Rdez’s BodyBlog

As I was nearing the end of a 5×5 program, I strained my knee.  No more squats.  Then I somehow strained the tendons in my hand.  Trying to lift a bar was like trying to pick up a bar wrapped in barbed wire.  Oww.  So no more bar work. It was time for my ‘off’ week so I stopped everything to try and heal up.  Then we had labor day trip that meant two solid days in the car and two days away from home.  No proper meals, no proper nutrition, no proper exercise.  Oh then I got the flu for about a week.

End result, I lost 8 pounds, my lifts all went to crap, and starting back up was a bear.  After 1 week of just undisciplined lifting to get back in the groove, and now 2 weeks on a new 5×5 program, I’m finally starting to feel a little bit back to how I was before my string of roadblocks.  Finally !

Okay, get ready to say "duh"…

So all this time, I never added in the weight of the bar and collars in calculating my lift amounts.  So yeah, a big ‘duh’.  I kept wondering why I could not lift nearly as much as guys who had the same height, weight, and build as me.  Like, wow, how can that guy be THAT much stronger on that lift than me?  We look like twins, but he’s benching a lot more than me.  Well yeah duh add in the 25 pounds (for the bar I use) and now I don’t feel so bad.   Regardless, It doesn’t change how hard I am going to keep working, or how hard I need to keep working.  I just feel a bit better about myself now and my progress.  So I guess that’s worth being a bonehead all this time !

Started this program on July 6th.  I actually feel a little sore today, which is unusual.  Doing the Incline Dumbbell presses was new for me, and it showed me how weak my stabilizing muscles in my shoulders were.  By the third set my form was much better.  I’m still skeptical about how my gains will be, working the chest/shoulders only once a week.  But lots of bodybuilders of course do this so there most be something to it !   Just take me some time to adapt to it I suppose.  Today is Back day, Thursday Legs day, and Friday Arms day.  Looking forward to Friday!

So somehow, I hurt my shoulder doing yard work.  Too much pressure at the wrong angle, and now it burns when I rotate it.  Tried my usual workout yesterday and halfway through it was on fire.  Not good.  I’m almost ready for my ‘deload’ week, so I suppose if I was going to aggravate it, this is the time.  I’ll see how it feels Friday and what I can do. I may have to wimp out and skip it, then use next week as my off week before staring up a new program again.  It’s very discouraging, I was making nice progress.  At least it’s not serious.  Just a minor bump in the road, right?

I’m finally getting serious about this weightlifting thing…

It’s sort of discouraging, starting out.  I won’t really feel less than lame until I can at least bench press my body weight.  I have 40 pounds to go before I get there.  I really want to be able to do that by Jan 1st 2010.  I’ve got six months to get there.  So each month I need to increase my bench by about 7 pounds.  I’ve been doing a 5×5 program for almost 2 ‘cycles’ now.  I’ve gone from benching 100 to doing 140 in 3 months.  Even with the law of diminishing returns, I  believe I can get add 40 pound by my deadline.  I want to post a new pic at that point and hopefully see a big difference.  Wish me luck!

(im gonna need it)

Why now?

I decided to start working out so that when I hit 40, I’d be in the best shape of my life, not a decrepit, weak, and flabby middle-aged guy.  I want to try and make the most out of the rest of my life in terms of my health.  With weightlifting I hope to stay healthy, strong, and vigorous til I’m old and gray.  What better time to start than now?