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Writefast’s Log

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Writefast

Level 1 Valued Member
Hola hermanos y hermanas.

I am Writefast. I’m 49 years old, a dude, 5’9” and about 160lbs. I would call myself skinny fat. Lol. I have lifted in the past. Been reasonably athletic without ever having actually competed in anything.

My goals are: to get stronger and stave off dying for like five more minutes.

As I said I’ve lifted in the past. Had the WORST kind of redneck death trap for a barbell setup about ten years ago in the garage. Got to 300lb bench, 350 squat, and maxed my available plates at 425 dead. Single rep Max’s those. This took about a year, idk, maybe two. Logging and then keeping those logs is not my strong suit. Lol. Best I can tell you is I started at about 75lbs on bench, maybe 120 squat, and we’ll say 150 on the dead. Not to say these were max, just where I felt comfortable starting. Anyway, two near death experiences, an injury or two, and life caused me to stop that. (Turns out plastic milk-crates and aluminum folding chairs are NOT maybe the best way to catch barbells. Who knew?) Been nearly 10 years, actually, been closer to 12, since I last regularly moved weight. Time for a gut check, some pride swallowing, and a reboot.

My gear is the cheapest Walmart weights and bar you can find. It’s tiny. Thin. Lol. Actually, I’m not sure I’ve ever touched a regular bar. No gloves, shoes, belts, etc. never used them, can’t afford them. Lol.

Secretly I have the same hope I’ve always had, to compete, and more importantly to win. Lol. I also just don’t want to waste away and fu.... er, freaking die a weak old man.

My diet and lifestyle are laughable. Always have been. Lol. I am drunk nightly. I smoke essentially a pack a day. I do like meat, and milk, and may have some access to some supplements soon. Having said that there is a joke about me, I turn garbage food into energy. I will NOT keep a strict diet... unless I decide to. Lol. Idk. We’ll see. When I was lifting before I had a far more physical job than I do now. Always been a grunt, after a fashion. Best stupid monkey ever. Now, I sit on my a#@. A lot. As a result of all of the above I have recently noticed an old man has taken my place in my daily life. He is tired. He is weak. He is having trouble getting into and out of cars. Heavy things are a joke, a distant memory, a dream. Walking brings panting, running brings ambulances. Well, fudge all of that.

So, that’s me. I think. Lol. Now, in the interest of science, here we go.

Oh, side note. I am currently on vacation. Will be for several more days. Started a few days ago. Wont be able to keep this up for long but I am trying to cement the habit now.

Okay, let’s have fun!!
 
Deadlift 4/27

10 min rest

Weight/Reps

50/5

50/5

60/5

60/5

70/5

70/5

80/5

80/5

90/5

90/5

Seems to be my comfortable max for now. Next workout I’ll start at 60lbs


90/5

90/5

90/5

90/5

530 pm. Mowed and did yard. So incredibly sore and exhausted. Lol

Total tonnage: 5300lbs. Total time: about 2.5 hours. Reps: 70. Looking for 90-120 per week.
 
Do NOT laugh at my weight. Yes, those are pounds. I want to both ease in to and fast forward my weights.
 
4/28 (Light dead’s w/side press heavy day) So, this day I did the side press as the main lift, and some light dead work to help with the recovery from the day before. This is the light dead work. Omg I was sore. Lol. I get DOMS like it nobody else.

Light day

SOOO sore. Lol


50/5

50/5
50/5

50/5

50/5

Really feeling this in quads

50/5

Good thing is I’ve pushed most of the soreness out of my legs. For now anyway. Question is how many sets do I do?

Total tonnage: 1500lbs. Total time: about 1.5 hours. Reps: 30. Looking for 90-120 per week.

Running Totals: Tonnage: 6800lbs. Reps: 100.

Pavel recommends a light day of 5 sets of 4 with 80% of the previous work weight. Of course he also, for this particular workout, recommends deads only once a week. Lol. Further research is needed!
 
Side Press 4/28 (w/dead light day) I do these as I guess I super set. Main lift first, then go immediately to the light day lift.

10 min rest

Weight

Reps. (Looking for 50-70 per week)

Bar/5

10/5

20/5

20/5

Ramped the weight up WAY too quickly. 20 is my work weight.


20/5

Feeling pretty good. May add 5lbs


20/5

Nope. Lol. Not adding 5lbs


20/5

20/5

20/5

After some steak, a bowl of cereal, and a two hour nap. A fair amount of pain in the left shoulder.


Side note. I’m a bit stressed about being watched seen and noticed. If I’d started when I woke up, at 7, two HOURS earlier than I did, I’d have twice this work done. (This has to do with some social anxiety I have. My “gym” is a bar and a stack of weights next to a pine tree. People watch. Lol.)


Waiting for the mowing to be done. Lol.


20/5

Still a lot of pain in the left shoulder. Trying to figure out a groove through it.


20/5

Less pain


20/5

20/5

Still left shoulder pain and a sharp pain in the front of my left kneecap. I think it’s effecting drive on the left side.


And I think done for now.

Total tonnage: 1070lbs. Total time: about 2.5 maybe less hours. Reps: 65. Looking for 50-70 per week.
 
4/29

Dead. Heavy

I hurt EVERYwhere. Lol. Did simple unweighted deadlift. Nearly cried. Did that 20 as a test for agony/ warmup.


20/5

60/5

60/5

60/5

70/5

70/5

80/5

80/5

90/5

90/5

100/5

100/5

110/5

110/5

120/5

And this seems to be my work weight for now. Too many weird little pains.


120/5

120/5

Lots of left knee interior pain. Lots.


Too much. No point in damaging myself. Done for the day.

Total tonnage: 7350lbs. Total time: about 4-5 hours. Reps: 85. Looking for 90-120 per week.

Running Totals: Tonnage: 14150lbs. Reps: 185.

Knee pain is coming from not keeping my knees out in setup and thusly, early in the lift. Open the flower. Spread it. Then allow it to close naturally. Pull your knees open through your a#@.
 
4/29

Light Side Press

Weight/Reps

10/5

10/5

10/5

10/5

10/5

10/5

And done due to knee pain.

Total tonnage: 300lbs. 1370 total for the week. Total time: about 2.5 maybe less hours. Reps: 30. Looking for 50-70 per week.

Running totals: 1370 lbs. 95 reps.
 
The 10 minutes between sets is kinda arbitrary. My thinking is other than just purely laughable and disgusting, I have no idea where my fitness level or recovery is. 10 min should, I hope, allow me plenty of time to do all the short term recovery I am capable of so that I can do good on the next lift. Keeping track of volume (total tonnage) is something I’ve never tried. No clue if it works or is any kind of measure of progress. From what I’ve read, it should be. Idk. Makes sense but idk. I do not prep. I don’t stretch. I don’t whey. I don’t eat before I work out. I smoke. Have coffee. Lift. That’s it. And with these numbers, ALL of that shows. Lol. Good thing is me wanting to do better in these lifts has cut down on my smoking... some. I hope to leverage my desire to lift heavy things, which is a thing, against my desire to die in suffocating agony from lung cancer. But, I am a stupid monkey. Lol.
As this progresses and I go back into normal, non-vacation life, all of these numbers will fall off. Idk how I am going to adapt my “program” (lol. Program. Yeah, whatever dude.) to that. I want to keep the long rest between sets. But 10 min? Idk. Is that long necessary? Idk. We’ll see. Any, I think I’m up to date so that’s me for the day. Toodles!!
 
Welcome to the forum @Writefast!!!

Remember, Rome was not built in a day. You admitted that your current lifestyle is not conducive to a healthy body. That is half of the battle. The other half, you are addressing with this log. Mentally working through physical roadblocks, physically doing the work. Work on the small things, like making progress slower, working up to the weight instead of just grabbing & going. Pay attention to your form, from grip on the bar to how you are set up. All these little things will benefit you sooner than you realize.

Stick with it, and you will begin to see real progress. You just have to be patient and put in the work.
 
4/30

Heavy side press.

Omg my god I am sore. Got blind drunk last night. Smoked nearly a whole pack. What’s going to kill me first? On the plus side I’ve only had one smoke this morning. Wahoo. Regardless, it’s 930 am. I overslept. It’s already getting hot outside. Let’s go to war.


Weight/Reps

5/5

10/5

10/5

15/5

That 15 is a rough guess. Basing it on two 5lb plates and the presumed, estimated, completely guessed weight of the bar. That’s the last time I will take the weight of the bar into account so at some point during this workout there will be a fairly big percentage jump in weight.


15/5

Getting some sharp pain in the back of the right elbow on press. Yuck.


15/5

20/5

20/5

I feel incredible weakness in that left shoulder. No shocker that I’m experiencing weak shoulders. Lol. Still hate it. So let’s give ye olde shoulder something to really complain about.


30/3 fail.

30/5. Eat it b/?@&€$.

Dear sweet seven gods I want a smoke. Odin, grant me strength.


30/5

Sweaty. Hot. Grip slipping.


30/5

30/5

Yikes. Rough that. Post workout meal? Lucky Charms! Added 200lbs to my weight moved for this session. Pretty happy with that.

Total tonnage: 1240lbs. Total time: about 4 hours. Reps: 63. Looking for 50-70 per week.



4/30

Dead Light

Dear god the pain.


Weight/Reps

50/5

50/5

50/5

As I just walked toward the weights I found myself contemplating how happy I am that I’m not going “heavy” today. Lol.


50/5

50/5

Really focusing on keeping my knees out. Having to tell myself to pull with the outside of my a#@ rather than push through my thighs. Can’t wait to see what that f@#$* up.


50/10

Not paying attention to my reps there. Also, I think my toes haven’t been pointed out far enough. Which sucks because the bar is so damn short.


50/5

50/5

God I want a smoke.


50/5

Done with dead’s.

Total tonnage: 2500lbs. Total time: about 2.5 hours. Reps: 50. Looking for 90-120 per week.

Running Total

16650 lbs. 235 reps.

Eh. That’s that. Taking tomorrow off to help me kid move out of her dorm.
 
Welcome to the forum @Writefast!!!

Remember, Rome was not built in a day. You admitted that your current lifestyle is not conducive to a healthy body. That is half of the battle. The other half, you are addressing with this log. Mentally working through physical roadblocks, physically doing the work. Work on the small things, like making progress slower, working up to the weight instead of just grabbing & going. Pay attention to your form, from grip on the bar to how you are set up. All these little things will benefit you sooner than you realize.

Stick with it, and you will begin to see real progress. You just have to be patient and put in the work.

Thanks bud! I have attention span of a gnat. Staying with anything long term has always been a problem for me. Meh. It’s whatever. The one thing I have going for me is I’m too stupid to give up. Form is a thing. I am trying to cement good form in these lifts while the weight is still light. It’s tempting to cheat. So tempting. Because I’m lazy af. I probably cheating that side press. Not getting body launch but there is a lot of body and arm twist as I press up. I think most of that is me cheating away from weak shoulders. Shoulders for me are historically weak. Always have been. Explains my at one time disproportionately large chest and tris. Lol. Idk. I anticipate stalling on side press improvement for just that reason. We’ll see. Thanks again for the words. They are much appreciated.
 
As I sit here and have a beer and a smoke, let me highlight some early benefits of just doing ANYkind of regular exercise. Lol. I feel better. Like my body feels better. Sturdier. I am in agony more or less all the time, like agony everywhere, but when I move I don’t feel like a bag of bones ready to collapse at any time. I can step up things. With no pain. Well, that pain thing is discounting the DOMS, which is as I said constant agony. Lol. But I can walk up stairs, taking them two or three at a time, and I feel solid. Confident. No weird knee pains. No hip weakness. This is a major plus for me. The upper body work... idk. It’s null right now. Hard to make any kind of judgment on how I am effected there. Will know when I get back to work in about a week. Another plus is with the smoking. I usually blaze maybe 5 or more in the morning with coffee. Today, one smoke from 9-130. This is kind of major. I defo wanted one... or like 10, but I didn’t want to screw up the workout. Plus one for selfishness. Lol. One last thing. I found this- - best workout music ever. I have never worked out to music. This makes me want to conquer things. ALL the things. Lol. Enjoy your days and let’s go to war!
 
Fail.
Dead
5/2

Heavy
Time to go to war.


Weight/Reps/sets

70/5/2

Felt that everywhere.

80/5/2

After reading this: Effect of Different Interset Rest Intervals on Performance... : The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Researchand this: Longer Interset Rest Periods Enhance Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Resistance-Trained Men. - PubMed - NCBI I am cutting my rest between sets down to five min. Should be interesting.


90/5/1

Getting a lot of pain on the outsides of my hips. Sumo is tough on this short bar. The 1094738201836.5 flights of steps I walked yesterday, the entire apartment I moved by myself, than the five hours of sleep may have something to do with that and the incredible DOMS in my calves. Lol. The five min rest. I felt a bit more mentally drained going into the lift. Let’s go to war!

I am going to miss all this volume when I go back to work. :( Probably going to have to hit it twice a day. Cause I’ve got time for that. Lol.

90/Fail. f***.

And there it is. Sharp pinching pain in left hip. f***. Done for the day. Can’t bend over. Lol.


Stupid stupid stupid. Wtf did I do??? Spent five min on the inversion table. Helped a lot but going to the sitting position is still a mother. And staying there isn’t much better. There must be something off in my mechanics. Or I’m using a stabilizer that is weak af. Or tendinitis. I can’t find tenderness but the pain is deep. Near or at the top of the femur. Found it. I think. Right at the edge of the ball joint. f***. Fail fail fail. I hate myself. Now the question is why. Bad form? Weak? Unhealed? This is the first hint of this problem. But I have been playing with my form in the lift. Off to the internet I guess.

Total tonnage: 1310lbs. :( Total time: about 1.5 hours. Reps: 25. Looking for 90-120 per week.

Running Totals

Tonnage: 15460lbs. Reps: 210


Side press
5/2

Light

Weight/Reps/Sets

10/5/3

25/5/3

Testing an increase there(w/5min rest). Using a single 25lb plate. Pressed waiter style. Lol.

And done due to hip.

good thing is 25 felt good and right. Could have hit it at least ten more sets I believe.

Total tonnage: 525lbs. Total time: about 1.5 hours. Reps: 30. Looking for 50-70 per week.

Running total:

3135 lbs. 188 reps.


So, what have we learned? I’m a stupid monkey. That’s about it.
 
5/3 taking the day off. Hip seems better, thank god. No mentionable pain anywhere but my calves today. And they have me hobbled. Lol. Too almost a full two minutes to get out of bed. Assuming this is from all the stairs during the move. Ah well. I’ll just sit here at this wall until I am ready to push through.
 
5/8. Starting a more conventional PTTP now that I’m back at work. Hip seems better. Let’s go to war.
Dead- 95x5. 85x5. 5 min rest.
Side press- 25x5. 20x5. 5 min rest.
Pushed through ALL sets entirely too quickly. Slow pressing and pulling is going to take some time to get used to.
Go to war.
 
5/9. Still PTTP. Still with a shoulder twinge. Let’s go to war.
Side Press- 30x2 25x4
Deadlift- 100&90x5
Go to war.
 
Note. I can still feel something dull and achy in my hip. Switched from sumo to regular dead’s, not nearly as much hip and knee aggravation this way. Side note. My plates are very small so my starting point for the dead is maybe as much as 8in lower than it would be using standard or Olympic bar. Side side note. I want to, can, and enjoy a nice morning stretch again. Not like touching toes, I mean just a simple first thing in the morning yawn and stretch. It’s weird. I didn’t notice I wasn’t doing that or feeling any desire to do so. I have no clue how long that’s been going on. Woke this morning and the first thing I wanted to do was just stretch out. Felt great. God I’m old. Lol. Okay. Go to war.
 
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