Jim's Training

[jimroberts]

Thought I would try and keep a training log here as well as at my blog.

A little background:

I train at home in my garage and usually alone. I was a member of Maryland Athletic Club where some great national and world competitors trained here in Maryland. Notable, Kirk Karwoski. MAC closed a few years ago and instead of going to a commercial gym with restrictive rules, I set up a gym in my garage.

I am 50 and currently 215 lbs and stand 5' 7".

I've been training since 1991 and have been a competitive lifter since 1993. I recently did a bench meet in March of this year after a six year absence from the platform. Not a great performance either. I have only competed geared. I have competed in the 181, 198 and now the 220 weight classes.

My best lifts in competition have been:

480 squat at 198 (master 40-44)
350 bench at 198 and 220 (master 40-44 then master 50-54)
500 deadlift at 198 (master 40-44)

Not to impressive considering they were geared lifts. But, I don't feel gear has benefitted me that much and my raw (unassisted) numbers would be fairly close to what is listed.

I am posting this entire weeks training due to an injury I incurred this week. Otherwise, it would not give anyone an idea of where I'm at currently. I'm currently in the 7th week of a conditioning phase.

This past weeks training:

Thursday, May 4, 2006
Start 3:30 PM

Music of choice; Red Hot Chili Peppers (Greatest Hits) and Green Day (American Idiot)

Stretch

Squat- 135X10 135X8 205X5 245X3 280X1 295X2X7
Flat Bench (close grips)- 135X10 135X8 185X5 225X3 245X2X7 225X4*
Bicep Curl (barbell)- 55X10 65X10 75X2X10

* downset

Finished 5:10 PM

Squats are going great! Especially since I went to a full grip (my thumb is still bothering me). Feel like I am sinking them and standing up with the weight with a great deal of control and explosion (hmmm??? Maybe the Nationals..., Naaaa) I am excited that they are going well.

Guess, if anyone noticed, that I did squats on Thursday instead of Friday. Well, I'm going to the NERB meet and have an 7 hour drive tomorrow to get there. Thought about lifting before leaving and even once I got there. Nixed both ideas and decided just to get what I could today and have a three day break from lifting. Also, Week 6 would have started with legs tomorrow (Friday). Thus the confusing Title.

Did not do treadmill today with the thought that I would squat. Good thing I didn't and went with the plan.


Monday, May 8, 2006
Start 3:00 PM

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch

Flat Bench- 135X10 135X8 185X5 215X3 230X2X10
Incline Bench (dumbbells)- 75X3X10
Incline fly (dumbbells)- 30X3X10
Seated press (dumbbells)- 25X3X10

Treadmill- 20 mins 2.5-3.1 distance; .99 mile

Finished 4:50 PM

In the last cycle in which I was preparing for the bench meet, I did 225X2X10 and then the following week hit 235X2X7. I will certainly get 10's next week with 235.

I'm still having some discomfort with my left pec along with my thumb on my right hand. Guess I'm going to have to get my thumb checked out because it really isn't getting any better. My pec I think was strained when I was doing lock-outs. I'm just keeping tabs on it right now.

Back to work tomorrow. The four day weekend was nice. I still have plenty of use or lose leave. And as my wife keeps reminding me, there is plenty of unfinished projects around the house too.


Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Start 3:30 PM

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch

Deadlift- 135X10 135X8 205X5 245X3 275X7 275X5*
Seated Row- 150X3X10
Cable Pull- 80X3X10
Bent Oer Sde Lateral- 35X3X10

*injured back on 5th rep-felt crack across lower back-sharp and sudden-let bar go

note; did not do good mornings or shrugs

Finished at 5:00 PM

Guess it was bound to happen. The weight did not feel that heavy, but I got a little loose and you know the rest.

My back is stiffening up a little and it is tender. Hopefully nothing serious and I will be able to get back to it next week. Feels like a stinger.

Jeff was over again this week.


Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Back feels pretty bad. Lots of pain in the lowest area whenever I rotate or move forward or backwards. Have to move slowly. No pain down my legs or in any other area 'cept the lower part of my back. My hip (old injury) is not affected. Which can be a good sign.

Had thought I would get up this morning to walk on the treadmill, but due to the pain decided to rest instead.


Thursday, May 11, 2006
Start 3:30 PM

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch (this went well!)

Flat bench (close grip)- 135X10 135X8 185X5 230X3 250X2X7 225X5*

* downset

Finished at 4:15 PM

Chose not to do any movements that would require me to stablize my mid section, thus putting anymore stress than necessary on my lower back. I always do close grip bench with my feet up so there was not too much stress on my back as there is when I do regular bench and try to arch.

There is noticable improvement in that it does not take quite as long to loosen up after remaining stationary for any period of time.

I have not taken any ibuprofen so far today. Keep forgetting to take it. I also have allergy/sinus flairing up, so I went out to get some Clariten. Beginning to believe I need to be put out of my misery or hospitalized at least. Sometimes we have these bad runs and challenges.

At this time, I plan on trying to squat tomorrow. It is supposed to be a light week.


Friday, May 12, 2006
Start 3:15 PM

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch (This feels great!)

I decided, after stretching and doing a few practice squats without the bar, to not risk doing any further damage to my back and to give it some time to heal. After stretching and doing the practice squats (two sets of three), I had loosened up and was fairly free of pain. But, in looking at that and the level of pain I experienced during the day, which was less than the day before, I figured why impede progress. This is tuff for me to do as I'm sure it would be for anyone else who enjoys lifting as I do not want to miss a day of training. But, with foresight, the benefit of recovery sooner than later, out-weighs any less than 100% effort put towards training in any given session. It should also be noted that I'm not training for any particular meet at this time.

Finished 3:45 PM

[jimroberts]

Week 7 (Conditioning) Bench 5/15/06

Start 3:35 PM

Music of choice: The radio

Stretch

*Flat Bench- 135X10 135X8 195X5 220X3 235X2X10
Incline Bench- 95X10 115X10 130X10
Seated Press (dumbbells)- 35X4X10

* widened grip a bit from normal position

Treadmill- 20 min 2.5-3.2 distance-1.01 mi

Completed 5:10 PM

Back is much better. Pain mostly in the lower right side. Though, while I was benching, I was cramping a little in my left lat a bit. Things tightened up when I spend periods of sitting. If I keep moving, it is not quite as tight.

I will not be deadlifting tomorrow. Not sure what I will feel like doing. I had not planned on doing incline bench with dumbbells when it dawned on me I could try incline barbell. What is the saying..., the mother of invention is necessity? Or, if there is a will there is a way? Something like that. Or perhaps I'm hard headed and should just try to heal and then resume lifting? Something I've learned about myself along the way is that when I incur an injury, I try to not let it impede me. Sometimes, activity has actually helped the healing process. I think if this was serious enough, it would let me know to stop.

Tomorrow when I get up will be interesting.

[dopar66]

Excellent workout and dedication, GM. When my low back hurts, I'm the worst wimp you ever saw. Doing inclines AND cardio when your back is hurting, my hat's off!

Two words for you: ICY HOT! :')

God Bless, Jim.

Doug

[jimroberts]

Week 7 (Conditioning) Back 5/16/06

3:55 AM

Treadmill- 20 mins 2.5-3.2 distance; 1.01 mi

3:30 PM

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch

Cable Pull (wg to chest)- 70X10 90X10 100X10 105X2X10
Cable Pull (rev grip)- 70X10 90X10 100X2X10
Cable Pull (behind neck)- 70X10 80X10 85X2X10

Finished 4:20 PM

Only had low grade pain throughout most of the day. It intensified in my right hip as the day went on. I was in a lot of pain and mobility was limited after I performed cable pulls. The one that seemed to affect me the most was wide grip to the chest or the first movement.

Guess I was being told to stop.

[jimroberts]

Week 7 (Conditioning) Arms

4:00 AM

Treadmill 20 mins 2.5-3.2 distance 1.01 mi

3:40 PM

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch

Flat Bench (close grip)- 135X10 135X8 205X5 235X3 255X2X7 225X6*
**Floor Press (reg grip)- 185X4X10
Bicep Curl (barbell)- 45X10 55X10 65X2X10
Hammer Curl (dumbbell)- 10X3X10

* downset
** did for the first time

Finshed 5:05 PM

I was not into this mentally until until the fourth set of close grips. Almost bagged it. Part of the problem was feeling my way through this session and wondering if I wanted to risk causing further injury or delaying my recovery. Which is going well. Thanks to Doug (dopar) at 100% Raw's forum. I took his advice and went out and bought some Icy Hot. Worked wonders! The powerlifting community is a great one! Thank you Doug.

I liked the floor presses. I can see that they will be a welcome change to my standard lifts and a great new tool to have available. Need to thank Mike Wolfe and Nick Winters for encouraging me to try 'em.

On to tomorrow. If I feel good enough, I will try to squat. The thought of missing three weeks is a tuff pill to swallow.

[dopar66]

You are certainly welcome!
Nice work with the 255! That's 14 reps! You really blasted the CNS today.

Hopefully your recovery will continue to be speedy.

God Bless.
Doug

[jimroberts]

Doug,
This current phase started out as a time for conditioning and re-building the deadlift. It was to last 6-8 wks. Then I was going to look at what was scheduled and possibly train for a meet (push-pull. I was considering making a return to full power next year). Not sure what I'm going to do now. The Bench has been the only one of the three lifts that I have made continued progress in spite of problems with my left shoulder. And the pain I get there has disapated to being very minimal due to backing off direct shoulder work and mechanics that I employ when performing the bench.

I'm going to have to figure out this perplexing problem I have been having with the deadlift and injuring my lower back/hips. I think once I am able, I will need to really start hitting abs hard again. And training the deadlift in shorter cycles. In this cycle, I was pulling from the rack for two weeks, then the floor on the third then cycling again. Managed to do two cycles! Seemed to be going well until last week. I am considering training sumo for a while, then once I get my strength back, perhaps return to conventional. Got to get past this injury first.

It is ironic that while the deadlift impacts my back/hips to such an extreme, yet I have been able to squat virtually pain free. That is why I am considering the switch to sumo at this time. I was told by a great lifter once that the deadlift was a squat in reverse. Perhaps I need to approach it in a similar manner?

[dopar66]

It sounds like that lifter speaks with wisdom!
I can't lift sumo, I feel like I'm going to do a somersault. However, out of the folks I know who do lift sumo, I've only known of one injury, and that was a torn periformis. I thought it odd to injure the periformis on a sumo deadlift.....be that as it may, it's worth a try!

I only go heavy every 14 days, and squat heavy no sooner than 4 days after a heavy deadlift day. In the past month I've really noticed my back feeling better on a day-to-day basis.

We can't deny we're getting older, but we can fight it tooth and nail, kicking and fighting all the way! :')

Keep us all posted on how the sumo works out, once your back and hips get to feeling better.

GOd Bless.
Doug

[3speed]

Jim,
I am, by no means, an expert in this field, but if you are suffering repeated injuries performing deadlifts, I would respectfully suggest that you check your form and/or training schedule. Taping your lifts in the gym is an excellent way to analyze your form. I mention training schedule because deadlift is the one exercise where more is definitely not better.

I only jump in here because I had to totally revise my lifting approach after I broke my back several years ago.

Lift smart and survive to lift another day.

[jimroberts]

Thanks 3speed. It is good to know that folks here do look out for one another.

I first injured my back/left hip deadlifting 7-9 years ago. I was training for a meet and was in the midst of my warm-ups when it hit. I managed to complete the cycle and went on to hit my PR of 500 and compete in 1-2 more full meets after. But the pop I had off the floor for the deadlift and out of the hole on the squat was noticably weaker. Rest and time has taken care of the squat and I have not focused on the deadlift due to not training for anything in specific. I have trained deadlifts in spurts.

I went to the doc after the intial injury, and after all the pictures were taken and poking was done, it was announced I had a bulged L-5. With knowledge I went forth.

I have to agree that recent flair ups were the result of trying to do too much too soon, not a great approach due to planning and possibly bad form (I keep adjusting to find the right mechnics that will enable me to pull the weight and not aggrevate the old injury).

The recent injury was sort of a replay of the initial injury, only lighter weight!

I had considered going to sumo before this last cycle. But I have tried sumo and was not comfortable with the movement. I have trained with lifters who would train with sumo and right before a meet would switch back to conventional. It saved their back!

My schedule for training has been constant since 1991. Chest on Monday, Back on Tuesday, rest Wednesday, Arms Thursday and legs on Friday. Kinda' backwards when most lifters that I trained with would do Legs on Monday, Bench and then do Back on Friday.

My schedule was set up keeping in mind that I would have a week and a half rest after my last deadlift before a meet. I would do my last squat the Friday (8 days) before a meet. And I would do my last bench on Monday, the same week of the meet. It worked for me.

What caused this recent injury was lack of focus. When I started the pull from the floor (5th rep), my butt shot up a little too fast, the bar got out and away from me and I tried to muscle it up with my back in a compromised position and knees almost locked out. So basically, a stiff leg deadlift. Had a belt on!

When I train the deadlift, I normally do 6 total sets, including warm-up.

Did you break your back deadlifting?

I am happy to report that I did squat this afternoon (light) and I have pop out of the hole and had no increase in pain during or after training. I will post todays training in the morning and will mention if I am worse for the wear. Deadlifting is still another week or two off at this point. I'm glad I'm once again feeling good enougth to resume training near full sped and volume.

On a side note, I have in the past trained heavy one week then light the next. The pull I was making when the injury occurred was 275X2X7. I was on the 5th rep of the second set. Just lost it!

Jim (TheMuse)

[3speed]

I broke my back in a fall- fell 13' with a chainsaw in my hand - got rid of the saw just before I landed on my back across a stump. I switched to sumo when I was able to lift again. I do some conventional off of plates and conventional SLDL's occasionally(very carefully).

I too used to alternate pulling heavy and light. I now pull 2 on and 1 off. The first week on, I go to 80-85% and the second week I go 95-97%. I am making good gains on this. I still use the alternate light/heavy approach for squat several times a year. I use this and a 5 on 1 off periodized schedule that I follow until I stall out.

You say you are not 'comfortable' with sumo - flexibility problems or just haven't figured the mechanics out yet? It requires a degree of flexibility in the hips to get a low enough starting position to be effective and quite a bit of experimenting with foot and toe positions to find what works best for you. The groove is much more important with sumo as well. A 1/2" miss makes the difference between standing up with or without the weight.

Lift smart and survive to dead another day.

[jimroberts]

Ouch!!!

Great thinking to dump the chain saw.

I've piddled around with sumo. Nothing consistent. I'm sort of like that stump you fell on, hard to move. I kind of get stuck in doing things one way. It is a level of comfort.

However, I am trying some new stuff lately and in part due to information here on the net. And as you advised, we're not getting younger and I do have to consider other options.

Part of my problem is leverages. My arms are short and my legs, if you can imagine this, is long from my knee caps down. After years of training exclusively in court shoes, I started training in my wrestling (meet) shoes this past cycle when pulling from the floor. Was helping a lot!

I used to train with a guy by the name of James Bufkin. He was built to deadlift. He could pull 700+ @198 bw conventional. He used to train sumo up until 4-6 weeks out from a meet. When we trained together, he always lifted conventional. Leverages (body type) is a huge benefit.

Information out there on the net describes some lifters squat improving as a result of switching to sumo. Coincidence? Possibly. But, as Kirk Karwaoski advised me, think of the deadlift as a reverse squat. Kind of makes sense.

I will probably give it a try. I've hit the wall one too many times now. And we learn as powerlifters to try new things

Jim (TheMuse)

[jimroberts]

Week 8 (Conditioning) Legs

3:40 PM

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch

Squat- 95X10 95X8 115X5 135X3 155X3 175x3 185X2X7

Finished 4:20 PM

A little apprehension! Wanted to make sure I was not putting too much weight on my back while just going through the paces. Felt Great!!! It is ironic how much more you appreciate something when the prospect of losing it for any duration becomes real.

This morning (Saturday), there is a slight elevation in pain in the center of my lower back. Sort of on par with what would be normal for an especially hard session.

I think I can increase volume with a degree of caution. Will keep applying Icy Hot. Will not dead lift on Tuesday unless there is a significant improvement. And where I'm at now is quite an improvement. I feel fortunate!

[dopar66]

Jim,
I feel certain I'm probably kicking a dead horse here, but to be sure in your neck of the woods there's a chiropractor that specializes in athletes. It'd be worth a shot. My chiro occaisonally shares stories of re-setting discs. Says it's not his favorite thing to do, but that it's very doable.
In the meantime, cautiously increasing volume without increasing poundages too much may work a little rehab for you. You're obviously in tune with what your body is telling you. Just keep in mind what 3Speed keeps saying, "Lift smart and survive to dead another day."

God Bless.
Doug

[jimroberts]

Week 8 (Conditioning) Chest and Shoulders

3:55 AM

Treadmill 20 mins 2.5-3.3 distance; 1.04 mi

3:40 PM

Music of Choice; The radio

Stretch

Flat Bench- 135X10 135X8 185X5 225X3 240X3X7
Incline Bench- 115X10 135X10 155X2X10
Seated Press (dumbbell) 45X4X10
Bent Over Side Lateral-20X3X10

Finished 5:10 PM

I have some twinges of pain and just minor stiffness in my back at this time. I have been walking more normal since yesterday. Saturday, was a little sporadic with how things were from one minute to the next. Feels great to feel more confident and less pain.

Bench went well. I am pausing most every rep right now and working on explosion off my chest.

[jimroberts]

Thanks Doug and the rest of the gang.

I have been consdering a chiropractor. At the moment, I want to wait and see how this event goes. The pain has subsided to the point where it is managable and as long as I proceed with caution, I will recover and be able to resume lifting full bore.

Today (Tuesday) marks the third week. Pretty much matches up with how long it took to get going again after the first time I incurred a similar injury. Fortunately, I'm not pressed to get back to training. I'm not training for a meet right now.

I'm in the final week of what was planned to be a conditioning cycle. I have experimented with a couple of things along the way. I will probably extend this period a couple of more weeks while I decide what direction I will head towards next.

TheMuse

[dopar66]

Muse,
While you're at it, check out Abe's training blog. He's deadlifting sumo now and has a pretty neat routine worked up with various height blocks.

Speedy recovery to you.

God Bless.
Doug

[jimroberts]

Week 8 (Conditioning) Back 5/23/06

1:35 PM

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch

Power Cleans- 65X10 75X10 80X2X10
Bent Over Row- 65X10 75X10 85X10 95X10
Cable Pull (rev grip)- 70X10 90X10 100X10 105X10
Cable Pull (behind neck)- 70X10 90X10 100X10 105X10
Good morning- 45X3X10
Shrug-135X10 185X10 205X10

Treadmill 20 mins 2.5-3.3 distance; 1.04 mi

Finished 3:15 PM

Took my back out on a test drive today and ventured back into some areas I have not been in a while. I almost forgot how power cleans were to be done.

And doing bent over rows kind of gave me an additional dose of reassurance that all is not too bad. Assess in the morning.

Sleep has been a lot better as of late. Until last night. Could not get up to do treadmill. In fact almost overslept altogether.

At this point, I will try and pull light next week.

[jimroberts]

I have Doug. Peeked a couple of times.

Not sure I'm set up to do blocks though. My garage/gym is pretty tight for space. I would likely go back to rack pulls instead of blocks though.

I felt pretty good and upbeat after this afternoon's session. And I will continue to put very gradual loads on my lower back. Don't know what possessed me to try power cleans after all these years of not doing 'em. But, it was cool in that it was something different. Sometimes I like to pick a day and really mix it up.

Jim (TheMuse)

[jimroberts]

Week 8 (Conditioning) Arms 5/25/06

6:25 AM

Treadmill- 20 mins 2.5-3.4 distance; 1.7 mi

3:35

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch

Flat bench (close grip)-135X10 135X8 205X5 245X3 260X2X5 225X8*
Floor press (close grip)- 185X4X10
Cable press (v-bar)- 50X15 50X15** 50X13**
Bicep curl (barbell)- 55X10 65X10 75X2X10
Wrist curl (barbell)- 15X2X15
Rev wrist curl (barbell)- 15X2X15

* downset
** failure

Finished 5:10 PM

When I walked into the garage/gym, I really was pumped up to lift. Haven't felt this good in quite some time. While I think it too soon to really tell, I began taking ETS by At Large Nutrition this week. If this is what I can expect for recovery and being ready to left at the next session, I think I found the fountain of youth!

I have also decided how to proceed for the next several weeks in my approach to training. I'm really liking the floor presses and they will become a staple of my training for some time to come. They are really hitting the tris and I think I will stick with the close grip when doing them.

During my conditioning cycles, I usually don't like to drop below 5 reps for work sets. The 260 today was a little tough. I will try 265 next week to see if I will be able to get another week or two with 5's before dropping the weight and cycling over again. Besides, my regular bench is catching up with my close grip and I really don't have a light day for bench any longer. I want to put my effort/energy towards my regular bench at this time.

Back was sore and stiff this morning. But, this afternoon, what injury???

[dopar66]

Alright! Great hearing about the back feeling better! And an awesome workout to boot! That is great news, GM, and a great workout to go along with it.

God Bless.
Doug

[jimroberts]

Week 9 (Conditioning) Legs 5/26/06

3:35 PM

Music of choice; The radio

Stretch

Squat- 135X10 135X8 185X5 205X3 225X1 245X2X7
Leg Press- 300X10 400X10 500X2X10
Leg extension- 50X3X10
Leg curl- 50X3X10
Seated calf- 70X15 90X15 110X15

Finished 5:10 PM

Back got through this without any signifcant pain. Had some very minor twinges and my left hip complained a bit. Got loose on 225 and pushed my knees forward on the ascent. Also had a weird low grade pain in my right knee, just on the inside portion of the knee cap. I attribute these occurances to getting loose and not staying tight and maintaining focus.

I am very upbeat in this being my first attempt at completing all the usuall movements I would typically perform on a normal leg day.

Now on to Tuesday and seeing how pulling goes.

[jimroberts]

Thanks dopar and I apologise to everyone else for being a little out of touch not taking part in discussions over the last few days. I haven't even been able to spend much time at my usual spot either. Been fairly busy.

Hopefully things will settle a bit after this weekend. I'm really looking forward to being in NC next Saturday and getting to meet as many who is able to show up as possible.

Jim (TheMuse)

[jimroberts]

Week 9 (Conditioning) Chest 5/29/06

6:25 AM

Treadmill 20 mins 2.5-3.4 distance; 1.7 mi

2:30 PM

Music of choice; Red Hot Chili Peppers (Best Of)

Stretch

Flat Bench- 135X10 135X8 190X5 230X3 245X2X7
Incline Bench (barbell)-135X10 155X10 175X2X10
Seated Press (dumbbell)- 50X4X10
Bent Over Side Lat- 20X3X10

Again, another tough day on the bench (). While I'm getting the reps, the weight is feeling heavier than it should. After today, I don't know that I will be able to get two more weeks of 7's as hoped. Perhaps with the addition of some heavier shoulder/upper pec work has had an adverse affect. I normally don't do heavy upper chest/shoulder work due to the affect it has had on my progress on the bench. Assistance work that I have done in the past was limited to what I could do with dumbbells. And for shoulders, that work was limited to laterals. I may need to make some adjustments.