9/17/2018

8:25 – Delt Raise with Purple bands x 50; this was to failure, the burn was almost unbearable. I didn’t grip the handle because I didn’t want to stress my elbow, I just wrapped the ends around my hands, I also used the full length rather than shorten it to make it harder.

10:30 – Neck Mobility and Hip Mobility drills

3:15 Toe Touches x 10

That’s it today, work is just crushing and the deadline is screaming toward me like a runaway freight train.

9/18/2018 Tuesday

8:30 – Triceps Flex x 30 seconds

10:25 – Iso-Biceps Desk Curl x 25, tried to lift desk while seated, really try to move it; back didn’t love this move, reclined in my chair some and braced elbows into iliac crest;

10:35 – Neck and Hip Mobility

10:45 – went and laid on the wall by the pond for about 20 minutes to readjust my alignment, then I did some windshield-wiper inspired twisting stretches – about 30 seconds per side x 2/side and it really seems to have helped the stiffness in my back.

12:05 – – Iso-Biceps Desk Curl x 30 sec, really went for failure which is hard to do with isometrics, you just pretty much start pushing less and less rather than failing to push

Biceps Flex Pulse x 25

Delt side Raise Purple Bands x 52, reached failure, insane burn

Walking Lunges x 5/side w/superset of

standing Leg curl x 50, not quite failure but close, muscles were shaking

2:15 – Delt Raise Purple Band x 25, have my ear buds in and the wire was in the way, my coworker keeps interrupting me too. Serious burn at 25, will have to dig deep to push past that.

2:27 – Delt Raise Purple Band x 30, not failure but damn that burns!

9/19/2018 Wednesday

Damn, so tired! Did I mention Suki is now 13 weeks old (only!)? She was up at 4 and would not go back to bed. The sleep deprivation is definitely catching up. I overslept this morning, and my back is pretty stiff, not too sore though.

9:55 – Seated Back Stretch x 40 sec; basically just leaning forward with feet flat on the floor and touching the floor with my hands.

10:15 – Windshield Wipers x 5 bent leg, x 10 straight leg, x 10 bent leg; warmed up with standing torso twists x 25

Windshield wiper stretch to left side x 60 sec, to right side x 30 sec

Did some weird rounded back stretch on my knees and then lifted my arms straight out in front to work the mid/lower back

Back feels pretty good.

10:30 – hip flexor and quad stretching; Wall Jumps x 5/side

Wall Hurdles x 3/side

Standing High Knee Jumps x 10

I must start rebuilding my explosive power. I am so exhausted, and my legs feel like lead. It’s like I have no bounce left.

11:35 – Neck & Hip Mobility drills; these take 4.5-5 min in total

Shoulder Mobility drills

Side Delt Raise Purple Band x 60, did fast reps (watching a Michael Vazquez video) focusing on explosiveness

Seated Curl Purple Band x 50; fast reps, chair at highest level; Did feel it some in my left elbow. I’m wearing my old Sports elbow brace. Need to find my new one and start wearing it.

How long does it take for a 51 year old to recover from workouts? From walking the stairs? The thing is, It seems like I’ve been doing more work on my arms than anything and they seem ready for more. My hamstrings feel fine even after yesterday. Is it because I can recover from ultra-light high rep training faster than heavier training even though it seems the intensity level is the same (like going to failure on delts and hams)? If so, how to I translate that into legs? And will it benefit me for explosive power or backpacking?

– “specializing in health, fitness and wellness for men over 50” –

So far I see a recurring theme : more recovery time after hard workouts and more sleep. It does appear that stress affects recovery times as well. Of course it would, cortisol is catabolic. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.

Aha, Fast muscle fibers are designed for explosive movements Generally, these muscles require more time to recover between workouts, and The slower muscle fibers are designed for endurance activities and they take less time to recover. That kind of answers my question about high rep vs heavy/explosive training.

Also more intensity will require longer recovery. Most of the time we are at medium intensity, probably more because of a mental thing than anything else. The less intense your workouts, the less recovery time those muscles need. And of course, the more intense, the more recovery needed. Not talking about cardio intensity though.

Age: General guideline: 20 yrs old – tend towards 2 days; 50+ – tend towards a week for a muscle group to fully recover.

9/20/2018 Thursday

10:00 – triceps Flex x 50, really trying to get them to cramp

10:15 – Seated Bicep Curl Black Band x 25, alternating; couldn’t do both arms at the same time, back was aching when I tried.

10:25(ish)-10:50 – Stairs x 44.5 stories (floors) (5 sets 8.5 floors, +2more); laps 1,2,5 I skipped a step; 3, 4 took every step; lap 1 – 2:04, lap 2 – 2:06; 3 – 2:20; lap 4 – 2:21; lap 5 – 2:19; all times are rounded up to nearest second

11:07 – Side Delt Raise Black Band x 32, total failure, failed doing 32; prob coulda failed on 33 if I was more mentally disciplined and dug deeper;

I am wearing my good Mueller elbow brace and my new ankle support, both definitely help.

11:15 – Chair dips x 65, actually more like pulses, very short range of motion; started getting fatigued, as soon as my elbows started to burn I stopped. I don’t want to slow my elbow recovery from whatever it is that ails it.

11:17 – Chair dips x 40, what the hell why not. This time had shoulders up in the shrug position

9/21/2018 Friday

This morning before getting out of bed I did a short windshield wiper stretch, about 30 sec/side. Might have helped some, hard to tell. Maybe cumulatively it will.

8:35 – Supermans x 30; first 5 were legs only, 2nd 5 were torso only, final 25 were full body

Superset w/ updog pushups x 50, 1st 40 were medium (45 degree), last 10 were wide; I think doing the supermans first helped. I am wearing my elbow brace (left elbow), right elbow started to burn, left was ok.

3 min rest

Pushups x 30, really good form, elbow ok, elbows close to body; when I stopped I wished I had gone to fail because I was so close.

10:00 – Supermans x 30, 20 legs only, 10 torso only

Superset w/ windshield wipers x 30; felt really good, legs straight. Follow up with stretching, 60 sec to left and 30 to right

Have a Great Day!

Lubimûr