business, which is basically never used by anyone else while I'm there.

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Ok, the week is nowhere near through, but the roads have cleared up enough that my soul doesn't die each time jump on the bike. We have an on going 50h exercise challenge at work and it goes through the end of May. I reached the first 50h yesterday (I mean, the whole challenge is just that 50h, but I'll challenge myself and see how many times I can complete that within 3 months).

The neck hasn't stopped being stiff and achy, but I work on it daily, so hopefully it will improve soon enough. The workouts this week have been decent, but nothing heavy. Should be able to resume lower-body workouts any day now! I mean, I don't feel like it, but physically, I should have the energy for it again, at this point.

As the Spring time approaches (eventually), my usual regime and goal is to try and bulk up and keep the weight up until May 1st and then diet until the beginning of July. This has worked for 8 years now, so that's the way I'll do it until it doesn't. The only variable this time around is the fact that my winter break will be around Easter, but I see that as a positive, since the bulking up until May 1st is much easier to achieve with that schedule.

Ok, now it's time for lunch, then off to the gym I go.

Editing this one further, no need for a new post. So yeah, I did a light but intense leg day yesterday, reasoning that my calves didn't feel too bad, so I could work on them. Thighs, too, but only a little. Well, my body hates me right now and it's probably screaming for a day off, but my response is: "Fuck you, I'm already not drinking alcohol at the moment, so that is all the compensation you will get for now, and like it!"

One more, and I'm pretty sure I'm done for the week, however!

Edited by Shartnado
No need for a new post.
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What the heck, I'll post more updates since I ended up going full five workouts this week. Yesterday ended up being a bench day, but it became rather obvious that I had already grinded my chest and triceps pretty hard (if not heavy). I did try 260 and 240, but found out that they were too heavy since I only got two or three reps each, so I gave up and did a bunch of sets with 220 with 5-7 range and that felt pretty good. A bunch of light curls and shoulder work between the sets and I was able to get a good pump going for the third time this week.

Today, I thought fuck it, I'll do the trapbar. After quick warm up sets I went to 451 and did 5, 5, 4, 4 and 3. Not quite as many reps as I've managed recently, but I was positively surprised I was able to do that after the week I've had. A good bunch of shrugs with the trapbar while unloading the weights and some ab work to finish off.

Weight is at 188, but that's evening weight, so it will likely be around 185 or so in the morning. Well, I need to stuff my face more, since it's the week end, anyway!

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Yeah, not a great week. After diligently getting 5 workouts in last week, I was totally smoked this week and only got in two, plus one stretching session tonight, before my shift.

Yes, the night shift as well as yet more snow didn't help matters, but things aren't as bad as they were two weeks ago. But my legs are shot. No leg day this week  (again) and yet they are stiff and sore.

Both workouts were very ordinary and sadly did not get to try any of Gordi's suggestions, as of yet. But at least Gorilla Row looks like something I need to give a go.

Weight is pretty much maintained at 185-188lbs and working the nights seems to have a bit of a negative effect on my appetite as of late.

We shall see, if I can bounce back next week, or is this the beginning of running myself into the ground that I was worried about? I still need to hang in there for a couple more weeks, before the longer time off. Wouldn't want to mess that up.

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Ok, better week than the previous one. Four workouts with a light-ish leg day today, so improvement in that sense. The weather has eased up on me a bit, but the roads aren't fully cleared up yet, so it's still quite a struggle. Now, it takes me the normal (from fall to spring)  45 minutes to get to work and another one to get back home.

The training has been ok, 3 upperbody workouts and the leg day today. I did seated incline dumbell bench press on Tuesday. It's been a while. 3 sets of 12 with two 74 lb dumbells and it went well. I took Wednesday off and did regular bench on Thursday. Obviously, for the third upperbody workout for the week, I wasn't making any records but tried going as heavy as I could. 10×132, 5x220, 3x253, 1x264. Got only one clean with 275, but did two more ugly partials. Then 5 sets of 3x253, 3x242, 7x220 and 35x132 for a sick pump at the end. No deadlift this week, except for a few sets with the two kettlebells. Most other stuff was very mundane. Plenty of ab and core work at the end of each session, though.

Weight is still around 185 lbs. One more week before my vacation (at home).

 

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Today, I weight 217.8 lbs., but I bit the bullet and signed up for online training.  My goal weight is 190 lbs. and made a pretty good financial commitment to get there (there is a $100 guarantee, which isn't a lot compared to the total I'm paying, but I'm planning on getting it.).  I've been over 200 lbs. since I've started working in an office, and quite frankly I'm ready to drop this weight.  I turn 40 in June, and want to be as healthy as possible as I get into my hopefully middle years.  I hope to update this every Friday, but then again I may forget I said that as soon as I post this (seriously, I remember Zach Dade had the biggest ears in 8th grade, but there is a good chance I forget this by next Friday.  Funny how my mind works.).

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17 hours ago, supremebve said:

Today, I weight 217.8 lbs., but I bit the bullet and signed up for online training.  My goal weight is 190 lbs. and made a pretty good financial commitment to get there (there is a $100 guarantee, which isn't a lot compared to the total I'm paying, but I'm planning on getting it.).  I've been over 200 lbs. since I've started working in an office, and quite frankly I'm ready to drop this weight.  I turn 40 in June, and want to be as healthy as possible as I get into my hopefully middle years.  I hope to update this every Friday, but then again I may forget I said that as soon as I post this (seriously, I remember Zach Dade had the biggest ears in 8th grade, but there is a good chance I forget this by next Friday.  Funny how my mind works.).

Good luck and even better motivation for you on this journey. I hope to read about your progress here on Fridays. If you have another routine on Friday's, you can use that to remember to write the updates. As in "It's Friday 17:30 PM, time for a coffee, sandwich and a status update on DVDVR's health thread."

If your goal weight is 190, you can take your time getting there, because it's the maintenance part which is the tricky one. While losing the pounds try feeling out which excercises feel most natural to you and which ones you could see yourself doing without feeling like your soul dies each time you have to start. Finding those will improve your chances of sticking with it.

And if Zach Dade is still around, he's going "Man, whatta fuuuuuu?" right now!

Edited by Shartnado
Some typos
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Had my six month checkup for my high blood pressure and tachycardia. There was minor improvement, but not what we were looking for. I pointed out that missing multiple feet of my intestines (multiple surgeries for ulcerative colitis and fisulas) means my transit time from mouth to ileostomy bag is 2 hours, max, and that an extended release medication may not be hanging around long enough to do the work.

Doctor agreed, so we're changing to a rapid release beta blocker and stern lecture (not really, I've know this guy for 14 years, he knows what I'm dealing with) about drinking more than just 3 glasses of (decaf) tea or juice and 2 cups of coffee a day. ?

I also need to really do more about my meal proportioning. That would take care of 75% of my weight issues. It's not that I don't know how, I just don't do it. ADHD FML.

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I finally made it to Winter break! Work was rather shitty, but the riding conditions have improved drastically. Had 4 workouts this week with Wednesday off. Monday was pretty intense upperbody workout with all the usual. Tuesday was pretty much more of the same, but less intense. Thursday was Trapbar deadlift and shrug day. Warmed up with 5x230 and 5x341 (I was able to do this without resorting to using Versa Grips), then 5x429, and 4x5x451.

Today I changed from evening shift to morning shift so that was less than 5h sleep, but I was able to churn out a decent bench workout. Pyramid of 5×198, 3x242, 1x264, 3x264 then 5 sets of 5x242, 7x220, 12x198 and 25x132. Some light and later heavier curls between bench sets (using two 44lb plates with gripholes as dumbells at the end). Well, it seems as if I didn't end up running myself into the ground and now it's time for a well deserved rest. I'm guessing the weight is around 188 just as I start to look pretty jacked again, it's time to Jericho myself to close to 200 again! Looking forward to it, though!

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I weighed in at 215.9 lbs. this morning and I'm feeling pretty good after about a week of my training.  Today I started with the supplements I ordered, so I expect to see more progress in the next few weeks.  The thing I struggled with the most is getting my nutrition right.  The problem is that I need to hit 1800 calories while eating lean protein, vegetables, and carbs.  It is amazing how few calories are in those foods...like really amazing.  I started eating 6 egg whites, a cup and a half of of sweet potato hash (just sweet potatoes, onion, and peppers with just enough oil to cook it) for breakfast.  It is literally about 3 to 4 times as much food as I would typically eat for breakfast in volume, but only about 250 calories.  I was so full, that I didn't need to eat for about 6 hours, except I still needed to eat 1550 calories for the rest of the day.  On Monday, I ate 3 meals and a snack and only got to 1074 calories.  I got my protein goal, but my carbs and fat macros were far away from my daily requirement.  I met with my trainer on Tuesday and he told me I needed to eat more calorie dense snacks like almonds, sugar free beef jerky, and cottage cheese to reach my caloric goals.  Another suggestion he made was to eat oatmeal, which might very well be the secret to me hitting my daily goals.  I made overnight oats, and my breakfast went from 250 calories that I had to force myself to finish to about 750 calories and it was 55% of my daily carb goal.  It also saved about 25 minutes worth of time, because I didn't have to separate 6 egg whites, cook them, and sit down and force myself to finish that massive plate of food.  Monday, I got about half of my daily nutrition, but on Friday with the overnight oats I got to 1868 calories, while only going over by 2 grams of fat and 6 grams of carbs.  The supplements are going to alter that, but I think I'm on the right track.  

The workouts have been a bitch and a half, but in a good way.  It is basically all HIIT, but has a lot of variety of bodyweight, free weights, and bands.  By the end, I'm pretty much worn out, but i also feel really good.  The way they stack some of these exercises make me hate them, but I get through and will be stronger by the end.  For instance, the other day the work out started with 6 sets of kettlebell goblet squats, followed by 3 sets of front lunges, and 3 sets of reverse lunges, and you don't realize that doing 3 sets of 10 or 12 only take about 30 seconds or so...when you have six sets of 50 seconds and only have 20 seconds of rest in between...you are pushing yourself really fucking hard.  Thankfully, I have enough weights at home that I can start heavy and go down in weight as I fatigue, because that 45 lb. kettlebell felt twice as heavy by that 4th set.  Yesterday, I had a run of  chest flys, dumbbell bench press, bent over rows, lateral raises, front raises and reverse flys that made me wonder whether or not I'd be able to lift my fork for dinner afterwards.  I really need to work on my core strength, because I struggle the most with the various plank based exercises, but that will come with time.  Hopefully next week, I'll drop a little more weight (I probably dropped more weight than it seems, but I've been drinking massive amounts of water) and the nutrition part gets a little easier.  

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Way to go Supremebve! I co-sign the problem with a very clean diet and the sheer amounts of food you have to shove down your throat to reach your target calories. Oatmeal, cottage-cheese and 100% unsweetened peanut butter may help (unless you are allergic to peanuts). For several years now, I have mixed instant oatmeal flakes, fat free milk, water, crushed fennelseed, soy lechitine and rapeseed oil (olive oil works too) for a super fast breakfast drink before leaving for work. At times I add some chocolate flavored whey protein and that gives me a good amount of energy from some pretty solid sources.

Drinking your calories is always easier way to get them down. Also, you may have noticed that there are bottled egg-whites in stores these days. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm sure that's a super fast way to make an egg-white omelet and that way you don't have to throw away the yolks. Personally, I've eaten the whole eggs this time around, as I don't like to waste food, but I did separate them when I was training in my twenties.

And I can identify with the notion of completing a set, moving on to another one and another, glancing at your watch and going "Are you kidding me? Another 30 seconds to go? Dammit!"

Keep up the intensity and report back to us on your progress. I'll be reading it, at least.

 

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Ok, not much to report, as I have really enjoyed some serious resting and relaxation. A few 60-90 minute slowish walks with my wife , some sessions with the massage hammer and just a couple of minutes ago a short but intense workout with the resistance band as well as 5 sets of push-ups with 190 reps in total.

I have been getting plenty of sleep and did take the opportunity to get some much needed drinks in me as well. Eating has been on the agenda quite frequently, also. 

Still have a good few days, before returning to work, but fortunately for now, while the weight has hiked up to 190+ lbs, the results have been somewhat encouraging. As of now, not everything has just gone straight to my midsection, so it seems like my muscles we able to reefeed on some of the extra calories.

So far so good! Enjoying the time off!

...Weighed myself this evening, I was at 196 lbs, so 200 should be reached before I go back to work.

Edited by Shartnado
Time for a weigh-in
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Just now, Control said:

My wrist hurts and it turns out a lot of exercises require wrists.

Yeah, I've had similar issues recently. I'm hoping this bit on rest has taken care of that somewhat, but yeah, with a hurt wrist, you are down to a pretty limited amount of things you can do. Well, you can do bodyweight squats, crunches for abs, calf raises (if it's only one hurt wrist, you could grab a dumbell or a kettlebell with the good arm for extra weight). You can probably think of a few more, but it's quite limited, indeed.

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24 minutes ago, Control said:

Fortunately it’s not injured, just sore. Of course, every time I lift a weight, adding an extra day of soreness.

That's good. You may want to stretch it around gently to get the circulation going again and see if that helps at all? If there is any swelling you might want to ice it down before and after the workout. Hope it gets better soon enough.

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Ok, time for an update. I think I just about reached 200 lbs before going back to work, but I slipped back down to 198 in couple of days.

Went for a little jog/brisk walk on Tuesday and decided to try to climb a flight of stairs the town has built on a side of small hill, for public exercise purposes. I jogged them up and walked them down as fast as I dared, twice. Then jogged and walked back home. No more than 3 miles overall, and my thighs were stiff af for three days! I'll definitely start going there regularly, once the diet begins.

I returned to work on Thursday and was supposed to start with trapbar, but my legs said no. So I did upper body instead. Usual stuff with bench included. Did 6 x 3 x 264, 12 and 8 x 220 and 22 x132. I'd rather want to do 3x6x264, but that wasn't going to happen, so I take what I can get.

Today, it was Trapbar and shrug day, as my legs were finally feeling better. Did 10 x 230, 6x 352 and 5, 5, 6 and 5 x 430 and a bunch of shrugs. Ab stuff at the end on both days.

Only two days of work, so only two work outs, but that's fine by me. Let's see, if next week I'll be back in the groove?

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First full week back at work so full on workouts as well. 4 workouts with Wednesday off.

Monday was pretty intense full upper body massacre, with all the usual, plus shrugs and extra pumping for the arms. Arms are approaching 17,5 inches (well, 17 anyway) when absolutely pumped to the max. That means triceps, biceps and bracialii all pumped.

Because Monday, I had no other choice but to have a leg day. So calf raises and squat machine until the morale improves.

Thursday was bench and lat pulldown day. Bench pyramid was as follows: 5x198, 3x242, 1x264, 6x270, 3x275, 5,5,4,3,4x264, 5x242, 12x198, 30x132. Light lat pulldowns between the heavier sets.

Friday, Trapbar and shrugs. For the first two sets, I stood on a small platform to increase the intensity. I did 10x 242 and 5x363 without Versa Grips. Took the platform out and put Versas on, then 5×430, then 3x5x451. Nothing spectacular, but very much a good Friday at the office. Then some shrugs with 297, 275 and 165.

Overall, I'm pleased with this week's effort. Weather conditions have improved so much , so fast that I actually took a longer path to work and back on Friday and it still took only 40 minutes one way.

Weight is at 194. I've never been this heavy this close to the diet. It could be a good or a bad thing, but we won't know until the beginning of July.

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Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be posting updates here, lol.

Well, I'm down to 209, and things are going pretty well.  I'm pretty sure my cooking skills have been my saving grace.  If I didn't know how to ring flavor out of proteins as bland as turkey breast and pork tenderloin.  I think the key to getting my nutrition right is breakfast for dinner.  I eat overnight oats for breakfast, which is generally my most calorie dense meal of the day.  My lunch is what most people would eat for dinner.  I eat a protein, a veggie, and a carb.  For dinner I calculate how many calories/macros I need to get to 1800, and fill that in with egg whites, and maybe few veggies.  The goal is 190, and I'm starting to see the kind of progress that makes me feel like I can get there.  It's been a long ass time, but I'm starting to see shadows of the build I had back in my early 20s.  Next weekend I'm going camping, which is going to be a couple of cheat days, but I'm not planning on going too crazy.  I'm already planning to discuss upping the intensity of my workouts with my trainer, so the Monday after I get back seems like a perfect time to start.  That's all I got for this update, see you next time I remember.

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Holy crap, that was one hell of a week. Night shift so the first work out was on Sunday evening and this was after some yard-work of shoveling dirt and removing surprisingly large rocks from under a mock fountain as we were prepairing to install a new one. I also took the longer route to work and back home because the conditions were great. Until this morning, when it started snowing again, WTF?

Sunday's full upperbody workout was intense, but not heavy. At least not heavy enough to stop me having another one on Monday. That one included standing and seated dumbell overhead presses as something I haven't gotten around to doing in a while. They weren't heavy either, but sure felt like it!

I considered taking Tuesday off, but ended up doing a leg day instead. Loading the squat machine to approximately 400 lbs and did calves and thighs and decreased he load down to abot 200 lbs at the end. That was pretty rough.

Wednesday was a bench day and I figured I go straight to 220 and no less. So I did 5x220, 3x253, 1x275, 2x297, 3x286, 3x275, 4×264, 4x253, 5x242, 7x220 and 25x132 for the finish. Disclaimer, though the heaviest sets were not clean, but I did them. Once I get a spotter, it will get better.

Thursday was a trapbar and shrug day as last work out of the week tends to be. I wasn't really feeling it, so I thought I'll get up to 451 fast and see what I have left. So I did 10x176, 6x286, 5x374, then 8, 5, 6 and 5x451. I did not see that coming! Shrugs while unloading the trapbar and that was it for the week.

Work was pretty intense as well, so it seem like the weight has gone down a bit. I was at 191 this afternoon after waking up. Now it's time for re-feed as we approach the beginning of the diet.

Edited by Shartnado
Proof reading
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2 hours ago, Control said:

Wrist is better, but I seem to have tweaked my neck. Is this middle age? 

It may very well be, unfortunately. For me, I usually get one aching bodypart feeling good again by meticulously stretching, massaging etc. only to find that some other part is now aching due to lack of attenion. And I do not have the time nor the patience to go through my entire anatomy each time out.

 

On an unrelated note, my patience did pay off yesterday, as I was able to get a decent deal on my diet supplements after weeks of checking out the website regularly to see if the prices have gone down yet. Rest of the year I'm on whey protein and creatine as my only supplements, but for the upcoming two months or so each spring and early summer, I will usually go full blast with the supplements. Whether they actually work or not is up to debate, but they do seem to give me the extra motivation I need, especially at the beginning of each diet.

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Supplements! That's an interesting sub-topic. What does everyone here use?

My regimen is simultaneously basic and extensive:

I drink a shake or two made with whey protein, inulin fiber, creatine, and greens powder almost every day, usually mixed with cold green tea or barley tea. I take fish oil most days, and use curcumin pills to deal with muscle pain and general inflammation as needed. I've got calcium. magnesium, and zinc on hand to deal with cramping in the summer and to use as a sleep aid as needed. I buy protein, creatine, and inulin by the kilo online, and I buy huge boxes of various types of greens powders and the biggest jars of fish oil capsules and curcumin pills I can find. I buy little packs of minerals at the 100-yen shop. I have half a dozen shaker bottles and shaker balls. I also drink loads of tea and Japanese "genki drinks."

@supremebveare you training with a particular goal or purpose in mind? 

@Control I am 55, and in a constant battle with little aches and injuries. It does seem that this is in fact what middle age is like. It stinks, but we are definitely better off than dudes our age who don't train, at least.

 

Edited by El Gran Gordi
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