Propeller’s BodyBlog

It was leg day again.  Lately every workout in my log has had a big note on top "training with injured left hamstring".  Today it read "hamstring healing well".  I was able to do squats, hamstring curls, balance ball leg curls.  Ok I went real light on the hamstring curls but even this was an improvement.  It wont be long and I will not have any disclaimer written in my training log. 

Propeller out!

Injury Training

I woke up this morning with my left hamstring feeling quite strained.  Seems my tussle with the neighbors dogs is going to take a bit of time to recover from.  This is not the first time that I was attacked by dogs.  I was thinking of changing my screen name to “Dances with dogs”.  Never mind!  I thought to myself, Self…how the heck will I do cardio with a strained hamstring? There was a part of me that said just blow it off.  NO WAY!  That was when a light bulb lit, HEY SELF, why not do a “move about”.  I know, what in creation is a “move about”.  When I warm up to lift I swing my arms and twist at the hips, march in place, you name it.  I call this little ditty a “move about”.  Need a visual?  Picture the lovechild of Mick Jagger and Richard Simmons dancing to “Jumping Jack Flash” while tripping on mushrooms.  I hope that clarifies it for you.  Rediculous looking?  Hell yes but no one knows…wait I just told you didn’t I.  Maybe I shouldn’t have committed that to writing.  If I ever run against Arnold for Govanator he will send a spy to film this.  “Look at this girly man, he will not pump you up!”  The “move about” is not very effective cardio but it does keep me moving.

 Cardio was just the first hurtle.  Tomorrow is leg day.  I tried a few body weight moves today just to feel things out.  The only thing that fell short of blacking out from pain was “sissy squats”.  As if the “move about” was not emasculating enough now I have to resign myself to doing something that has the word sissy as its first name.  Should I mega dose on estrogen blockers to keep my hormones in check?  If I keep this up for a few weeks gino boobs and toilet squating may become a bellweather to my not so shining future.  Obviously I have kept my sense of humor.  I will overcome…Some day!

Propeller Out!

Dog Attack update.

I was just off the phone with animal control.  The officer told me that one of the dogs that attacked me this morning had attacked the owner last year.  Her injuries were so severe that she had to be hospitolized.  What the hell is she doing sending this dog out without a leash?

Attacted by 3 dogs!!!

I was attacked by 3 dogs and was bitten and pulled a hamstring fending them off.  I was out running and a woman let her three dogs out as I was passing by her home.  The largest of the 3, which was a medium sized shepard mixed bit into my right forearm.  I got my arm free and yelled and clapped my hands and the dogs ran off but they came back to attack again.  I growled at them and sprinted streight toward them to scare them away.  But I pulled a muscle in my left hamstring and the pain is radiating into my glutes.  I went to see the doctor and she gave me some pain killers and treated the bite.  This really sucks because it puts my training way behind.  Not only that but I am self employed and will have to work in pain for as long as it takes to heal.  Anyone know how to do some cardio without using my legs.  If you do please drop me a note.  Thanks.

Jogging AGAIN!!!

This may seem like a small event but due to my spinal injury I have not been able to jog in 14 years!  Just a few steps and I would start getting a shooting pain down my right leg.  I did 2 miles each day all week without any problems.  I live in a mountainous area so hills here are long and steep.  There is a long grinder that is about 3/4 mile long that I have learned to hate.  I double back so it gives me a little break on the return trip.  I say that but there is a 60% grade that is about 100 yards long that I call the stair master.  What a f_ _King leg burner that son of a bitch is!  God didn’t build this kid for endurance training.  OK I’m loving the disapline!  I hope this burns some fat off.  I’ll keep you all posted.  Propeller. 

Blasting my lats!  A buddy of mine commented that my lats have grown a lot wider lately.  He wanted to know what I was doing.  At first I wouldn’t tell him.  After he called me a few choice things I laughed and told him the way I was getting big lats while on a fat reduction diet.  Negative wide grip chins and one arm rows.  I pull a bench under the chin-up bar so that it is far enough back that I can hook just my toes on top of it.  I pull myself up real slow giving myself just enough assistance from my legs as needed to do about a 6 second pull up.  I then lower myself down the same way.  Do this for ten reps and your lats will be screaming for you to stop at about the sixth rep.  The remaining 4 will be a test of will.  I do this for three sets of ten.  I then grab a 120pound dumbbell and do 1 arm rows in a 3 second up 6 second down style.  I do this for 2 sets of ten.  That’s all I do.  I have cut volume because I am dieting.  My lats are growing while my waiste is shrinking V-Taper here I come! 

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  See if this sounds like you, if so this will help.  Whenever I put on a few, or more than just a few pounds I start to diet.  I begin to lose weight but my gym performance…well it goes down as fast as my weight.  So I add more protien and my weight loss stops.  I find I can’t train with as much volume when I diet.  I looked into doing heavy duty training but one set to failure done infrequently has got more haters than lovers.  So I thought to myself why not do a best of the best training system.  I call it propeller training and at least for me I am losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time and I am 46 years old.  Bottom line…it works for me and I bet if you are like me it will work for you also.  
  
  The meat and potatos of the system is a three day a week upper body lower body split using mainly big compound moves.  I do upper lower upper one week and lower upper lower the next.  That gives you two training days for upper and one training day for lower the first week and the opposite the next.  But it also gives you every other day off and a full block of two days off every week to do whatever you do when your not doing weight lifting.   On the off days I do 20 minutes of light aerobics at about 50-60% of my max heart rate.

   Leg day is built around a 20 rep squat routine.  You do three seconds up and six seconds down with a weight that gets your legs burning by about rep 12 or so.  It should be very questionable in your mind if you can go on by rep 15.  At rep 18 you should be forced to stop momentarily to get your wind back.  After 20 you should be gasping for wind and hardly able to walk to a sitting place to rest 3 minutes.  Hit it again after 3 minutes and do the max you can with the same weight and speed.  Next I do dumbell squats but I have a bad back so if yours is OK you can do deadlifts.  I find that no matter how tight I keep my form my spine can’t take the foward pull of the barbell.  I can put more on my legs with a pair of dumbbells.  I do 2 sets the same way as I did the squats.  After that I do one set to failure of split squats while grasping a pair of weight plates in my hands.  Dumbbells would also work.  Use a weight that makes you fail at 10-12 reps.  Next I do two sets of one leg hamstring roll ups using a ballance ball.  I am not sure if I have the name right but you lie on the floor place the back of the heal of one or both feet on the top of the ball.  You pull the ball toward you while at the same time lifting your butt off the floor until your feet are flat on the ball and your back is streight.  If you are real strong you can use one leg with the other pointing streight above the ball.  Next I do 3 sets of standing calve raises to failure.  Walking is now difficult going down stairs near imposible!  Sore the next day?  You bet ya!

  For upper I start with flat bench.  2 x warm up, then 3 x 8-10.  I do the first set with a weight that I can get 10 out ending just short of failure.  Next I go up to a weight that I fail at between 8-10 on.  Next I hit it again with the same weight and get about 8 reps ending in failure.  I move on to incline presses and do two sets of 8-10 each set to failure.  I X-rep out on the second set only.  That is I try to drive it up again but fail, go back down, try again fail…for about 3,4 trys.  From there I go right to the power cage again for 3 sets of shoulder press 8-10 to failure.  Next I do 1 arm dumbbell rows 3 X 10,8,6.  Next I do pulldowns 3 X 12,10,8.  After this I do standing curls in a 3 second up six down style.  I do these for 2 x 12,8.  After that I do three sets of weghted dips for 12,10,8.  Rest between sets is two minutes.  I have been using this for about a month and I keep getting stronger and leaner.  I look bigger and badder in the mirror.  I don’t do measurements because I am working to lose fat and build muscle.  How do you know what caused the size change?  Try it out and see.