Al's Training Log 2015: now a Master II.

[Rehband]

1 January 2015

Happy New Year everyone; January 1, 2015 marks the eighth installment of my annual training log and induction into the IPF Master II category (the year I turn 50). Some years have seen more activity than others, but I'm hoping to ride the fresh wave of positive energy presently sweeping the organization. My goals this year are to stay injury free, train consistently, renew old friendships, and test myself on the wood at least once.

Cheers,
Al

[McLifter]

I like it! It will be good to see you competing again. Great photo for the Avatar too!

[Rehband]

Thanks Brock,
Looking pretty sharp yourself

[McLifter]

Yeah, that was PEI and my lone Canadian Record from 2011. I had a good day!

Brock

[Rehband]

03 January 2014

Bench: 20kg x10, 60kg x12, 90kg x3, 95kg x2, 97.5kg x2, 100kg x2, 102.5kg x2, 105kg, 105kg.
Squat: 20kg x15, 75kg x12, 125kg x3, 136kg x2 (x6).
Bench: 84kg x10, 84kg x9, 80kg x10.
Power Clean: 50kg x3, 75kg x3, 90kg, 95kg.

After a month of training the hips and knees seem to be holding up very well, and feeling very strong overall. I used to perform a lot of Olympic movements to work the pulls, but my shoulders are not agreeing with snatches very much anymore. Will experiment with other exercises, but it's not easy giving up on this skill after spending the better part of a lifetime trying to perfect it.

[Wolverine]

Rehband

Looks a lot like Sheiko stuff, somewhat.

From one Master 2 to another.

Trust me, I know how hard it is to stay away from the stuff that you had success with in the past, but that's a lot of volume (on the bench-74 reps total & 42 Reps at 80 kg's or greater) with heavier weight that places a lot of stress on the shoulder assembly.

The squats will also place a lot of taxation on your shoulders.

If your shoulders are not liking this (snatches), it's for a reason. There are plenty of movements that I have had to modify, or drop completely (and it sucks), but over-ride the compulsion.

I know that you know this already, but the only way to improve is to stay in the gym and the only way to stay in the gym is to stay injury free.


Wolverine

[Rehband]

Thank you for that fine bit of coaching Sir; its what I needed to hear. Been sticking with what I'm familiar with (i.e. cherry-picked elements of those Russian programs), but they are obviously not designed for longevity. When things appear to be going well, compulsion can be an old guy's worst enemy.
Cheers.

[Wolverine]

Rehband

Don't get me wrong....The Sheiko (or what ever "Russian" style) program these workouts are derived from are probably fantastic and have worked well for many lifters. All I was thinking about was the taxation on your shoulders when you throw in the snatches and/or cleans.

The one thing that I came to realize as I "got old" was that "I can still do, pretty much, everything I used to be able to do......I just can't do it nearly as often". Recovery time seems to be a bit lagging, so it seems (now there's an understatement). It took me about 3.5 - 4.0 years to figure it out. It may come as a complete and utter shock to you that I can tend to be a bit stubborn.......I know, I know........it shocked me, too.

I wasn't, for a moment suggesting that you negate the Russian program, but rather that you might have to perform some modifications to it and maybe go a bit easy on the shoulder stuff. I find that over a week, my shoulder work has been stripped down to, mostly, rotator cuff work and maintenance. Shoulders are really fancy looking, but are an assembly of a bunch of relatively small and rather delicate muscles, subject to easily overworking them. Combine that with slower recovery time........Well, there's a recipe for disaster.

I know, with your line of work, you like acronyms.

I have a couple that I remind myself all the time with a couple:

K.I.S.S. You know that one.......KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID! (I tell myself that at least twice per workout)

Y.H.T.B.S. You Have to be Smarter.


Wolverine

[McLifter]

Is there a pill for Y.H.T.B.S. I could use one some days.

The ol' Wolverine makes some good points Al. Stay healthy first and strong will follow.

Brock

[Rehband]

Appreciate the feedback there Gents,
This is a conversation worth having because it is so easy to become overconfident in training after a few small victories. Looking back at my training logs, I have a habit of deviating from the program and adding extra sets (or heavy singles) on good days. The problem is that I often pay for these good days with long layoffs to fully recover.
In all honesty, there was no (logical) reason for me to push 74 bench reps in a single session (clearly violates Prilepin's numbers based on an estimated 1RM of about 110kg unequipped).

Cheers,
Al

[Wolverine]

Rehband

Now you're thinking. Old training logs can be an incredible asset. I use mine all the time as reference material. Mostly, I go looking for stuff that didn't work, and I usually don't have any trouble finding that stuff.

On a personal note, I have just started a run (probably a minimum of 4 weeks) of Wendler's 5/3/1 routine. I spent a bunch of time reading and researching and it seemed like it might be an interesting fit for a master. McLifer has told me that he has used it, and found it to be beneficial.

This training routine is pretty basic, which really works for the K.I.S.S. principle referenced above. Maybe, google "5/3/1 Training Routine" and give it a read.

Let me know what you think. I think McLifter has a pretty good handle on it and he could also be a good resource.

Talk soon.

Wolverine

[Rehband]

13 January 2015

Squats: 60kg x6, 120kg x5, 125kg x5 (x2), 135kg x3, 140kg x3.

4 March
Stayed active puttering around with some lighter weight stuff for a few weeks. Work took me to SoCal for the better part of February, used machines, did some surfing, and walking around. Sweated it out on the treadmill today covered 5.81 miles in one hour.
7 March
Couldn't make it to the gym, Sweated it out 6.11 Miles in one hour. Still not too confident about the joints.
8 March
6.15 Miles/1 Hour
12 March
6.27 Miles/1 Hour
21 March
6.37 Miles / 1 Hour; benched 100kg passing through work.
22 March
Can't get away from the house; 6.11 miles/1 hour (first 5 miles in 45 minutes).
23 March
10 Miles/ 1:50:39
24 March
6.25 Miles/ 1 Hour (yes, I understand that this is a powerlifting site; going to try to get my cholesterol in check and maybe drop a class or two)
26 March
6.82 miles/ 1 hour.
28 March
7.09 Miles/ 1 Hour

Took the children to Kauai over spring break; they kept me active in the surf, on the water, on the trails, and in the hills.

10 April
Jog along the Red : 7.6km/46 minutes (nothing more entertaining than watching a fat man run).
11 April
7.8 km walk
Squat: 45lbsx5, 135x5, 220x5, 240x5, 275x5.
Bench: 135x6, 175x5, 185x5 (x2), 195x4.
Stretching and empty bar work.
12 April
Jog along the Red: 7.6 km 48 minutes.
DL: 205 x5, 240 x5, 275 x5.
Bench: 45x5, 145x5, 165x5, 185x5 (x3).
Stretching and empty bar work.
14 April
Warm up: 5 km walk to Rec centre
Squat: 45x10, 135x5, 205x5, 240x5, 275.
Bench: 45x10, 135x5, 145x5, 165x5, 185x5 (x2), 185x4.
5km walk home.
19 April
Squat: 45x8, 135x5, 220x3, 250x3, 285x3 (x2).
Bench: 45x8, 135x5, 155x3, 175x3, 205x3 (x2).
DL: 220x3, 250x3, 285x3.
Jk from rack: 135x3 (x4).
30 April
8 km jog along Red.
16 May
1.5 Miles 9:56 (on treadmill)
18 May
1.5 Miles 9:46 (on Treadmill)
19 May
1.5 miles 9:41 (on treadmill)
3.34 miles 30 minutes
20 May
Snatch work up to 70 kg
22 May
1.5 miles 9.41 (treadmill)
3.91 miles 30 minutes
23 May
1.5 Miles 9:30 (treadmill)
3.41 miles: 30 minutes.
24 May
1.5 miles 9:23 [treadmill]
3.4 miles: 30 minutes
28 May
1.5 miles 9:40 [treadmill]
3.92 miles: 30 minutes
30 May
2 hours paddling at Grand Beach
31 May
Air Force Run 5Km-26:54 (9/30:top third of my age class; old fat guys rule!!)
Paddling around Grand Beach x 3 Hours (have to take advantage of the weather, the Carp are giving me the stink eye).

[Rehband]

3 June 2015
In Greenland, 3.47 miles: 30 minutes
5 June
3.88 miles: 30 minutes [treadmill]
Paddling clinic at Grand Beach
6 June
Raining outside
5.26 miles: 45 minutes [treadmill]
7 June
Paddling at the Lake, Catfish are spawning and the Carp are huge.
28 June
Did Coney Island Challenge in Kenora; broke a fin halfway, but still managed to complete the 10 km course in 1:39.
29 June-7 July
Up North, worked out as opportunities presented themselves.
13 July
6.87 miles: 1 hour, went out paddling for a couple of hours.
15 July
3.94 miles:30 minutes
BW down to 193.6 lbs (dropped about 12 pounds since January).
16 July
3.82 miles: 30 minutes (first 1.5 miles: 10:01).
17 July
3.93 miles: 30 minutes
August 1-8
Spent the week at Grand Beach on the water paddling every day, competed in the Grand Beach SUP Cup on Saturday.
August 10
5.6 miles/ 45 minutes (including 1.5 miles/ 10 minutes, 4.03 miles/ 30 minutes).
August 12
6.83 miles/ 1 hour (including 1.5 miles/9:40 and 4 miles/ 30 minutes).
September 4
3.4 miles /30 minutes.
September 7
9 miles: 90 minutes
12 September
Paddled at Grand Beach probably one of the last chances to get on the water this summer.
13 September
Bench: 20kgx10, 70kgx6, 75kgx8(x3), 80kgx3, 85kgx3, 90kgx2, 95kg, 100kg
10-11 October 15
Took advantage of the weather, paddled both days.

[thebruce]

Good to see you are getting your exercise Al.
Have you hit your weight class goal yet?

[Rehband]

Not quite yet Bruce, managing to stay below 200lbs.

7 November 2015
Cardio: 4 Miles