Can't put weights down ! Fitter at 40?

new2tri19

Friday
The fancy names from jacked and tanned to active recovery now its just Friday , I'm not losing motivation but getting a bit fed up with rib/intercostal muscle not fully healing stopping me benching and deadlifting .

deadlift
As soon as I bent to reach the bar my hamstrings where feeling sore , never had that before must be from the RDL'S I did 2 days ago , guess that's a good thing as its supposed to work them . I never actually workout my hamstrings so need to do it more .

Work up to 3 sets to 5 @120kg , rib/chest/back on right was tender on set up as I tried to brace .

chest dip
Just bodyweight 5 sets of 12 was plan only managed 4 last set got to 8.

inverse row
5 sets of 8 just bodyweight.

ohp
25kg barbell 5 sets of 8

reverse curl barbell
25kg for 5 sets of 8

tricep extension
1 X 20kg dB held at one end lying on bench.
5 sets of 10.

Completed in an hour and 10 or so.

Feeling so weak today and last day I exercised felt the same . I've been off work so took a rest with cardio other than 2 hours a day walking .
Bit of a bug in the house , kids sick and I've general man flu symptoms all tested for covid and all negative so no excuse there .
Lack of sleep could he catching up with me or it could be a broader problem with diet ( eating more crap been off work) / lack of routine , but also lack of a coach or real plan .might be time to start working with someone who could guide me how to become a better hybrid athlete . It's hard for me to identify the training load lifting has on the body I might need to start taking more rest weeks.

Just my ramblings , I use this as a diary to read back on also and remember how a session felt and I felt after it .

new2tri19

Thursday 17th

Haven't worked out since Friday last week , I felt very weak in that workout , woke that night with a sore throat , temperature which progressed to a chesty cough over weekend I was floored . I rarely ever get sick so was full sure I had the aul Rona but tested negative on Tuesday and started to come around Wednesday.
Very strange , I normally get some sort of sickness before a marathon if I stop all cardio , I haven't done cardio as been off work but sleep is only returning to normal as youngest was uncomfortable in his leg cast .
Anyway ...

deadlift
5 sets of 5 at 100kg have to build back up , feel weak as
Just working on form here filmed myself , changed to mixed grip as it's a chance to try something new , bar now ripping the shins off me which it didn't before .wore calf sleeves for running .

inverter row
5 sets of 8 at bodyweight

ohp
5 sets of 8 with 35kg

tricep extension
5 sets of 12 with 20kg single dumbell

That's all because I was sweating like @#&- and I don't think it's that warm out and starting to cough a bit .
Nice to be back lifting I genuinely missed it .

new2tri19

Saturday 19th
My rib has fully healed that took a month . Time served for been an idiot .
Time to start thinking about a plan but I'm enjoying been off plan and doing what I want .

Bulgarian split squats
I like this more than the squat because it works your balance and you get a lovely stretch in the hip flexor and they are bloody tough going to make them at least a weekly thing .
Light and slow is better than heavy and fast .
35kg barbell for 5 sets of 10 each leg .

flat bench dumbbell
5 sets of 10 with 20kg's last set was 13 amrap

chest supported row dumbells
4 X 12 , 1 X 15
15kgs

Romanian deadlift dumbells
Slow and controlled with 15kg dumbells nice stretch in hamstrings

sit ups
Legs under dumbells and 10kg plate in arms
5 sets of 12

pull up palms facing each other
5 sets of 5 reps

Sunday 20th

incline dB curl
5 sets of 12 with 10kgs

face pulls
5 sets of 12

seated ohp barbell
4 X 10 , 1 X 13 with 25kg

band pull apart
5 sets of 12

tricep extension
Lying on bench with one 22.5kg dB held at one end .
4 X 10
1 X 13

Both sessions about an hour .
Starting to get more out of the lifts the intent matters more than the weight .

new2tri19

Tuesday 22nd

Deadlift
5 sets of 5 at 110kg , really working on form , mixed grip and recording my lifts to make sure no drop in form . 110 not too hard .

Bench press barbell
Haven't been benching at all really as was letting rib heal .
Went with 60kg did 6 reps felt ok so did 5 sets of 6 . Last rep on last couple of sets was hard .

inverted row bodyweight
5 sets of 8

tricep push or pull down with bands
5 sets of 12 .
Supersets with
bicep curl 12.5kg DB
5 sets of 12

Completed in an hour .
I'll probably start Jacked and tanned again within the next 2 weeks . I think with what I know now I'll drop out so many exercises and go with quality over quantity. I felt like I rushed through the sets last time and it became a box ticking exercise .
I'm also going to change the exercises around I think squat and deadlift on same day wasnt ideal . Same with bench and close grip bench as T1 and T2 .
My new plan be something like
T1 Deadlift T2 close grip bench T2a A row ( bent over /T bar ), T 3a chest dip and nothing else programmed but optional to add a couple of accessory movements depending on how I feel on the day . Keeping all max rep efforts as per plan .

new2tri19

Saturday 26th
Lots of stuff going on in work /life so training time and energy for training has been limited. Got to the pool for a swim on Wednesday , got vaccine Wednesday evening and was fairly tired after with some lingering fatigue decided to rest Thursday and Friday.

Bulgarian split squat
5 sets of 10 with 35kg on barbell , slow down trying to drive up.

seated ohp Db
5 sets of 12 with 10kg Db's

chest supported row
5 sets of 12 with 12.5kg Db's

close grip bench
5 sets of 12 with 35kg barbell

lat pulldown with bands
A painters pole connected to some bands to try hit lats
5 sets of 12

reverse curl
5 sets of 12 with 10kgs

bench press dB
5 sets of 12 with 20kgs

Completed in 90 mins but I had Italy match on and kids where in and out messing lifting weights and chatting.

new2tri19

Monday 28th

Deadlift
5 sets of 5 at 120kg videoing and working on form . Mixed grip.

inverted row bodyweight
5 sets of 8

Bench
5 sets of 10 with 50kg went widest grip yet on barbell , this reminds me of setting saddle height you keep going higher and it keeps feeling better , could feel the chest muscles more out very wide.

skullcrushers
5 sets of 10 with 2 X 10kg Db's

bicep curl
5 sets of 10 with 12.5kg Db's

Completed in an hour and 20 or so but I was enjoying watching the French game during the session and not setting rest times strictly .
I've too much going on at home to commit to a plan , I'm also trying to use the good weather and no pressure of racing to enjoy some outdoor cycling .
Anyways it's another session done even if unstructured it all helps. I think I'll run a mini plan alternating a compound and a few accessories for the next while at least to have some balance to the training .

Dtp1979

Have a look at 5/3/1. Sounds like it’d suit your current situation. If you don’t get accessories in it’s no big deal

new2tri19

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Have a look at 5/3/1. Sounds like it’d suit your current situation. If you don’t get accessories in it’s no big deal

Thanks I was looking for a shorter program to run in the interim as I'm a bit time crunched but don't want to be just lifting without structure..

Dtp1979

new2tri19 wrote: »

Thanks I was looking for a shorter program to run in the interim as I'm a bit time crunched but don't want to be just lifting without structure..

That’s 5/3/1 for ya. Just do your main lift.
5 x 5
3 x 3
5/3/1
Rinse repeat. If you’ve time do accessories.

new2tri19

5/3/1 Day 1
Squat
Filled in the spreadsheet for a 1 rep max of 85kg felt like I've not squat in ages , I got a bit of analysis paralysis with the squat and had preferred Bulgarian of late .
32.5 X 5
37.5 X 5
42.5 X 3
51 X 5
59 X 5
67.5 X 6* amrap
Form probably not as good as before but acceptable .

Romanian deadlift
5 sets of 10 with 30kg
Filmed these nice and slow good stretch

bent over row barbell
4 sets of 10 at 40kg , very wide grip

face pulls cable
4.sets of 12

upright row
4 sets of 12 with 10kg dumbells

Completed in just under an hour , very happy with that I feel like the mind muscle connection is better if that makes sense and a lighter weight with more intent can get more benefit than a heavier one .
Thanks Dtp for 531 suggestion

Dtp1979

You don’t waste time haha.
What’s with the x 3 in the middle?

I found this article helpful for 5/3/1
https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/5-3-1-how-to-build-pure-strength/

the baby bull elephant

Dtp1979 wrote: »

That’s 5/3/1 for ya. Just do your main lift.
5 x 5
3 x 3
5/3/1
Rinse repeat. If you’ve time do accessories.

I would say, just to clarify, that's the 5/3/1 Not Doing Jack **** template (provided you're using a training max as well). It's meant for in season athletes or people really short on time but it's not really great for making progress it's more for maintaining. In most other 5/3/1 templates the accessory work is important be it Boring but Big, Building the Monolith, Leviathan or Krypteia.

5/3/1 is often referred to as a programme but really it's a methodology.

new2tri19

Dtp1979 wrote: »

You don’t waste time haha.
What’s with the x 3 in the middle?

I found this article helpful for 5/3/1
https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/5-3-1-how-to-build-pure-strength/

I downloaded a spreadsheet and that's what it said to do
5/5/3 I think they are warm up sets then 5/5/5
There seems to be many different versions .

new2tri19

5/3/1 Bench

bench
45 X 5
51 X 5
57.5 X 10* amrap left 2 RIR

Bent over row barbell

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

but the simple fact is you're just plain weak all over at that stage and you just need to work on getting bigger and stronger.

When I used to do bent over rows everything else would fail and I didnt get it my form would go to pieces . It hit me the last day or so that like that quote above I was just too weak all over to hold the bar property and do them , weight lifting sucks at the start because so much fails because your weak and using muscles you don't normally use . It has taken me probably a year to just have the body strength to perform exercises correctly without folding in half . I feel like I've turned a corner lately that I finally have the base to work off now .
4 sets of 10 bent over rows with 50kg barbell .very good reps .

tricep extension dumbell
3 sets of 12
1 set of 14 with 22.5kg held at one end

reverse fly
3 X 12
1 X 18 with 7.5kgs dB

reverse curl barbell
3 X 12
1 X 14 with 22.5kg

face pulls bands
4 X 12

upright row barbell
4 X 12 with 22.5

Completed in an hour.

new2tri19

5/3/1 Deadlift

Deadlift
82.5 X 5
97.5 X 5
110 X 8* amrap

Flat dB bench
22.5kgs X 3 X 10

bent over row barbell
50kg X 3 X 10

landmine shoulder press
30kg X 3 X 10 e/s

tricep push down
3 sets of 12

bicep curl db
15kg X 10/10
12.5kg X 10 couldnt manage another set at 15

Completed in an hour or so
Nothing much to comment on .

new2tri19

I'm still alive just got back into my account , I don't know what happened I got logged out and couldn't get back into my Gmail then gave up for a while .

The site doesn't seem to work great on my phone but I realise you can select desktop view .

Been training away at 5/3/1 will update when I get a few minutes .

new2tri19

I wrote out my workouts but something happened and my post disappeared this mobile site doesn't seem to be as good as before .

Nothing really worth writing all out again .

My bench had me doing 61kg reps for amrap and I managed 12 which gives an estimate of 84 or higher but I cannot manage 80kg . Seem to be stuck at 77.5 for a while now and i can get 77.5 any time I try but 80 is just not there .

new2tri19

I'm not great with new technology , I keep getting logged out of this site and my phone doesn't like it at all , could be my phone's fault it's old but it hangs really badly then I pull down from top and my post disappears .

I got such great help here I don't want to give up posting but on mobile it's painful . My workouts are going well , I'm going try work laptop see if using this site is easier at the moment posting is harder than workouts !

Hopefully update log soon. Hope everyone training is going well .

new2tri19

Lads thanks for all the help starting off with lifting this place was priceless for information.

Feel bad that I neglected to come back and post much after site upgrade.

Hopefully will post more if times allows.

I'm still lifting averaged just over 3 workouts a week for the last couple of years.

I've varied things but have a better idea of programming and what works.

Still doing bench squat deadlift and some isolation work.

People have really noticed especially in the last couple of months my physique. So all good.

The best change I made was taking long rest between sets and generally working much much harder. Used to take 1 minute , now take 3-5 mins and knock out heavy sets with more determination to finish the set even if I have to pause in middle .

Hope all keeping well thanks

new2tri19

I've tried to post but I don't know if it's my phone or my age but I can't log a workout easily and got frustrated , the screen keeps moving up and I can't see what I'm typing.

So I'm not going to update this, I've done to pen and paper , which is a pity cause got great advice here thanks

Dtp1979

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119410612#Comment_119410612

It’s not you, it’s the site. Unusable these days

new2tri19

I haven't posted in a long time because I didn't like the new boards format. I just remembered about this log I started and wanted to check what I used to lift when I started.

I joined a gym in January and started working out before work, I only have 45 mins now in the mornings to train but work out 5-6 days a week. I will say that lifting weights has been the greatest decision I ever made, I love the gym its great for my mental health and now its a place I look forward to going to. My lifts actually haven't progressed that much looking at my old postings but my body composition has definitely changed, most people who see me now will make a comment about it. Even if i knew id never make any more gains I would still lift for mental health.

I don't deadlift at all anymore and only single leg squat. The gym is busy so I ditched any plans I had back in March because machines were not available and i had to be flexible in getting work done. My weight is actually the same or roughly the same as last year, I don't track my foods only protein making sure I am getting about 160grammes a day which is about ok at 79kg,

Hope you are all keeping well and thanks for advice received in past.

I am thinking about going back to following a plan, is there any decent plans that don't have squat and deadlift? I do single leg Bulgarians and RDL's but found the risk reward with deadlifting to be not worth it, especially near 1-5 max rep range for deadlift I felt it was too easy to drop form and get injured.

Thanks

Dtp1979

Welcome back. Did you get injured doing deadlifts?

new2tri19

Hi Dtp, I don't remember getting injured doing deadlift, nothing of note anyway think i might of had a tight back a few days after lifting. It was more that I felt my form would break down on the heavier sets and the length of time it took to set up and build up to a top set that I decided to ditch them. I've only 45 mins in the gym in the morning and I would probably spend half of that time doing deadlift.

It's over two years since I posted workouts not going to lie looking at the numbers I was lifting then compared to now its not that impressive for two years lifting. Its hard to compare now to then though because I do a much larger variety of workouts, my form has improved massively, I use a greater range of motion and tempo sets. I very rarely bench now with barbell I mostly use dumbbells but just looking there I was at about 77.5kg pb two years ago and that's my 5 rep max now. I went to shed to give it a go just there and did 85kg x 1 it was slow but no warm up, max is probably 87.5-90. For dumbbells i was lifting 25kg back then now I am using 32.5kg for flat bench and 30kg for incline for sets of 10-12. Bulgarian split squats im at 47.5kg for sets of 10 i was at 35kg.

So all in all 2 years I've probably added 10kg to my bench hmmm that's nothing to write home about! Maybe its an age thing I started too late or it could be just that I am not concentrating on anything specific I generally follow a full body routine and don't really target any individual lift agressively.