Fit for Freedom

After reaching 48 I realize there is a change in my body that may be difficult to overcome…lengthened recovery.  So I will need to switch to every other day lifting to add more recovery time.  It is that simple.  The way my biceps feel I think they are overtrained and will need to back off.  I will need to see where I am in a month.  Currently it feels like I have harpoons in each shoulder and daggers in my biceps.  I am NOT lovin this.  I have added glutamine as it is supposed to aid recovery. I need to quite eating shit too.  A wheat thin here, a Little Debbie here and it all adds up or on I should say.  The new 10×4 program causing horrific burn not something I am used to with the 5×5 program.  I would reach fatigue way before burn but then the weights get really heavy.  Shrugging 400 5×5 is nothing like shrugging 300 40 times!  But, I am willing to do whatever my body will allow and then some.  So, if any of you guys have ideas on recovery tricks let me know.

This was not a day for the weak of heart and mind.  I have never lifted 20 Tons in my traps, tris and shoulders before today.  I am spent.  Thanks Toni    My genius/slave master weight lifting planner.

Just an odd note on the blog today.  My son, KDP here, who is 6′6" and 300 lbs was chosen by the Washington Post and Washington Gazette to 1st Team all-conference.  Kel was "named by sportswriters(of the Washington Post) among the best highschool football players in the Washington Region!  Kel was chosen unanimously by the Coaches as 1st Team as OL without any encouragement from his coach. Kudos to my boy and his continued dedication to football and lifting!

I HATE pics but it is the only way to get good feedback and constructive feedback and advice.  Yes, I have shame points like my stomach.  I know that if I remove the fat tall the muscle groups all will benefit.  So, today if I can get my wife off the couch I will post some pics, legs, butt, back and shoulders and sides.  Don’t laugh too much while I suck in my stomach.  At 48 sometimes thats the best I can do is illusion! I could not care less if you rate them but just tell me ideas of how to improve what you see.  After 17 years as a Psych nurse I can handle crap talk and abuse but constructive criticism is what I need.  Then, look at my workouts and see, "What lack I yet."

Thanks in advance!

OK.  Not much as far as the worth of the blog is considered but the progress inside the blog is certainly present.  I think I need to post more pics on the observable progress instead of the empirical data.  However, I know there is a propensity to look or check for muscles, groups and lighting that show indeed the best light.  Maybe we should all get up first thing in the morning and take shots in glaring florescent to remove shadows and just see size.  Of course large "racks" and "packages" will cast shadows.  Not too many of us have lights in our floors.  What is noticable is the simple things.  My jeans on the thighs are getting a little too snug.  I cannot touch my bicep with my thumb extended on the same side.  I am reping, what I started out with, is 40 lbs more than my max was.  I am getting wings under my arm pits.  That looks weird to me.  My "gout" in my right toe is gone. Lifting causes soreness in 48 hours now and not 24 like when I was younger.  I am developing definition of the muscle groups.  Where there was a rise and fall between muscle groups now there is a demarkating line.  Very cool.  I started at 202 wearing the same jeans I am now at 222.  So I met my 20 lbs goal.  So, 15 more and I reach my "pure" goal of 235 with the same or less bodyfat.  That has not changed too much but I assume the bulk is beef and not fat, or at least whey.  What I learned so far…whey and egg protein work, fast, simple and affordable.  Creatine works too.  The other supplements like Test booster, Waxy Maize, Nano Vapor, etc…don’t work on me, even with long term trials off and on.  No empiriacal evidence as far as the tape measure is concerned.  Other things I’ve learned…well it boosts your own feel good, GH, endorphins and Test levels but does not make you more attractive or sexier.  My wife is still unimpressed.  Your Kids are your best supporters.  They will truly support and encourage you because they love you.  Listen to them for encouragement when yours is flagging.  People that see you infrequently will notice big time.  Those that live with you?  Not so much until the next swim season.  Has it been worth it.  Yes, I have friends here and where I lift.  I just feel better doing lifting.  I will never be Arnold but I feel like Arnold inside.  That’s what’s important to me.  The journey, not some endpoint my genetics might not allow me to get to…What will I do now,  smile more and keep lifting.  I hope you do the same.

Have you noticed when you hit the big weights your whole body tenses and then something just "gives?"  When shrugging 370 the traps were doing just fine when a tendon in the upper neck, where it attaches to the base of the skull said…whoa there!  Now 2 days out after that and Ibuprofen I am doing fine but it was a wake-up call to focus on areas that are Not lifting and to pay attention to form and focus.  All in all I have had to switch to the 10×3 system to build up different "strength receptors."  I think more than anything, I need to give the tendons, ligaments and muscles more contact time per set.  Doing the 5×5 is great but there are diminishing returns when there is pain associated in the bone from lifting things that are so heavy.  I hate the burn from longer sets but "man-up" I am to get over this and focus on gaining strength.  When there is no pain I go to the 5×5.  When there IS pain I switch to my lighter rehab set but still exhaust the muscle.  I will persevere.

My forearms are quite painful today like shin splints and it only happens after I do bench.  Very peculiar.  Am I putting a death grip on the bar?  Maybe it is actually a delayed response from the Captains of Crush grippers.  Oh, well.  Time and Ibuprofen will cure this.  The added cycling and 2 weight days seem to have had a good response.  I weigh 222 and am losing fat.  The addition of the cycling was a good idea.  I never realized I could close my eyes and meditate in the midst of Gym Bunnies running around with music and TV noise in the back ground.  Heck, I think I could have almost fallen asleep.  All things considered it is going well. Today is triceps day.  The heavy weights are taking their toll on the 5×5 and I may have to go to a 10×3 scenario for awhile.  Will assess that today when I hit the plates.

Well, the new formula and breakdown of the routine has helped the elbows heal quickly.  The legs were put through the paces yesterday and did well.  Although I need to make sure to keep good form.  The last time I did that I pulled a hamstring.  Felt like a knife with a snap sound and feeling attached to it.  So, compression shorts have been the answer so far.  The weight is falling off now with the cardio, added sets and ab work.  Cutting out the excess calories and the added activity has done wonders.  I heard that the fat that shows isn’t the problem.  It appears the problem is the fat that surrounds the internal organs so that is what I am aiming to eliminate.  Maybe I should really only be about 190.  However, I will listen to my body and see where it leads me.  Too many pundits saying this or that is right.  But I am not so sure they know anything except for their own bodies.  I feel better and stronger so I am assessing this is the correct course for me now.  Get the fat out, cut the carbs and eat healthy, whole foods with a good split!

I climbed on the cycle after 4 sets of chest work and abs and low and behold the pulse monitor said 147 BPM.  Amazing, I thought that can’t be right so first thing I do is palpate the carotid pulse and sure enough.  I recognize this issue.  I had very little carbs yesterday and I am assuming the body was working hard to translate fat into energy as quick as it could.  But all that for sure, I need to make sure I get enough protein or just take my waxy maize(corn starch) with me and eat a little more carbs. I did not even really feel any change in my chest like thumping wildly or anything of that nature.  At my tender age I just decided to go slow and easy on the cycle and it dropped to 126 by the end of the cycling.  Of course I was aiming for fat burning but it looks like I got some cardio.  I guess those plate bunnies have a little more psychogentic power than I thought.  The elbows are exacting a price too.  Sore but scale 3/10 so not too bad.  Nothing Ibuprofen can’t conquer.

I climbed on the cycle after 4 sets of chest work and abs and low and behold the pulse monitor said 147 BPM.  Amazing, I thought that can’t be right so first thing I do is palpate the carotid pulse and sure enough.  I recognize this issue.  I had very little carbs yesterday and I am assuming the body was working hard to translate fat into energy as quick as it could.  But all that for sure, I need to make sure I get enough protein or just take my waxy maize(corn starch) with me and eat a little more carbs. I did not even really feel any change in my chest like thumping wildly or anything of that nature.  At my tender age I just decided to go slow and easy on the cycle and it dropped to 126 by the end of the cycling.  Of course I was aiming for fat burning but it looks like I got some cardio.  I guess those plate bunnies have a little more psychogentic power than I thought.  The elbows are exacting a price too.  Sore but scale 3/10 so not too bad.  Nothing Ibuprofen can’t conquer.