Fitness Milestones & Plans to share

here is what I accomplished today at the base gym. Getting ready for major spinal micro neurosurgery. Probably sometime next month. Still do not have an exact date. Have initial consult down in Dallas the 29th of this month.

- Warm-up on seated bike for 15 minutes on level 1 cardio.
- Straight bar bench warm-up with 105#, 4 sets x 10 reps.
- Dumbbell flat bench with 30# dumbbells, 3 sets x 10 reps, 2 sets x 8 reps.
- Dumbbell lat/ back rows with 30# dumbbells, 3 sets x 10 reps, 2 sets x 8 reps.
- Dumbbell pec flys with 20# dumbbells, 3 sets x 10 reps, 2 sets x 7 reps.
- Hammer strength pull down lat/ back rows with 25# per side, 3 sets x 10 reps, 2 sets x 7 reps.
- Seated bike for 30 minutes at weight loss setting. Burned 200 calories according to the computer, I was watching Fox news.
During warm-up I kept my heart rate around 105 BPM. Time between sets was 30 seconds. Time between exercise changes was 1 minute. During the final biking I kept my heart up around 130 BPM with a 3 minute cool down period.
Diet today consisted of lots of water. As my piss looked like root beer this morning. Did not realize that I was so dehydrated. ( I do veteran crises intervention. Been an especially long weekend.) Had 3 scoops of Muscle-tech extreme 2000 with a handful of blueberries and strawberries. Later I had a lite lunch of 1 beef and cheese taco, 1 beef enchilada, 1 cheese quesadilla.
Just got done smashing 3 pieces of pepperoni and sausage super thin crust pizza and am still drinking a 12 ounce Sprite.

My current weight is 215# with an 18% body fat. I feel like garbage if I go much below 190# or so. 190-200# is my target weight. Back at it again Friday.
 
Tinman6 said:
here is what I accomplished today at the base gym. Getting ready for major spinal micro neurosurgery. Probably sometime next month. Still do not have an exact date. Have initial consult down in Dallas the 29th of this month.

- Warm-up on seated bike for 15 minutes on level 1 cardio.
- Straight bar bench warm-up with 105#, 4 sets x 10 reps.
- Dumbbell flat bench with 30# dumbbells, 3 sets x 10 reps, 2 sets x 8 reps.
- Dumbbell lat/ back rows with 30# dumbbells, 3 sets x 10 reps, 2 sets x 8 reps.
- Dumbbell pec flys with 20# dumbbells, 3 sets x 10 reps, 2 sets x 7 reps.
- Hammer strength pull down lat/ back rows with 25# per side, 3 sets x 10 reps, 2 sets x 7 reps.
- Seated bike for 30 minutes at weight loss setting. Burned 200 calories according to the computer, I was watching Fox news.
During warm-up I kept my heart rate around 105 BPM. Time between sets was 30 seconds. Time between exercise changes was 1 minute. During the final biking I kept my heart up around 130 BPM with a 3 minute cool down period.
Diet today consisted of lots of water. As my piss looked like root beer this morning. Did not realize that I was so dehydrated. ( I do veteran crises intervention. Been an especially long weekend.) Had 3 scoops of Muscle-tech extreme 2000 with a handful of blueberries and strawberries. Later I had a lite lunch of 1 beef and cheese taco, 1 beef enchilada, 1 cheese quesadilla.
Just got done smashing 3 pieces of pepperoni and sausage super thin crust pizza and am still drinking a 12 ounce Sprite.

My current weight is 215# with an 18% body fat. I feel like garbage if I go much below 190# or so. 190-200# is my target weight. Back at it again Friday.
Click to expand...
Good job bro. I cut out cheese entirely and I lost a lot of fat in a short time and felt way better. Might be worth a try.
 
Ok after a very long day of feeling like I was chasing my ass. I got out to the base gym tonight at 2215.
Here is what I accomplished tonight.
- 1 hour on seated bike at weight loss setting on rolling hills. In the valleys I kept my heart rate between 115- 120 BPM. On the hills heart rate was kept between 130- 135 BPM.
- Mileage was equivalent to 16.4 miles, calories burned 470.
Diet today consisted of 3 scoops protein powder. With 1 banana, ~1/2 cup blueberries,~ 1/2 cup strawberries, 24 oz. water. This was consumed shortly after getting out of bed @ 0930 this morning. Evening meal consisted of me taking my sister-in-law to the golf course restaurant. Where I had 10 hot wings and a side of baked mac & cheese. Have drained my 1.5 liter camel back bottle thrice today as well. Only water was drank today.
Lats are having some serious DOMS. But it is a good pain!
 
Swim-48:18
T1-9:26
Bike-3:28:56
T2-6:23
Run-2:32:08

Just wasn't bike fit enough to use my run fitness at all. Threee mega hills that just broke me. But, I set a new FTP so that was good. Even then, I hadn't run distance outside enough and probably tapered a bit too hard since I decided to go to Australia three weeks back for the Wallabies-All Blackes...time readjustment was brutal.

And my swim is still shit.
 
Which 70.3?

Not that bad of times aside from the run.

Try doing some bricks, i.e. do 10min on the bike, then get off and run 1/2mi, rest 3min and repeat 4-6 times. It will help your body get better at going from peddling to running.
 
Tinman6 said:
So this morning I go to the dental clinic at the VA. To have a permanent crown glued on at 0830.
I have decided that I need to prep myself for the next round of surgeries on my spine. So I went to the base I live by. With the intent of doing the pool thing again. Pool therapy has been very good for me in the past.
I get to the pool at a little after 1000. Where the kid attending says it's lesson time. I'm like "there are 2 kids in the whole olympic sized pool dude. I just need a spot that isn't near anyone for about 20 minutes". It ain't happening today is how that worked. Open swim starts at 1300 and, I am not waiting that long.

I decide to hit the gym. Here is what I ended up doing.
Not a lot by any means. But, I figured it's a start for my old ass. Been wanting to lift for awhile. Have been medically prohibited until recently. Light weight ONLY.

- Stationary recumbent bike, 10 minutes @ level one cardio setting.
- Hammer Strength shoulder press
-warm-up 10 reps x 3 sets with #30
-10 reps x 2 sets with #40
- Hammer Strength pec flys/ rear delt machine
-warm-up 10 reps x 3 sets with #40
-10 reps x 2 sets with #55
- Cable push downs with rope
-warm-up 10 reps x 3 sets with #35
- 5 reps x 1 set with #42.5
-Alternating dumbbell curls/ tricep presses
- 10 reps x 4 sets with #15 dumbbells
- Curl bar forearm curls
- straight curl bar 3 sets to failure
- Stationary recumbent bike 10 minutes @ level 1

This was one long hyperset. With no more than a 10 second break between sets of each exercise. As well as no more than 30 second between exercise changes. I did take about a minute to grab the dumbbells.
During the biking portion. I kept my heart rate around 105 BPM. Did not monitor it any other time.
I felt GREAT! When I was finished and, had taken a shower. Along with downing a post workout meal shake.

My goal is to hit the body parts that are cooperating on that day. For at least 3 days a week. Along with at least 2 days of pool therapy.

Does anyone have any input on what I have presented. As a 57 year old male with a ton of health issues. to include 2 prior brain surgeries, an ACDF of c5-c7, gunshot wound to right shin. As well as assorted other crud and bloomer crickets. Collected from a life of fast living.
All suggestions will be considered. As I am trying to be a pain in my wife's ass for just a few more years.

Thanks:thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I bet your wife will Love that. I know my Wonderful Husband is my favorite pain!
 
Tinman6 said:
So this morning I go to the dental clinic at the VA. To have a permanent crown glued on at 0830.
I have decided that I need to prep myself for the next round of surgeries on my spine. So I went to the base I live by. With the intent of doing the pool thing again. Pool therapy has been very good for me in the past.
I get to the pool at a little after 1000. Where the kid attending says it's lesson time. I'm like "there are 2 kids in the whole olympic sized pool dude. I just need a spot that isn't near anyone for about 20 minutes". It ain't happening today is how that worked. Open swim starts at 1300 and, I am not waiting that long.

I decide to hit the gym. Here is what I ended up doing.
Not a lot by any means. But, I figured it's a start for my old ass. Been wanting to lift for awhile. Have been medically prohibited until recently. Light weight ONLY.

- Stationary recumbent bike, 10 minutes @ level one cardio setting.
- Hammer Strength shoulder press
-warm-up 10 reps x 3 sets with #30
-10 reps x 2 sets with #40
- Hammer Strength pec flys/ rear delt machine
-warm-up 10 reps x 3 sets with #40
-10 reps x 2 sets with #55
- Cable push downs with rope
-warm-up 10 reps x 3 sets with #35
- 5 reps x 1 set with #42.5
-Alternating dumbbell curls/ tricep presses
- 10 reps x 4 sets with #15 dumbbells
- Curl bar forearm curls
- straight curl bar 3 sets to failure
- Stationary recumbent bike 10 minutes @ level 1

This was one long hyperset. With no more than a 10 second break between sets of each exercise. As well as no more than 30 second between exercise changes. I did take about a minute to grab the dumbbells.
During the biking portion. I kept my heart rate around 105 BPM. Did not monitor it any other time.
I felt GREAT! When I was finished and, had taken a shower. Along with downing a post workout meal shake.

My goal is to hit the body parts that are cooperating on that day. For at least 3 days a week. Along with at least 2 days of pool therapy.

Does anyone have any input on what I have presented. As a 57 year old male with a ton of health issues. to include 2 prior brain surgeries, an ACDF of c5-c7, gunshot wound to right shin. As well as assorted other crud and bloomer crickets. Collected from a life of fast living.
All suggests will be considered. As I am trying to be a pain in my wife's ass for just a few more years.

Thanks:thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I bet your wife Loves that! MY husband like being a pain also. I still love him pain & all, if only he would workout with me
 
I always find these stories kind of inspiring, especially now when I need to make some moves to get back into better shape.

World’s oldest Ironman plans to keep competing into his 90s

His story reminds me of the my first triathlon. I was in my mid-20s and in pretty good shape. Since it was my first tri and I didn't have a road bike, just an inefficient mountain bike with slicks, I decided to just do the sprint distance. For those not familiar with tris, there are typically 2 distances, a shorter "sprint" distance and the longer "Olympic" distance courses.

The swim start was staggered but the timing resulted in competitors in both courses exiting the water and transitioning to bikes at about the same time. I thought swimming was generally my weaker event but ended up swimming a little better than I expected; I exited the water probably somewhere near the top 15% of the pack overall. I had a good transition and felt really good as I quickly passed a number of other competitors. The short and long courses used the same route but then split in different directions for distance. I was on a mountain bike, probably peddling twice as hard. As I continued to pass others my confidence grew. It wasn't easy and I was pushing myself; no one passed me.

As I approached I approached the course split, all of the sudden this guy pulls up next to me. I look over and he's ripped; just lean muscle. He looks over at me and says causally, "Hey, how's it goin'?" I'm thinking are you kidding me? I can't peddle any faster. I just respond with a somewhat deflated, "Good." He says, "Awesome. Have a good one!" And pulls away from me like I'm standing still! I'm like what just happened?!

And then I saw it...

As the guy rode away, as is the case with all triathlons, on the back of his calf was his age - 68 years old! As that sunk in, I watched him make the left turn onto the Olympic distance route. Never saw the guy again. You'd have never guessed this guys age by his physique; his face looked older but that was it. I made the decision then and there that when I get to that age, my goal is to be kicking the ass of a 20-something.

The guy in this World's Oldest Ironman story reminded me of this experience. Now excuse me, I need to go do some pushups...
 
Last edited:
Blizzard said:
I always find these stories kind of inspiring, especially now when I need to make some moves to get back into better shape.

World’s oldest Ironman plans to keep competing into his 90s

His story reminds me of the my first triathlon. I was in my mid-20s and in pretty good shape. Since it was my first tri and I didn't have a road bike, just an inefficient mountain bike with slicks, I decided to just do the sprint distance. For those not familiar with tris, there are typically 2 distances, a shorter "sprint" distance and the longer "Olympic" distance courses.

The swim start was staggered but the timing resulted in competitors in both courses exiting the water and transitioning to bikes at about the same time. I thought swimming was generally my weaker event but ended up swimming a little better than I expected; I exited the water probably somewhere near the top 15% of the pack overall. I had a good transition and felt really good as I quickly passed a number of other competitors. The short and long courses used the same route but then split in different directions for distance. I was on a mountain bike, probably peddling twice as hard. As I continued to pass others my confidence grew. It wasn't easy and I was pushing myself; no one passed me.

As I approached I approached the course split, all of the sudden this guy pulls up next to me. I look over and he's ripped; just lean muscle. He looks over at me and says causally, "Hey, how's it goin'?" I'm thinking are you kidding me? I can't peddle any faster. I just respond with a somewhat deflated, "Good." He says, "Awesome. Have a good one!" And pulls away from me like I'm standing still! I'm like what just happened?!

And then I saw it...

As the guy rode away, as is the case with all triathlons, on the back of his calf was his age - 68 years old! As that sunk in, I watched him make the left turn onto the Olympic distance route. Never saw the guy again. You'd have never guessed this guys age by his physique; his face looked older but that was it. I made the decision then and there that when I get to that age, my goal is to be kicking the ass of a 20-something.

The guy in this World's Oldest Ironman story reminded me of this experience. Now excuse me, I need to go do some pushups...
Click to expand...

I did some sprints "back in the day" to see if I loved the sport to go for longer distances. They were fun, but not fun "enough."

I had a similar experience during a marathon, though: I was actually on my pace and an old woman--probably 50 years older than me, no joke--comes up beside me and asks, "you OK, hon?" I reply, "yes, ma'am, I am good." She smiles and says "great!" and takes off like a bat out of hell. Turns out she ran that marathon in 3 and change (my time was 4 and change).
 
Blizzard said:
I always find these stories kind of inspiring, especially now when I need to make some moves to get back into better shape.

World’s oldest Ironman plans to keep competing into his 90s

His story reminds me of the my first triathlon. I was in my mid-20s and in pretty good shape. Since it was my first tri and I didn't have a road bike, just an inefficient mountain bike with slicks, I decided to just do the sprint distance. For those not familiar with tris, there are typically 2 distances, a shorter "sprint" distance and the longer "Olympic" distance courses.

The swim start was staggered but the timing resulted in competitors in both courses exiting the water and transitioning to bikes at about the same time. I thought swimming was generally my weaker event but ended up swimming a little better than I expected; I exited the water probably somewhere near the top 15% of the pack overall. I had a good transition and felt really good as I quickly passed a number of other competitors. The short and long courses used the same route but then split in different directions for distance. I was on a mountain bike, probably peddling twice as hard. As I continued to pass others my confidence grew. It wasn't easy and I was pushing myself; no one passed me.

As I approached I approached the course split, all of the sudden this guy pulls up next to me. I look over and he's ripped; just lean muscle. He looks over at me and says causally, "Hey, how's it goin'?" I'm thinking are you kidding me? I can't peddle any faster. I just respond with a somewhat deflated, "Good." He says, "Awesome. Have a good one!" And pulls away from me like I'm standing still! I'm like what just happened?!

And then I saw it...

As the guy rode away, as is the case with all triathlons, on the back of his calf was his age - 68 years old! As that sunk in, I watched him make the left turn onto the Olympic distance route. Never saw the guy again. You'd have never guessed this guys age by his physique; his face looked older but that was it. I made the decision then and there that when I get to that age, my goal is to be kicking the ass of a 20-something.

The guy in this World's Oldest Ironman story reminded me of this experience. Now excuse me, I need to go do some pushups...
Click to expand...
That dude is intense, I remember watching the Kona special where he "DNFd" he still finished, just didn't get an official time. And then the next one when he finished under the 17 hour cut off.
 
This old dude is coming along.

This week:

DAY 1

5 rounds (90 second rest between rounds, first set max, then 70% max)

- Max pull ups
- Max sit-ups
- Max push-ups
- Max front squats w/ 75lb sandbag
- Battle rope (30 seconds)
- Max flutter kicks

DAY 2-3

Recovery day(s)

DAY 4 (legs have recovered)

Wind sprints (4 - 100 yard sprints, 3 minute walking rests between). Time permitting 3-6 mile nature walk w/ 40lb ruck, or I’ll carry my plastic Jerry Can, switching hands.

Day 5

Another full body workout, emphasis on core, traverse plane, back and delts using sandbag for overhead presses like log PT.

More recovery this weekend...maybe some light swimming if the weather holds out.

I suffer from fibromyalgia as part of the ol’ Gulf War Syndrome and it really makes recovery TOUGH. Just found out this week that my team leader is rated 70%, fibro, IBS and the common heart issues Associated with GWS. We chewed the same dirt.

BUT I’ve been taking ashwaghanda for a little over a month and it seems to have helped with recovery and anxiety related to A-fib. It’s the only change that I’ve made in relation to diet, sleep and exercise, with the exception of a periodization change after week 3.

Haven’t been taking VA drugs for over 6 months. I’m not suggesting this as advice, I’m just reporting my activity and progress.
 
So for my preparation for A&S in January, im actually trying to NOT do as much, but make what I do each day count more. Im sticking with 2 ruck, 2 run, and 2 swim days; im still adding a fin once a week even though I dont fin at A&S but the ankle and shin development is probably one of the reasons I dont get shin splints anymore. These are my goals over a 10 week period:

-1000 yard blouse and trousers breast stroke under 30:00
-2000 yard fin full cammies and a kickboard (to simulate a waterproofed pack) under 45:00
-1500m slick freestyle under 30:00
-6 mile run in 42:00 and 3 miles in 20:00
-18 mile ruck in 4:30:00 or better

This is my plan to do it:
-Monday:
Cammies swim
Fin
Brick tread
-Tuesday:
Am: tempo run
Pm: BRC card x3, pullups and dips
-Wednesday:
Interval ruck run (ruck 1-2 miles, rest 5 min, repeat)
-Thursday:
Freestyle (slick)
Brick tows (full cammies)
MCIWS Card (aka pool PT)
-Friday:
Am: 400m sprints (run) into 100m sprints (swim) to prepare for the In-test
Pm: BRC card x3, pullups and dips
-Saturday:
Long ruck

I have a distance day and an interval day for my runs and rucks, and I have the "speed" as of now for my swim goals and theyre a little more disbursed, so each swim is more like a timed/max effort event. My biggest mistake was having too much "jogs" getting ready for August, so to mitigate that my "tempo" day is at a 7 minute mile pace or faster, and hopefully as i lean out even more than before i can reach 6 miles at that pace, my mindset being if I can run 6 miles at 42:00 in a training environment I can run a sub 35:00 5 mile in the course. I threw 2 calisthenics days in to maintain my bodyweight endurance. I start week 2 this Monday, and ill definitely write my before and after times from week 1 to week 10.
 
I had to change a few things up since my last post, partially due to work and partially due to COVID. I haven't managed to do any run intervals followed by swim intervals because of the policies in place at the pools. Basically only one person can go in one lane, so there's like 5 people swimming at a time. No big deal, here's what my first and second week looked like:

-Monday:
-3x 100 yard swim sprints, followed by:
5 gutterups, 5 push-ups, 5 squats, 5 4-ct flutterkicks
(Times were 2:18, 2:24, and 2:30 so pretty good)
-400 yard fin, cammies and kickboard: 9 minutes flat (right at goal pace for a 2k)
-10:00 tread drill EMOM: bottom sample, 5 seconds hold brick, 5 seconds arms fully extended (no brick), 5 seconds hands behind head, 5 seconds hands just barely out of the water, then tread the rest.

-Tuesday:
-AM:
2 rounds 1 mile run, 20 squats, 20 lunges, 10 calf raises, quarter mile easy but no slower than 10:00 mile pace
(This kicked my ass on the second round, getting 6:40 and then 7:30 on both miles respectively, but I feel like its addressing my weakness of running "strength" pretty directly)
-PM:
A&S short card x1
10 rounds: 2 sandbag getup, 2 pullups
(Do a getup with my left shoulder, then my right, then walk to the pullup bar and back for a small rest between)

-Wednesday:
4x 1 mile ruck, 5:00 rest
(I kept my pace at 20 paces shuffle, 25 paces walk. My goal is to only jog long enough to be able to still step it out on my "rest", and managed 14ish minutes miles on all of them with this)

-Thursday:
-300 yard freestyle, slick: 5:34
(Not the greatest but im just shooting for maintaining this pace for 1500 yards)
-100 yards brick tows in cammies
(2x25 back stroke, 1x25 side stroke each)
-10x50 yard pool pt
(Freestyle down, do an exercise, repeat until 500 yards are swam total)

-Friday:
AM:
2 rounds:
Half mile sprint, 10 lunges, 10 squats, 10 calf raises, quarter mile jog but no slower than 10:00 mile again
(Times were 2:51 and 3:05, so my sticking point seems to be between .75 and 1 mile or so)

PM:
Same as Tuesday

-Saturday:
4 mile ruck, 20 paces jog, 25 paces walk, 45 lbs filler (not including pack weight),
Then 2 o course runs

This felt pretty good, I managed a 56 minute pace and it was almost at an "easy" pace. My goal is eventually 100 paces jog 25 walk but it was good to know if I'm just having a bad day what my absolute slowest should be. Im working up to 65 lbs dry now for my rucks, especially with knowing how the real deal works: it's 45 lbs dry, then you add 2 water sources, an emergency chow, and a few other things and its a bit heavier than 45 lbs for sure.

Overall I felt good, im moving into week 3 Monday and im bumping my mileage on everything up every 2 weeks, with weeks 9 and 10 being my peak, and 11 and 12 being a taper before A&S.
 
Weight lifting:

Day 1:
4x5 deadlift
5x10 back squat
3x12 leg curl
3x12 hamstring curl
50 leg raises
1mile run

Day 2:
3x5 bench press
3x10 incline press
4x12 chest fly
4x12 military press
50 weighted sit ups
1 mile run

Day 3:
5 mile run

Day 4:
4x5 Pendlay row
4x10 lat pull down
3x8-10 chin ups
Farmer walk
3 min plank
3x30 4 count flutter kick
1.5 mile eliptical

Day 5:
Bodyweight circuit
5 rounds:
30 seconds push ups
30 seconds sit ups
20 air squats
20 4 count flutter kicks
10 jumping lunges
10 burpees
1 mile run

Day 6:
1 mile run warm up
4x800 meter splits (6 min/mile or 3 min ½ mile splits)
½ mile cool down

Day 7:
Rest

This has been my routine for a couple of months now. It's more strength centric with cardio sprinkled in. I'm trying to find ways to sprinkle in more cardio without effecting my recovery too much. I still sometimes feel I leave some room on the table. . Then, there are days where I feel foggy headed and I can only do a certain % of what I normally do and realize that I overwork some areas more than other.

It blows my mind a lot of people can lift 4-5 a week, but still have the energy to run 20+ miles a week and frequently do 2 a day workouts.

I'm doing this for now because my biggest challenge and experiment I tried working with was seeing how strong and fast I can get at the same time.
Right now, I'm 5' 7", 182 lbs, my stats are:
1 mile time: 6:35
5 mile: 40:00
5k: 24:00
10k: 53:00
Max bench: 225
Max squat: Around 275
Max deadlift: I don't max this anymore; too many injuries so too risky. However, I do 315 for reps on a good day
Runs aren't spectacular, I know, but I'm focusing more on weights and the running is more on maintenance than record breaking.

Once the weather gets warmer (so right now), I'm going to lean up and focus more on cardio and circuits. I can run 5 miles hungover without trouble (the Army way), but that doesn't seem to carry over for sprints and improving your VO2 max.

My plan for the last sentence is to dedicate 1 day a week at most at the gym for a full body weight routine to maintain strength (might just do 1.5 days every 2 weeks), and the rest for body weight circuits, sprints, and longer distance runs. There's a 7.5 mile run in my area called Bloomsday that I'm going to sign up for. Goal time for that is 62 minutes, so about 8:15 min/mile pace if my math is correct.
 

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