Another setback. . .

I seem to constantly tweak my neck.  I had been dealing with a tweak on the left side, finally got past that, and now I've somehow done it to the right side.  I couldn't press yesterday, and pull ups have been out of the question for a couple of days now.   Frustrating.  

I guess one of the significant hurdles to accomplishing my goal will be to manage injuries.  They are inevitable, particularly at my age (45). 

Two steps forward, one step back. . . .

     Last night I got home and did some pull up work, alternating pull up sets with ring dips sets.  I performed a single and a double with no significant difficulty, but had to cheat to get a triple (kicking my chin over the bar).  I did a couple more doubles and then was interrupted by a chatty neighbor; memo to self:  close the garage door if you don't want distractions.

     This morning I was supposed to do a strength work out followed by some conditioning but was slow-moving when the alarm sounded.  

Bench Press:  3 @ 175#; 3 @ 185#; 5 @ 190# (last set was max reps); then, 5 x 10 @ 105#.

Rows:  3 @ 135#; 3 @ 140#; 5 @ 145# (last set was max reps); then, 5 x 10 @ 85#.

Front Squat:  3 @ 165#; 3 @170#; 3 @ 175#. 

     The last set of FS was max reps; I basically whimped out.  I did 3 sets of 5 at the same weight last week, so am capable of more. 

Inspiration. . .

     I met two people last week whom I found very inspirational, for very different reasons.  

     First, at work, I had a meeting with a prospective new client last week.  All I knew about him in advance of the meeting was that he is developing a vineyard and needs help drafting his lease.  He's Mexican American, probably 5'6" tall, and in his early 40s.  Eventually his back story came out:  His parents moved to the U.S. when he was a child.  He is the youngest of 12 children.  He grew up working in vineyards and for a famous Napa winery, as did his entire family.  He works for a vineyard management company, makes his own wine, took the winemaking courses at the local university, has started his own vineyard management company, and wants to obtain his own vineyards.  He sometimes works for his employer, finishes up, does his own winemaking, comes home, changes, has breakfast with his wife, and is right back at it.  He loves what he does, and is eager to build up a wine brand and acquire vineyards so that his children can take it over after him.  Basically, a guy with no advantages whatsoever, who, with no assistance, has worked diligently to improve himself so that his family can have a better life. 

     Second, I was lifting at my girlfriend's gym in Sacramento this weekend.  At the other squat rack, I saw a rare sight:  A guy doing full depth squats, followed by standing presses.  He looked to be maybe 18-22 years old, thin as a rail.  I struck up a conversation with him.  Like me, he'd only ever seen 4 or 5 others doing squats at the gym at all, let alone to proper depth.  He is doing the "Stronglifts" program.  I don't know much about that program, but if it encourages full depth squats, it seems like it must be a good start.  He said his weight exceeded 310 pounds when he started the program and he is finally getting close to finishing cutting weight; my guess is that he may weigh 170 pounds at most, at about 5'11".  I can only imagine how difficult his life must have been as an obese teen, but he has done something about it.  

     Saturday conditioning:

     Warm up by jogging 2 laps at local track. 5 sprints, 200 m each.

     Sunday strength:

      Back Squats:  3 @ 205#; 3 @ 215#; 5 @ 225#.  Last set was a max effort.

      Finisher:  100 burpees.  

    

Continued progress

As I reported the other day, I was concerned about a sharp shoulder pain from my last pull up session.  Last night I did a few sets of pull ups, really concentrating on setting my left shoulder back in its socket and holding that position while doing the pull ups.  Voila, no pain!  I just need to be careful at the bottom of the movement to keep the shoulder under tension, rather than allowing it to relax.  Anyhow, I did sets of:  1-3-2-2-2-1, with 90 second rest between sets. 

More progress. . . possibly

     Tuesday night, I got home from work and headed out to the garage to do a few pull ups.  My plan was to do a bunch of singles.  However, I felt kind of light (for me) on the first pull up.  Inspired, I figured I'd do two on the second set, but found I had more gas, so attempted -- and completed -- a third DHPU!  That's the good news.  

     The potentially bad news is that my left shoulder -- the one I did NOT have surgery on -- gave me sharp pain as I began each pull up.  I might ignore this, but I tweaked it about 6 months ago and it took almost 4 months to really get better with a few weeks of having problems sleeping with it.  

     Naturally, because I'm stupid, I did a few more sets, doing doubles.  Each time, at the bottom of the pull up, as I began the pull, I had the sharp pain in the left shoulder.  Bummer, because I don't want to exacerbate whatever is going on in there, yet I don't want to lose the progress I've made in such a short time.  

     Yesterday, Wednesday morning, was a strength work out:

Press:  5 @ 125#; 5 @ 135#; 5 @ 140#.  

Deadlift:  5 @ 215; 5 @ 225#; 10 @ 235#; then, 5 x 8 @ 145#; 

Rows:  3 x 5 @ 145#.

A bit disappointed with the press, as I've pressed 145# for 5 reps before, so thought I should get 6 or 7.  The third set of deadlifts was a max rep set, during which I started to experience tunnel vision and felt my lats really straining.  The 5 back off sets were done from a deficit just for kicks.  

     This morning, I did some strength work and a quick conditioning work out:

Back Squat:  3 @ 205#, 215#, 225#, 230#; and 235#.  

Tabata:   (a)  24" box jump (step off box);

                 (b)  53# kettle bell swing;

                 (c)  push ups;

                 (d) sand bag cleans (approx. 50#).

(Tabatas are intervals:  8 intervals of 20 seconds of work, with 10 second rests between each work set.  I rested about a minute between each exercise.0

Progress. . .

I got home from the office last night and, while dinner was in the oven, stepped out to the garage.  I did a single, a double, and three more singles.  I felt, for the first time in awhile, that I wasn't using every bit of effort to pull myself over the bar. 

The good news is that I've doubled my max reps; the bad news is that I have do 10x my max reps to achieve my goal.   

Yesterday morning, I had a quick session with my training partner.  I generally don't sleep well, and the situation is exacerbated if I work out after 5:00 p.m.  As a result, much as I hate it, I'm forced to work out in the mornings before going to work.  I'm pretty good -- not great -- about getting up early and doing my work but occasionally hit the snooze button one too many times.  Luckily, my training partner is totally reliable:  in a year he has never been more than a couple of minutes late and only missed one work out (he showed up, on time, but was too hungover and crashed on my couch).   

Yesterday morning strength work:

Bench:  5 @ 170#; 5 @ 175#; 8 @ 180#.  The last set was a max rep effort.  
Power Clean:  3 x 3 @ 155#.  I was clearly paying for a lot of work Friday, Saturday and Sunday, as these were far more difficult than they should have been.

Today, Tuesday, is a rest day,  although I will do some pull ups and ring dips when I get home tonight. . . more greasing of the groove.

Tomorrow morning is Deadlifts and Presses, followed by some conditioning. . .

Day 3: The status is quo

I feel like patience is they key to achieving my goal.  Patience, hopefully, will provide some rewards:  adequate time to recover; less potential of burn out; and, less potential of injury.  In that spirit, I remain at 1 DHPU. . .

I intentionally have not set a date certain to perform 20 DHPUs.  I am trying to take a long-term view of my overall fitness, and the 20 DHPUs are just a part of that.  If each month I can incrementally see improvement, then I will eventually get to the goal.  In theory.

This weekend, I did not get to see my girlfriend of almost three years.  She lives a couple of hours away and had family obligations another few hours away from her house.  Thus, I devoted this weekend to fitness and the Olympics.  On the latter, point, I am so thankful for the MSNBC Olympic feed as the NBC prime time coverage has been frustrating, to say the least.

Yesterday, Saturday, 8/4:

AM:  Strength + Conditioning

Front Squat:  3 x 5 @ 175# (no belt).

Romanian Deadlift:  3 x 5 @ 185#.  

Pull Ups:  5 x 1. 

The front squats were rough, but I got all of them.  I just started RDLs as a trainer friend pointed out -- correctly -- that my pulling strength is pathetic.  The pull ups were no problem.   I haven't tried 2 yet but I'm sure I'm close.

Conditioning:  5 rounds:  (a) 15 burpees; and, (b) 60 meter farmer's carry with 75# dbs.

I didn't really push, just trying to work through without stopping and didn't keep time.  I worked slowly through the burpees but did them unbroken.  

I also worked in a PM conditioning session with the Butcher.  I wedge it into the back of my small wagon, and drive it around the corner where the scraping won't annoy anyone.  The place I push it has a slight incline, making the Butcher quite a bit heavier uphill and lighter downhill.  I did 2 up and backs of 30 meters each way at 90#, then 2 up and backs (on these, resting at the top for about 60 seconds) with 160#, and 1 more up and back at 90#.

Today, Sunday, 8/4:

AM:  Strength + Conditioning

Back Squat:  5 @ 190#; 5 @ 200#; and 7 @ 210#.

Power Cleans:  5 @ 135#; 5 @140#; 8 @145#.

The last sets of squats and cleans were max rep efforts.

Conditioning:  10 min. AMRAP:  6 Hang Power Snatch @ 75#; 12 AbMat  Sit Ups; 24 Double Unders.

I should have gone a bit heavier on the HPS, but the rep scheme worked pretty well for me.  Happy to get one set of the DUs done unbroken.  Add to my list of things I suck at:  Double Unders.       

PM:  Oly games

Front Squat:  5 @ 95#; 3 @135#; 2 @145#; 155#; 165#; 175#; 185#

Clean and Jerk:  75#; 95#; 115#; 125#; 135#; 145# 

No missed lifts.