## 28 Feb Bats, Cats, walks and lifts

Social: my usual visit with Tracy: her cat (one of 5) Rafa was not happy that he had to give up his seat.

And my bat friend was waiting for me when I got home.

Low handle: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 3 x 224

Low handle; 3 x 255, 3 x 255, 3 x 255, 3 x 255, 3 x 260 (yay)

high handle: 3 x 279, 3 x 279

Body handled it better than last time.

Then a walk..IN SHORTS..first mile: I think I got shorted due due satellites but still it was under 15 minutes per mile..even if I got 0.02 taken off of mile 1.

Pain: very mild but it came on…kind of a “bike crash site” ache.

The lifts: set 2 with 255, set 5 with 260 and set 7 with 279 are shown.

## Almost 2 months down in 2021

Yes, tomorrow..I know that.

Here are some photos of today:

Yes, they had limited fans but I am not vaccinated so..none of this for me until I am. ISU lost to South Dakota 27-20..the Redbirds took a 17-0 lead and then turned the ball over 7 times. The first 4 of those lead to 24 points.

Our bat is hanging around outside…a bit cold, I think.

Workout notes

Weights then a slow but deliberate walk in lovely weather; unseasonably warm for this time of year.

pull ups: did sets of singles: 15, 10, 10 then a set of 5, 10 and 5. Last 5 were chins and 1 of the 10 singles was a chin (watch: elbow pain)

bench: 10 x 134, 3 x 184, 2 x 184, 2 x 184, 3 x 174, 3 x 174, 5 x 165

rows: 3 sets of 10 x 134
shoulder: 8 x 105 (crackle in right shoulder), 2 sets of 10 x 94, 1 set of 10 x 44 dumbbells.

curls: 2 sets of 10 with 10k on both sides with 1 kg collars: 22-23 kg I think (yes, light).

pushups: 40, 30 , 10

then a leisurely, pain free walk at 16:20 mpm.

Note: shoulder, wrist, elbow, ..one of those days where I felt all of the small niggles…eyes burned a bit.

## Adding a bit of hope

Stay tuned…no, I am not scheduled for a vaccination. But

Workout notes: earlier than normal; glutes felt ok.

pull ups; 50 reps, included 10 singles, 2 sets of 10, then 5, 5 singles, 5, 5. Elbow pain with the chin up grip, but bringing my grip closer together helped.

bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150, 10 x 150

trap bar dead: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 low handle, 10 x 224 high handle.

shoulder presses: 3 sets of 10 x 99 barbell (working out the correct grip)

rows: 3 sets of 10 x 134

plank: 2:30

reps 21-30 are shown:

## Let’s talk about something important…

No…this isn’t “put that coffee down

But Tracy got her second Moderna shot on Monday and Barbara got hers on Tuesday.

Now about the vaccines and efficacy: it works something like this:

In the case of Pfizer, for example, the company recruited 43,661 volunteers and waited for 170 people to come down with symptoms of Covid-19 and then get a positive test. Out of these 170, 162 had received a placebo shot, and just eight had received the real vaccine.

Now, the data as to who gets counted toward the final numbers is a bit more complicated that I am making it appear; you can see a full report here.

But, for the sake of argument, suppose the 43,661..I’ll round this to 43,660 had exactly the same number of placebo and actual shot. that is 21830 in each group.

So to calculate efficacy, we first calculate ${{8 \over 21830} \over {162 \over 21830}} = {8 \over 162}$ and then subtract this from 1 to obtain .9506, which you multiply by 100 to get 95.06. So, the “efficacy” is 1 minus the ratio of the percent of the treatment group getting sick to the percent of the placebo group getting sick. If the ratio was 1, that is “no difference.”

Cool beans!

Now…for the unimportant: today’s walk pretty much sucked. It was the first outdoor walk in a while and let’s just say that while the first mile was ok; the part through the “brick portion” was unusually bad..and there was a ton of slippery “almost ice” on the pavement which had seal coat.

And yeah, it hurt..kind of tingly but ok at mile one and full blown “it hurt” by 2…and dodging cars, construction, repairs, piles of snow on the walks..just not a joyful walk, at all.

It seems as if pushing a bit too much with the lower deadlifts inflamed it…need to be warmed up. The split leg stretch on stairs makes it feel good.

## Day 2 ..

Today: weights around some chores and picked up my new professional laptop; I have it ready to go now.

pull ups: lots of singles and 5’s; enough to get 50. I didn’t feel THAT badly.

usual rotator cuff/hip hikes.

bench: 10 x 134, 2 x 184 (sort of ugly), 3 x 184 (VERY ugly; lock out took forever)

3 sets of 5 x 165

rows: 3 sets of 10 x 134

shoulder: 3 sets of 10 x 94 (I kind of prefer a narrower grip.

shoulder stand.

Push ups outside: 40, 30 , 10

Commentary: yes, these came at the end of the workout. But every time I see myself in video…I am…well, in one sense, disappointed. In another sense I am “oh, I see why.”
My technique, while far from perfect, is good enough.

But…it is weird. When I am working out, my insides feel much like they did 30 years ago, with the main difference is that I can’t move very much weight. So, it seems as if something is wrong.

But when I see myself in video…I am “OMG, that poor old man…” and I don’t EXPECT him to move much weight.
Internally, I don’t feel that I should be this weak, but when I see myself from the outside, it is clear why I am: the muscles just aren’t very tight; they are “impressionistic”

And they feel “hollow”; as if someone put a straw into my muscles and sucked out 1/2 of the mass and filled in the void with jello.

Just the skinny: slow 5K walk (19:16 pace..not a misprint)..outside (also not a misprint. Yes, my glutes are sore but it is bilateral ..slightly more soreness on the left (problem) side but I wouldn’t have noticed had it not been such an ongoing problem.

More PT and things tomorrow. The walk was mostly on campus with a mask and my classes kept fogging up. Temperature was just under freezing.

10 x 134 warm up (felt..uh-oh…)

10 x 184

3 x 224

Then: 5 sets of 3 x 255 ..the most no. of reps I’ve had with this weight, and they weren’t that bad. 3-5 min recoveries. (low handles)

3 x 279 high handle (harder than expected)

1 x 301 (sucked it up; I spent close to a minute convincing myself I wanted to do this..and edited this part out of the video.

ugust 5, 2019: managed a High Handle hex dead 225 (1 rep)
August: typical sets were 4 x 175, 4 x 195 (handles up)
November: got 4 x 225 hex dead, handles DOWN
December: got 1 x 225 bar dead, then 4 x 225
December 20, 2019: got 1 x 230 bar deadlift
DEcember 25: got 1 x 233 bar deadlift (home)
Dec 27: got 1 x 235 dead
Dec 29: got 1 x 240 dead (bar)

2020
Jan 11: got 245 hex dead (handles down)
Jan 25: got 255, then 260 conventional dead
Feb 1: got 255, 260 Sumo, 6 x 233 conventional
Feb 8: got 266 conventional, 5 x 238 Sumo.
April 5, 5 x 244
April 18: 5 x 244

Gap for sore back: switched to low handle trap deads

May 23: 10 x 206
June 7: 10 x 217
June 20 1 x 250 trap
July 4: 10 x 222
August 1: 4 x 250 (trap, low handle)

Gap for Virtual ultra (24 hour)

August 22: 4 x 254 (trap..low handle)
August 29 1 x 274 (trap, low handle)

September 5: switched to full stop deadlifts: sets with 244
September 12: 10 x 222 (full stop)
September 27 4 x 254 5 x 244 (full stop)
October 4deficit: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 5 x 224
regular: 2 x 259; didn’t try a 3’rd rep as I felt a tug in my right hamstring (high)high handles: 10 x 224:
October 17: High handle: 5 x 254, 5 x 264 (fairly easy)Low handle, neutral: 5 x 244
October 24: High handle: 5 x 264, 5 x 274, low handle: 10 x 224

October 31: 1 x 254, High Handle 1 x 284, 1 x 274

November 7: High Handle: 5 x 274, Low Handle: 5 x 249

November 14: Low Handle: 1 x 254, High Handle: 1 x 289, 1 x 294, Low Handle: 10 x 224

November 18; High handle 10 x 234 (by accident; added an extra 5 to each side)

November 21: Low Handle deficit: 1 x 254. High handle 1 x 301, 10 x 244. Low Handle: 10 x 224.

November 28 Low handle 5 x 254 (no bounce)

December 5 Low Handle 1 x 284, 10 x 229. (no bounce)

December 12 High handle: 1 x 274, 1 x 304 (easier than the 301 2 weeks ago), 1 x 274, 10 x 244
Low handle: 10 x 224

December 19: 5 x 274 high handle, 5 x 254 low handle. (missed 301 low handle 4 times)

December 26: High handle: 1 x 314, 5 x 279, low handle: 5 x 254

2021

Jan 2: 5 x 279 high, 4 x 259 low5 x 234 deficit (lots of misses with 319 high)

Jan. 9: High handle: 5 x 279, 5 x 279 (effort) Low handle 5 x 255

Jan. 16: High handle: 5 x 285, 1 x 285, 5 x 274, Low handle: 10 x 224.

Jan 23: High handle: 5 sets of 3 x 274, 1 x 301, Low handle: 10 x 224.

Jan 31: high handle: 5 sets of 3 x 279, 1 set of 1 x 301 low handle 10 x 224

Feb 7: missed 319 badly (high handle); too beat up to do much but 5 sets of 3 x 274 high handle , 10 x 224 low.

Feb 14 regression; found that 260 low was difficult; retreated to 3 sets of 5 x 244 low, 1 set of 5 x 274 high.

Feb 21: 5 sets of 3 with 255 (low), 3 x 279 high, 301 high.

## 20 Feb workout and visit

Well, my new “Boneyard Barbell” came; stainless steel shaft and it was less than 300 dollars WITH both taxes and shipping ..not a bad deal (Rogue)

I love it; nice knurling..good for deadlifts if I wanted to do that.

So the lifting workout:

pull ups: 3 sets of 10 (ok, singles here and there), 4 sets of 5 (usual hip hikes, rotator cuff)

bench press: 10 x 134, 3 x 184 (sloppy), 1 x 184 (solid), 3 x 174 (very solid), 4 x 170, 5 x 165

shoulder press: 2 sets of 10 x 94, 1 set of 10 x 99 (couldn’t budge 110?)
rows: 3 sets of 10 x 134

push ups: 20, 30, 20, 10

Then a socially distant visit with Tracy and cats.

Photos: new barbell, very well packed for shipping. Then Tracy with Billy Jean, and an interesting icicle in her bush.

Early set

Wide set then chins:

Final set:

First set with the new barbell!

Rough set of 3 with 184; red light on 3’rd rep.

Now the old Olympic bar is used for shoulder presses.

## And it drones on

Another boring 5K treadmill walk; injury…well…it is there…static.

Consistent; so so effort, no…enthusiasm or pep.

I did get home for lunch to find my new Rogue “boneyard” bar (stainless steel shaft) waiting for me:

But before I could savor the joy…”Honey, we have a bat…”

She told me where it was so I got it with a towel and soft basket. Took it outside..tried to keep it off of the snow..and it flew away eventually.

Interesting: had the situation been reversed (she had gone away and I had found it), well, I would have taken it out.

Probably it is not good to bring that up.

Events of the day: Ok, Rush Limbaugh died. I never heard much of his show; my one time I tuned in I was driving, getting bored and thought he would piss me off.
Whole segment: tree on the golf course; course wanted to cut it down; some group didn’t want it cut down, but the course did. Then minutes of power saw noises and his yelling “timber” and then going to commercial to hawk his merchandise.

I was so bored I switched the channel lest I get sleepier.

Nevertheless, he did outrage others and this article is amusing: the article purports to claim that Limbaugh tried to bully feminism. That is one thing with the woke; they want to claim the mantle of “victim” and “hero/heroine”.

In my opinion, he wasn’t doing anything to try to change feminism; he was mocking those that his listeners dearly wanted to be able to mock but couldn’t for fear or retribution; you might say he was a Trump like figure of the airwaves.

And there was the OMG, he is “punching down” claim:

Well, he did attack Bill and Hillary Clinton; that certainly wasn’t “punching down.” But as far as everyone else: I saw it more as mocking the ridiculous stuff that some make WRT their favorite causes and/or victims, or at least attempting to.

Yes, he was superficial, juvenile and dreadfully boring. Yes, IMHO, his loyal followers were probably not at the top of the heap, in terms of professional success. They certainly aren’t anyone I’d be interesting in socializing with ..and the reverse was true.

But…well, he was getting digs into the “hey, you can’t say that” crowd.

Frankly, I found him to be uninteresting and stupid.

Mitch McConnell gets under my skin way more than he ever could.

## Break in the cold spell

Toasty 24 F this afternoon!

Still, 11 F when I shoveled and lifted.

pull ups: 10 sets of 5, shovel recoveries

bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150, 10 x 150

shoulder: 3 sets of 10 x 92, 1 set of 10 x 44 dumbbells

rows: 3 sets of 10 x 134

deadlifts: 10 x 134 neutral, 10 x 134 deficit, 10 x 184 deficit, 10 x 224, high handle.

plank: 2:30

Note: glues are a bit sore.

Personal: almost caught up; forgot to finish one smaller task.

From Feb 16

Second video is today; far less crunch in the step…a little better.