The Post-Long COVID Lifting Journey of a Middle-Aged Man. LOL

IronSoul

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Back day today. I can feel that I'm hitting my ceiling for this cycle. I'll be reloading next week and then trying a 6 day split the next time around. I feel like if I can hammer out all of the volume I've been doing on this bro split, I can probably handle a 6 day split. We shall see what happens.
Although this log is only about 2 or 3 weeks old. I'm actually 9 weeks into this lifting cycle, do the deload isn't premature.

10/15/24. Back
BB Row: 11,10,10,9 @ 100
WG Row: 4x10 @ 90
CB Row: 10,9,9 @ 90
DB Row: 14,12,10,8 @ 40

I dropped the DB pullover. I think there's something brewing with my left shoulder, and that movement highlights it. Better safe than sorry.
Good call on dropping the pullover for now. Never worth the risk of causing an injury or making one worse. Always listen to your body. People that try to train through them are complete idiots, and they pay for it. When it comes to lifting weights, no matter the training style, some injuries can affect you forever. It is not worth it. I am looking forward to seeing how the 6-day split works for you. How are you planning on setting it up? Just pay attention to your recovery and CNS.
 

Bim

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Good call on dropping the pullover for now. Never worth the risk of causing an injury or making one worse. Always listen to your body. People that try to train through them are complete idiots, and they pay for it. When it comes to lifting weights, no matter the training style, some injuries can affect you forever. It is not worth it. I am looking forward to seeing how the 6-day split works for you. How are you planning on setting it up? Just pay attention to your recovery and CNS.
I'm going to do a legs, push, pull setup. I was reading that the first day is always the best day for maximum lifting results, so I'm going to try doing legs first thing in the week and see if those stubborn fuckers will grow.
Going to start with lower volume and work up to make sure I don't overtrain, but I'm still going to go to between 1 and 3 RIR to ensure I'm hitting it hard enough to matter.
So the week will be legs/side delts day. Chest/triceps day. Back/rear delts/biceps day. I don't directly train my front delts because they get plenty of work with chest movements.
 

IronSoul

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I'm going to do a legs, push, pull setup. I was reading that the first day is always the best day for maximum lifting results, so I'm going to try doing legs first thing in the week and see if those stubborn fuckers will grow.
Going to start with lower volume and work up to make sure I don't overtrain, but I'm still going to go to between 1 and 3 RIR to ensure I'm hitting it hard enough to matter.
So the week will be legs/side delts day. Chest/triceps day. Back/rear delts/biceps day. I don't directly train my front delts because they get plenty of work with chest movements.
Perfect man, sounds like you are all over it. That is wise to put legs first, I would do the same thing. Even if it sucks, it's a good idea. Hoping to see you get the leg growth that you want. It's good that you are going to keep intensity up while reducing volume at first, that will really pay off. Not a bad idea about the anterior delts. I think they are easily over worked and some people do too much on them. I focus mostly on medial and posterior delts as well. I love isolating the posterior delts as much as possible to really push growth. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out for you bro.
 

Bim

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Perfect man, sounds like you are all over it. That is wise to put legs first, I would do the same thing. Even if it sucks, it's a good idea. Hoping to see you get the leg growth that you want. It's good that you are going to keep intensity up while reducing volume at first, that will really pay off. Not a bad idea about the anterior delts. I think they are easily over worked and some people do too much on them. I focus mostly on medial and posterior delts as well. I love isolating the posterior delts as much as possible to really push growth. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out for you bro.
Yeah, it seems like a lot of people forget about posterior delts. I guess because they're harder to see. But I HATE that slumped shoulder look you get if you blast the other two heads and forget about the posterior head.
Not sure where the legs will go, but I hope it's onward and upward. I was just reading something the other day about muscle fibers and their formation, and I'm going to try going with higher reps and lower weight on legs. Which for me, means bodyweight squats. I was obese pretty much from toddlerhood on, and I firmly believe my body developed more slow twitch fibers to accommodate the need to carry that weight around all day, every day.
 

IronSoul

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Yeah, it seems like a lot of people forget about posterior delts. I guess because they're harder to see. But I HATE that slumped shoulder look you get if you blast the other two heads and forget about the posterior head.
Not sure where the legs will go, but I hope it's onward and upward. I was just reading something the other day about muscle fibers and their formation, and I'm going to try going with higher reps and lower weight on legs. Which for me, means bodyweight squats. I was obese pretty much from toddlerhood on, and I firmly believe my body developed more slow twitch fibers to accommodate the need to carry that weight around all day, every day.
You are not wrong, and I agree. That is a terrible look man.

I love the attitude and commitment that you have man. That is really interesting to consider about the fibers. I have never thought about that before. That could very well be so, it makes a lot of sense. Good thing you can always change it! Doesn't mean that it's not harder for you, though. I know that when fat cells are created at a young age, it makes it very hard to drop weight as you are older. You have done an incredible job so far man. I hope you are proud of yourself for what you have done already. I'm sure your health markers are even much better now. You are doing all of this naturally too, right? No hormones or anything. Is that an area that you have pondered, if so?
 

Bim

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You are not wrong, and I agree. That is a terrible look man.

I love the attitude and commitment that you have man. That is really interesting to consider about the fibers. I have never thought about that before. That could very well be so, it makes a lot of sense. Good thing you can always change it! Doesn't mean that it's not harder for you, though. I know that when fat cells are created at a young age, it makes it very hard to drop weight as you are older. You have done an incredible job so far man. I hope you are proud of yourself for what you have done already. I'm sure your health markers are even much better now. You are doing all of this naturally too, right? No hormones or anything. Is that an area that you have pondered, if so?
Totally natural. I started dropping weight before Ozempic was a thing. It's so hard to do, but honestly, you don't really need any of that shit to do it. You just need to be able to suffer. LOL.
I'm not on any kind of steroids or hormones, either. I have an appointment with my doctor in January, and I will be getting my testosterone levels checked. If they're low I'll be doing TRT, but only for actual therapeutic benefit. Have too much heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other shit like that in my family to risk anything going wrong just so I can get some bigger muscles.
I figure after coming down from 315 whatever I can get is gravy.
Appreciate the kind words, too, man. I am proud of myself. It was extremely difficult, but it was worth it.
 

IronSoul

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Totally natural. I started dropping weight before Ozempic was a thing. It's so hard to do, but honestly, you don't really need any of that shit to do it. You just need to be able to suffer. LOL.
I'm not on any kind of steroids or hormones, either. I have an appointment with my doctor in January, and I will be getting my testosterone levels checked. If they're low I'll be doing TRT, but only for actual therapeutic benefit. Have too much heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other shit like that in my family to risk anything going wrong just so I can get some bigger muscles.
I figure after coming down from 315 whatever I can get is gravy.
Appreciate the kind words, too, man. I am proud of myself. It was extremely difficult, but it was worth it.
That is all so awesome bro, and you are absolutely right. No problem at all. I'm proud of ya too. This is an incredible achievement that very few ever make happen.
 
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Bim

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Today was tough. Been feeling draggy all week. Can't tell if I'm overtrained or coming down with something. Could be a little of both since I'm 9 weeks in. Fought through it for a little progress, but fucking hell, it was a slog.

10/16/24. Shoulders
Arnold Press: 12,11,10,10 @ 30
DB Press: 16,14,13,12 @ 25
Lateral Raises: 22,20,18,18 @ 10
Rear Delt Flys: 25,22,22,20 @ 12.5
DB Shrugs: 13,13,12,11 @ 45
 

IronSoul

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Today was tough. Been feeling draggy all week. Can't tell if I'm overtrained or coming down with something. Could be a little of both since I'm 9 weeks in. Fought through it for a little progress, but fucking hell, it was a slog.

10/16/24. Shoulders
Arnold Press: 12,11,10,10 @ 30
DB Press: 16,14,13,12 @ 25
Lateral Raises: 22,20,18,18 @ 10
Rear Delt Flys: 25,22,22,20 @ 12.5
DB Shrugs: 13,13,12,11 @ 45
Draggy, like DragQueen?...... haha kidding. That sucks man, I wonder what is going on.
 

Bim

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Draggy, like DragQueen?...... haha kidding. That sucks man, I wonder what is going on.
Dude, I look glorious in a full gown and bright red lipstick.
But seriously. I'm coming up on 9 weeks of steadily increasing weight and volume. I think I'm seriously in need of a deload week.
 

Bim

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10/17/24. Arms.
CG Bench: 14,13,11,11 @ 80
JM Press: 13,11,9,8 @ 40
EZ Bar Tricep Extension: 12,10,10,10 @ 30
EZ Bar Curl: 15,14,13,13, @ 50
Hammer Curl: 13,12,11,9 @ 22.5
 

Bim

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I was right. I was getting sick. Been feeling like shit since Thursday. Everything hits me harder with long COVID, so I'm glad it came when it did. I was going to deload this week anyway. I'll be taking a full rest week to make sure I'm back as well as possible on Monday when I start the new split.
 

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I was right. I was getting sick. Been feeling like shit since Thursday. Everything hits me harder with long COVID, so I'm glad it came when it did. I was going to deload this week anyway. I'll be taking a full rest week to make sure I'm back as well as possible on Monday when I start the new split.
Rest up and feel better man , being sick sucks ass
 
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I'm back! I'm feeling better and shifting to a 6-day split. I'm also doing front squats instead of regular squats, and they work much better for me. I was able to do more reps with much better form. So those are a game-changer, and I have high hopes for these piddly legs of mine.

10/28/24. Legs/Shoulders

Front Squats: 9,7,7,6,5 @ 45
RDLs: 11,10,10 @ 100
Arnold Press: 13,12,11,9 @ 25
Side Laterals: 20,19,14 @ 10
 

Bim

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10/29/24. Chest/Triceps/Core

Flat Press: 12,10,10,9,8 @ 125
JM Press: 10,10,10,9 @ 40
Planks 3 x 1 minute
Vacuums 3 x 1 minute
 

Bim

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So I have DOMS in my legs and a bit in my chest, so I know these workouts with less volume are working. I feel like I got caught up in the "more is more" trap by switching to bro split, so I'm glad to be back trying the 6-day split.

10/30/24. Back/Rear Delts/Biceps

BB Row: 11,10,8 @ 100
DB Row: 11,10,10 @ 40
DB Shrugs: 14,14,13 @ 45
DB Rear Delt Flys: 20,20,18 @ 15
EZ Bar Curl: 11,10,10 @ 50
 

Bim

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Just want to say for anyone who's struggling with traditional squats, try front squats. Fucking. Game. Changer. Reps are up, and I'll be upping the weight either next session or the session after that. I struggled with traditional squats for years because I fell into the "do the right exercise" trap. Fuck that, man. I'm so happy to be getting somewhere on these weak little legs of mine. LOL.

10/31/24. Legs/Shoulders

Front Squats: 11,9,8,7,6 @ 45
RDLs: 10,10,10 @ 110
Arnold Press: 15,13,12,9 @ 25
Side Laterals: 22,18,15 @ 10
 

Bim

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11/1/24. Chest/Triceps/Core

Flat Press: 15,10,10,9,9 @ 125
JM Press: 12,11,10,9 @ 40
Planks: 3 x 90 seconds
Vacuums 4 @ 1 minute
 
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