It was “spring forward” and I walked a bit, after PT and deadlifts.
Full PT. Deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 190, 10 x 225 low (kind of disappointed in my position) 4 inch: 10 x 270. Felt good; still a bit too far forward. 8 inch: 5 x 300. Had more but felt myself getting sloppy. Farmer’s walk: 100 yd with 52 (44 + handle), 70 yard with 74 (44+22 + handle), two 35 yard with 87 (44+22 + 13.2 + handle).
The walk: the official map went haywire as I turned down main. Below is the course I travelled. The watch gave me 4.35 miles, which, ironically, is what the other pedometers gave me as well. That felt long; I gave myself 4.25 miles (13:30’ish pace) Some discomfort in the final mile.
I got more sleep than normal…and today, was ok, though my nose and eyes are burning again. Weather?
Workout notes: PT with pull ups:
sets of 5 crunch pull ups and chin ups (2 sets of 5) to get to 30
Sets of 6, 5, 4, 4, 4 with the sets of 4 being halfway decent. Need to get back to 5 being solid. 53 total reps
Push ups: 2 sets of 20 inside between chest taps, and 30 outside. 70 total.
Inside: bench (super sets with deadlifts); 3 sets of 10 x 134 focusing on back engagement Deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, then 10 x 265 4 inch (tried to not bounce, to keep form; not much of an effort)
high incline: 10 x 75, 10 x 85, 10 x 90 all touch the chest.
curls: 3 sets of 10.
Then a 5K walk that went reasonably well; painless for 2.7-2.8 miles and very mild discomfort after that. I am sustaining 25-27 miles a week ok.
Sigh…my dream was to be a professional football player, or at least, an athlete. I ran the steps, did the off season conditioning, lifted weights, did sprints and…alas…my best 40 yard dash was a bit under…SIX seconds. (a decent lineman’s time in those days was 5.2-5.3)
The above photo: when I played for Yokota High School in the Fall of 1974; I started on the varsity as a sophomore and that was to be my peak (small school). JV in Texas the next year, and mostly rode the bench my senior year (played just enough to letter).
How rotten of an athlete was I?
I failed the Air Force Academy’s physical fitness test (too slow on the shuttle run..not enough pull ups, etc. Barely passed West Point’s and Navy’s.
In the Navy…1982, I could run a sub 40 10K, sub 19 5K. I aced the Navy Flight cross country run (“PT-ed it”), the swim test, did well on pull ups, aced sit ups, passed the broad jump…but…flunked the obstacle course the first time I tried it..even though I practiced. I got it the second time, but still…best shape of my life, and I struggled with a task that required me to show some body control and agility…though the strength and endurance speed was there.
As a kid: I frequently failed PE tests…I got laughed at because I was one of two guys who could not climb the rope. The gym teachers berated me and ridiculed me.
When it came to athletic ability and kinesthetic intelligence, I was basically “special needs.”
But all of my effort to become an athlete (or at least be a 40th-50’th percentile high school athlete) drew me to running and weightlifting and general fitness stuff.
Fast forward to now.
Yep, that is my back. And the only way I can stay active in lifting and walking is to do a LOT of physical therapy…a LOT of it.
So, every day, prior to working out, I do about 30-35 minutes of back/glute/core/rotator cuff exercises..and if I switch from a lifting session to a walk, I do at least 10-15 minutes more (mostly hamstring stretches and “open book” stretches. I need to. A year ago, even walking 0.5 miles was painful.
And so, today, PT/stretching added 45 minutes to my workout and there are times when I resent that I need to do it. But the other choice: don’t stay active, and that isn’t an option.
Yes, yes, I know, a cancer patient or a heart patient would gladly trade places. That is why I need to remember to be grateful that my chronic condition can be made tolerable with some extra effort (and time) on my part.
So today: again 8:45 to about 11:45, with lifting taking 70 minutes (with farmer’s walks) and walking taking 60; the rest was PT (before, and in the lifting to walking transition and after walking) and time to put equipment up, change shoes, top, etc.
Today: full PT
deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 190, 10 x 225 low handle
10 x 265 4 inch handle.
5 x 300 8 inch handle
Farmer’s walk: 100 feet: 52, 68 lb and 2 sets of 70 feet (to the garage door and back) with 79 lb (44 plate, 2 13.2 plates, (6 kg), 8 lb handle, .5 lb collar).
Then my 4 mile walk; started off as a 5K but felt good enough to make it 4 and get 25 miles for the week. That is what the PT gets me.
Note: this was the final day (March 5) for my old walking shoes. I started to use them on May 29, 2022. I’ve walked 822 miles since then, but given my commuter walks and my “to the stadium and back” walks, I’d say I put about 700 miles on these old shoes.
So, the bad is that my weight is up to 197.5. I like to be under 195. I am eating too much for my current age and activity level; I have to remember I am walking 20 miles a week, not 35. So, I’ll adjust…again.
Today: PT, (full), deadlifts, farmer’s walks, 5K walk with a hill (great for 2.7 then kind of tough)
The deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 190 (ok, so far), 10 x 225 (not great), 10 x 225 (somewhat better, but something to be desired in terms of form), 10 x 255 4 inch handle (ok, happy with these)
Farmer’s walks with handles: three 80 second walks with 52 in each hand: 44 lb plate, 8 lb handle.
Now here is what I mean about my deadlifts from the “low” position.
Using 210 lb (a week or two ago)
and 225 today:
It seems that my form starts to fall apart in this 15 lb. range.
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:
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.
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.
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.
I don’t intend the title to be that dramatic; by pain I mean “old injuries start to ache again” and by “body pain” I mean a moderate dull whole body arthritis style ache.
I had such a wave yesterday upon waking up. It got slightly better after moderate exercise but, I finally gave in an took a single Narproxen (had stopped this in November 2022). Took one in the evening and this morning.
Prognosis: much better today, though I felt the left glute/hip at 2 miles into my walk this morning (much better pace)
Before the walk:
PT mixed with pull ups: enough reps (10 singles of crunch pull ups, 10 singles of regular pull ups, sets of 5 singles and 5 total) to get to 50 reps total.
Bench: 5 x 134, 3 sets of 6 x 155 (better)
low handle deadlift (form check) 10 x 134, 10 x 185 much improved body position.
3 sets of 10 x 94 high incline
push ups/stretch: 3 sets of 20, 2 sets of 10 chest tap pushups
Then the walk.
Contrast the above to the last time I tried 184.
The second: back is almost parallel to the ground (“stripper squat” position). The top: much better positioning, though on rep 1 there was a bit of hips rising too fast.
The difference: position of the feet. In the first, the hands were closer to my side rather than in front of me; I felt a bit squished at the start.
Yes, finally, a reasonably warm day! (by February in Illinois standards).
I broke up my workout: first PT and deadlifts. Then T. came by to deliver a lamp. She is an Army vet and KNEW I wore the Navy shirt for her benefit.
Afterwards, I walked my West Peoria 5K course.
Bodywise: I had some glute ache after deads in my RIGHT glute, but in the evening, just the usual in the left. The walk itself: some minor tingles at 2.2 then again at 2.8 but nothing like the bad old days. The walk itself went well.
The deadlifts: I decided to tackle the “hips rising too fast” problem. I think one issue is mobility, though I show decent mobility with 134. Another issue might be that my feet are a bit too far back; I’ll try to scoot them up just a bit.
From 1 week ago with light weight. I wonder if my feet are slightly more forward? The back position looks much better.
Afterward, I decided to catch a Bradley Women’s basketball game against Belmont. I told B that I thought BU would play a competitive first quarter, and that they did: they made 4 of 6 three point attempts to lead 20-17 after 1. But then came reality; it was 34-29 at the half and 55-37 after 3 quarters. The lead reached 22 points then Belmont put in their reserves and coasted to a 68-54 win..that really wasn’t as close as the score might indicate.
Rough season for the Bradley women; they are starting from scratch. From my end: I am just grateful I got to go and plan to make the rest of the home games (both men and women)
Life of an old goat 