A "Whew" of a Leg Day

Yesterday, being a cardio-only day, I performed a few short sessions of Spiderman crawls, which I posted about, along with a video showing how they're done.

Little did I know what an effect those were going to have on my leg workout today! Leading off with front squats, it became quickly evident that my core was FRIED from yesterday's frolicking.  I was unable to finish my last set, mainly due to being unable to keep the necessary upright torso position to perform the front squats properly.

I'm still loving the idea of using Spiderman crawls as a conditioning tool, but I won't be doing these immediately before a leg day anymore.

Spiderman Crawls!

Well, after about a month and a half of practicing the principles form Tim Anderson's book "Original Strength", I decided that since today was an "off" day (cardio-only), I'd do some Spiderman crawls. I only did a few minutes worth, spread out through the day but let me tell you, these things are HARD! I'm thinking that these will be a regular thing for me now. What a rush! I snagged the video below off of YouTube. Thanks to Steve Maxwell for showing us how it's done.

Thank You, "Original Strength"

I've been using some of the movements from the book "Original Strength" on myself for about a month and a half now. The movement principles laid out in the book are deceptively simple and based on movement patterns developed during early childhood but lost or forgotten in adulthood.

I have had nagging pain in both shoulders off and on for about ten years now, along with one shoulder surgery about five years ago which resulted in some limited relief.

Several months ago, I wound up on the Original Strength site and registered to get the free ebook "Pressing Reset". To be honest, I scoffed at the material at first because I thought it was too simple to be of any help or use to me.

About that time, I was back into a pretty good groove in my workouts, but the shoulders were really starting to give me fits again, like they always have, whenever I demand a lot from them. Looking for relief, I started doing some of the movements from the ebook, separate from my regular workouts.

The shoulder pain started improving very quickly and I was impressed enough that I ordered the book "Original Strength". After reading through the book a couple of times and performing the movements several times throughout the day, I'm progressing in my regular workouts very nicely and my shoulder pain is all but completely gone.

Home Again

We spent all of yesterday and into the evening driving back from our TX Christmas visit with family. There was a small fitness facility with dumbbells, a Smith Machine (YUCK!) and some other equipment. I was able to squeeze in three "just so-so" workouts while there and I didn't blow my eating routine TOO badly.

This morning, I resumed my home routine with a leg workout, leading off with the dreaded front squats. Everything felt HEAVY this morning but I was able to hit all my numbers, albeit just barely.

I don't have to be back at work for five more days, so I'm going to use the time as an opportunity to get squarely back into the swing of things.

Leaving Town for Christmas

Well, I finished up another cycle of three-on training days this morning. A "push" day with some cardio thrown in at the end. After work tonight, the wife and I will be driving fourteen hours to Fort Worth, TX to visit my daughter, son in law and granddaughter for Christmas. The 24th and 25th will be off days and hopefully there'll be a suitable "fitness facility" where I can get in two or three maintenance workouts while I'm out there. We'll see how it goes.

Another Leg Day Done

For awhile now, my leg day workout has been anchored around front squats. While my lower back has benefited from the resulting relief, my overall core and abdominals in particular are fried from this exercise.

Earlier today, lying on the dungeon floor just after finishing leg day, my thoughts were blissful, high on the endorphin rush that follows this demanding routine. At the same time though, there was that nagging little voice inside, telling me "hey sport, in just four days, ya gotta do this again!"

Front Squat Progress

I'm a month in with the Front Squats now and while progress is slow, gradual improvement continues.

The weights used have gone up nicely and I'm now doing an average of seven working sets after warmups.

Front Squats are still followed by Leg Press and Stiff Legged Deadlifts have been reincorporated, followed by a couple of sets of leg curls.

This workout is the hardest to make myself do every time it rolls around. Rationalization, bargaining with myself, playing "Let's Make a Deal" with myself, you name it, I've tried it to convince myself that THIS CAN'T POSSIBLY BE DONE TODAY!

I always load up that first set though, step under the bar and begin to squat. Later, once it's all done, the endorphin rush that courses through my pathetic, quivering body is beyond description. It's truly a drug and the next time this workout comes due, remembering that feeling is just enough to make me do it one more time.

Pullup Report

The pullups are still progressing. Today's sets / reps were as follows;

7 - 7 - 7 - 6 - 6

Pullup Update

I've been keeping after the pullups, as I truly believe they're the ultimate back exercise. Today's sets / reps were as follows;

7 - 7 - 6 - 6 - 6

Slowly but surely!

Front Squats

Today I incorporated Front Squats into my leg day routine. For now, they'll be replacing conventional barbell (back) squats.

These are murder. The devil. Torture. Due to the pitiful weight I was able to use, I ended up doing nine sets total. Hopefully, the weight (intensity) will come up soon and I won't need so much volume.

My core was so smoked after these that I dropped the Stiff Legged Deadlifts for today and threw in some Leg Curls.

The Current Routine

At nearly three months in, here's what my daily training schedule looks like.

Day 1

• Squats; 6 working sets
• Leg Press; 3 sets
• Stiff Legged Deadlift; 4 sets
• Calf Work

Day 2

• Pullups; 5 sets
• Lat Pulldowns; 4 sets
• One Arm Dumbbell Row; 3 sets
• Body Rows (on suspension trainer); 4 sets
• Reverse Fat Bar Curls; 2 sets
• Fat Bar Curls; 2 sets
• Rotator Cuff Work, on bands & suspension trainer (Facepulls, T, Y, I, etc)
• Light Cardio (if time allows)

Day 3

• Superset; Suspended Flies (on suspension trainer), Incline Dumbbell Bench; 4 sets
• Weighted Dips; 4 sets
• Overhead Dumbbell Press (standing); 4 sets
• Superset; Dumbbell Side Raise, Suspended Triceps Overhead Extensions (on suspension trainer); 3 sets
• Cardio

Day 4;

• Cardio

On day 5, I start all over again, hitting each workout every fourth day. There are no scheduled off days, as life and other obligations tend to generate enough interruptions as it is. 

Pullup Progress

My numbers on all lifts have been creeping up ever so slowly, but my pullup numbers are something that I pay close attention to, since I believe that they are a real indicator of progress and overall strength. My 5 sets of reps today went like this;

6 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5

After the pullups, I'm doing 4 sets of lat pulldowns, then continuing on with the rest of my "Pull Day" workout.

Pressing with Old Shoulders

On "Push Day", challenges arise, due to the cumulative abuse that these old shoulders have endured over the years. Truth be told, most of the underlying damage was probably done decades ago when in my youth, I did more pushing than I should have and not enough pulling, creating imbalances. Combine this with trying to go way too heavy on the bench press with way too wide of a grip and well, time catches up with a body.

I don't do any type of pressing with a barbell anymore. All weights that are pressed are now dumbbells only. I've also been experimenting with suspension training and it's a great tool to use for pressing movements while saving the shoulders. Two exercises that I really like are suspended flies and suspended triceps extensions. Here are a couple of videos that I snatched off of YouTube to show each.

Chest Flies (and Chest Press);

Triceps Extensions;

Pullups!

Today was Pull (Back) day. After about a month and a half, I'm finally up to incorporating pullups into my routine.

After warmup, I began my workout with bodyweight pullups. These are "dead-hang" pullups, not that flopping around "kipping" crap that you see all the Crossfitters doing. The numbers are pretty dismal though. I'm still at 218 pounds and the reps for 5 sets were as follows;

3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3

Not too impressive, but ya gotta start somewhere.

Settling In

Well, I'm a couple of weeks in now. The soreness is on the decline and these aging joints are not protesting too much yet.

I'm settling in on a three-day split. I've tried countless training schedules in the past and I always keep coming back to some variation of the three-day split. This time around, it looks something like this;

Day 1; Push (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders, Cardio)

Day 2; Legs (Squats, Leg Press, Stiff Legged Deadlift, Leg Curls, Calves)

Day 3; Pull (Pulldowns, Row or Dumbbell Row, Body Rows on Suspension Device, Bicep Work)

Day 4; "Rest" with Cardio and Rotator Cuff Work, Foam Rolling, Other Corrective Stuff, etc.

I do the above and then on Day 5, I start all over again. There are no total rest days planned, since life and other interruptions come up often enough as it is.

Rotator Cuff Exercises For Rehabing Shoulder Injuries

I'm always trying new things in an attempt to keep my aging shoulders somewhat healthy. I've found the exercises in this video by Lee Hayward to be helpful in maintaining the rotator cuffs and preventing injury.

As I Begin (Yet) Again

Today, I start back in my basement gym, or "dungeon" after what has turned into a several-months long layoff. Great care will be taken, as the shoulders, elbows and connective tissues just aren't as resilient as they used to be.

At 52 years old, I'm well aware that this may be my last run. There have been several times in my adult life where I have gone, from a fitness and strength standpoint, from "Homer Simpson" to "not too shabby" and back again.

Each time gets a little harder and each time, more attention has to be paid to avoiding injuries. My plan this go-round is to focus on patience, persistence and longevity. As they say, "slow and steady wins the race". Time will tell if I can follow my own advice.