Another week of progress

Sometimes you have to take a step back, assess yourself with a brutally honest eye, and answer the question "Do I really want  to do something about this?"

Yes.  God, yes.  With all my heart and soul.  I want to address my defects of character, my shortcomings, my unwillingness to do certain things that are good, my unwillingness to stop certain things that are time wasters or even harmful. I want to be honorable and an example of compassion, self discipline, and service. I see my physique as a reflection of my self discipline and character.  Can I say no to crap foods? Can I dig a little deeper when I'm out for a run? Can I walk away from the TV and do something productive?

The good news is as the months go by, this process becomes less shocking, less painful, and often times surprisingly affirming.  I've tackled all of the biggies and am just dialing in the refinements, or adapting to old injuries and changes that come with aging.   I honestly don't care that I can't handle the training volume I did at 29.  I'm 39 now and making progress all the same with a reduced volume.

In my 20s, I'd make massive progress in strength and size in a period of a month, then take a few months off as I goofed off with buddies, partied, or just lost focus.  Now I make progress inch at a time, and sustain it as long as possible.  My left knee is still the limiting factor, but thank God my ego is no longer the problem!

The Upper / Lower split is panning out just fine.  I add a few pounds or a few reps each session, and leave a few reps in reserve. I'm purposely going slower than ALL-OUT, that way it'll be a while before I hit the plateau.

The workouts:
This  is nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.  Because of all the unilateral work, my left leg is slowly catching up to my right. Since the volumes are so low, I have plenty in reserve to put forth solid efforts with my group of kids at boxing class.  I do everything with them; leading by example, I suppose.
Upper Body
After lots of warm-ups, including 1-arm hangs and chest stretches with rings,

  1. Hammer Strength pulldown: 1x15; 2x12
  2. Hammer Strength row: 1x15; 2x12
  3. Incline dumbbell press: 1x15; 2x12
  4. Dumbbbelll front to side raise: 1x15; 2x12
  5. Incline dumbbell curl dropset:  1 x 10-10-10
  6. Alternating hammer curl dropset:  1x10-10-10
  7. Reverse grip 1-arm tricep cable pushdown: 1 x 10-10-10
  8. Barbell forearm reverse curl: 2x15
  9. stomach vacuums


 Lower Body
After lots of warm-ups, including side and front splits (getting closer) and foam rolling,

  1. Box pistols: 2 x max
  2. Bulgarian squat: 1x15; 2x12
  3. Single leg extension: 1x15; 1x10; 1x21s
  4. Single leg curl: 1x15; 1x10; 1x21s
  5. front squat: 3 x 12 (add weight each set)
  6. straight leg deadlift: 1x15
  7. single leg leg-press calf raise: 3x15
  8. Standing calves: 3x30


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