On the advice of my personal trainer (NOT)

[Alan H]

aka Charlie, who actually is an X Marks member but I think he never looks here any more...

I've started the "high weights, low reps" routine today. It's amazing how much more weight you can shove around when you're only moving it six times as opposed to two sets of eight. Mondays will be "whole body" from now through the end of February... This means lots of exercises, lower weights, high reps, minimal rest. Wednesdays will be upper body, with lower reps...Fridays will be lower body with lower reps.

Today I did the following.... (this is a subset, I did several other things, but these are kind of benchmarks)

Inclined bench, dumbell press: Two sets of six, 65 pounds, each hand (I only made it to five in the second set, couldn't lock out #6) . I bet I can do six, outright with 70 in each hand.

six squats with 200 pounds on the bar... did this first after the bosu-balance thing I'm doing to strengthen my right knee. What messed me up last spring was squats with 250 pounds, doing two sets of six, so I am going really slow, here.

Dumbell snatches. I know I can do two sets of eight, 70 pounds in each hand so I picked up the 85 pound d-bell. I got six of them out with the right arm, but had to bail at #4 with the left, couldn't lock it out.

Push-ups. Last week I finally, for the first time in I don't know how long, made it to 20 pushups. I did 20...2 sets of ten on Wednesday, and then 15 and 5 clapping pushups on Friday. So today I just went for it....did ten clapping pushups for speed and then twelve more with my hands on the wobble boards. When I can do twenty clapping pushups nonstop, I'll know I've arrived. Push-ups as pylometrics!

Flys...I do these on a machine, they're a lot less stress on my shoulders this way. Anyway, the number on the machine means nothing, it's just a point to judge. Anyhow I've been doing two sets of 8 at 130. Today I did one set of 8 at 145, NO problem. Next time I go for 160.

and of course...sit ups, Russian twists, biceps curls, hamstring curls...the usual.

[WClarkB]

looking to bulk up are we
the danger is when you start to advance from your base
the number of injuries goes up exponentially (ask me about an Achilles)

Take care

[long_hand]

I weightlift also but I never exactly understood the reason for high weight low reps...is it for greater mass or more weightloss or greater strength?

[nh_maclean]

Your weights make my weights look sad sad sad! (I'll stick to my excuse I've been out of the gym for 4months and only starting week 3 of my workout... but still - damn!) I'm a fan of the high weights, low reps for 4-6 weeks and then doing a 4-6 week stretch of the reverse - but for me that's for helping the muscle endurance catch up so I can stay on the wall longer (rock climbing/bouldering).

But damn, I'd love to get my squat to 200 again and to do incline bench with 65s! Any routines/sets-rep that you can recommend for helping me get there?

Do you superset your squats, snatches with any lower back/abs? (hanging knee raises, hyperextensions, etc?) I've been told it helps prevent injury and if anything I find it helps stretch me out curious if anyone else does this.

[Alan H]

I weightlift also but I never exactly understood the reason for high weight low reps...is it for greater mass or more weightloss or greater strength?

I weightlift so that I can throw farther at the Games. Also, for some reason which I can't explain, I can get my sorry butt into the gym to lift weights at lunchtime pretty regularly, but except for swimming in the summer, seem unable to get myself motivated to exercise regularly any other way. For me, the actual number of pounds on the bar is irrelevant. Also, I'm an OLD MAN, and the days of impressing any lasses at the beach are long, long gone, if they ever existed at all (they didn't). So for me, the goal is to be reasonably strong..OK, to be "rather" strong, but really what I want to be able to do is EXPLODE. That's what throwing is all about, exerting a LOT of force over a very short amount of time.

That's what lifting more weight, fewer times will do for you. When I do a whole-body day I do a lot of reps and I keep moving and my heart rate is in the training area for probably 30+ minutes of the 50 minutes I'm in the gym. That's good, since I'm not going to be going running any time soon, at 280 pounds!

[Alan H]

Your weights make my weights look sad sad sad! (I'll stick to my excuse I've been out of the gym for 4months and only starting week 3 of my workout... but still - damn!) I'm a fan of the high weights, low reps for 4-6 weeks and then doing a 4-6 week stretch of the reverse - but for me that's for helping the muscle endurance catch up so I can stay on the wall longer (rock climbing/bouldering).

But damn, I'd love to get my squat to 200 again and to do incline bench with 65s! Any routines/sets-rep that you can recommend for helping me get there?

Do you superset your squats, snatches with any lower back/abs? (hanging knee raises, hyperextensions, etc?) I've been told it helps prevent injury and if anything I find it helps stretch me out curious if anyone else does this.

I'm kind of liking your 4-weeks/4-weeks plan. I'm pretty leery of trying to do what the pro Highland Games athletes, and the young guys do. I'm not sure this old body can do that stuff and not get hurt. At any rate, I'm going to give it from now to the beginning of December, doing high weights days, and then see where I am in December.

As for how I got to 65 pounds on the inclined board, well....when I saw miss Dana popping out rep after rep after rep with 45 pounds, and I bet she doesn't weight 150, and I WAS DOING 45 POUNDS, I decided something had to change so I started actually DOING them....you know, like regularly. I do those and I do pushups as well 'cause I think they're going to help with the stones at the Games. It's taken me about 6-7 weeks to move from doing two sets of eight with 45 pounds to (almost) two sets of six with 65.

I have to be *Extremely* careful with any exercises that affect my lower back, because of that stenosis in L4. I don't do reverse hypers, I don't DARE! Heck, I just started doing squats and leg presses again in the last two weeks. I'm getting killed on the field at the Games by guys who have, as I say it....garage door springs in their quads... I can't turn a caber that most of the guys I throw with can turn, and my WOB is only "OK". So I decided that I have to do SOMETHING for the quadriceps. So I'm doing squats and leg presses again, but I'm more concentrating on exercises for the quads where I move weights FAST, like the dumbell snatches and sumo dead lift high pulls (REALLY fast) and cleans, which I sometimes do with overhead presses.

[nh_maclean]

I'm kind of liking your 4-weeks/4-weeks plan. I'm pretty leery of trying to do what the pro Highland Games athletes, and the young guys do. I'm not sure this old body can do that stuff and not get hurt. At any rate, I'm going to give it from now to the beginning of December, doing high weights days, and then see where I am in December.

As for how I got to 65 pounds on the inclined board, well....when I saw miss Dana popping out rep after rep after rep with 45 pounds, and I bet she doesn't weight 150, and I WAS DOING 45 POUNDS, I decided something had to change so I started actually DOING them....you know, like regularly. I do those and I do pushups as well 'cause I think they're going to help with the stones at the Games. It's taken me about 6-7 weeks to move from doing two sets of eight with 45 pounds to (almost) two sets of six with 65.

I have to be *Extremely* careful with any exercises that affect my lower back, because of that stenosis in L4. I don't do reverse hypers, I don't DARE! Heck, I just started doing squats and leg presses again in the last two weeks. I'm getting killed on the field at the Games by guys who have, as I say it....garage door springs in their quads... I can't turn a caber that most of the guys I throw with can turn, and my WOB is only "OK". So I decided that I have to do SOMETHING for the quadriceps. So I'm doing squats and leg presses again, but I'm more concentrating on exercises for the quads where I move weights FAST, like the dumbell snatches and sumo dead lift high pulls (REALLY fast) and cleans, which I sometimes do with overhead presses.

The reality is for me, I get bored so I need to mix it up every 4-6weeks or I'll just peter out... I alternate between High Reps/Low Weight to Low Reps/High Weight, Full Body to Splits, etc. I'm also a fan if HIIT and 5x5s.

Have you tried box jumps or loading a Smith bar lightly and doing jumping squats? A buddy of mine has played around with those to help him with explosiveness with his DLs, etc.

I'll try to incorporate the DB incline in there and see what happens... currently at a 10x30lbs, 8x40lbs, 6x50lbs for db inclines and I superset it with light incline db flies. But generally I do incline bb.

-Noah

[Jack Daw]

As an old and current weightlifter (35 years of it), I'm going to advise you guys to work on core stengthening as well as your arms and legs, etc. The core exercises protect your back from damage. And, I also suggest that for squats, you move to the machines. As a result, I squat (seated and pushing up at about a 45 degree angle) 300 lbs without putting any needless stress on my back.

[nh_maclean]

As an old and current weightlifter, I'm going to advise you guys to work on core stengthening as well as your arms and legs, etc. The core exercises protect your back from damage. And, I also suggest that for squats, you move to the machines. I 'squat' 300 lbs without putting any needless stress on my back.

I definately do core stuff. and tend to 'superset' it with DLs and Squats. I'm a fan of the compound moves that really get the core engaged but do all the other core stuff (weighted crunch, russian twists, leg lifts, torso rotations, hanging leg lifts, etc.)

It's funny you mention doing squats on a machine. I'm not typically a fan because it restricts the body's natural range of motion (or at least mine). But I've got 2 gym memberships - one with the 'old school' weights/benches/racks and a new one that is machine heavy - so no squat rack.

So at the new gym I've started using the Smith for DLs and squats. I've noticed a few things 1. I can squat more in the machine 2. I'm "cheating" and leaning into the bar/Smith so by pushing back and up, I'm taking some of the weight off of my legs and onto the machine. I need to work on this. 3. I can't do Front Squats for crap in a Smith. (Love these) For DLs - It's no go for high (for me) weights and think will substitute Rack Pulls for DLs when I do them at this gym.

Otherwise, I've not used the sled leg press at this gym (minics the idea of a squat but you're laying down or at a slight inclined angle) but it does take the stress off my back when I've used it before and might need to supplement a bit with it to help increase the weights on squats, DLs.

We'll see...

[Alan H]

As an old and current weightlifter (35 years of it), I'm going to advise you guys to work on core stengthening as well as your arms and legs, etc. The core exercises protect your back from damage. And, I also suggest that for squats, you move to the machines. As a result, I squat (seated and pushing up at about a 45 degree angle) 300 lbs without putting any needless stress on my back.

Hey throwing is ALL about core strength! Preaching to the choir, here!

I'm doing leg presses again, and will probably alternate leg presses with squats.. The presses don't give you as much work in your gluteus, but it's worth it to me to save the pressure on the lower back. In the end it's all about moving the weights FAST, and so that's why I do the dumbell snatches, fast sumo dead lift high pulls and fast cleans.