RoR: Forum

Oh I didn't even notice this post, excellent work! Sucks you pulled your hamstring, nothing too serious I hope.

Post 1

Friday, January 7, 2011 - 11:26pm

No, just a felt twinge. Should heal in less than a week. Enough to scare me off of the weights though.

Ed

Post 2

Saturday, January 8, 2011 - 12:28am

My Fitness Goals

Short term (by the end of February)

(A) Cardio:
5-minute active-recovery h.r. < 120 bpm

(B) Weights:
120-lb lat pulldown for 4 sets of 10 reps
130-lb (total) d-bell bench press for 4 sets of 10 reps
135-lb Romanian deadlift for 4 sets of 10 reps
145-lb Smith squat for 4 sets of 10 reps

Long term (by the end of 2011)

(A) Cardio:
5-minute active-recovery h.r. < 100 bpm

(B) Weights:
195-lb lat pulldown for 4 sets of 10 reps
220-lb (total) d-bell bench press for 4 sets of 10 reps
265-lb Romanian deadlift for 4 sets of 10 reps
295-lb Smith squat for 4 sets of 10 reps

Ed

(Edited by Ed Thompson on 1/08, 12:43am)

Post 3

Thursday, January 27, 2011 - 5:19pm

After a long, drawn-out slump, I made it back to the gym today. Nothing much to report except for a baseline value on the smith squats:

4 sets of 10 reps with 95-lbs.

Actually, it's only 50-lbs on the bar, which -- instead of the usual 45-lbs -- weighs next to nothing inside the smith rack. I also did 7 minutes of cardio at 4.4 mph and 5 minutes of active recovery at 2.2 mph. The important success for today was to get some leg work done without any signs of injury/pain. I was successful in that.

Ed

Post 4

Thursday, January 27, 2011 - 6:01pm

Nice, I was about to check up on you and see how you were doing. Hopefully February will be a better month

Post 5

Friday, January 28, 2011 - 12:17am

Winters can be tough on me.

Post 6

Saturday, January 29, 2011 - 4:45pm

Man on fire:

1/29/2011
Resistance Exercise / Wt	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
	reps	reps	reps	reps
Flat bench d-bell press/45's	10	10	10	10

Low-incline d-bell press/30's	10	10	10	pain

WG pulldown / 100lb	10	10	10	10

Close grip (CG) cable row/90lb	10	10	10	10

I earned increases across the board today. February's goals look like they are within my reach after all. Look out Sam, I'm gunning for you!

:-)

Ed

(Edited by Ed Thompson on 1/29, 4:46pm)

Post 7

Sunday, January 30, 2011 - 1:51pm

Awesome! It looks like you made some great strength gains this month!

Post 8

Monday, January 31, 2011 - 7:28am

Ed:

What's a WG pulldown? If it's the same as what I call a seated lats pulldown, I'm right behind you with 90 lb. with reps of 12, 10, 10.

Watch out on this one but I'm way behind on the others.

Sam

Post 9

Monday, January 31, 2011 - 7:35am

WG I believe is Wide-Grip. Depending on the width of where you place your hands it can target your back muscles differently.

Post 10

Monday, January 31, 2011 - 8:04am

Sam,

John's right, WG is "wide grip". It's a seated lat pulldown with the hands gripping the pulldown bar at a spacing of about 3-4 feet apart from one another (wider than shoulder width)***. And yes, at 90 lbs for 12, 10, 10 you are right behind me. Christ, I can feel you breathing down my neck on this one!

:-)

Ed

***animated .gif of WG lat pulldown:
http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/LatissimusDorsi/CBFrontPulldown.html

Post 11

Tuesday, February 1, 2011 - 11:17pm

Ed,

Question: Why are you using such light weights for someone of your size, strength and experience? What you describe in Post 6 is what I can do.

I'm sure that you can do more, probably a lot more, so are you simply trying to avoid injury by being very gradual and very careful?

Post 12

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 - 3:26am

Bill,

While it's true that I'm trying to avoid injury by being gradual and careful, I have to admit to you (and, now, to the world) that I am this far "out-of-shape" -- as measured against myself in the past. When I did 10 reps with 45-lb dumbbells in the bench press, I had to push myself hard, or I simply wouldn't have gotten the reps.

Ed

Post 13

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 - 8:38am

Ed I'm sure you'll get really strong really quick, you'll probably be close to surpassing me in no time, which means I'm going to have some competition here and I need to stop slacking!

:)

Post 14

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 - 9:54am

Yeah, I agree, John. Even though Ed is this far out of shape -- surprisingly so! -- I'm sure he will make fairly rapid progress, given his age and previous conditioning history. Muscle memory and all that!

I, on the other hand, am in a far different position. At the age of 70, I sure ain't no Jack LaLanne, and my progress will far, far less, and that assumes that I'm as serious as Ed, which I'm not. :-)

Post 15

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 - 10:29am

Yeah I was thinking along the same lines. He's got the benefit of that past training history so muscle memory I think we'll start to kick in. But that just means I'm going to have to start putting more intensity into my workouts :)

Post 16

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 - 11:42am

Yeah ... that Ed guy. Whoosh. I'd could tell you stories.

I have to agree that I think like you two do about him, though. I mean, let's look at his big picture: some kind of a shooting-star amateur bodybuilder in the mid-90's, then more of a 'hobbiest' -- than a truly competitive -- powerlifter in the mid-2000's ... and then, then what do we hear about him? Next to nothing for 4 straight years. I'm mean, geez, can anyone say "one-and-a-half-hit wonder"?

Can anyone say "15 minutes of fame"? I mean, he's like the "Vanilla Ice" of the fitness world, or maybe the "Ryan Seacrest"! I mean, there you were, right in the middle of thinking he might've had some real talent, and his career was over before you could even find out -- and now you never even hear about him anymore.

Yeah, sure, he unassumingly pokes his head out of God-knows-where, and for God-knows-why, and then he asks: "You guys, you guys, which way to the local gym?" Well, how are we supposed to take that? I mean ... "hello ..."; "Who are you and why should we care?" "You look like you might have been fit, oh -- I don't know -- maybe 10 years ago, or something." What have you done ... l-a-t-e-l-y?

Anyway, here is how I predict things will pan out. Ed will make some gains quick and fast, this isn't his first rodeo. But that short sprint to "moderately strong" will be soon over, and the muscle memory will no longer be a supercompensatory boon. That's where we separate the men from the boys. When that quick, short gain of strength fizzles itself out, then we will see if he's got what it takes.

Anyway, it was nice talking about Ed with you guys.

:-)

Ed

Post 17

Thursday, February 3, 2011 - 12:12am

Hey Ed,

Would you ask Ed, when you see him, whether or not he ever took steroids? And also whether or not he ever took other kinds of supplements like creatine and some of the other exotic stuff you can get in a health food store these days?

Btw, have you read Muscle by Fussel, the Confessions of an Unlikely Body Builder? I highly recommend it. It's a great read, and takes you into the netherworld of professional body building. Unless, of course, you're already familiar with that side of it, but even if you are, it gives you a unique perspective from one of the participants.

Post 18

Thursday, February 3, 2011 - 4:47pm

Bill,

I'll ask Ed about these things, when I see him next ... sure. But I want to remind you that you are asking him -- in a public forum -- whether he committed a serious (jailable) offense/crime. Some might say that that is tremendously rude, or at least not at all civil.

Ed

Post 19

Friday, February 4, 2011 - 12:36pm