Oldtimer1

[oldtimer1]

Delt and arm day. Thought I would do a bit of volume. First exercise was dumbbell delt presses. I lightened the weight thinking I would do four sets. I thought after two sets, I hate just doing sub maximal sets. The third set I increased the weight and failed at 8 reps. I just can't do submaximal sets. Just feels like a waste of time. Maybe it was just my psychological mind set today.

Dumbbell delt press 3 x 8
Dumbbell lateral raises 2 x 12
Rear delt lateral raises 2 x 11
Barbell shrugs 2 x 10

Tricep pushdowns 2 x 10
Narrow bench press 2 x 8
Weighted dips 2 x 10

Alternate dumbbell curls 2 x 8
Dumbbell drag curls 2 x 10
Concentration curls 2 x 12

Wrist curls 2 x 25
Wrist extensions 2 x 20
Ivanko grippers 2 x 20

Weighted crunches 1 x 60
Pulley crunches 1 x 60

Went to the beach after hoping to body surf waves. No waves today but it was a fantastic beach day. Nice cute blond in front of us on beach.  After, went home to the pool and floated with a light beer. Tomorrow is a cardio day.  Worn out from too much sun. Saturday is going to be close to 100 with serious humidity in NJ.  The highways will be clogged with people trying to get to the beach and broken heroes on a last chance power drive. I will be in the pool.

[oldtimer1]

95 degrees and very humid in NJ. I ran two miles. Saw another guy that was about 35 run the same two miles in the opposite direction in the park one mile asphalt path. I took it easy but I was surprised and pleased with the time. The other guy running looked sick after his two mile run. He found shade by a tree with his hands on his knees. I hope he was okay. Told the wife I wonder if I have a genetic advantage to running in hot weather being half Cuban and half Puerto Rican, lol. 

Again it wasn't a work day so I floated in the pool again with light beer listening to the big ban crooners like Sinatra, Martin and James.

Tomorrow is another cardio today and the heat will be here tomorrow too. Don't know whether to do a couple of miles or do 6 x half miles.  I feel I need to do a little speed work to reach a new level. In the past I made rapid improvement doing half mile intervals. It's both hard intensity yet makes gains in VO2.  Doing it too often leads me to burn out. Psychologically it's hard for me to do because I dread it. On the positive side I know just one 6 x half mile session will lead to improvement that is not slight. 

Weighing around 167lbs here. I think losing 8 more pounds is the goal. 

[oldtimer1]

Got on the treadmill intending to do 6 x 880 yard repeats. As soon as the treadmill started to move I pulled the safety cord out. Just a little burnt.  Too many days running in the extreme heat. It was nice to take a day off. Floated in the pool and listened to French music. I know little to nothing about French song standards but I found it soothing. I just don't hear accordion instruments in typical American music, C'est si bon

Despite all my thoughts about going to volume I find comfort in doing my same old. I know how long the workouts take. I don't even have to think. It becomes almost like meditation cranking out the reps. I will do chest and bicep tomorrow with one set to failure after warm up, Yates style. Then hit the trail by my house for a short run of maybe two miles.

[oldtimer1]

Chest and biceps Yates style.

Dumbbell inclines 1 x 10
Dumbbell declines 1 x 9 (I wanted 10 reps so bad)
Dumbbell flies 1 x 15
Push ups 1 x max

Straight bar curls 1 x 12 (Usually do EZ bar curls. I wanted a change and it felt good. Many say straight bar is better than ez bar curls. I think it's best for me to change up from time to time.)
Alternate dumbbell curls 1 x 10
Dumbbell drag curls 1 x 13
Concentration curls 1 x 14

Wrist curls 1 x 33
Wrist extensions 1 x 20
Ivanko grippers 2 x 20

Incline sit ups 1 x 30
Incline leg raises 1 x 15

Ran two miles after in the heat. Slow time but it was pretty close after lifting. After I mowed the law, weed whacked and blew the cut grass. Do I get calorie deficit credit for the lawn work? After had the family over for the pool thing BBQ. Turned on the filter and nothing. WTF?  I thought it could be one part and here I was driving to the pool store in 97 degree weather to get it. The guy said like I thought it could be a $20 gasket or an $800 dollar motor. I came back and installed the gasket. Yes, it worked!

So today was lifting, running and yard work.  I'm shot but all is good.

[oldtimer1]

Trained back and chest today using two sets to failure per exercise. I mentioned this observation awhile back. Maybe it doesn't apply to drug users.  I try to look at it from an athletes viewpoint and maybe not a bodybuilding one. When getting lean there is no way around it. A true natural like me with no TRT will lose some muscle too with the fat loss. It's a trade off. I lost about 25 pounds and I'm still going down.  I'm not a big man so 25 pounds is huge amount to me. Presently 168lbs yesterday. The opposite is true. If you want to gain strength eat like a hog. You will gain muscle with the fat coming on.

The weight I use is suffering. Instead of seeing this as a pure negative and gaining weight, I'm trying to see the positive. I have lost some strength but I have gained endurance. I have gained a better looking physique. Maybe better health. Not comparing myself to a professional bodybuilder like Bill Pearl but I remember when he said at about 55 years old he no longer cared what weight was on the bar. He let it go.

I also read about a school teacher in Men's health that was pushing the weight. He had a bad rotator cuff injury when he was fooling around play wrestling with another guy.  He had to let lifting go after the injury and the operation. During recovery he decided to run in place of lifting. When he returned to lifting he used high reps and light weights.  His pre injury picture and post with the light lifting was pretty drastic. Maybe not from a drug bodybuilder viewpoint but in my eyes he looked amazing with a ripped body.  He told Men's health don't be afraid of light weights.

Does this mean I'm lifting pink dumbbells? No, but doing a set to failure breathing like a race horse then coming back for a second set to failure is insane if you are also running. This is what I'm trying to convey. Go for a five mile run and really push the pace to the point where you are spent.  Next day try to squat your usual weights if you are a train to exhaustion/failure trainer. I bet you see a significant reduction.  Which brings me to what is practical strength for an athlete?  I know it depends on the sport activity but is single rep strength a great attribute in most sports?  Yes a stronger athlete is a better version of himself but define strength. Is it that one rep single or is it the ability to muscularly endure doing something that takes endurance like doing 5 sets of 10 in an exercise? 

From the viewpoint of aesthetics, health and athletic attributes sometimes I think the guys working out in the park doing bodyweight stuff like chins, push ups, body rows, no weight squat, burpees, jumps and the rest might being doing the highest tech anyone can do to be in athletic shape. Sometimes old school is the best school.

[oldtimer1]

Getting lazy with the journal. Missing logging the workouts here. Today was a 3.4 mile run before work and heavy bag work.

Thinking about what my short term goals are and how to achieve it. I think I'm going the whole body weight routine.  Split routines have a problem for me. I think I'm pretty dedicated but life gets in the way. Missed days for what ever the reason isn't as simple as just doing the missing part of the split  the next day.

 Do a whole body and you're done. You did it. No missed days. Then you can take one day off and even up to three ,and you're still good. Also your body fatigues as a unit and the fatigue isn't localized to the body part trained.  Also whole body routines is what all athletes should be doing.

Can you imagine an athlete wasting all his time doing a split routine then training for his sport? Think of an MMA athlete. Think he would say it's delt and triceps day in the weight room?  The guy is running, hitting bags, wrestling, sparring then he's doing delt and tricep day in the weight room?  Back in the 50's and 40's it seems all bodybuilders trained the whole body in one session. Don't get me wrong split routines of course have value especially if lifting is your only activity and especially if you're on steroids.

The way I'm going to use whole body routines is the way I did them years ago. I would have a goal to achieve then back it to six workouts prior. Let me explain. Say for chest I'm doing 2 sets of 6 reps for the bench press then the last chest exercise is 2 sets of flies. Knowing from experience say a lifter knows a top weight for him is 225 for bench for 2 x 6 and say 55lbs for 2 x 10 in the flies. To start the six workouts the first workout would be 200lbs for the 2 x 6 reps for the bench. Next whole body day it would 205lbs. The third would be 210lbs. The sixth workout would be hopefully a goal of 225lbs for the 2 x 6. The method is to not go to failure and have plenty of sub maximal workouts working toward the max intensity.  Then after six workouts completely revamp the workout with new exercises doing the same six workouts back off method.

So for six workouts it could look like this.

Power cleans 3 x 3 then 1 x 1

squats 2 x 8 then 1 x 1
leg curls 2 x 12

bench 2 x 6
flies 2 x 10

pull ups 2 x max
Cable lat rows 2 x 12

military press 2 x 8
dumbbell laterals 2 x 10

tricep pushdowns 2 x 12
barbell curls 2 x 10

standing calf 2 x 10

weighted hypers 2 x 15

incline sit ups 1 x max
incline leg raises 1 x max

neck four way neck

After six workouts the change could be something like this

Split snatches 2 x 4 then 2 x 2

machine squats 2 x 10
barbell lunges 2 x 8
stiff dead 2 x 6

barbell inclines 2 x 8
push ups 2 x max

pull downs 2 x 10
dumbbell row 2 x 10

dumbbell shoulder press 2 x 8
delt cable laterals 2 x 12

close grip bench 2 x 8
alternate dumbbell curl 2 x 8

hanging leg raises 2 x 15
roman chair 2 x

seated calf 2 x 15

neck four way

You can at this point with the alternate routine for six workouts go back to A or even come up with a C or even D change of exercises.


Well that's my plan for now.  I can always say to hell with it and do my tried and true routines.  I have an appointment with an oncologist tomorrow for my bad blood tests. Then a urologist a month later for a high PSA reading.  Two different cancer scares at the same time. I feel really good but the stress isn't doing me any good. Hope the oncologist says my general doc is just covering his ass and there is nothing to worry about. Worst case scenario is he tells me I have big ears and I should never wear shorts with my bird legs. 

[oldtimer1]

Saw the blood oncologist today as per the request of my general doctor. He said I could have leukemia but he has to run more tests. He said the tests will be available to him in three days but he is on vacation for a week but will call me when he gets back. He said it's a preliminary test but if positive he has to do another test and will go from there. I'm not concerned because I feel okay. Looking at the waiting room was sad. All these old decrepit people on their last last leg. I'm sitting there tanned and lean and dare I say built, feeling guilty I'm sitting among them. He did ask me if I used steroids and I honestly answered, I don't.  One of the rare docs that know how to deal with people and answered all my questions and explained everything that he was thinking. I'm very confident I found the right guy. If it's nothing or if I have limited days I'm okay with it. My wife is taken care of because of my planning.  Again, I feel really good. Ran a good two miles today. A sick guy can't do that.

Tomorrow is the first day of a whole body work out. I'm excited to do it. My vacation plans were ruined because of a very expensive wedding on the opposite coast but my wife was doing (laugh out loud)  research and said she found a vacation place in our budget at our favorite place.  I think we will book it tonight. 

Spent the day after the doctor visit at my favorite place floating in the pool. My local real Italian deli place was selling Mojito soda from Italy. I mixed in Puerto Rican rum and had the most amazing drinks in the pool. 

Tomorrow is a whole body routine then the ocean. Nearby that nutty Jersey Shore cast is filming again. A buddy of mine is providing their security.  For awhile I couldn't be in a bar, restaurant or just walking down the boardwalk without running into Snookie or the Situation, lol.  Hopefully we will have waves to body surf. Last time it was crazy calm. 

Have to go. The wife is cooking Salmon in a pesto sauce. Tomorrow I will post how my whole body routine went.

[IroNat]

Good luck with all this you are going through with the health situation.

As difficult as it is you must stay strong.

All the best, brother.

[oldtimer1]

Good luck with all this you are going through with the health situation.

As difficult as it is you must stay strong.

All the best, brother.

Thanks, I feel fine. I will have more answers in around 10 days. I went to do a whole body routine and was exhausted after the power cleans. I don't think it's ill health. I just been running too much and the sun must have got to me yesterday.

[oldtimer1]

Got a message on my phone from my oncologist while I ignored the call putting out another fire going on with my life. He said I'm on the spectrum for leukemia. What the fuck does that mean? In his office he said from right to left there is different grades of leukemia.  He originally told me he thinks I'm not on the spectrum but pre leukemia so to speak if I got his explanation correct. That was prior to his blood test looking at my general doctor's ordered blood test. He said he is on vacation for a week, but he will talk to me when he gets back. Seeing doctors suck. They see you for ten minutes and out the door you go. Next patient is waiting to go in the room you were just there. "You might have a life-threatening disease, but he has to see the next patient after your ten-minute visit.

I have noticed I'm getting weak but I'm attributing that to my weight loss and cardio.  Today I ran 5.25 miles at an okay clip. Can a sick guy do that? I'm losing muscle mass but I'm on a cardio kick and I'm staying pretty good with my diet.

I keep thinking of different lifting strategies for the upcoming week. I think if I'm going to keep up this level of running my only choice is to reduce the intensity by going to volume. 

I remember reading an article in the old Ironman magazine about Mr. America Tom Sansone. He was dying of cancer in a hospital but told his training partner when he gets out his plans to get back in shape. He never made it out of the hospital.

I'm torn about writing the above. The only family member that knows this is my wife.  Still the first inning and I'm sure I can be jumping the gun with concern. My uncle, father and brother had cancer. I won't dignify this site about their outcomes. Mixed emotions and might delete all of this. The anonymous nature of this site makes me feel like I can post this.

Any way maybe I will stay on this site. Maybe I won't.  All I know is I'm thinking about tomorrow's run right now.

[AbrahamG]

Got a message on my phone from my oncologist while I ignored the call putting out another fire going on with my life. He said I'm on the spectrum for leukemia. What the fuck does that mean? In his office he said from right to left there is different grades of leukemia.  He originally told me he thinks I'm not on the spectrum but pre leukemia so to speak if I got his explanation correct. That was prior to his blood test looking at my general doctor's ordered blood test. He said he is on vacation for a week, but he will talk to me when he gets back. Seeing doctors suck. They see you for ten minutes and out the door you go. Next patient is waiting to go in the room you were just there. "You might have a life-threatening disease, but he has to see the next patient after your ten-minute visit.

I have noticed I'm getting weak but I'm attributing that to my weight loss and cardio.  Today I ran 5.25 miles at an okay clip. Can a sick guy do that? I'm losing muscle mass but I'm on a cardio kick and I'm staying pretty good with my diet.

I keep thinking of different lifting strategies for the upcoming week. I think if I'm going to keep up this level of running my only choice is to reduce the intensity by going to volume. 

I remember reading an article in the old Ironman magazine about Mr. America Tom Sansone. He was dying of cancer in a hospital but told his training partner when he gets out his plans to get back in shape. He never made it out of the hospital.

I'm torn about writing the above. The only family member that knows this is my wife.  Still the first inning and I'm sure I can be jumping the gun with concern. My uncle, father and brother had cancer. I won't dignify this site about their outcomes. Mixed emotions and might delete all of this. The anonymous nature of this site makes me feel like I can post this.

Any way maybe I will stay on this site. Maybe I won't.  All I know is I'm thinking about tomorrow's run right now.

Wishing nothing but good things for you and the family.  Best wishes.

[oldtimer1]

Wishing nothing but good things for you and the family.  Best wishes.

Thank you, posts like yours restores my faith in humanity. 

[IroNat]

Get a copy of your blood tests for your personal records.

Then look up online how to read the tests.

You will even see different interpretations about test readings depending on what lab did the tests, i.e. Lab Corp or Quest.

You'd be shocked at the differences sometimes.

Never hurts to get second opinions.

Doctors do suck.

Regarding training:  Too much intensity leads to inflammation in your body which can result in negative outcomes healthwise, bad test readings, etc.

[oldtimer1]

Still training. Still losing weight. The cancer blood tests are reviewed by a pathologist doctor and given to my oncologist. Waiting for the oncologist to come back from vacation to see what the course of treatment will be.

 Actually had a good run today.  It was 75 degrees and with a nice breeze this morning before the heat came. I just started off saying fuck it. I ran around the one mile asphalt path in this park. Thought after the second lap I should gut out a third. Completed 5.3 miles.  I cleaned the pool and did my favorite activity after of floating in the sun.  Tomorrow is back day and no running.

[oldtimer1]

Trained back Yates style.  No cardio today.  Gutted it out.

[oldtimer1]

Trained delt and tricep Yates style then ran for two miles. Jumped into the ocean after but it was too rough for the wife so we came back to the pool. We had some good laughs in the pool. I have a big T bone on the grill. Starving, I hope I don't over cook it.

[oldtimer1]

Finally feeling better. Oncologist said my numbers are good. Said one more three month test and if good he will see me every six months unless I get sick to notify him. He said when needed, chemo is going to be 20K month for six months but he's very confident with my type cancer he can knock it out.

Leg day: It's tough getting back my previous strength in both cardio and lifting. I red lined today till I was completely spent.  I have to take advantage of good periods like now.

Leg press: Warm up 1 x 12, second warm up 1 x 8, third warm up 1 x 6 then 1 x 13 to failure for my one work set. Kept the back board low. Feet fairly low on the foot platform. Completely bent the legs each rep. Leg press machines seem to be built all different. Some are built whether intentionally or not to be hip dominate as opposed to thigh dominate. If yours has a big foot plate use a lower foot placement to get more thigh involvement. Never pile on the plates to do shallow leg presses.

Dumbbell squats 1 x 12 (held at sides. Sank all the way down with a fairly upright back. If you bend over and deadlift the dumbbells you are not doing dumbbell squats. Zane called these dumbbell hack squats)

Stiff dead:  Warm up 1 x 6 then one work set 1 x 8 ( I do these like Grimek did on a block with rounded back. I know keeping your back straight is the style today but I seem to get a better stretch doing it this way. Both ways are good.)

Hip machine 1x12 ( I like my machine but I see better choices I could have bought at a lower price)

leg extension 1 x25

seated leg curl 1x17

free hand squat 1x 53  (deep and slow)

hanging straight leg raises  1x27

hip ups 1x33 (On back feet toward ceiling. Now shoot your hips toward the ceiling for one rep.)

standing calf  raise 1x20

seated calf 1x 20

neck four way 1 set a side

Drank a Fairlife protein after. They sell them at Costco and BJ's. Best protein I have ever tasted. 30G of First class protein in a bottle. No lactose if your stomach acts up after drinking milk like mine does. Try it. Best protein out there considering the rest are all fart powder proteins that are sourced from the same place but they want you to believe there's is better than the other brand. This is all pre mixed and you can't find a protein drink that tastes better.

 

[oldtimer1]

Chest and bicep day:

Bench press using a barbell 1 x 6 then 1 x 1  (Weak with these. I think I benched with a bar 5 times in 4 years. I usually use dumbbells. I stopped using them because of bad shoulders. I hope to get to a semi respectable weight in time. I used one warm up set with 135lbs for 8 reps)

Incline bench with a barbell 1 x 8 (I have been using dumbbells for inclines for so long it feels weird using a barbell. Truth be told I think the range of motion is longer with a barbell. I think even though I thought I was going deep I'm actually using a larger range of motion with a barbell touching the chest with it. When I think about the position of the handle of a dumbbell relative to my chest doing inclines I'm definitely using a shorter stroke with the dumbbells.

Decline dumbbell 1 x 15 ( I have to up the weight)

Flat flies 1 x 15

EZ bar curls 1 x 15 with one warm up set

Alternate dumbbell curls 1 x 10

dumbbell drag curls 1 x 13

concentration curls 1 x 13

wrist curls 1 x 33
wrist extensions 1 x 20
Ivanko gripper 2 x 20

incline situps 1 x 29
incline leg raises  1 x 17

I got on the treadmill after. Set it at 3.8 MPH.  I did 7 laps of a standard track. Started at 0 grade (incline). Each lap I went up one grade so it was 0 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 0.  When I hit seven I lowered back to zero for one more lap for 8 laps so far. Finally from there I set the treadmill at an 8 minutes mile (7.5 mph) and jogged a quarter mile with a 3.8 MPH quarter mile lap cooldown.  The reason I do one lap of running if I'm doing a light walking cardio day is to remind my body I'm still a runner.

Also started up on my diet. I use the free Lose It app on my apple phone.  Very easy to use.  It's an orange scale if you look for it. There are other apps that share the name.  It's basically a calorie counter that finds the calories of anything you eat. Again very easy to use. You might need a food scale for some stuff. I use the weight watchers food scale. It weights the plate then you can zero the scale again so it weighs only the food. I was shocked when I first started using the app how the calories quickly added up especially at night watching tv. When I first used the app I lost fat quickly. My only criticism is they give you way too much credit for lifting weights in terms of calories used. For cardio they are pretty much on target. An example the work out above of lifting and cardio it gave me a 628 calorie credit. It's much appreciated though because if I didn't have that credit I would be starving. For my goal they give me 1720 calories a day. If it wasn't for the workout calorie credit I would be chewing on a carrot hating life.  The app also predicts if you are true to being diligent using the app the day you will reach your goal. Pretty damn accurate.   

[oldtimer1]

Back day: One set to failure. Where ever you see a warm up set listed it's a non taxing light weight warm up.

Wide grip supinated pulldowns with a M.A.G. bar 1 x 11 (Used one non taxing warm up set of 6 reps with a lighter weight)
Seated lat cable row using a V handle 1x15 (One non taxing warm set of 7 reps with a much lighter weight)
Dumbbell row with one knee on bench 1 x 13 (No warm ups)
Narrow pulldown with a supinate M.A.G. bar 1 x 12 (no warm up sets)

deadlifts 1 x 6 reps 280lbs (One warm up set with 225lb for three reps. Weak with these but getting my strength back)
Weighted hyper extensions for lower back 1 x 21

Ab wheel roll out 1x 28
Ab pulley crunch 1 x 60


Cardio part of the workout: Set at 3.8MPH for fast walking. One lap was 440 yards which is a quarter mile.
0 incline for  one lap
1% incline for one lap
2 % incline for one lap
3% incline for one lap
4% incline for one lap
5% incline for one lap
6% incline for one lap
7% incline for one lap
0% incline for one lap
0% incline for one lap at 8 MPH(7:30 mile pace)
0% incline for cool down at again 3.8MPH

In bad cardio shape but I was sick for around 2 plus months. Feeling good for some blessed reason. Oncologist is pleased with my numbers but I still have it of course. I guess my body is in somewhat of a remission. Things could change but I will take it.

[oldtimer1]

Delt and tricep day:  Used warms up as needed with one set to failure.

Military press 1 x 8 (One warm up set for six reps with a light weight. Second warm up increased the weight and got four reps)

Dumbbell delt lateral raise 1 x 20 (Felt good to rep out. I will use more weight to bring it to around 12 reps failure)

Side delt lateral raise with a pulley 1 x 8

Rear delt lateral 1 x 14

Face pulls 1 x 20 (Felt dead at 19 reps but forced out that last one)

barbell shrugs 1 x 15

Tricep pushdowns with a V type tricep bar 1 x 19

Single dumbbell two hands behind the head 1 x 12

Single dumbbell one hand behind the the head 1 x 11

Weighted dips 1 x 15 (tried to go deep every rep. Felt a lot of chest involvement. Not optimal but not a problem either)

Weighed crunches 1 x 60

Pulley crunches 1 x 70

Pullover using two dumbbells lying on a bench 1 x 12 ( I use these to loosen up the shoulder and the rib cage)


Cardio part of the work out: Same 3.8 MPH for a fast walk.
0 incline for  one lap
1% incline for one lap
2 % incline for one lap
3% incline for one lap
4% incline for one lap
5% incline for one lap
6% incline for one lap
7% incline for one lap
0% incline for one lap
0% incline for one lap at 8.5 MPH for one lap (440 yard/quarter mile. About a 7:00 minute pace)
0% incline for one lap back to 3.8 MPH.

Again the one running lap is to remind my legs that I'm a runner. Too much walking takes the spring out of your legs.

I think Clarence Bass calls it the ownership principle of training. Use ideas of others and maybe for inspiration too. The reality of the ownership principle is to make your training routine your own. Tweak it to your level of fitness and what pleases you and your unique circumstances. If there was one best way of training we would all be doing it. There is no best way. With age and injuries I rarely squat anymore. My ownership is to use stuff like the leg press, squat machines, dumbbell squats and lunges. There is no rule that you have to bench press or squat. Do what works for you. Some really amazing legs have been built without the squat. 

 

[oldtimer1]

Day off, I did some mild cardio.  Walked 4.8 miles fast on a isolated trail by my house. It use to be rail road tracks in the 1930's.  The county removed the rails and put down gravel.  It goes on forever with some breaks where some towns don't want it to go through their town.  It's about six miles in my town.

 What I do is I went out for 2.4 miles and on the return I do arbitrary sprints. Not really sprints but more like fast strides. Maybe in the six minute mile pace. I don't use a GPS watch for this because I don't want it to be overly competitive. I just time the walk. As I'm walking I will pick a land mark like a big tree or other object and I sprint to it. The distance is always a guess. I figure I vary it from 300 yards to 40 yard sprints. I recover by continuing my walk.  It was about 25 degrees when I was out there. After I came home I hit the heavy bag. I roughly burned about 550 calories. If I reduce my diet by 400 calories from normal I will have a nice 950 deficit for one day. 

I was always a runner but years ago I partially tore my Achilles foolishly doing 40 yard sprints in my 60's. I turned to walking fast which I thought was a joke. Turns out I really enjoyed it. Fast walking doesn't feel like a work out to me. I blast music using my bone conduction headphones and get lost in my thoughts. What was the result? It really shocked me but in the past after about 6 weeks I had no doubt I was not only losing weight but my skin folds for subcutaneous fat noticeably thinned out. I know runners laugh at walkers but it might be the perfect supplement to lifting.

[oldtimer1]

Another day off. Essentially did the same workout as yesterday.  4.8 miles of fast walking with intermittent strides thrown it that weren't quite sprints but fast running for short arbitrary distances.

 I think it was the Swiss runners that called it Fartlek. They would run slow as a group then one would call out a land mark like a house or big tree. They would all race to see who could get to it first. After that they would resume slow running. I do the old man version of fast walking and relative short runs of around 300 to 40 yards. I swear I think I'm memorizing the the land marks already.  Real distance guys might go for 6 mile run and call out distances from a quarter mile to a mile estimates for their push.

  If you're trying to lose weight use this easy fast walking workout to contribute to the calorie deficit. The only draw back is the time it takes. The big plus is how hard is it to walk fast?  Pretty easy and enjoyable. Just don't walk like a slug. Walk with a purpose to push the walking pace. Too many casual walkers and I firmly believe in fast walking. Doing the grandma slow walk in the park is just too low of an intensity. Walk like you stole something.

I don't know how long my health will be good after being sick for two months but I have to say I'm feeling good now. I will push it for as long as I can.

[oldtimer1]

Chest and bicep day: Slowly upping the weight. On one shoulder I have a torn labrum and the other a partial torn rotator cuff along with arthritis. Started benching with a light weight and I am upping the weight 5lbs a week or so with pressing movements. So far so good. I could use more weight but I don't want any injuries so I'm playing the build back slow routine. The reps used could be off. Done from memory hours later.

Bench press 1 x 6 then 1 x1 ( Upped the weight 5lbs from last week. Two non taxing warm up sets before the one work set.)
Incline bench 1 x 8 (Upped the weight 5 lbs from last week. Hope in short time I will handling what is for me decent weight)
Flies 1 x 10 ( I upped the weight from 50lbs to 55lbs to lower reps to failure)
Decline dumbbell bench 1 x 11 (Increased the weight 10lbs from last week. Also meant to do flies last but I forgot so it was kind of a pre exhaust thing going on.)

Barbell curls 1 x 10 (Changed from EZ curl to straight bar. I think an EZ bar is easier and it's also easier on the joints. Just wanted a change.)
Alternate Dumbbell curls 1 x 10
Two dumbbell drag curls 1 x 14
Concentration curls 1 x 14

Wrist curls 1 x 34 reps
Reverse wrist extensions 1 x 15(Increased the weight from last week)
Ivanko gripper 2 x 21 (one set right side up and the second I held the gripper up side down)

Incline sit ups 1 x 30
Incline leg raises 1 x 17

Cardio portion of today's work out: Incline walking.
0% incline for one lap (quarter mile) at 3.8MPH
1% incline for one lap at 3.8MPH
2% incline for one lap at 3.8MPH
3% incline for one lap at 3.8MPH
4% incline for one lap at 3.8MPH
5% incline for one lap at 3.8MPH
6% incline for one lap at 3.8MPH
7% incline for one lap at 3.8MPH
0% incline for one lap at 3.8MPH
0% incline for one lap at 8.7 MPH 6:54 pace (Again to remind my legs I'm a runner and not a walker)
0% incline for one lap at 3.8MPH

Weight is at 173lbs. After I was feeling better I just ate what ever I wanted to gain some weight back from two months of being ill.  Now I want to get back to 164lbs or even lower. Being lean is the best look when you're on the beach or running without a shirt. Being a permabulker looks good in clothes but to an athlete they can see a fatso so you're not fooling anyone, lol.

[oldtimer1]

Tired of keeping up with this log. I will pop back in and out to keep up this log when I feel like it. I use to log every thing in notebooks but now in general I just keep a mental notebook.

[oldtimer1]

I was thinking about different bodybuilding protocols. At least what I have experienced.

1. One set to failure per exercise after warm up if needed with a non taxing weight. So it's one set and for me failing is not being able to get one rep more.

2. As above but it's two sets high intensity per exercise with non taxing warm ups if needed. The first set if I could put an arbitrary work percentage on a set it would be the first set is around 90% and the second is all out to failure.  So to convey how I use it the first set it would be stopping at say 10 reps when I could have gotten 11 reps to failure and the second set is a true 10 reps to failure.

3.This is something I used and it was very short lived with me. I really should try it again. It's similar to what Ryan Humiston advises on his youtube channel. You do three or four sets not counting a warm up. All sets are to failure. It's a high rep routine. The first set you fail at say 25 reps. After a short rest you again go to failure. This time you fail at say 16 reps. Wait a short time between sets they go for your third set to failure maybe getting 10 reps. Now for the last set and you fail at 6 reps. Naturally relatively light weights are used and the rests between sets are very short. It's a brutal way to train but the pump is incredible.

4. This is how I believe most volume guys train and it was written extensively by Steve Holman in Ironman magazine.  It seems like a sane way to train.  Let's say you're training a body for 4 sets of 12 for an exercise.  The first set you stop at 12 knowing you could have gotten 18.  Short rest and go again. You do the second set and get 12 reps knowing you could have got 15 reps. Third set after a short rest you get your 12 but you could have force out a rep or two more. Last set the fourth you fail at 10 reps. So if you selected the right weigh, it's three sets to non failure but the the last set is a fail.

5. Of course there are so many ways to train.  Just pointing out a few protocols that interest me. I rarely train with super sets, tri sets or giant sets. In the past they didn't interest me. I trained with supers sets during my pre exhaust obsession in the 80's for a few years. Never used giant sets. Makes me wonder how you could come back after one round say for chest and not be forced to lighten the weight? Let's say you do a giant set of bench press-incline press, flies and push ups. How the fuck do you come back for the second round and be able to get the same amount of reps when you began the cycle again?  I would think you would have to select a weight for the first round and stop way in advance of failure for the first cycle. If you're doing say four cycles it sounds brutal.   It makes weight selection critical and maybe lowering the weight every cycle is necessary but I don't have any experience with giant sets. Opposing super sets and pre exhaust yes, but not giant sets or tri sets for the same body part.

Doing some experimenting in the gym tomorrow. I will report back and tell you what I think.