Efforts of an Aging Ectomorph (lifting)

December 12, 2011:
Re-Starting Strength: Week 18, Day 4
Warm-up: Rowing machine: 8 minutes at resistance 10: 1730m

Back Extensions: +10x12x3
-superset with-
10
 
I feel fairly confident that putting him in against a guy with a 4-1-1 record against no one in particular will break the three-year smashless streak.
Yeah. Anyway, it's hard for me to get too interested in what he is doing anymore. He is 35 years old, and that is pretty close to the end of the road for most fighters. Signing with the UFC and fighting meaningful fights, or joining a top fight camp and updating his training a bit, seems pretty unlikely at this point.
 
1. That BW workout came 24 hours after the regular SS workout. Cut me some slack. :)
I actually was shocked to see your body weight. I know that you were in the 190's at the same time I was, so I had in the back of my mind that we are about the same weight. I'm currently weighing 172, so about the size of a typical lightweight. You however would look right at home standing between Lesnar and Overeem.
 
Yeah. Anyway, it's hard for me to get too interested in what he is doing anymore. He is 35 years old, and that is pretty close to the end of the road for most fighters. Signing with the UFC and fighting meaningful fights, or joining a top fight camp and updating his training a bit, seems pretty unlikely at this point.
Agreed. He's not going anywhere, though. His management has pretty much ensured that he's going to spend the last years of his career fighting journeymen and cans in international promotions. So be it.

I actually was shocked to see your body weight. I know that you were in the 190's at the same time I was, so I had in the back of my mind that we are about the same weight. I'm currently weighing 172, so about the size of a typical lightweight. You however would look right at home standing between Lesnar and Overeem.
As I said, the Bigger, Stronger Stonebreaker Project has added a whole lot of body weight, but a lot of it is fat. I have the height to stand between Lesnar and Overeem, but I'd look at home standing next to Mike Russow. :)
 
December 15, 2011:
Re-Starting Strength: Week 19, Day 1
Warm-up: TB X-Ramp: 8 minutes at resistance 8, ramp 6: 0.69mi

Front Squat: 135x5x3

OHP: 95x5x3

Back Extensions: BWx12x3

Total lift time: c. 32 minutes
Stretch: 19 minutes
Body weight: 240lbs
Missed lifting: 19 day(s) in the last 12 weeks.

Notes:
Light deload workout in the run up to the weekend’s 1RM attempts.
 
December 17, 2011:
Re-Starting Strength: Week 19, Day 2
Warm-up: Rowing machine: 8 minutes at resistance 10: 1690m

Squat: Barx10, 115x7, 185x5, 255x2,


285x1


295x1 (match current PR)


305x1 (+10 PR)


315x1 (+20 PR)

Total lift time: 41 minutes
Stretch: 20 minutes
Body weight: 238 lbs
Missed lifting: 20 day(s) in the last 12 weeks.

Notes:
Final 1RM attempts for the Squat & OHP contest.

The three-plate squat wasn
 
December 18, 2011:
Re-Starting Strength: Week 19, Day 3
Warm-up: Rowing machine: 8 minutes at resistance 10: 1670m

OHP: Barx10x2, 75x7, 105x5, 145x2


155x1 (match current PR)


165x1 (+10 PR)


170x0

Total lift time: 27 minutes
Stretch: skipped
Body weight: 243lbs
Missed lifting: 20 day(s) in the last 12 weeks.

Later:
Grip work: Green egg/red bands x12x2, CoC Trainer: Right: x6x4, Left: x6x4 (mostly clean)

Notes:
…and a +10 PR on the OHP. Not at my current goal (175) just yet, but for the first time in a long time, it looks like I might get there. :)
 
Immediate goals:
5. Overhead press 1RM of 170. [Added 3/26/2009]
6. Squat 1RM of 315. [Added 3/26/2009, hit on 12/17/2011]
7. BF% of 13 or less. [Added 3/26/2009]
8. 1.5/1/2xBW Squat/Bench/DL [Added 12/19/2011]
9. 1000lb total [Added 12/19/2011]

Front page updated. #7 & #8 might be complimentary at this point. #5 shouldn't be too far away now. When I hit #9, it'll take a couple of days to get the smile off my face.
 
Those squats looked great! Congratulations.

Thank you, sir.

I'm currently torn between a small degree of self-satisfaction and wondering if I could have added 50lbs to my squat in 4-5 months at any time if I'd just done the caloric overload/squat myself into the ground route earlier.
 
December 21, 2011:
Re-Starting Strength: Week 19, Day 4
Warm-up: Rowing machine: 8 minutes at resistance 10: 1670m

DL: 135x10, 205x7, 275x5, 365x2 (RO), 405x1 (LO, match current PR), 415x1 (RO, some rounding?, +10PR), 425x0 (slight break from ground, otherwise, nothing)

Total lift time: c.35 minutes
Stretch: 21 minutes
Body weight: 238lbs
Missed lifting: 20 day(s) in the last 12 weeks.

Notes:
There was a slight break between the last of the warm ups and the first of the singles while I tried to clean up the huge mess of chalk I made when I knocked over my chalk container.

I didn’t get the crazy increase that I saw on the squats, but hey, a PR is a PR. Looking at the numbers, it looks like the massive squat increase mostly brought my squat and DL numbers into a more normal relationship, so I’m not too terribly disappointed in the small gains on the DL. For now.
 
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I dream of one day managing a single with one of your warm-up weights. :)

You still lifting out of that place in Overland?

No. I defended last year, and I'm in Denver now. I'm lifting at a 24 fitness about a half a mile from my apt. And, 24 hour fitness sucks.

How are things going for you?
 
Small world. A good friend of mine is a prof at University of Denver.

Can't quite picture you working out of a 24-hour Fitness, but hey, if it works, it works.

Other than having the best week of PRs in my life, things are pretty ordinary here and that's just fine with me. :)
 
December 22, 2011:
Re-Starting Strength: Week 20, Day 1
Warm-up: Rowing machine: 8 minutes at resistance 10: 1680m

BB BP: Barx10x2, 105x7, 165x5, 225x2, 250x1 (match existing PR), 255x1 (+5 PR), 260x0 (spotter touched bar), 260x1 (slow, +10 PR), 265x1 (very slow, +15PR)

Total lift time: 55 minutes
Stretch: 16 minutes
Body weight: 238lbs
Missed lifting: 20 day(s) in the last 12 weeks.

Notes:
Easily the most frustrating successful day in the gym that I can recall. What should have been 30 minutes of 1RM testing turned into 30 minutes of 1RM testing and 25 minutes spend scouring a deserted YMCA looking for anyone with a pulse to spot for me. In the end, for the five singles, I had no spotter at all (twice, and a bad idea the second time), a member of the janitorial staff (twice), and a personal trainer and her three-person group training class for the 265.

For those of you keeping track at home, with all the personal records set this week, my Big Three comes out to 315/265/415… 995lbs total. Five. Stinking. Pounds.

And yes, I’m pretty sure that those numbers accurately reflect my best possible effort on a pretty good day right now. Damn it. I’ll hit 1k in March.
 
December 24, 2011:
Re-Starting Strength: Week 20, Day 2
Warm-up: Rowing machine: 8 minutes at resistance 10: 1680m

Squat: Warm-up, 255x4 (hard 3, very hard 4, no attempt 5), 255x3 (some GM on 3), 255x2x2

OHP: Warm-up, 142x4, x4, x3, x4 (very hard 4)

DL: skipped

Total lift time: 61 minutes
Stretch: skipped
Body weight: 236lbs
Missed lifting: 20 day(s) in the last 12 weeks.

Notes:
Today didn’t go well. I’m not sure if the week of easy days just doing 1RM testing somehow set me back, or if I was riding the edge of what I could do for three sets of five and just now edged myself over, or if I just had a random weak day, but this wasn’t pretty.

It seems that I’ve reached a crossroads in my current training: following the SS program as closely as possible, I’d be due for yet another reset on my squat weight now, and would be right back at 255 in another three weeks with not much more hope for getting a clean 255x5x3 than I have right now. On the other hand, the SS reboot has been very good to me (+65 to the Big Three in 5 months), and I’m reluctant to hop off that train until I’m certain that it isn’t going to take me any farther.

I have some reading to do, I think. In the mean time, I’ll keep grinding along as best I can.
 
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