OVER 40 MUSCLE

I had a ho-hum back workout today. Just wasn’t feeling it. I have a lot of side issues going on right now and I just could not get focused today. After taking one of the boys to the dentist this morning it was almost 10am before I got to the gym. It is amazing how just a couple of hours change in a routine can make a difference. I am hoping things will get better tomorrow.

BACK
Cybex Wide-grip Chins - 3 sets to fail 7-8-6
Reverse-grip pulldowns - 3 sets of 12 @ 150
DB Rows - 3 sets of 12 @ 65, 10 @ 70, 8 @ 75
T-Bar Rows - 3 sets if 10 @ 140, 7 @ 151, 5 @ 162
BB Rows - 2 sets of 12 @ 70 and 9 @ 81 (+ bar)
Partial Deadlifts - 2 sets of 10 @ 225, 8 @ 225

ABS
50 weighted crunches (35# plate)
50 leg raises

CARDIO
20 minutes of intervals on elliptical at >170 strides per minute.

The 16th of April may not be a big day for a lot of people. For me it marked 6 months since I decided to take my life back. As I approached my 40th birthday I was not happy with what I saw. A back injury took me out of the only job I have ever really loved (law enforcement) and made me a sedentary lump of goo. When my back was injured I weighed 225. Five years of not doing anything active had definately taken it’s toll. So, on August 16, 2006, I decided I had to do something. But I knew I did not get this way overnight and I was not going to get the body I wanted overnight either.

At the start of my journey I tipped the scales with 260 pounds of blubber. I had gained 70 pounds since my high school graduation in 1985. My diet consisted of fast foods, fried anything and enough unhealthy combinations to kill a horse. I was drinking 6-8 Diet Cokes a day, everyday. I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and was required to use a CPAP when I slept. My condition was so bad that my family would check on me at night just to make sure I was still breathing. I was so out of shape that I could not even play with my kids. Getting out in the yard and throwing the ball or walking while they rode their bikes and scooters was out of the question.

Fast forward to the present. At my last weigh-in I was a healthy 216.4 pounds. That means I have dropped 43.6 pounds in 6 months. My last body fat test results were just over 20%. I think it is lower than that now. Not bad for a guy who had to be in the high 30’s or maybe even low 40’s six months ago. I now eat 6-7 small meals a day. I have not had anything fried since the start of this transformation and might not ever again. I have eaten at fast food places but the greasy cheeseburgers and fries have been replaced with salads and grilled chicken sandwiches and fruit cups. I still enjoy a Diet Coke every now and then (one about every 4 weeks or so as a treat). My CPAP is now packed away in its original box and sitting in my closet. Now I am able to play ball with my kids, wrestle with them when they want and enjoy life.

As I look back on the past six months I have several things to be proud of. Physically, I am doing very well. I have really been working hard in the gym and my efforts are showing some drastic results. Other than the usual over 40 aches and pains I have been injury free. As my body fat keeps dropping I am seeing the fruits of my labor. I am not (and never will be) built like Ronnie or Jay but for 6 months of work I am darn proud. I have been able to stick with a 5-day a week workout program for the entire 6 months and that too makes me proud. I have never been one to stick with anything too long but I think I am on to something.

I do not know what the next 6 months will hold. My goals, however, are simple. I want to continue to loose body fat while building lean muscle (who doesn’t?). I also want to get on a serious bodybuilding program, under the direction of a personal trainer who really know his stuff, and get in the best shape of my life. I have entertained the thoughts of competing someday and if I am going to do that I have to get going now.

I also have a goal of getting my personal trainer certification soon. I would like to have it by the end of the year but I am not going to rush it. When I do get it I want to be in good enough shape to where people will want me to help them. I am getting closer every day but still have a ways to go.

Lastly, I want to thank those of you that have supported me. Chances are we will never meet face to face but your words of inspiration have been timely and well needed. I hope I have motivated others as well as you have me. I will need you guys even more in the next six months as my diet gets tighter and my workouts get more intense. Thanks again!

I am a day late in posting this but I had a great arm workout yesterday just the same. I swapped things up a little and started with triceps this time. I also finished with a bi-tri superset that really put the stamp on the day.

I got a late start and cardio took the hit. With being 45 minutes late to the gym I only had time for 10 minutes on the elliptical.

TRICEPS
Rope Pushdowns – 3 warm-up sets of 25/20/15 @ 50, 3 working sets of 10 @ 90
Kickbacks – 12 @ 25, 12 @ 25, 12 @ 30
Close-grip Bench Press – 1 warm-up set of 15 @ 50, 1 working set of 12 @ 75 and 2 sets of 12 @ 85

BICEPS
Concentration Curls – 12 @ 30, 10 @ 35, 10 @ 35
BB Curls – 8 @ 50, 7 @ 55, 6 @ 60

FINISHING SUPERSET
DB Preacher Curls – 12 @ 30, 10 @ 35, 8 @ 40
Bench Dips – 3 sets of 20

A much deserved weekend off then I start the last week of this 8 week cycle.

Got a busy day today so I will hit the highlights. I had a good delt workout. my form is getting better each week. I am implementing the techniques taught by Charles Glass on “Getting Cut With Glass”. The first couple of workouts were tough on the muscles (and the ego) but I am starting to see gains in the weight using the correct form.

DELTS
Upright Rows – 2 warm-up sets with bar, 4 working sets of 10 @ 50, 10 @ 50, 10 @ 70, 10 @ 70
Reverse Flyes (45° bench with dumbbells) – 2 sets of 10 @ 30 and 2 sets of 10 @ 35
DB Press – 2 sets of 12 @ 40, 10 @ 45 and 8 @ 50
Front Lateral – 3 sets of 12 @ 20
Side Lateral – 3 sets of 10 @ 20
BB Shrugs – 4 sets of 10 @ 225

ABS
50 decline sit-ups
50 leg raises
35 side bends (each side w/ 20# DB)

CARDIO
20 minutes on elliptical, stride rate >160 entire time

Tomorrow I will hit arms and cardio.

Yesterday, I realized who my true hero really was. Check out my journal for the entry “Spiderman and a real hero”.

I was a little apprehensive going into today’s leg workout due to the unexplained pain I had last week in my left knee. I decided ahead of time that I was not going heavy. I wanted to see if the pain would return under a lighter load. If it did then I was going to get it checked out. Thankfully, today was a lot better. It was still a little tight but the pain was gone. I will gradually build back up to what I was doing but, for now, I am glad it is not hurting.

QUADS
Leg Press – 2 warm-up sets of 10 with 6 and 8 plates, 3 working sets of 10 @ 10 plates, 7 @ 10 plates and 5 @ 12 plates
Squats – 1 warm-up set of 15 with bar, 3 working sets of 10/7/5 with 2 plates
Lunges – skipped (more like chickened out)
Leg Extension – 2 warm-up sets of 15 @ 75 and 10 @ 100, 3 working sets of 10 @ 125, 150. Last set was a drop set, 10 reps per drop at 150, 125 and 100.

CARDIO
20 minute incline intervals on treadmill. Speed 3.8-4.0 mph and inclines from 1.0-6.0.

Tomorrow is delts and abs with cardio.

I was really pleased with my chest workout today. I was able to increase weight on my bench (getting closer to my goal). My current chest routine consists of 5 exercises (2 pressing movements, 2 fly movements and 1 cable movement). The rep range is from 4-6 on the first exercise to 12-15 on the fifth. Every couple of weeks I will move the different movements around within the workout thereby adjusting the rep range for each exercise.

Here is what I did today:

CHEST
Barbell Bench Press – 3 sets of 6 @ 155, 166 and 185
Incline DB Flyes – 8 @ 30 and two sets of 8 @ 35
DB Press – 2 sets of 10 @ 55, 8 @ 65 and 6 @ 65
Machine Fly – 3 sets of 12 @ 80
Cable Crossover – 3 sets of 12 @ 40

TRICEP
Overhead DB Extensions (two hand) – 12 @ 55, 10 @ 65 and 8 @ 70

Tomorrow is quads (power), calves and some cardio. The knee is feeling much better. I will take it easy on the squats and lunges. I have not had pain in the knee since Friday and I actually ran for 2 minutes on the treadmill during warm-up today without pain. Hopefully, what I felt last Wednesday was just old age sending me a reminder – and not an injury. We’ll see.

After a very hectic weekend (cheat meals and all) I was so ready to hit the iron this morning. My knee is feeling better but the ultimate test will be Wednesday. I forgot to weigh on Friday but I jumped on the scale this morning and it stopped at 218 on the nose. That is a total of 42 pounds lost in 6 months. That really added to my excitement and motivated me to work a little harder in the gym.

I was busy this weekend traveling with my music group and, to be honest, I did not eat as often or as clean as I needed to. I took along some of my normal food to eat but Saturday I gave into the cravings and ate 2 hotdogs and a slice of peanut butter cake. Sunday was a little better. I ate better but the timing was off terribly. We did two shows Sunday and had to tear down and set up twice. Needless to say I did not have any trouble going to sleep last night.

Here’s what today’s workout included:

BACK
Reverse Grip Pulldowns – 12 @ 100, 12 @110, 12 @ 120
DB Rows – 12 @ 55, 10 @ 65, 8 @ 70
Partial Deadlifts – 10 @ 205, 8 @ 225
BB Rows – 12 @ 70, 12 @ 81, 12 @ 92 (plus bar)
Superset
Straight-arm Pulldowns – 12 @ 105, 10 @ 110, 8 @ 120
BB Shrugs – 3 sets of 10 @ 225

BICEP
One-arm Preacher Curls – 12 @ 30, 10 @ 35, 8 @ 40

Tomorrow is chest and a tricep exercise.

I’ll keep it short and sweet tonight. I had a great arm workout today. I did 4 supersets and was out of there in about an hour. I was huffing and puffing but I have made some progress in my arm program.

I was also pleased that I was able to increase weight on just about everything. I guess if you cannot raise your arms to wash your hair in the shower after the workout – you must have done something right.

Superset #1
Preacher Curls – 12 @ 60, 12 @ 65, 12 @ 65
V-bar Pushdowns – 12 @ 80, 12 @ 90, 12 @ 90

Superset #2
DB Concentration Curls – 12 @ 25, 10 @ 25, 8 @ 30, 8 @ 35
DB Kickbacks – 15 @ 25, 15 @ 25, 12 @ 30, 12 @ 30

Superset #3
Barbell Curls – 8 @ 50, 7 @ 60, 6 @ 60
Close-grip Press – 15 @ 70, 12 @ 80 10 @ 80

Superset #4
Bench Dips – total of 50. Do to failure and then go to bicep exercise.
Overhead Cable Bicep Curls – 12 @ 35, 12 @ 40, 12 @ 45

The knee was a little better today but the inside of the kneecap is still a little tender. Because of that I did not attempt cardio today other than my customary 5-minute warm-up, which I did on the bike.

I sort of went freestyle on the delt workout today. I felt good afterwards and was able to increase the weight on the upright row. For my raises I have purposely kept the weights down so I can really concentrate on form. I have been back in the gym for 6 months now and I think I am just now getting the hang of the whole mind and muscle connection thing.

Side Lateral Raises – 3 sets of 12 @ 15
Seated DB Press – 4 sets of 12/12/12/10 @ 40
Front Raises – 3 sets of 12 @ 15
Upright Row (BB) – 12 @ 50, 12 @ 60, 12 @ 70 (plus bar)
BB Shrugs – 4 sets of 15 @ 225

Tomorrow is my favorite day – ARMS!!! I don’t care if the knee is a little gimp tomorrow, I am blasting my arms until they cry for mercy!

I was hoping to get in a high-rep leg workout today. However, about halfway through my plans changed. Last week I felt some discomfort in my left knee while doing squats. I was able to finish and by the end of the workout the knee felt ok. I went ahead and knocked out some cardio and went home. I have had a couple of cardio sessions since then and have felt no pain.

Today during my leg presses I felt the twinge again. It was not really a pain more of a tightening sensation under the kneecap. I went to hack squats and it did not get any worse but it did not get any better either. On my first set of walking lunges I had to stop. Now I had some pain! I rested for a few minutes until the pain subsided and finished a light set of extensions and then called it quits. There was no way I was going to try the sissy squats at this point.

Here is what I did before stopping:

Leg Press - 2 warm-up sets of 30/20 with 4 plates. 3 working sets of 30 with 6 plates
Hack Squats - 1 warm-up set, 3 working sets of 30/25/25 with 2 plates
Walking DB Lunges - 1 set with 45#’s
Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 25 @ 75

After sitting all day at work the knee is throbbing. Again, not really hurting, but I know something is not right. Thankfully, I have upper body moves the rest of the week. I’ll keep a close eye on it. Maybe it won’t set me back too much. Even my wife said it looked like it was swollen a little but I cannot tell any difference.

We’ll see what a good nights rest does for it.