First movement

Dec28
by Duf on December 28, 2015 at 6:37 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

Today was my first organized exercise since my grueling workout with Lou at the venerable Stone Park, outside of NYC.  We did a 3-4 hour strongman workout that consisted of dead lifts, farmer carry, atlas stones, tire flipping and log press.  It was honestly the toughest workout of my life.  I was sure I tore something in my abdomen during one of the atlas stone lifts but thus far I have not seen anything poking out of my pelvic wall.

I had some personal bests during the workout.  I somehow managed to lift and walk a short distance with 460 pounds total in the farmer carry, holding 230 pounds in each hand.  I have never been able to get 400 pounds off the ground in any lift so to get 460 was very, very surprising.

I also had a proud moment when I successfully flipped the nearly 600 pound tire.  In my early attempts I didn’t even budge the tire.  I then managed to get it an inch or two off the ground later.  Then towards the end of the workout using some form tips from Lou backed up by the screaming encouragement of others in the group I got the tire up and over, twice.

I am used to my workouts following a pyramid shape where you work up to a big weight and then immediately scale back down.  Lou gets to big weight and then stays there, for hours on end.  It was crazy.  By the time we finished my body literally felt like I was run over by a truck.

As expected there have been some serious consequences from such extreme punishment.  My traps were too sore to touch up until a couple days ago.  My lower body, specifically my knees are still swollen.  My range of motion when I stretched today was way below normal. Although I did no other formal exercise since then Cindy and I logged a lot of miles on foot during our four day visit to the city.  I wish I had a pedometer on me to give an idea of just how many steps we took.

Today I jumped into my normal chest day although my bench press buddy wasn’t there.  I was a little conservative with no spotter but still pushed up 235 pounds pretty clean.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stret5ching

Barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 225lbs x 1, 235lbs x 1, 225lbs x 2, 205lbs x 5, 185lbs x 8, 135lbs x 15

Pec dec – 115lbs x 10, 175lbs x 8, 205lbs x 5

30 push ups

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Up and upside down, pain train is coming

Dec17
by Duf on December 17, 2015 at 6:28 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

03610[1]I felt strong last week doing the Cybex shoulder press so I wanted to see how it would translate this week in the seated barbell shoulder press.  Although the numbers were much smaller they were good for me.  I topped out with two slow and full ROM reps with 155 pounds on the bar.  I also pulled the 100 pounders doing bent over dumbbell rows so it was a productive session.

In the back of my mind I have been hoping I don’t hurt myself the last few days since I have scheduled to meet up with IronLoo at the world famous Stonepark on Sunday, our first full day in NYC.  I expect it to be a brutal yet memorable workout which no doubt will leave me walking around like an 80 year old the remaining three days we have in the city.

Oh, I weighed the hex bar at the gym.  It was heavier than the standard 45lb olympic bar but not by as much as I expected.  It checked in at 52 pounds meaning I failed trying to yank 412 pounds off the deck instead of 405, a small consolation.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Seated barbell shoulder press – 95lbs x 10

Cybex seated row – 110lbs x 10

Seated barbell shoulder press – 115lbs x 8

Cybex seated row – 170lbs x 10

Seated barbell shoulder press – 135lbs x 5

Cybex seated row – 230lbs x 6

Seated barbell shoulder press – 155lbs x 2

Australian pull ups with flying grip change x 8

Inverted bodyweight shoulder shrugs x 10

One arm bent over dumbbell rows – 90lbs x 10 (each arm)

Inverted bodyweight shoulder shrugs x 10

One arm bent over dumbbell rows – 100lbs x 6 (each arm)

Standing dumbbell straight arm alternating side/front raises – 20lbs x 12

 

 

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50 for 48

Dec16
by Duf on December 16, 2015 at 6:40 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

425257_10150618471862841_2130734808_nSince today is my 48th birthday, meaning I am rapidly closing in on the dreaded half century mark, I thought it would be appropriate to inject 50 pull ups, push ups and dips into the front of my work out.  I have been laying off pull ups for around a month because of some left forearm issues.  I was glad knocking out 50 reps didn’t seem to carry a big pain penalty in the forearm although I could certainly tell I have not been working the movement like I normally do.

I already gave my thoughts about growing old in my main blog so no need to repeat them here.  Let’s just say I don’t have a very mature perspective about it.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

18 pull ups

20 dips

25 push ups

10 pull ups

15 dips

15 push ups

10 pull ups

15 dips

10 push ups

7 pull ups

5 pull ups

Seated dumbbell curl – 25lbs x 10

Seated one arm overhead tricep extension – 20lbs x 12

Seated dumbbell curl – 40lbs x 8

Seated one arm overhead tricep extension – 25lbs x 10

Seated dumbbell curl – 50lbs x 2

Seated one arm overhead tricep extension – 30lbs x 7

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Hit the wall

Dec15
by Duf on December 15, 2015 at 6:33 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Lifting Heavy Things

509174572_640[1]So today I decided to try some hex bar deadlifting instead of straight bar.  With the hex bar there are a couple advantages.  You are centered with the weight instead of it being in front of you.  With a tall, gangly guy like me that is a big plus.  The neutral grip allows for much more gripping power.  I never feel like my grip is slipping as it often does with a barbell.  Finally the grips are located 2-3 inches higher than where you would start with a barbell deadlift, again a plus for someone tall.

I have never weighed the hex bar but to me it feels significantly heavier than the olympic straight bars.  I guess the only way I will know for sure is to lug it to a scale.  When I did my first lifts with 3 plates on a side it felt heavier than 315 would feel on a straight bar, furthering my suspicion of the bar being 10-20 pounds heavier.

The most I ever got off the ground with the hex bar was three 45’s and a 25 on each side( 365).  After equaling that feat today I became overly optimistic, hoping to ride my recent string of PB’s,  I slapped a 4th 45 pounder on each side, bringing the total weight to at least 405 pounds.  After psyching myself up and taking a few quick power breaths I locked in and pulled.  The bar went nowhere, I wasn’t able to break gravity’s grip even a little bit, perhaps another hint I was lifting more than 4 plates normally delivers.

I was disappointed I couldn’t even move 4 plates.  I backed down to three plates, a 25 and a 5 pounder on each side which at least would establish a new hex bar PB.  It was a vein popping, back aggravating struggle but I got the bar up to lock out position and held it there for several seconds to let my body deal with the consequences of holding big weight.  I returned the weight to the ground in a smooth and controlled fashion instead of crossfit style.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Barbell squat – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 8, 225lbs x 3

Hex bar deadlift – 315lbs x 3, 365lbs x 1, 405lbs x 0, 375lbs x 1

Seated leg extension – 130lbs x 10, 190lbs x 6

Seated leg curl – 115lbs x 10, 145lbs x 8

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Forgot a century

Dec14
by Duf on December 14, 2015 at 6:44 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

maxresdefault[1]So today my buddy and I jumped back to dumbbell chest press as we are hoping to alternate between dumbbell and barbell chest work every other week.  When I got the 100 pounders up for 2 reps I thought I broke new ground.  For some reason I had it in my head I topped out with 95’s two weeks ago.  A quick check of the blog confirmed I did get the 100’s up for 2 reps two weeks ago as well.

Today felt harder because I did more reps leading up to triple digits, getting six reps with the 90 pounders and then four  with 95 in each hand.  Last time I did it I went from 4 reps at 90 straight to the 100’s.

Anyway I felt half decent with only some mild shoulder discomfort during the session which we wrapped up again with some decline barbell bench press action.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Dumbbell chest press – 50lbs x 10, 70lbs x 10, 80lbs x 10, 90lbs x 6, 95lbs x 4, 100lbs x 2, 70lbs x 12

Decline barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 8, 205lbs x 4, 225lbs x 2, 135lbs x 15

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