DrDonkeyLove: Delayed Donkification

[DrDonkeyLove]

Beefy:
I laughed at your post at first. Then after I thought about it for a minute, I decided that I didn't realize it but that's exactly what I'm trying to do from the weights to the qigong, to the joint mobility, to the Krav Maga (if I stick with it). Each of those things hits my geezerly neurons differently. It's like an old distributor, I want to keep every plug in the engine firing on time.

7/25/16 #46 Home
AM
Ritual w/Ba Duan Jin (new version)

PM
BP: 60/5x1, 80/5x1, 100/3x1, 110/3x1, 120/3x1, 135/3x1, 155/4x1 (last rep was hard)
BP w/Pause: 120/5x3
Row: 120/10x5

Hope to do a bit of Little 9 Heaven before bed.

[DrDonkeyLove]

7/28/16 #47 Home
Ritual+Ba Duan Jin+5 Tibetan Rites
Little 9 Heaven in the evening

7/30/16 #48 Home
JM + BW & KB Warm Up
Zerchers: 115/3x3
DL: 225/5x1, 245/3x1, 265/1x1, 285/1x1, 300/Fail x 2
BP: 115/5x1, 130/5x1, 145/3x1, 160/1x1
BP w/2 Count Pause @ Bottom: 130/3x3
Row: 130/8x5
Quick Stretch

Usually break this up into two sessions but no time for that this week.

HOORAY: 285 DL is a new PR
FUCK: DL goal today was 300 and I busted twice.

Considering that 285 went up w/o killing me, I'm wondering why I couldn't move the 300 much at all. I think it's one or both of two reasons. First, it's my white whale and I'm wrapped up in it emotionally. Second, I think I might be leaning forward just a bit because it's in my head.

Regardless, I'm pleased with the PR and will keep chasing 300. It's going down (more accurately, up) relatively soon.

[DrDonkeyLove]

7/30 - 8/8 #48-52
Vacation stuff. Nothing impressive

8/9 #53 Home
AM: Rutual + (2) versions of Ba Duan Jin

PM
Stepper Warm Up
Zerchers: 130/3x1
DL: 155/2x1, 175/2x1, 195/2x1, 215/2x1, 225/5x1, 245/3x1, 265/1x1, 275/Made it 6" then failed.
DL Every Minute On Minute: 255/1x5 (Rep #4 was hard, #5 very hard)
Stretch

[DrDonkeyLove]

8/10/16 #54 Home
Ritual & such
BP: 115/5x1, 130/3x1, 145/1x1, 150/2x3
Pause Bench: 130/3x1
Row: 45/10x1, 85/10x1, 115/5x1

8/12-14/16 Home
Sessions #55-57
Mostly Qigong & Walking

8/16/16 #58 Home
Ba Duan Jin x 2
Zerchers: 115/3x3
DL: 155/3x1, 175/3x1, 195/2x1, 215/2x1, 225/5x1, 245/3x1, 265/1x1, 275/1x1
DL Every Minute On The Minute: 265x5 (reps 4&5 were very tough)
BP: 115/5x1, 130/3x1, 145/1x1, 150/2x5
Pause Bench: 130/2x3
Row: 130/10x4
Quick Stretch

[DrDonkeyLove]

8/19/16 #59 Home
Ritual + 2 Different Ba Duan Jin's
Krav Maga Class

8/20/16 #60 Home
Ritual + 2 Different Ba Duan Jin's
Lake Kayaking & Hiking
Little 9 Heaven

8/22/16 #61 Home
Ritual + 2 Different Ba Duan Jin's
Little 9 Heaven

8/23/16 #62 Home
Ritual + 2 Different Ba Duan Jin's
Push Ups
Dynamic Tension BW Squats
Little 9 Heaven

8/24/16 #63 Home
AM
Ritual + 2 Different Ba Duan Jin's

PM
Walk w/(2) 50 lb. enthusiastic dogs
Zerchers: 130/3x3
DL: 135/2x1, 155/2x1, 175/2x1, 195/2x1, 215/2x1, 225/5x1, 245/3x1, 265/1x1, 275/1x1, 285/1x1
DL Every Minute On The Minute: 265/1x5
Stretch.

Plan on Little 9 Heaven before bed.

[DrDonkeyLove]

8/25/16 #64 Home
AM: Ritual + 2 Different Ba Duan Jins
PM: Krav Maga class & Walking & Little 9 Heaven

8/26/16 #65 Home
AM: Ritual + 2 diff ba duan jins
PM: Walking & Little 9 Heaven

8/27/16 #66 Home
Ritual w/ 2 diff ba duan jins
Krav Maga class which beat my ass in a fun way
Little 9 Heaven before bed

8/28/16 #67 Home
Remounted the heavy bag and had some warm up fun since it's sauna hot in the garage
BP: 100/5x1, 115/5x1, 130/3x1, 145/1x1, 155/1x1, 160/2x3 (needed help on last rep)
BP w/Pause: 135/3x3
Row: 135/10x4
Stretch

Planning some qigong later

[DrDonkeyLove]

8/29-30/16 #68 & 69 Home
Ritual + 2 Ba Duan Jins
Walks
Little 9 Heaven one of those days

9/1/16 #70 Home
Ritual + 2 Ba Duan Jins
Krav Maga Class
Walk

9/2/16 #71 Home
Ritual + 2 Ba Duan Jins
Lots of heavy bag work
Little 9 Heaven

9/4/16 #72 Home
AM
Canoeing and hiking
PM
A few rounds on the heavy bag
Ba Duan Jin x 2
Zerchers: 135/3x3
DL: 135x2, 155x2, 175x2, 195x2, 215x2, 225x5, 245x3, 265x1, 285x1, 290 x Bust, 265x1
Quick Stretch

Funny that 265 went up very smoothly and 285 went up pretty well. Expected more from 290. Wanted to do a few more reps at 265 but right SI didn't feel right.

[DrDonkeyLove]

9/5/16 #73 Home
Ritual w/ 2 Ba Duan Jins
BW Stuff
Little 9 Heaven in evening

9/8/16 #74 Home
BP: 70/5x1, 85/5x1, 100/5x1, 115/5x1, 130/3x1, 145/1x1, 155/1x1, 165/1x1, 155/1x1
BP w/Pause: 140/2x4
Row: 140/10x4

Planned to do doubles at 165 but it didn't happen.

[DrDonkeyLove]

9/13/16 & 9/11/16 #75&76 Home
Ritual
Heavy bag rounds

9/15/16 #77 Home
Ritual
Krav Maga class.

9/16/16 #78 Home
Ritual + (2) Ba Duan Jin's

9/17/16 #79 Home
Zerchers: 145/3x3
DL: 140/5x1, 160/5x1, 180/5x1 Bar broke so session ended.
Krav Maga class. Small class today, got some great jab/cross coaching. Also some fun kicking, knee & choke stuff

PM
Ba Duan Jin
Little 9 Heaven

9/18/16 #80 Home
Picked up a used CAP bar at Play It Again Sports
BP: 70/5x1, 85/5x1, 100/5x1, 115/5x1, 130/3x1, 145/1x1, 155/1x1, 165/1x3 (2 min between reps on last set)

*edit
Forgot this:
Pause BP: 145 x 4, 3, 2

Hope to do some qigong before bed and try to redo my DL session tomorrow if time allows.

[DrDonkeyLove]

9/19/16 #81 Home but a road day
Ritual
Zerchers: 145/3x3
DL: 150/2x1, 170/2x1, 190/2x1, 210/2x1, 230/2x1, 250/1x1, 270/1x1, 290/1x1 (PR)

Busy day but wanted to try my new bar. Strategy was to fool myself a little. Seems like I can hit 285 pretty regularly but 290 goes nowhere. Today 270 went up pretty well so instead of letting my body experience the pain of 280 and then pushing on, I just went for 290. I'm sure that strategy will fail plenty of times but it worked today.

Probably took 5-7 seconds to complete the pull. Challenge spot was from about 6" off ground to a bit below knees. Went fine at start and finish.

[DrDonkeyLove]

9/20/16 #82 Road
Ritual + (2) versions of Ba Duan Jin
Little 9 Heaven in evening

9/21/16 #83 Road
Ritual + (2) versions of Ba Duan Jin
Little 9 Heaven in evening

9/22/16 #84 Home
Ritual + (2) versions of Ba Duan Jin
Play about on heavy bag
Easy Lifting
• DL: 140/5x1, 160/5x1, 180/5x1
• BP: 60/5x1, 80/5x1, 100/5x1
• Row: 100/5x2

9/23/16 #85 Home
Ritual + (2) versions of Ba Duan Jin
Easy BW circuit
10 rounds on heavy bag (1 min on 30 sec off)

9/24/16 #86 Home
Ritual
Krav Maga class where I was left in a puddle of lung heaving sweat

[DrDonkeyLove]

9/25/16 #87 Home
Ritual + multiple qigong
Heavy bag rounds

9/26/16 #88 Home
Ritual + multiple qigong
Heavy bag rounds (easy)

9/27/16 #89 Home
Ritual + multiple qigong
Heavy bag play (easy)
Walk

9/28/16 Nothing, everything hurts

9/29/16 #90 Home
Call me Donkmael, the white whale has been slain.

Ritual w/(2) Ba Duan Jin
Swings w/24kg KB: 25
Zerchers: 150/3x3
DL: 150/2x1, 170/2x1, 190/2x1, 210/2x1, 230/2x1, 250/1x1, 270/1x1, 290/2x1, 300/1x1 (PR)

I did something on Sunday that put me in real pain all week. I looked under the bed for something and got up and bang my neck cramped like crazy. My neck has not been good at all this week from that innocuous activity, and what I assume is arthritis in my SI area has hurt as well.

I was scheduled to lift on Sunday but put it off hoping to heal. It's better but not by a ton. So, what to do today because I'm behind schedule but don't want to fuck things up because I'm a skinny 62 y.o.? I decided to give it more healing time and not to lift and then went and lifted anyway. I figured I could stop as soon as something felt wrong.

300 lbs is a warm up for most of you but it's been my goal for a long time. I quit Deadlifting >10 years ago because I messed up my SI the first time doing DL's @ 270.

Despite feeling like a busted toy today I felt really good once I started lifting. What had been brutal grinds for me over the last couple of months felt OK today. The goal was multiple reps of 290 but I felt good and kept going. I don't know why things felt good. Maybe the new (used) bar helped, maybe the mid week light lifting session, who knows?

Much thanks to my patient and encouraging coach syaigh! Blaidd was in the background at times too so thanks to him as well.

[syaigh]

YAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

Great job!!!! =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

And I'm thinking that new bar helped a lot. :)

[dead man walking]

brilliant work, donkmael.

what is the next everest?

[johno]

=D> =D> =D>

[Blaidd Drwg]

Extremely pleased. The next step will be smoother..

[Mickey O'neil]

Dunkenstein! That is fantastic! Great job!!!!!!

[DrDonkeyLove]

Thanks all, much appreciated!!
Short term next step is to take this run a bit farther if I can.

9/30/16 - 10/8/16 #91-95 Home & Road
Krav / Qigong / Heavy Bag (lightly)
I need to keep up more. Nursing some shoulder & neck stuff. Not serious, just trying to keep stuff settled down.

10/10/16 #96 Home
Zerchers: 135/3x3
DL: 140/2x1, 160/2x1, 180/2x1, 200/2x1, 220/2x1, 240/2x1, 260/1x1, 280/1x1, 300/1x1
Row: 100/15x2
BP: 100/10x2 (Going relatively easy on BP & row right now because of shoulder & neck)

Busy as can be the next couple of months so I had to get in a session today. Today's 300 was harder than last weeks and interesting in that it shows that last weeks PR wasn't a fluke. It also might be the hardest lift I every completed. It's certainly towards the top of that list.

It was definitely my toughest grind and started to twist to the left about 1/3 of the way up (I always twist left when it gets hard) but hung with it and got through. Progress at the bottom was almost imperceptible but somehow it went up s-l-o-w-l-y.

[beefheart]

You are approaching Andyhood!

[DrDonkeyLove]

Various things such as an intensive travel schedule and some dings have slowed me down. Neck & shoulder haven't cleared up and also had a cold that's hanging on.

Blood pressure is up. Used to be <130/<70. Now it's sometimes 140/80 or even more. I've neglected this area of fitness for a couple of years so I shouldn't be surprised. Apparently regular walking and qigong alone won't do it; need to keep the HR up on a regular basis & can find ways to do that w/o too much problem.

So, in conjunction w/coach syaigh I'm mellowing out through the holidays. Will start at the beginning w/DL's doing more sets of a few reps and rebuild. Will keep Zerchers in the mix as well and rows w/JS bands or face pulls too. BP is out for a while until shoulder shapes up.

10/31/16 Home
DL: 150/3x8
Walking

11/3/16 Road
Fast Walking

11/4/16 Road
Fast Walking, BW, and breaking out the Dr. Leonard Schwartz squat pulls & incline push ups. HR around 126

11/6/16 Home
DL: 160/3x10 EMOM
Zerchers: 100/3x10 EMOM
Ran in place between sets. HR was 146 @ end

[DrDonkeyLove]

11/7 - 11/17/16

One the road a lot and haven't been keeping up w/posting. Some good qigong & BW stuff. Had a really good stairwell workout at a hotel which was better than any of their limited equipment. Started Krav Maga up again last night. Shoulder & neck are meh.

11/18/16 Home
AM
Ritual w/ (2) versions of Ba Duan Jin

PM
DL: 140/2x1, 150/2x1, 160/2x1, 170/2x1
DL (Every Minute On the Minute): 180/3x10
Zerchers (EMOM): 110/3x10
Row: (EMOM) 110/5x5
16kg KB Side Bend (EMOM): 10x5

Note: Ran gently in place between sets. Kept up a nice heart rate for 30 min.

[DrDonkeyLove]

Been pretty faithful w/qigong & other stuff like BW & Krav Maga.
Mostly just recording weights right now.

11/23/16 Home
Zerchers EMOM: 110/3x1
DL EMOM: 140/2x1, 150/2x1, 160/2x1, 170/2x1, 180/2x1, 190/3x10
24kg KB Row L/R: 5x3

Kept moving between lifting sets to keep heart rate up

12/1/16 Home
DL EMOM: 150/3x1, 160/3x1, 170/3x1, 180/3x1, 190/3x1, 200/3x10
Zerchers EMOM: 120/5x3
Rows EMOM: 120/5x3

First real Krav class on Saturday. Things that were hurting hurt less.

Did a lite workout this morning (12/5/16) and BP is 140/74 w/a HR of 75. Don't love the systolic and would like to get it down a bit.

[DrDonkeyLove]

12/9/16
Ritual/Weights
Row: 130/5x5
Zerchers: 130/5x5
DL: 130/3x1, 150/3x1, 170/3x1, 180/3x1, 190/3x1, 200/3x1, 210/3x3

12/10/16 Home
Krav Maga/Qigong/Walking

12/11/16 Home
Yoga & Snow Shoveling

12/12/16 Home
Qigong/JM/Yoga/Snow Removal

[DrDonkeyLove]

1/15/17
Lots of joint pains and Christmas related junk took over my tiny lifting spot in the basement.

Thanks to Furman's latest book, I've added static holds to my workouts which, so far, hurts less than focusing on reps. Also doing more cardio.

Got back to lifting today. Just going to try for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps at working weight for a while. Will lift what feels moderate unless I feel shitty or terrific and will then adjust appropriately.

DL: 150/3x1, 170/3x1, 190/3x1, 210/3x1, 220/5x1, 220/4x1, 220/3x1
Zerchers: 140/3x3

[DrDonkeyLove]

1/22/17

Besides continued fucking about w/assorted stuff

DL: 140/3x1, 160/3x1, 180/3x1, 200/3x1, 220/5x5
Zercher Sq: 140/5x3
Row: 140/5x3