Grubinski's Training Log

[grubinski]

Male
Age 50
Bodyweight 152# +/- 1lb

Bench 175# for 5x5
Squat 180# for 5x5
Press 97.5# for 5x5
Deadlift 325# for 1x5
Hang Clean 105# for 8x3
Pullups 31 at bodyweight 60# added weight for 3x8

I have some carryover strength left from 4 years of consistent lifting done in my mid/late 20's. My back (deadlift and pullups) has always been my strongest area. My squat was never particularly good, at the moment it may be a little weak (compared to the deadlift, say) because of 4 years of very serious distance running I just finished up. I ran 50-90 miles / week for most of that time, and as a result there is not much snap in the old legs at the moment. Trying to get some back.

I am eating a paleo / primal low-carb diet, so for me something like GOMAD to gain weight is out of the question. I'm not going to do something I consider unhealthy, even on a temporary basis. I'm old, I can afford lots of steaks, so I'll try and gain weight that way.

My goals are to have fun, get stronger, and hopefully move my bodyweight up. The most I've ever weighed in my life was 168. I was at my strongest by 162, though, I don't think the 6# I put on after that was quality weight. I'd like te deadlift over 400# again (did 405# at < 160# BW previously), and bench over 225# again. My lifetime best bench is 255# (squat 275#).

I'm following a "Starting Strength" type routine, only 2 days a week because of my age.

Tues:
Bench 5x5 (177.5 is working weight starting next workout)
Squat 5x5 heavy (185 starting next workout)
Barbell Row 3x8 (145 next workout)

Sat:
Squat 3x8 Light (155 today)
Press 5x5 (100 starting next workout)
Hang Clean (110 starting next workout)
Weighted Pullups (done in the evening at home)

In addition, I do pullups in various modalities a couple other days /week. Max or near-max sets, and 3 sets of ~50% of max with 30s rest between.

[grubinski]

Workout 11/28/09 AM --

Squat 3x8x155# ... I do a lighter set of squats on Saturdays. This is Saturday. I squat heavy on Tuesday.
Press 5x5x97.5# ... First time I've succeeded at this weight, so I'll move up to 100# next Saturday
Hang Clean 5x5x105# .... I do hang cleans instead of power cleans because I'm working on my form ATM, trying to keep
straight arms, quick elbows, etc.

[grubinski]

I should really have stated in my original post, which has now become uneditable, that on Saturdays I alternate Deadlift and Hang Cleans. So this Saturday was Hang Cleans, and next weekend is Deadlift working up to 1x5 heavy. Next weekend will be 1x5x330#

[bobu]

Glad to see you started a log. I'm impressed with your pullups. I just started to try adding weight with mine but at +20# I'm lucky to do four. I guess out weighing you by almost 50# counts for something though. Unfortunately it's not all muscle.

[grubinski]

Bench 5,5,5,5,4x177.5
Barbell Rows 8,6,7x145 (still working a bit on consistent form)
Squat 5x5x185

I was dreading the squats, but they all went up. Last set on bench miiiiggghht have gone for 5 if I'd had a spotter yelling at me. I racked it after a hard 4th rep. I'm pretty sure it'll go next time ... this is the first miss of 5x5 on the bench so far.

[imcgr001]

Nice pullups, I capped out at 3x5 45#s before switching gyms and losing the belt to hold the weight, guess I could always buy one. I'm a runner (not 90/week) were you doing ultra long distance runs or marathons? I run cross country so I've never run a race longer than 5 miles .

[grubinski]

I was training for marathons, half marathons, etc. I ran a 5K in 18:19 at the age of 48, and a very hilly 12K in 47:22.

I did a marathon in high school ('77) in 3:03, and was trying to get into shape to go faster than that. I was in the ballpark, fitness-wise, but on race day I got a calf tear/cramp at 17 miles and had to drop. I guess calf problems are more common the older you get. I could run long and relatively slow (up to 22 miles in training) or fast and short, but I had several of these calf issues crop up after fairly long (12+ miles), faster (< 7:00/mile) workouts. Never happened when I was younger.

It was fun, though. It's a cool feeling to know you can go out any time and run 20 miles. But so is knowing you can pull well over 300#. I don't have enough athletic talent to manage both at the same time. I have to specialize in one or the other.

The only running I'm doing now is sprints.

[atypical1]

Welcome to the board. You have some nice lifts and a lot of potential. It will be fun to follow this log around.

james

[grubinski]

Thanks, James, I appreciate the kind words.

[grubinski]

Warmup: 2 espressos

Squat 6x45, 6x95, 4x135, 5x5x160 ... this is my "light" squat day, but it was easier than last week at 155
Presses 8x45, 5x65, 3x85, 5x5x100 PR
Deads 5x135, 5x205, 3x275 w/up then 3x335 ... failed to get 5, got 1/2 the 4th rep but hips were too high too early, so bailed

Good workout overall. Weight was 154# this morning, too early to tell if I've gained a little or if it's just day to day variation.

I'll probably do some weighted pulls either later today or tomorrow ... I have a bar for those in the garage.

[ulbonado]

Good to see a fellow runner on here. I unfortunately never caught the marathon bug when I was younger and it might have been (relatively) easy. I've been thinking about it lately, but I haven't been able to work up to the required distances without being sidetracked by injury. Which lead me to lifting, in the hopes of strengthening enough to prevent further injuries. Anyway, see you around!

[grubinski]

Some photos of my current status. I'm basically happy with where I'm at, but I wouldn't turn down a few more pounds, if it was not blubber.

http://www.grubinski.com/grubinski/xfer/pics/front.jpg
http://www.grubinski.com/grubinski/xfer/pics/oblique.jpg
http://www.grubinski.com/grubinski/xfer/pics/back.jpg

[bobu]

Hey, do you mind if I borrow your body and put my head on it?

[grubinski]

Bench 5,5,5,5*,4x177.5
Barbell Rows 8,8x135,8x145
Squat 5,5,5,4,5x190

There was a guy wandering around while I was benching that obviously wanted to use the bench, so I asked if he wanted to work in. We only have one power rack / free weight setup in this gym, and I tend to plug it up for a while with these workouts. As it turned out, he was a little overeager spotting my 4th set. He was a newbie and I neglected to give him the "don't touch the bar" speech, so my fault.

The squats felt hard. The 4th rep of the 4th set took long enough that I racked it after 4, I don't want to fail with a heavy weight on my back. But then on the 5th set my approach was "3 or 4", and I did 3 right off, then paused and did a 4th easily enough that I paused again and ground out number 5. It's a little irritating because maybe I could have gotten 5 in my 4th set.

Regardless, I'll be repeating the same two weights next time. The bench has been close but failed twice in a row now, and this is the first failure on squats so far.

I wouldn't be surprised if I get both of these to go next time. I didn't feel too zippy today for some reason, but still did fairly well.

[sgi4950]

Some photos of my current status. I'm basically happy with where I'm at, but I wouldn't turn down a few more pounds, if it was not blubber.

http://www.grubinski.com/grubinski/xfer/pics/front.jpg
http://www.grubinski.com/grubinski/xfer/pics/oblique.jpg
http://www.grubinski.com/grubinski/xfer/pics/back.jpg

Thanks for dropping by my log. Yeah, blubber wouldn't be a good addition.

Good pics...for an old guy. I owed you that one for the "codger" reference.