Fit for Freedom

Older does seem to have some advantages and working out with the 5×5 program seems to work well with the aging process.  I never believed some of the pundits when they would say do not workout when you are sore.  Well I tried it.  After my recovery I am noticing gains with each mucle group and set.  The heavy lifting seems to give the muscles adequate recovery time as well as "building time." My arms are almost back to size and strength as well as calves, traps and lower back.  I think/feel that the recovery time being longer and lifting less frequently but equally heavy have given the tendons and ligaments more time to heal and grow as well.  I have reworked the program some though by going to 3 body section sets while adding one leg exercise to give a good mass stimulus.  So far things seem to be working well.  The soreness is moderate but goes away in 3-4 days and the connective tissue seems to follow the same path.  Therefor, no more ice packs, non-steroidal anti-infammitories, etc. Making the time off more beneficial for fat burning.

I almost forgot what it was like to lift without pain.  Wow.  This is actually fun.  It appears the D-3 and other medicaments worked/are working their magic.  Soreness happens but it doesn’t feel like my arms are going to slpit open at the forearms when I am curling that 265 on the machine.  I am sure free weight it might be 150 but the number looks good. Shoulders and tris was a good combo workout and I have enhanced the muscle groups as I work them,  Like the shoulders…front, side and bent over DB side raises to really hit the shoulders throughout.  I just have to slow my brain down and let the tendons, ligaments and bones grow along with the muscle.  I have some peculiarities in my calves and biceps that I have noted for years.  I am guessing they have much more fast twitch fibers in them as they are constantly fasciculating.  It is bizarre.  I tell my kids they are "self buffing."  Anyone else ever have any thing like this?  I never feel it but can watch it. Anyway…life is good when my perception is good.

After reading Boston T. Party’s Boston’s Gun Bible it gave me new appreciation for staying fit.  Not only is he a guns enthusiast he is also a "guns" enthusiast.  Today though is the other side of the guns maybe the grip?  Shoulders and triceps.  Working harder is not necessarily wiser as I have come to find out.  Progress is slower as I age b and the rest times between workouts extends but the progress is still there.  I think as long as you stress the muscles appropriately they will grow.  If I leave my body alone and lift it grows.  If I focus on it, diet to the letter, etc the progress is slower.  It is like lifting but not letting my muscles know I am lifting.  Sort of do it and forget about it. So I woke up this morning stronger, trimmer and heavier than I have in weeks.  217 out of the bed and the stomach was actually more flat.  Maybe gravity?  Or it could be the side twists from tossing and turning alnight while sleeping next to someone with menopause.  Hot, Cold, and restless!  Yikes.  Oh, well, gym day, the bunnies and wannabes have gone for the summer.  The gym is mine, saith the lord…

So much fun and reward to be back at the gym. And a special blessing.  A bodybuilding woman who could easily be a pro.  So freaking awesome to look at.  I had a hard time keeping my eyes un-glued.  I am sure I was caught gawking more than once. But it was worth the risk and reward.  I have never seen such a goddess that up close and personal! But the chest workout did well.  No pain, just pleasure…

Anger is a great motivation if you step it down to aggressive determination.  Anger makes you sloppy because we are too much in the head and not enough in the body where we should be.  Maybe it’s immature but if it works to meet your goals and you can focus it and leave it in the gym great.  The ego can be picked up as you leave the gym and that’s great.  A positive image is fantastic but keep it to yourself.  The results will speak for themself. Otherwise you may carry that anger with you out of the gym and not be a good advocate for bodybuilding and humanity at large.

Well after a long hiatus I am back.  The microfractures have healed and all tendonitis is over with.  Praise the maker.  So, it is back to the gym remembering the painful lessons I have learned.  Hopefully I will not learn other painful and debilitating mlessons.  I have missed communing with y’all.  I just need to be more careful and stay with the weights I conquer for another session or 2.  It comes at the "almost" beginning of summer break for the university so I have more space in the gym. Fortunately I did not fatten up or lose much strength but the size did decrease!

After the recovery…I waited to see how the bone and tendons felt.  Fortunately I do not feel anything!  The muscles are a little sore and that is good.  So, I will keep to lighter weight and up the reps at home for the biceps and tris but maintain the heavier sets unless it starts to hurt with rows or lat pus etc.  So I should be off to the races Mobday for "spring cleaning/beach prep."

In other news my son, KDP here, has been given a full ride scholarship to play football at the University of Rhode Island.  As his coach says, "He is a big human."  6′6" and 305.  Already at 17 benching 350.  The coach says he will easily do 500 before graduation.  NFL?  Unlikely he does say he will take what life throws at him.  Papa is proud.  Lifting helped him and BB.com was part of the program.  Thanks especially to Trixter for helping with the nutrition/supplement parts!

As I reflect on what that age means to me I think…I will be better built at 49 than I was at 21.  Back then I could bench 190, weighed 185 lbs and not much else.  Oh, 12 ounce curls…I was in college. Now I weigh 212, bench 275 curl 265 and various other numbers that I will not bore the stronger than I set.What are my goals?  Hum…maintain and increase slower the weights I do.  The mind is willing but the body is not as fast at regenerating as it was before. Therefor more reps with lighter weight.  However, I do intend to lift as much weight per set as when I was doing heavy.  There is still much to be gained in size and tone.  Finding the right individual mix is like trying to find the right "spritual" path for one’s self.  i continually thank jackedinmi, tonigal69, DeborahAnn and Romantic1983 and trixter for their comments, photos and encouragement.

Tendonitis was the wrong diagnosis.  Stress Micro fractrures appears to be the accurate one.  Apparently the biceps, tendons and ligaments could handle the heavy weight.  The bones could not which amazes me.  I have been placed on 3000 IUs of D-3 and upped the Ca++ intake.  Which means I will have to re-start AGAIN and at lower weight to build the bone back up. Seems like the rest of the bone frame is intact and behaving appropriately. So next week starts the regime and must re-evaluate everything including more "hammer style" grips and limiting the amount of bicep exercises I have been doing.  Oh well, live and learn but never give up.  Surviorman and Bear Grylls agree on one thing, it isn’t necessarily the supplies that will save you but the will to live.  In this case it is the will to lift.  It lives within. Just "closed" for inventory and reorganization at the moment.

Tendonitis is now past and I have been spending time assessing what to do with the damage left behind and avoid the future of potential reccurrence.  I have opted at this point to go lighter reps and more of them as well as adding cardio more heavily with a running program.  I have already cut down 9 pounds by changing the diet around.  I have to focus on what works best for me and the muscle types.  Funny, but it seems like the only fast twitch muscles I have are in my calves and biceps/triceps.  So I will work on thinning the fat off and see what is underneath.  Keeping the protein sources up is no problem and on the run days it will be just as important as well as adding more carbs pre-run as not to catabolize muscle tissue. With the muscle training I have to make sure I alter the grip to hammer style so as not to stress the forearms too much.  I need to re-evaluate my Captains of Crush grippers too and add more reps at the lower resistance.  I would like to avoid tendonitis as much as possible.