[hunto]

... because that's my overall goal, to stave off aging. Specifically, for this forum, physical losses due to aging like muscle loss, bone density, etc.
And it feels good to work out.

Current (as of Aug 10 2007)

DL 325 (all the weight I have, till I get an oly bar/weights- soon)
BP 225 (I have no bench, nor anyone to spot- so I'm limited to the max on our machine {I know, I know}
Squat unknown but the same guy with the oly bar FS has a squat rack -
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6'0"
240
42 yrs old

update as of Jul 09 2008 -

DL 495
BP 240
Squat 335
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1070 total
Wilks = 287


Goals as of Jun 25 2008:
DL 585
BP 315
ZS 405

Don't get hurt pursuing these goals.


terrible cardio but improving via stationary bike

diet is beef/chicken, lots of peas/beans, wheat bread, brown rice, lots of skim milk- ~150-200 gms protein a day, 35-45 gms fiber
diet sins- Guinness, sugar in coffee, peanuts

Have read all the stickies, and their provided links, in this section of the forum. Good reads and great info.

[dexbot]

Good luck.

[FATKID]

Good luck.

BTW, if you want to improve your cardio in a hurry, try some circuit training/GPP stuff. Sprinting and running, while great, can be rough on the joints. Of course, if you are able, I recommend sprinting/running in addition to lifting.

If you want to get some circuit examples Lusst's log and my log (especially) are examples of lifters trying improve not so great condition w/ circuits.

Burpees will kick your cardio's ass IN NO TIME.

[hunto]

Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to check out those logs.

Burpees eh? I'll have to give em a go.

[flak]

It's great to see another 40-something on here. Besides me (45) and Bubble Boy, you may be the only one.

Compared to most people here, I know diddly about lifting, so I don't have much to offer to, except this one thing --

You're probably as concerned as I am about avoiding injury. So don't let enthusiasm or frustration lead you into overdoing things. Warm up before you lift and start every exercise using light weights and gradually work your way up to your working sets. I start almost everything with either a bare Olympic bar (45 lbs.) or 95 lbs. (bar plus a 25 lb. plate on each side) and add weight in increments of 20 to 40 lbs. Yeah, it makes your workouts longer and saps a bit of your strength, but it's worth it to reduce the chance of pulling a muscle or something.

Good luck.

[enright3060]

Good luck with your training – This forum has done wonders for me.

You, BB and Flak make the mid-30 crowd (myself) feel like a youngster.

As for not getting hurt, I deal with back issues myself. Make sure to listen to your body, spend time preparing for what you will do each work out before you go to the gym (and stick to it) and warm up. When I do all three, I am able to make great progress will avoiding further aggravation to my back (while making it stronger and less injury prone).

Again - best of luck

[dexbot]

I am 34 and although I feel warmup is a waste of time, I'm glad I did it ... everytime. Not to speak of cooldowns
Last thing I heard was that lactic acid causes depressions if there's too much of it, so that's why I feel shitty when I do not cool down...

[hunto]

Thanks for the words of encouragement, and caution. Although I'm only 41, I am very aware of injuries, and do my utmost to avoid them- at 41, I don't heal like I did at 21.

So, first real log entry.

Last night I DL my 325. After reading the tips on this forum, I reset after each DL, as opposed to 'bobbing' with it. Got about 10 reps, and my grip was failing. Kept at it, taking weight off and working my hands to failure. When I couldn't hold 200 on it, I called it a night.
Today my forearms are sore, not in the usual place, low at the fat part, but below the wrist, midway down. I expect they will adjust.

Breakfast: 1 pack Mesquite turkey lunchmeat- 40g protein
1 16oz glass milk 16g
2 wheat buns ~10g and 8g fiber

Snack 1 bowl beans/sausage/chicken ~30g 5g fiber

Lunch 1 can blackeye peas 28g 15g fiber

Dinner 1 can field peas 30g 15g fiber
1 chicken breast 40 g
1 16oz glass milk 16g

2-3 Guinness after dinner sometimes

prob 1.5-2 gal water throughout the day/eve

This is a typical days eating, except the lunchmeat (it was on sale) usually its hamburger patty or meatloaf (95%lean ground beef). The beans/sausage/chicken is actually a Tony Chachere's Beans and Rice to which I add several chicken breasts and cooked sausages. (I always cook as much of the grease out of the sausages as poss). It comes out like gumbo.
Probably should include more greens, but it's tough to keep fresh veggies here. Fruits are always around like bananas, oranges, apples, and cantaloupe.


Question for forum: You guys with home weights, how do you bench press alone? My wife would not be any appreciable help in spotting, and my neighbors are old. I have no friends that lift, so how can I get off the machine and lift the barbell by myself? Is there a certain kind of bench for this? There's a gym around the corner but I hate to join just for BP. I'd really rather workout at home, but how do I BP alone safely?

[DEVILsSON]

Great to have you here.

I suggest 2 things for benching/squatting on your own. The best and most common solution is to get a Power Cage with adjustable safety bars usually able to be set every 2 inches ...so it's perfect for bench and squat....another option is saw horses which you can buy at home depot....also perfect for benching and squat....they can support close to a ton and can be set to various heights from what i know.

I highly suggest you start training your grip. Grip is easily the one thing that you can keep into old age so it's quite helpful. One of the most fun aspects to train is the crush grip with grippers....however there are other like pinch, support, wrist strength, finger strength, extension, etc....www.gripboard.com for a lot of grip specific reading. Some people also have logs here on grip....Urban and couple other if i am not mistaken.

Focus on recovery as much as training. This is often a neglected aspect of peoples training. Make sure to warm up and add weight slowly. Using foam roller and stretching postworkout are also very good ways to stay injury free and recover faster.

good luck with your training.

[hunto]

Devilsson,
Thanks for the tip on sawhorses. Great idea, I'll give it a go, as it won't cost much to try.

About recovery. I stretch and cool down after workouts, and for the past several weeks I've been stretching my hamstrings-they have been prone to cramping in the past so since I've taken up DL I've been very conscious of my hams.

Following some of the advice given on this forum, I am doing DLs just once a week. BP is twice a week, since it doesn't seem to take as long to recover. But I DL Fri night and here it is Sun morn, and my upper back/lats are still sore, as are my forearms. Feels good.

Reg'd at Gripboard and am reading the faqs and stickies. I've been going about forearm strength the wrong way, with wrist curls and finger rolls. Now that I have a glimmer of a clue, I plan to train grip correctly.

Thanks again for the tips.

Now breakfast.....