hemingersl’s BodyBlog

So I’m through the  weekend and a little disappointed by the lack of discipline that I showed regarding my diet this weekend.  It was my daughter’s birthday and I was more than a little gluttonous, lol.  In addition, the protein wasn’t managed the way I normally do either. About the only thing that I did maintain is my water intake which I’ll call a moral victory.  In any case, the weekend in general did not leave me feeling very positive about my progress. 

So another successful workout has been completed.  Its funny how the measure of success changes as one ages.  It used to be, back in my twenties and when I was powerlifting.  I didn’t really think of success as anything less than an improvement of 10 lbs a week on my primary lifts. Anything less was disappointing and a week that recorded backwards movement in weight of sets or reps with that weight was nearly enough to cause me to slip into a mild depression. 

But thankfully my ability to see improvements and success have evolved with the years.  I’m beginning to see that a successful week is a week when I can get in on leg day and have that passion to lift and the focus to put all my energy into the task at hand.  My views have evolved to allow me get in and feel good about a workout…to know that it was all left out there on the gym floor.    Thats become a powerful realization for me over the past few years and has continued to grow regardless of a workout results in merely a one rep improvement over last week or a ten pound increase in weight and ten additional reps.

Today was definitely one of those days of sattisfaction.  I went into the gym expecting a to hit 40 reps on my breathing deadlifts.  With a little bit of push from my sweetheart who was standing right by me I grit my teeth and hit an additional two.  10 years ago I would have merely shrugged my shoulder over a two reps better than my expected number.  These days I know that the two reps represent much more than a simple improvement in strength this week.  Chalk it up as a victory for my drive, dedication and perserverence to continue the iron game through rest of my 30s…and hopefully well into my 80s, lol.

Well I’ve been at it with the breathing squats and deadlifts for about 2 months now and its finally starting to show some results.  I can just hear: "Its taken two months".  Well you have to keep some things in mind if you ask that question.  

First of all I am super hard on myself and what I view as improvements when it comes to my legs. I was born with great genetics when it came to leg development and so I’ve always had thighs with measurements between 23 and 25 inches, roughly.  As such I’m looking for not only size but also some separation in the quads and hamstrings and even my calves.  Secondly, I also have to take into account the fact that I had about a two week fight with a nagging cold that really killed my momentum around mid Oct.  So, I had to kind of fight my back into the workouts. 

In any case, things are definitely improving now and I’ll have some new progress pics up soon, probably within the next week or two.  This week is breathing deads and heavy squats so I’ll definitely have some idea of progress by wednesday.

So I finished a kick butt leg day and am ready to make some changes…not huge ones by any stretch but more than minor.  I’ve been thinking about it and I’m pretty sure that I’m going to compet this winter in my first powerlifting meet since about a year before I was deployed to Iraq.  My strength has been steadily improving here lately, particularly in the two big lifts and I really like my chances of hitting mid 400s in both.  This is despite a repaired inguinal hernia from two years ago.   Bench is a big question mark in my mind at the moment.  I’ve been fighting with bursitis and rotator cuff problems off and on since I injured my left side while in Kuweit in late 2004 (playing volleyball of all things).  I figure if I can hit 1200# between the three lifts it would be pretty damn good. Here goes nothing!

What a crazy, crazy past couple months!  I can’t complain though, and have long since learned that rarely does anyone listen when I do.  In any case, I’m working on building on my consistency in the gym.  Even though I have not been on BB.com  much untill just recently, that in no way means that I haven’t spent my time in the gym.  I missed a couple weeks in mid Oct due to a cold that just wouldn’t go away but for the most part its been balls to the wall for the last 6 months.  What has it gotten me?  Well although the weight hasn’t skyrocketed up, my lean mass has definitely gone up and my leanness has improved as well.  I feel harder, am starting to see some seperation in my quads (which is always good news) and, best of all in my book, I am getting seriously stronger again.  I’m looking to hit 50 reps of 185# on breathing squats on wednesday and hit 40 reps at 225# on deadlift last leg day.  I typically alternate those two by the week as my primary leg excercise.   Also, I really like Tom Platz’ idea of breathing squats and apply it to both excercises.  Basically its one long continous set of squats or deadlift at a fairly light weight, in which one only reps out to the point that one has to stop to take a few breaths at the most.  Then you get another rep or two, take a couple breaths and do it again.  It is brutally tough, especially with such a big compound excercise, but it is also amazingly effective as Platz’ legs would attest.  I understand his genetics were phenominal and he definitely competed in the steroid era but no matter what, I firmly believe that his ‘breathing squat’ idea is extremely effective.

So… with all of that said I am super excited to tear it up again and work on hitting at least 50 reps if not 55 when I go in to tear it up on Wed!

I know what the problem is….

I’ve been fighting a losing battle for roughly 6 weeks now in trying to put on size and with the variation of German volume training that I’ve been using.  The thing is that I’m training with increasing nutritional needs as far as calories, protein and basic nutrients with a decreasing source of funds to purchase the whole foods and supplements that provide for those needs.  With the car business as slow as it is income has been way down over the past couple months and if its a choice of paying the bills to maintain a half way decent credit score or buying extra food, I guess the food will lose out every time.  I suppose this means that I need to adjust my goals accordingly…its just so damn hard to watch my gains slip away as my ability to feed the lean mass slip. 

This is all just too discouraging.

With six weeks left to go to reach my-some may say unlikely-goal of 195 lbs, I am really feeling more and more excited and motivated almost on a daily basis.  This has been an extremely difficult and intense program to stick with but it has been so effective that I am gamely sticking with it.  With the exception of my fantastic ‘beginner’ gains made when I started lifting in 1998, I’ve never seen these kinds of results and the hard lesson learned has been that nothing works like consistency.  In these past 12 weeks or so I’ve managed to not miss more than a single workout early on and have treated my diet and sleep habits with something bordering on religous devotion, lol.  

With all that said, I think its fair to state that although genetics obviously play a role in my improvements, what truly makes a difference is simply getting it done Every Day!  Say a prayer for me that I can keep doing just that and can avoid any injuries!

Here I am working on my 9th week of german volume training and I must say that I’m definitely impressed with the results up to this point.  I’m getting ever closer to my 37th birthday and yet I’ve put on roughly 8 lbs since starting the program.  Today was a little tougher than usual, with my right shoulder giving me a little grief for not warming up enough but things are definitely looking up.  The best part is throwing almost 3 wheels on the bar for ten sets of deadlift and having the young guys (you know, the ones who always wear baggy pants or long baggy shorts) stop and watch the ‘old guy’ knock out reps!  I love it!!!

Here I am, April of 2009 and in a familiar position: I’m starting over with my training.  I went through a divorce at the end of last year and so really didn’t get back into it till about the beginning of Feb after a kind of long layoff.  I am already starting to see results using the first phase of the German volume training method as described by my favorite muscle columnist, Charles Poliquin.  The intensity and motivation are definitely there so we’ll see how it all goes!

Well I’m a little more than two weeks in and the consistency of diet and training are already really starting to show.  Although the weight is at about 177-179 consistently now, I think the difference is in the body fat.  I definitely feel thicker in the shoulders and arms and I’m starting to see some good separation in my quads. As good as that, my abs are shoing a bit better too so I’m pretty sure that I have to be down around 8-9 percent…I have to get that checked here soon. My POF training on the abs might have something to do with that as well…that routine is fantastic.