Staving off the decline, part deux

[Clearwater47]

Glad the knee seems to be okay.

Chinups - I like the idea of doing these at a timed interval. It seems like a great way to get in a decent amount of volume for people like me that can't just pump out 10-15 of them in a row for multiple sets. Almost like a ramped up 'grease the groove' approach. I may give that a try sometime.

[JimRiley]

Glad the knee seems to be okay.

Chinups - I like the idea of doing these at a timed interval. It seems like a great way to get in a decent amount of volume for people like me that can't just pump out 10-15 of them in a row for multiple sets. Almost like a ramped up 'grease the groove' approach. I may give that a try sometime.

Yeah, I think the knee pain was just a test of the emergency broadcast system. Thanks for the good words.

Chinup singles at timed intervals do seem to work pretty well if you have a hard time banging out a bunch of them. (I can rarely do a set of more than 5.) I can do quite a few more singles at longer intervals, like 30 seconds or even a minute, but at some point it just takes too dang long.

[JimRiley]

Squats (low bar): 45 x 6, 45 x 8, 85 x 6, 125 x 4, 165 x 3, 185 x 2 @6; 155 x 5 x 4 @<6, every 2.5 minutes.

Had a little pain above my left kneecap again, but I did more weight for more sets with less pain than last time.

Taught linear algebra today for the first time in 5 years. Just subbing though, for a former colleague who had gone to see the eclipse.

[MailmanMuscle]

I miss math. That was my major when I went to college straight out of high school. Life happened, yada yada…

[JimRiley]

I miss math. That was my major when I went to college straight out of high school. Life happened, yada yada…

<math major secret handshake> The life happened part is very relatable too!

Wed., Apr. 10, 2024
Cardio: Walked and jogged about 4.2 miles in 59:50. Did four laps around the block in 56:30, averaging 4.25 mph. Warmest day in quite a while at 73 F.

Thu., Apr. 11, 2024
Cardio: Cycled 14.47 miles in 56:03, averaging 15.5 mph. Average/normalized/max power: 128/138/451W.

Guess I should lift too one of these days!

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Cycled 28 minutes on the indoor trainer. Did three 20-second efforts at 3-minute intervals. Average/normalized/20 sec./15 sec./max power: 104/149/476/510/587W. Max cadence: 132 rpm.

Bench: 45 x 8, 75 x 6, 105 x 4, 135 x 3, 160 x 1 @9; 142.5 x 2, 3, 2, 3, 2 (12 total). I was figuring on doing more volume than that, but on the work sets my bar path was all wonky and it seemed like my left arm was oddly weak, so I stopped early. It wasn't until I unloaded the bar a while later that I realized it had 2.5 pounds more on the left side than on the right...

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Walked and jogged 3.36 miles in 45:50, averaging 4.40 mph

Deadlifts: 135 x 6, 175 x 5, 215 x 4, 255 x 3, 285 x 1 @9; 225 x 4, 5, 6, 4, 5, 6, 5 (35 total reps) @<6-7, every 2.5 minutes

[JimRiley]

Hammer curls: 15s x 11 x 5
Lateral delt raises: 10s x 12 x 4
BB front raises: 22.5 x 12 x 4
Rear delt raises: 10s x 12 x 4
DB wrist curls: 15s x 12 x 4
BB shrugs: 95 x 12 x 4
DB flyes: 15s x 12 x 4
Ab rollouts: 12r x 4s
Plate overhead triceps extensions: 25 x 12 x 4
Barbell rows, wide and narrow grip on alternating sets: 65 x 12 x 4
1-minute rests on everything

[JimRiley]

Tue., Apr. 16, 2024
Cardio: Cycled 13.55 miles in 56:40, averaging 14.4 mph. Average/normalized/max power: 107/114/492W. Average/max cadence: 94/120 rpm. Just tried to maintain a cadence over 90 rpm while taking it pretty easy.

Wed., Apr. 17, 2024
Bench: 45 x 8, 75 x 6, 105 x 4, 135 x 3, 165 x 1 @10 (blecch); 112.5 x 7 x 11 @<6-7, every 2.5 minutes
Squat (low-bar): 45 x 8, 85 x 6, 125 x 4, 165 x 2; 155 x 5, 3, 5, 5, 5 @<6, every few minutes

My left hamstring, an old nemesis, started hurting on the second set of squats. I thought about stopping, but decided to try modulating the depth instead, and that worked pretty well.

[JimRiley]

Cycled 14.42 miles in 58:55, averaging 14.7 mph. Did two fairly hard efforts of 5 to 6 minutes. PRed a couple of Strava segments in the process, so ring out, wild bells. Average/normalized/5-minute/max power: 112/127/165/437W. Last year I could sustain over 200 watts for 5 minutes, so my work is cut out.

[JimRiley]

Deadlift: 135 x 6, 175 x 5, 215 x 4, 255 x 3, 285 x 2 @6; 225 x 6 x 6 @<6, every 3 minutes

At noon today I played about a one-hour recital with a friend at the college where I used to teach. He's a violinist and I play piano. We did one sonata each by Mozart and Franck, plus three fun short pieces that my friend wrote. The Mozart and the Franck have quite difficult piano parts, and though I've played harder individual pieces, this was my most demanding one-hour performance to date. Anyway, it went pretty well for the most part, and people seemed to really like the slow movement of the Mozart sonata. He was great at cueing up a series of moments that properly rendered will melt every heart in the house.

[JimRiley]

Hammer curls: 15s x 13 x 4
Lateral delt raises: 10s x 13 x 4
BB front raises: 22.5 x 13 x 4
Rear delt raises: 10s x 13 x 4
DB wrist curls: 15s x 13 x 4
BB shrugs: 95 x 13 x 4
DB flyes: 15s x 13 x 4
Ab rollouts: 12r x 4s
Plate overhead triceps extensions: 25 x 13 x 4
Chinups: 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1 EMOM; 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 every 30 seconds (total of 20)
Overhead press: 45 x 13, 13, 9, 7 (total of 42)
1-minute inter-set rests except where noted.

[JimRiley]

Cardio: Cycled 14.36 miles in 54:38, averaging 15.8 mph. Average/normalized/40-minute/max power: 132/140/141/436W.

[JimRiley]

Bench: 45 x 8, 75 x 7, 105 x 6, 135 x 3, 155 x 2 @8.5; 130 x 4, 5, 6, 4, 5, 6, 4, 5 (39 total reps) @6-9, every 2.5 to 3 minutes
Squat: 45 x 6, 85 x 5, 125 x 4; 155 x 5 x 4 @<6, every 2.5 to 3 minutes

My left knee was bothering me a little bit during the day, just an occasional twinge on the medial side of the kneecap. I think squats would have been fine if I’d done them hips-first from the outset, but I didn't think of it until after the second work set. That did feel better, but the knee was hurting a little bit again after the fourth set.

[JimRiley]

Wed., Apr. 24, 2024
Cardio: Cycled 14.45 miles in 59:05, averaging 14.7 mph. Average/normalized/max power: 127/134/347W. Average/max cadence: 95/117 rpm.

Thu., Apr. 25, 2024
Squats: 45 x 8, 85 x 7, 125 x 6, 155 x 5 x 7 @6, every 2.5 to 3 minutes
Did what I meant to do two nights ago. This time I did them hip-dominant starting with the first warmup set, and the knee never hurt a bit.

Bench: 65 x 6, 95 x 5, 125 x 4, 142.5 x 2, 3, 3, 3, 3 @7-9, every 2.5 to 4 minutes (got too interested in IG at one point)
Started out doing them paused and close grip, but had to give that up after a couple sets. I wondered what benching on two days’ rest would feel like; now I know.

Fri., Apr. 26, 2024
Cardio: Walked and jogged 4.32 miles in 56:40, averaging 4.57 mph.

[JimRiley]

Hammer curls: 15s x 14 x 4
Lateral delt raises: 10s x 14 x 4
BB front raises: 22.5 x 14 x 4
Rear delt raises: 10s x 14 x 4
DB wrist curls: 15s x 14 x 4

Less than half of what I meant to do, but I just didn't feel like pushing.

My wife and I went to a wedding in San Francisco on Saturday. The wedding and the reception were in the Golden Gate room on the 32nd floor of the Westin St. Francis, which has a fantastic view of the bay, Golden Gate bridge, etc. Supposedly Tony Bennett used to perform there. My favorite part of the whole experience, though, was that the very first thing the officiant said at the start of the ceremony was "Mawwige is what bwings us togevveh today" (as in The Princess Bride).

When we driving home on US 101, some guy came up behind us at what looked like about 110 mph, started changing lanes too late, and I'm pretty sure would have clipped our car if I hadn't swerved to the right. There was a car to our right too, but I think they saw what was happening and swerved too. There have always been crazies, of course, but public displays of insanity (PDIs?) sure seem more common than they used to be.

Oh, the other fun thing at the Westin is that the recorded voice in the elevators sounds happy or sad depending whether you're going up or down. When we were going to breakfast this morning the elevator had to make a bunch of stops to take on more people, and we were all cracking up by the time we got to the lobby from all the sorrowful "going down..." announcements.

[DCR]

When we driving home on US 101, some guy came up behind us at what looked like about 110 mph, started changing lanes too late, and I'm pretty sure would have clipped our car if I hadn't swerved to the right. There was a car to our right too, but I think they saw what was happening and swerved too. There have always been crazies, of course, but public displays of insanity (PDIs?) sure seem more common than they used to be.

I live mostly in Louisiana now, and that shit rarely ever happens here, in contrast to my quarterly trips up to NY/NJ, during which I experience this nearly every time I get on a highway after 8pm or so, and I am not exaggerating at all. I don't generally wish death on people, but I do wish it on these little fucks, such that they'll be removed from the gameboard before they kill anyone else.

Oh, the other fun thing at the Westin is that the recorded voice in the elevators sounds happy or sad depending whether you're going up or down. When we were going to breakfast this morning the elevator had to make a bunch of stops to take on more people, and we were all cracking up by the time we got to the lobby from all the sorrowful "going down..." announcements.

This is great.

[JimRiley]

When we driving home on US 101, some guy came up behind us at what looked like about 110 mph, started changing lanes too late, and I'm pretty sure would have clipped our car if I hadn't swerved to the right. There was a car to our right too, but I think they saw what was happening and swerved too. There have always been crazies, of course, but public displays of insanity (PDIs?) sure seem more common than they used to be.

I live mostly in Louisiana now, and that shit rarely ever happens here, in contrast to my quarterly trips up to NY/NJ, during which I experience this nearly every time I get on a highway after 8pm or so, and I am not exaggerating at all. I don't generally wish death on people, but I do wish it on these little fucks, such that they'll be removed from the gameboard before they kill anyone else.

Yeah, sometimes I try to be charitable and think "well, they could be rushing their sick grandmother to the hospital", but most likely she'd die of fright en route. I'm glad you're at least not seeing that stuff so much in Louisiana!

Today:
BB shrugs: 95 x 14 x 4
DB flyes: 15s x 14 x 4
Ab rollouts: 12r x 4s
Plate overhead triceps extensions: 25 x 14 x 4
Barbell rows: 65 x 14 x 4 (two sets regular grip, two sets wide grip)
I'm almost back up to 4 sets of 15 on my home GPP stuff, but I'm not getting it all done on one-minute rests like I was pre-Covid. Oh well.

Cardio: Cycled 13.54 miles in 56:58, averaging 14.3 mph. Average/normalized/max power: 135/141/498W. There was a fairly stiff breeze that made it a a slog going one way and awesome the other. PRed a couple Strava segments in the tailwind. Didn't feel like I went very hard, but still had my highest post-Covid average power, so that was encouraging.

[JimRiley]

Bench: 45 x 8, 75 x 7, 105 x 6, 135 x 3, 155 x 2 @8.5; 115 x 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6 (48 total reps) @6-9, every 2.5 minutes
Deadlift: 135 x 6, 175 x 5, 215 x 4, 255 x 2, 285 x 1 @7; 235 x 5 x 6 @6-7, every 2.5 minutes (took an extra minute once)

[JimRiley]

Did about a 4-mile trail run (with intermittent walking) in about 55 minutes. I've been doing mostly flat routes for the last several months, but decided to HTFU and go for a hilly one today. It actually felt pretty darn good to dig a bit deeper.