Hello TID.
I was encouraged to start a log here, and before I get into too many details thought I'd give you the background.
I used to swim. I was pretty competitive and spent a lot of time at it. I did it for years and learned a lot about conditioning, and physiology.
Then I had kids. I hung up the trunks and raised them. My spare time was often spent either coaching my son's teams or taking him to practices or games.
The kids are in college now so about a year and a half ago I decided to take my life back and started working out.
I knew about as much as the average idiot at the gym does and my gains although noticeable were not spectacular. Pretty much any gain for a sedentary 54 year old would be noticeable.
I read, and I watched exercise videos as I went. I learned quite a bit by doing that. Most if it was wrong of course, but I persevered. Eventually I came to the obvious understanding that simple hard work was the key, like in everything else.
I began to concentrate on the basic four lifts. Squats, Dead Lifts, Bench, and Presses.
The foundation was laid after months of trying to figure things out, and now I am doing a straight linear progression with those lifts (and power cleans).
The weights I lift now are nothing to write home about but they are improving.
So I look forward to learning what I can from the TID as I move forward and sharing any lessons I learn along the way.
- Father Time
I am down for lurking
yippee!! i love training logs. they are our best and most viewed threads around here! looking forward to following along!
Good Job Father Time! It's funny as hell cause your name is what my smart ass kids call me!! Keep at it and don't get caught in worrying about 'heavy' weights. At our age it's easy to get suckered into challenging these young bucks and hurtin somethin!!...like my pride.. lol
Good Luck Bro..stay at it
Glad I could talk you into it FT... Good deal. Let's get this bitch rockin!
Welcome to the logs FT, looking forward to watching you rock it! Anything you need just ask, lots of smart folks around to give solid suggestions and advice!
In my wanderings I have learned via, Kilgour, Rippetoe, and Mehdi that what I needed to do was a Linear Progression for my workouts. Periodization is for athletes who have already gone through a linear progression to the point of failure. This allows you to make all the fast gains possible via the simple straight uphill climb with little rest between workouts. When that fails, go to a weekly progression system.
So with that in mind, two months ago I started the Strong Lifts 5 x 5 program. I talked with Old School about this and although he had not done it himself we agreed that I would start light and get it going.
The first 3 or 4 weeks seemed almost silly as the weight was so light. Eventually the intensity returned to the level I was accustomed to and now as I am approaching stall out on the squats it is quite intense.
The program is a straight across 5 x 5 (do the same weight on all five sets). Then next workout (48 hours later) increase the weight and repeat. There are two different workouts. Both start with squats and workout A finishes off with Bench Press and Dead Lifts. (Deads are just one set of heavy - all other lifts are 5 sets of 5 at workout weight.) Workout B is completed with standing press and power cleans. (This is my variation taking Rippetoe and Kilgour here instead of doing Bent over barbell rows)
So here it is, my first real entry. Try not to laugh at the weight. This is getting intense for me right now:
SL 5x5
Day 26
Squats
5 x 45
5 x 95
5 x 135
5 x 165
5 x 195
5 x 195
5 x 195
5 x 195
5 x 195
Concentration point today was to balance out my hip drive. Assure that neither leg is driving more that the other by insuring that there is a neutral (left - right) alignment of the hips and the spine. I also had to start working on NOT going so deep! (never thought that would be a problem!) I am past neutral and with the heavier weights I am dealing with this can cause some rounding of the lower back during the first part of the up motion. (I had to add this today mid workout as I did at least one somewhat rounded back lift and I can feel it now.) These are both difficult with the quicker drop down that I do to avoid 'riding the breaks' all the way down.
Upright Shoulder Press
5 x 45
5 x 75
5 x 95
5 x 115
5 x 115
5 x 115
5 x 115
5 x 115
Concentration point here is to rock the torso properly forward under the bar and back again on the down motion.
Power Cleans
5 x 105
5 x 105
5 x 105
5 x 105
5 x 105
Concentration point here is a tight bar bath during the actual clean motion. Don't let it travel away from the body more than 3 or 4 inches. Keep it close.
Something I learned from swimming was that perfection can not be attained. Therefore I ALWAYS had one or two 'concentration points' to work on in each stroke that I worked. If my follow through was not long enough in freestyle I pushed it hard and kept my mind on it until it felt natural again. Then I could move on to something else like getting higher elbows on recovery and a subsequent longer stretch before hand re-entry. It is a never ending process.
I have taken that lesson to weights now. I always try to work some concentration point into each lift so as to always be shaping my technique.
If any of you have experience with the whole Strong Lifts ladder of workouts I would love to hear from you.
- Father Time
Last edited by Father Time; 01-30-2012 at 10:21 AM.
Thanks for the welcomes.
And POB, love your GIFs!
Numbers look great FT! keep up the great work and dont worry about people laughing. We are here to help each other get to the next level. Log is starting off great!!JB
good like Bro
Good volume on those squats... Work like that should help you make quick progress... Good attention to detail as well...
Like POB said great attention to the details and with effort like this you should see quick solid gains!
SL 5x5
Day 27
Squats
5 x 45
5 x 95
5 x 135
5 X 165
5 x 197.5
5 x 197.5
5 x 197.5
5 x 197.5
5 x 197.5
Hard work getting these up, but they went up again.
Concentration Point - Hit neutral and not south of there to protect the lower back, also PUSH that chest up at all points on the lift. Don't let it sag in the middle.
Bench
5 x 45
5 x 95
5 x 135
5 x 165
5 x 197.5
5 x 197.5
5 x 197.5
5 x 197.5
4 x 197.5
FAIL!!!!
I actually failed on the last rep. This is my first fail so i will try again on Monday.
Concentration point - solid footing and leg drive. Well.... had a hamstring go tight on me in the middle. Heavy squats followed by heavy bench, shoulda seen it coming.
Dead lifts
5 x 135
5 x 185
5 x 235
Concentration point - Heal drive.
No time for pull ups... Getting to be a regular thing...
Hams can be a bitch... Keep hydrated and when you're good and warmed up you can stretch a bit between sets...
A tip for keeping the chest up on squats is to focus on upper back tightness.
How are you getting 197.5 on a bar though???
We are lucky enough to have those kool little 1.25 pound incremental plates at my gym.
It has allowed me to continue straight uphill with my weights every workout without jumping up by 5 pounds each workout.
So every other exercise will have me ending either at 2.5 or 7.5 lbs
I've got 48 hours to rest, hydrate and stretch now.
I think I'm doing that on the thoracic curve. Squeeze the shoulder blades together, push the chest up. It's been pretty easy up till now. But as the weight is starting to approach fail point keeping it curved throughout the entire rep is getting more challenging.
Last edited by Father Time; 02-01-2012 at 03:02 PM.
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