All in the Family featured the curmudgeonly Archie Bunker. Archie was television’s most famous grouch, blunt, blustering, straightforward and untouched by the PC crowd. He was the archetype of the conservative male. Michael desprately tried to reeducate him, but he persisted in his breviloquence.



Looking back at the last 40 years, we realize: ARCHIE WAS RIGHT!

8/20/2014

Intended Post


I had planned to put up a post last night. I was going to call it something like "4 Plates".
 
It was going to be a happy little post. I had been writing it in my head for over a week. My new weight training program had been coming along nicely. As you may recall I had switched over to the 5 X 5 plan. As part of my change over I cut back the amount of weight I was lifting and was focusing on form and getting the exercises right.
 
In the program I'm doing a complete evolution consists of a two week period. The first week is set up so that you lift on 3 days with a day of rest between each day you lift. It looks like this:

Week 1
Monday "A" Day Wednesday "B" Day Friday "A" Day
5 X 5 Squat 5 X 5 Squat 5 X 5 Squat
5 X 5 Bench Press 5 X 5 Overhead Press 5 X 5 Bench Press
5 X 5 Barbell Row 1 X 5 Dead Lift 5 X 5 Barbell Row
Week 2
Monday "B" Day Wednesday "A" Day Friday "B" Day
5 X 5 Squat 5 X 5 Squat 5 X 5 Squat
5 X 5 Overhead Press 5 X 5 Bench Press 5 X 5 Overhead Press
1 X 5 Dead Lift 5 X 5 Barbell Row 1 X 5 Dead Lift

 
 

The cool, and challenging thing about this program is that every day you add 5lbs to the weight you lifted the last time you did the exercise. During every two week evolution you add 30 lbs to your squat and 15lbs to every other exercise. Sunday is the start of my workweek so for me that is my first "A" day in the evolution. Then I take Monday as a rest day and so on.
 
Last night should have been my night to use 4, 45lb plates on Squats with this coming Sunday being the day for me to hit 4 plates on the bench press.  Sunday night I decided to injure my right forearm so badly that I could hardly carry my gym bag out to the truck after I finished.  My injury is my own fault, after hitting it hard on the bench I broke form and did not one but every single set of my Barbell Rows incorrectly, even though I was in serious pain when I started the 4th set.  I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and now I'm paying the price.
 
I know that 4 plates at 45 lbs plus 45lbs for the bar, each doesn't sound like much, but hitting 225 lbs for my squat and bench press is a far cry from where I was when I unexpectedly plateaued this spring.  It's also a ways to go on my mid term strength goals.  Those goals are 400 + lbs on the Squat and 275 lbs on the Bench Press.  I should hit those goals sometime in the first part of next year, if I can keep on track and progressing in a linier mode.  Which means I have to avoid hurting myself.  I haven't set strength goals for the Overhead Press, the Barbell Row or the Dead Lift.  I suppose I should, but I hadn't been doing those exercises before I started the program and just picked a weight to start from.  I don't have any idea what a man "should" be able to lift doing those exercises.  Any thoughts on what a goal for those should be would be appreciated.
 
Long term, I want to get to 325 on the bench and 500 lbs on the squat.  I don't know how long term that goal time frame is.  Maybe 500 lbs squat by age 50.  It could be a chant "500 by 50", "500 by 50".  As long as my body weight is under 190 lbs, making my goal should make me one buff old fart.   We'll celebrate with pie and ice cream.

2 comments:

  1. Giraffe1:40 PM

    Not bad for an old fart.

    When I got done playing football in college, one of my teamates was thankful that he would never have to squat more than 225 again. I hate squats. I don't remember squatting even 225 since. Becuase I hate squats.

    I have never done deadlift. I'd say a good number for overhead press is 50% of bench, but I haven't lifted in 20 years and we didn't emphasize that either.

    Now if you can bench 325 and squat 500 when you are 50, then I will be impressed. I couldn't do that at 23.

    I'd say a couple years will tell you where you can get to.

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  2. Right now I feel like 400lb is a possibility. My squats are one of my better exercises. Then again I always did well on the leg press and was up to 540lbs before I switched programs. I don't have my log book with me at the moment, but my Overhead is over 100lbs and my deadlifts are too.

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