Month: February 2023

Crawling back

PT, deadlifts and a walk that included a hill; it was perhaps .5 miles too long (some discomfort; not terrible). Pretty weather. Weight: 196.5; ok given we had Indian last night.

PT: full; some of it was outside.

Deadlifts: focused on body position (imperfect, but getting better) and not bouncing the weight. 10 x 134, 10 x 190, 10 x 225 then 10 x 250 4 inch

Note the contrast with the body position in this older video:

Creeping back

Unfortunately I appear to be gaining weight again: 197 lb this morning. Ok; I had Mexican last night, but I do need to cut back as I am only walking just over 20 miles a week. Too many meals out this week.

But other things are getting better.

Today: PT, pull ups: 3 sets of 10 single (with lumbar stretch), 3 sets of 5, 1 set of 5 singles, then 5 lumbar stretch singles afterward as a “penalty set.”

Bench: 5 x 134, and 5, 5, and 6 x 160 (getting better)

High incline: 3 sets of 10 x 85, 7 x 94 all with much better range of motion

push ups: 20, then 4 sets of 10, then 20 inclined outside, and 2 sets of 10 chest taps with extra stretching.

Walk was great for 2 miles, pretty good for 2.5-2.7 then somewhat uncomfortable. But this was typical of my 5K walks in the early fall. Coming back won’t be easy.

Contrast this with my old attempts for 10 x 105

Slight relapse, winning, etc.

Today: I’ve had sort of a mini-rebound wave. I’ve had brief periods of just not feeling well, though my workout went fine. I quit my walk at just the right time.

Wednesday: PT, stretch, walk.

The second walk went great for 1.8 miles or so.

Today: weights and a short walk.

Mile 1 was 14:04. I quit at just the right spot. It was cold and rainy.

Weight: 196.

the weights: pull ups: single crunch/lumbar stretch combinations (5, 5, 8, 8, 6)

two sets of 5 then 10 singles.

Push ups (before) 2 sets of 20, 2 sets of 15, along with 2 sets of 10 chest taps.

Weights: low: 10 x 134, 10 x 190 (no bounce) 4 inch: 10 x 235 (no bounce) All felt …good?

Then high incline presses: 10 x 75, 10 x 80, 10 x 85, full range of motion this time. Lighter, but yes, I CAN get the full range of motion, engage the back, etc. I feel it (in a good way) and will stick with that. I think I can up the weight just a bit.

Then the walk.

Bradley Basketball

Bradley raced to a 37-26 halftime lead and extended it to 44-28 with 18 minutes left in the game. BU was getting great shots..and working to get them. But then BU got a bit complacent and Missouri State clawed back into the game, pulling within 6 at one point.

Nevertheless BU responded and won 64-54.

This is a very good Bradley team; 20-8, tied for first in the Missouri Valley conference. And yet..the average attendance is about 1900 LESS than the first team our current coach had..which went 5-27. The largest crowd we had this year was just over 6200 which would have been a below average crowd from 1992-2014…every single year.

“Win and they will come” has been scaled back. This year saw the worst attendance going back to at least 1978.

Rough patch

No, this is not a regression to the bad old days of last spring, but it is a rough patch. I have to be mindful of my posture and maybe lose some weight. 196.5 but that was probably a bloated weight.

Workout notes: PT, pull ups (sets of singles and 4 sets of 5; enough to get to 52 (two were 6), bench: 5 x 134, 6 x 155, 6 x 155, 7 x 155

low trap bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 190, 10 x 210 (ok)

high incline: 10 x 44, 10 x 44, 10 x 64, 10 x 75 (touched my chest with each rep)

curls 3 sets of 10

(forgot pushups )

2 mile walk (went fine; first 1.9 were really good), 1 mile commuter walk (rough)

Yes, the pace was good for me; perhaps too much?

Trying to get it right

Workout: PT, deadlifts (134 x 10, 184 x 10, 204 x 10 low, 251 x 10 4 inch), 2 mile walk. PM: commuter walk from the game.

Both walks ended on “the verge of mild discomfort.”

Later, I took a flex shot; yep, not awful for my age (63) but the muscles are soft.

I did watch the Bradley women lose to Southern 83-59; SIU lead for most of the game, but it was 55-47 going into the 4’th; too much inside, and too much quickness at the guard spot.

Note: the game got chippy; BU had an intentional foul called, and on one common foul, the team’s players drew technical fouls (one on each team).

SIU had a 6′ 5″ center who was able to get a “wedged ball” by jump that required no run up.

The deadlift videos: improved but the low handle position: still having trouble getting the back angle correct.

Bradley men, women split.

Last night the women played a good Missouri State team tough. They lead at the half.

Bradley lead 50-49 going into the 4’th and it was still a 1 point game with 2 minutes to go.

But alas Missouri State made the big plays between 2 and 1 minute (steals, breakaway lay ups) and ended up winning 74-64.

I took a couple of shots.

Today: the men dominated Murray State 83-48; it was close with 3 minutes to go in the half, then BU went on 13-0 run to take a 31-21 lead into the half.

The bigs dominated the paint and blocked 5 shots; help defense was outstanding. Then in the second half, BU started hitting 3 point shots and the slaughter was on.

An aside: Illinois knocked off no. 24 Rutgers 69-60 and Navy blew out Army 70-53.

Covid still extracting a price

This post isn’t meant to be whiny. I didn’t end up in the hospital and my O2 stayed 97-98 and I never had that much of a cough. BUT, one after effect is that every health related issue has come back..not with a vengeance…but say to where it was only 70-80 percent healed.

My throat, urinary system, fever blisters, piriformis muscle and lower lumbar/glute.

I was reminded of that yesterday. Beautiful day to walk; PT went well so I thought ” go bold; do the W. Peoria 5K course.” That was dumb. The first two miles went very well; last mile hurt; was painful for the last .4-.5 miles. I should have stuck to a loop course.

Note: the final mile was done at 13:04 which isn’t terrible but it hurt.

But this COVID stuff comes in waves. Today: mouth blisters but the back/glute felt better.

I mixed up the PT and pull ups/pull up crunch combos (25 reps) and did a slow mile. More PT/Pull ups (2 sets of 5, sets of 5 singles to get to 50 reps), more PT then walk 2 which went VERY well…but it was only 2 miles. I had to make myself quit. Perfect walking weather.

I have to remember it was the split walks that got me to doing 5-7 miles to begin with.

Then downstairs for some bench, high incline and curls.

Bench: 5 x 134, 1 x 155, 1 x 165, 1 x 175 (disappointed how hard it was)

3 x 165, 4 x 160, 5 x 155, 5 x 155

High incline: 10 x 105 (poor range of motion; I thought I was getting deeper), 10 x 105, then 10 x 94 with much better ROM

2 sets of curls

More PT with 3 sets of 20 push ups, 2 sets of chest taps, 2 sets of 10 push ups. And that was that.

I need to take it slowly and not rush things; “getting ready for the season” now means nothing to me.

I also have to remember this post covid stuff comes in waves; good one day, bad the next, and I have to accept what is there on a given day.

Still needs work

Workout: PT, pull ups (sets of crunch pull ups, sets of 5, enough for 50 reps) mixed in with the PT, downstairs for deadlifts (low handle: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225, then 2 different 225 singles trying out the hip position),

high incline: 10 x 94, 10 x 105, 10 x 105

off to work, with a 2 mile commuter walk in drizzle.