Old Age and Treachery Will Always Beat Youth and Exuberance

[Zak]

...and so I find myself in a good spot at age 42, nigh on two decades or thereabouts into my journey under the iron, in better condition than I've ever been, far stronger on a relative basis than ever, and excepting upper body pressing, which is astonishingly weak for someone who has been lifting as long as I have, (although there is a story,) pretty near lifetime PR strength levels achieved nearly 30 lbs heavier than I am today.

I kept a log on this, the best and smartest strength training forum in the world, some time in the past, but wish to start a new one since the other one hasn't been updated in years and my training and thinking is pretty different now than it was then. By way of update, I hit a 501 meet squat weighing a shade over 190 in May of last year. This was a big lift for me; I had squatted 500 in the gym but had missed it a couple times on the platform, and I hit it at all all-time low competition bodyweight, and with some pounds to spare. Moreover, Ed Coan and Marty Gallagher were commentating the livestream and Ed said "good squat" as I was coming up with it. So that there will probably go down as the highlight of my sporting life.

Still, I'm under no illusions as to where I stand in the grand scheme. Lifetime PRs are the 501 squat, 365 bench, and 580 deadlift, done at various bodyweights between 190 and 205-ish. Some find these numbers astonishing, others astonishingly mediocre. Whatever. I weigh 176 now and feel awesome. I will probably hang around here for another couple months, and then build back up real slowly. Every time in the past few years I've taken a few months to shed fat and then build back up slowly, I've ended up a lot better off. I think something like a 2-3 month fat loss cycle followed by the rest of the year building back up very slowly is the way to go for me.

As for the training I'm doing right now, I really like Alex Bromley's work and have been influenced a lot by his ideas. Keeping a heavy focus on building out the base with lots of sets, reps, and variety, and then taking a couple waves to sharpen things to a point is something that's always worked well for me. Here's this week so far:

3/26 BW: 176

BENCH

Bench
170/10
200/8
215/6
230/4
200/12

Spoto Bench
175/12
175/12

Incline DB Press
55/12
55/12

EZ Curl
70/12
70/12

DB Hammer Curl
20/15
20/15


3/27

SQUAT

GHR
B/12
B/8

Squat
250/10
295/8
315/6
335/4
295/10

Split Squat (linebacker attachment)
45/12
45/12

Lever Squat (linebacker attachment)
140/12
140/12

Blast Strap Fallout
B/15
B/15

[Zak]

3/29

PRESS

Press
105/10
125/8
130/6
140/4
125/12

Viking
90/12
90/12

DB Lateral
20/15
20/15

Dip
45/12
45/15

DB Extension
20/15
20/13

[DCR]

I kept a log on this, the best and smartest strength training forum in the world, some time in the past, but wish to start a new one since the other one hasn't been updated in years and my training and thinking is pretty different now than it was then.

I’m curious as to how so? In any event, I’m looking forward to following your log. Already interested in your start with these bodybuilding-esque pyramids with the high rep back off set.

By way of update, I hit a 501 meet squat weighing a shade over 190 in May of last year. This was a big lift for me; I had squatted 500 in the gym but had missed it a couple times on the platform, and I hit it at all all-time low competition bodyweight, and with some pounds to spare. Moreover, Ed Coan and Marty Gallagher were commentating the livestream and Ed said "good squat" as I was coming up with it. So that there will probably go down as the highlight of my sporting life.

That’s incredibly cool.

[Skid]

Strong work Zak! Welcome back!

[Zak]

I’m curious as to how so? In any event, I’m looking forward to following your log. Already interested in your start with these bodybuilding-esque pyramids with the high rep back off set.

Couple things, but mostly boils down to getting away from too much specificity, too much load too frequently, not enough general work/building out the base. I've seen some success using pretty aggressive volume progressions and letting any load increase happen organically (or not at all). Then tapering things down for a couple weeks to lift something big. Also with using more variety and finding ways to get stronger generally without beating myself up too much with the powerlifts.

For instance, for almost all of 2021 I squatted exclusively with a high bar/heel, and for nothing under 5 reps. Was tired of my shoulders hurting all the time so just said fuck it. About two months before a meet I started just working up to a pretty casual single getting used to a low bar position again, and despite having not touched anything over I think 425 or so, just barely missed 501. A couple months later I hit the 501 weighing less, and almost all of my "squat" volume came from lever squats with the rack-mounted landmine and high-bar paused squats.

3/30/23 BW: 175.8

BB Row (strict)
135/12
135/12

Deadlift
305/10
355/8
380/6
405/4
355/12 (last set straps/touch-and-go)

Snatch-grip RDL
245/12
245/12

Pullup
B/12
B/12

Shrug (Rickshaw)
155/15
155/15

[Zak]

4/1/23 BW: 175.5

Bench
170/10
200/8
215/6
230/4
240/2
215/9

Spoto
175/12
175/12
175/12

Incline DB Press
55/12
55/12
55/12

EZ Curl
70/12
70/12
70/12

DB Hammer
20/15
20/15
20/15


Warmed up by playing around with some axle cleans/presses because I’ve gotten it in mind to enter a strongman comp this summer. Never trained on any implements in my life unless you count pressing a fat bar once in awhile. So I guess we’ll just see.

[Zak]

4/3/23 BW: 176

GHR
B/12
B/12
B/10

Squat
250/10
295/8
315/6
335/4
355/2
315/5 (L knee not doing so hot, bagged this set)

Split Squat (Barbell)
95/12
95/12
95/12

Lever Squat (Linebacker)
155/12
155/12
155/12

Blast Strap Fallout
B/15
B/15
B/15


Left knee a little tweaked but not worried yet. GHRs up front, plus that miserable pyramid, single leg work which I haven't done much of over the past decade and a half, and all the big quad work concentrated into one day made this one a real treat.

[Zak]

4/5/23

Axle C/P
115/3
115/3
115/3

Press
105/10
125/8
130/6
140/4
150/2
130/9

Viking
95/12
95/12
95/12

Lateral
22.5/15
22.5/15
22.5/15

Dip
55/12
55/12
55/12

TRX OH Ext
BW/8+4+3 (15 rest-paused)


I love pressing and there was a time I was good at it. Best was 245 strict weighing about 210. Have had r/c problems (history as a pitcher) but shoulder is feeling solid these days. Want to make this an area of strength again.

[cgeorg]

I love pressing and there was a time I was good at it. Best was 245 strict weighing about 210. Have had r/c problems (history as a pitcher) but shoulder is feeling solid these days. Want to make this an area of strength again.

Was there anything you did that seemed to specifically help w/the rotator cuff? I've not been a pitcher but my throwing motion has had to get more and more sidearm as time has worn on due to pain with a normal overhead throw, and I did something extra-bad to it about 6 months ago (I *think* bench press related) that I'm still trying to work through.

[Zak]

Was there anything you did that seemed to specifically help w/the rotator cuff? I've not been a pitcher but my throwing motion has had to get more and more sidearm as time has worn on due to pain with a normal overhead throw, and I did something extra-bad to it about 6 months ago (I *think* bench press related) that I'm still trying to work through.

This is tough, definitely don't have a magic bullet. I have had multiple subscap tears on the right and was told I have advanced arthritis in that shoulder, but the MRI was done when there was like max inflammation, and it doesn't really feel that awful, so idk. The things that "worked" for me:

1. About a month off all pressing (not really, I still did scap pushups and very very light presses, like just the bar overhead).
2. Stopped sleeping on that side. This actually made a significant difference.
3. Stability work to tolerance (Turkish getups, slow kettlebell presses).
4. Keep light dumbbells near my desk and do external rotations throughout the day. Still do this most days, at the very least keeps blood going into the area.
5. Otherwise just manage workload and be open to calling audibles.

All that said, the thing will still flare once in awhile. It's a drag.

[cgeorg]

Was there anything you did that seemed to specifically help w/the rotator cuff? I've not been a pitcher but my throwing motion has had to get more and more sidearm as time has worn on due to pain with a normal overhead throw, and I did something extra-bad to it about 6 months ago (I *think* bench press related) that I'm still trying to work through.

This is tough, definitely don't have a magic bullet. I have had multiple subscap tears on the right and was told I have advanced arthritis in that shoulder, but the MRI was done when there was like max inflammation, and it doesn't really feel that awful, so idk. The things that "worked" for me:

1. About a month off all pressing (not really, I still did scap pushups and very very light presses, like just the bar overhead).
2. Stopped sleeping on that side. This actually made a significant difference.
3. Stability work to tolerance (Turkish getups, slow kettlebell presses).
4. Keep light dumbbells near my desk and do external rotations throughout the day. Still do this most days, at the very least keeps blood going into the area.
5. Otherwise just manage workload and be open to calling audibles.

All that said, the thing will still flare once in awhile. It's a drag.

That sounds like pretty much all of the stuff I'm doing. Not sleeping on that side has easily been the hardest part. It has been slowly improving overall, but every once in a while it'll just get real bad again for a couple days, which gets me questioning everything. It sounds like I just need to keep doing what I'm doing and give it time. Thanks

[Zak]

That sounds like pretty much all of the stuff I'm doing. Not sleeping on that side has easily been the hardest part. It has been slowly improving overall, but every once in a while it'll just get real bad again for a couple days, which gets me questioning everything. It sounds like I just need to keep doing what I'm doing and give it time. Thanks

Improvement has come so slowly for me and with frequent setbacks. Way I look at is I've been lifting for many years and the shoulder plus occasional knee tendonitis is really all I have to deal with in terms of nastier pain. I can live with that.

4/6/23

BB Row
145/12
145/12
145/12

Deadlift
305/10
355/8
380/6
405/4
430/2
380/8 (t/g)

S/G RDL
245/12
245/12
245/12

Pullup
B/12
B/12
B/10

Shrug (Rickshaw)
230/13+5+4=22 rest paused

[Zak]

4/8/23

Log Clean/Press
120/3
120/3
120/3

Bench
170/10
200/8
215/6
230/4
240/2
255/1
230/6

Spoto
175/12
175/12
175/12
175/12

Incline DB Press
55/12
55/12
55/12
55/12

EZ Curl
70/12
70/12
70/12
70/12

DB Hammer
30/10+5+4=19 r/p

[Zak]

4/10/23

GHR
B/12
B/12
B/8
B/8

SQ
250/10
295/8
315/6
335/4
355/2
380/1
335/6

Split SQ
115/12
115/12
115/12
115/12

Lever SQ
165/12
165/12
165/12
165/12

Blast Strap Fallout
B/20
B/20


L knee still achey but not unstable and nothing sharp. Good day.

[Zak]

4/12/23

Axle Clean/Press
130/3
130/3
130/3

Press
105/10
125/8
130/6
140/4
150/2
160/1
140/8

Viking
100/12
100/12
100/12
100/12

Lateral
22.5/15
22.5/15
22.5/15
22.5/15

Dip
60/12
60/12
60/12
60/16

TRX OH Triceps Ext
7+4+3=14r/p

[Zak]

4/14/23

BB Row
150/12
150/12
150/12
150/12

Deadlift
305/10
355/8
380/6
405/4
430/2
455/1
405/8 (t-n-g)

Snatch RDL
250/12
250/12
250/12
250/12

Pullup
B/12
B/12
B/12
B/9

Shrug (Rickshaw)
280/12+5+4=21r/p


This one was a bear.

[Zak]

4/16/23

Log C/P
140/3
140/3
140/3

Bench
175/10
205/8
220/6
230/4
205/11

Incline DB Press
65/10
65/10

EZ Curl
75/10
75/10

Hammer Curl
30/12

[Zak]

4/17/23

BW: 176

GHR
B/10
B/10

Squat
260/10
300/8
325/6
345/4
300/10

SSB Split Squat
70/15
70/15

Lever Squat
170/10
170/10

Blast Strap Fallout
B/25


Not a lot of gas in the tank today, this one was a grind. I'm now registered to compete in a Strongman event in August. My plan has been to stay with a 4x frequency about as long as I could stand before extending the week to 9 days, so 3x/wk rolling through 4 training days. Might be getting close to having to pull that lever. Competing at 175, so going to get leaner for the next few weeks and then grow real slowly into the contest.

[DCR]

Your squats, at that bodyweight, are embarrassing me. It’s good for me to see this, because I make a lot of excuses when dudes bury my squat but weigh a lot more. You’re burying me weighing a lot less. Got work to do.

[Zak]

Your squats, at that bodyweight, are embarrassing me. It’s good for me to see this, because I make a lot of excuses when dudes bury my squat but weigh a lot more. You’re burying me weighing a lot less. Got work to do.

Not going to lie, being this light definitely takes its toll on squatting strength, (I'm 5'10, kind of skinny at this point,) but as I get older I find I just have less and less tolerance for bodyfat. The idea of carrying extra fat only to provide passive stability on a barbell lift just does not accord with my idea of what strength should be.

I see you're squatting pretty much every training day. Frequent squat work has been hit or miss for me in the past but I had some good runs with it. The one idea that really made a difference though after I'd already built some squatting strength is finding the limiter and attacking that with most of the volume. For me that was knee extension strength, and it probably is for most people, so I shifted some of my main lift volume over to really quad-heavy assistance, (hacks, lever squat, high-bar pause squats,) and that's what got me over 500 at a fairly low bodyweight.