TRAINING LOG:Alan Hebert

Intro:  Nor Cal 54 year old Master.  Bald. Devastating good looks.  Weight, about 280, maybe a bit more if I bought Kettle Chips at the market this week. Farted around in the gym semi-regularly during the 2008-2009 off-season, but hasn't spent any serious gym time in years and years and ...years. I have no clue how to do most Olympic lifts.  None. Zero.  I have some stenosis (narrowing of a spinal nerve foramen in L4)  in my lower back that acts up when I do stuff like squats and dumbell core crushers.   Dead lifts and good mornings are totally out of the question. I screwed myself up royally for Pleasanton last year by doing Good Mornings for a couple of weeks before those Games.

All you young bucks who push wads more weight than I do can just get your giggling over with NOW.   Honest truth is that I have never worked so hard in the gym as I have since the middle of October.  I may be far, far behind a whole lot of you guys but I can feel the difference.

OK, time to play catch-up.  I only started logging a few weeks ago.  I gotta C&P my stuff over here from XMarks the Scot, which is where I've been keeping it.

Somewhere along the line a nice girl in the gym was doing incline dumbell presses with 45 pounds and pounding them out. I tried them. I could do about eight with 45 pounds.  I was embarrassed and humiliated, so I decided to do them as well.

I also did reverse dumbell flys, now and then, usually with 20 pounds and lots of reps.  I did sitting flys on a machine, which has nifty numbers printed on the stack of weights. Who knows whether those numbers have any relationship to reality, but I was doing two sets 8 with 100  pounds.

Mike Macellari got me doing Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls, and try to do 'em fast and I could do 2 sets of 8 at 75 pounds and it'd kill me. 

December 19th, 2009: TOTAL BURNOUT DAY, run myself down to nothing...

Box jumps: 10 on the 30-inch box

standing lunges, push off the bosu with 20 pounds each hand/40 overall...five per leg as per Amazon Goddess Wendy's instructions.

back squats: 150 pounds, 15 reps

dumbell snatches: 5 each arm X 70 pounds, 3 each arm x 75 pounds, 1 each arm, 80 pounds

sit-ups: 20 in the incline board, steepest setting, no weight.

Lateral pulls on Roman Chair: 15 each side, 35 pounds

Russian twists: on incline board, 8 lb medicine ball, 2 sets of 10

bar dips: two sets of ten with a -55 pound "helper" (reduces body weight by 55 lbs)

push ups: feet on 20 inch box, 20 push ups as fast as I can

triceps extensions: cable pulls high to low, with 55 pounds x 20

core crushers: (hammer-throw-like movement on Roman Chair) ten each direction with 12 pound medicine ball.

Plate lifts: put 45 pound plate on the floor...take squat stance above it, grip the edges of the plat and keeping back and arms straight, lift plate over my head....2 x 10 lifts. Major cardio.

Hypers: (lower back work) 15 on Roman chair, no weight

Incline dumbell press: tried to do a few, had to quit when felt like throwing up!


Christmas Break...no weights, but did some deep-knee sandbag dips, squatted my 100 pound caber a few times and had two throwing days.  I ate no fruitcake.


Wednesday January 6th 2010:

Box jumps: only did four, then tried the 36 inch box..FAIL...scraped up my knees pretty good. Hurt like the dickens.  Amazon Goddess came over and clucked at me like a mother hen.

standing lunges, push off the bosu with 20 pounds each hand/50 overall...five per leg, thank you Amazon Goddess Wendy, right knee feels MUCH better and stronger and more stable, already.

back squats: 170 pounds x 6 reps, 190 x 3, 210 x 1

dumbell snatches: 5 each arm X 70 pounds, 3 each arm x 80 pounds, 1 each arm, 90 pounds (FAIL on left arm)

sit-ups: 20 in the incline board, steepest setting, no weight.

Lateral pulls on Roman Chair: 15 each side, 35 pounds

Russian twists: on incline board, 8 lb medicine ball, 2 sets of 10

bench dips: 45 pound plate in my lap, 2 x 15


Friday January 8th 2010

standing lunges, push off the bosu with 25 pounds each hand/50 overall...five per leg, as per Wendy's guidelines.

seated box jumps (jump up to 30 inch box from seated position): 8

back squats: 170 x 5, 190 x 3, 210 x 1, 220 x 1 ...feel like I can do 230, maybe not 245.

incline bench sit-up with ten pound plate on chest, steepest bench setting: 15

side/lateral pulls on the Roman Chair: 15 each side with 40 pounds

curls: two sets of 8 with 90 pounds, bent bar

push-ups: feet on a 20 inch box, do 20 as fast as I can...rest, then 10 more

incline bench barbell presses: 6 x 65...wuuss!! tired from the push ups!

Plate lifts: put 45 pound plate on the floor...take squat stance above it, grip the edges of the plat and keeping back and arms straight, lift plate over my head....8 lifts.

Hypers: (lower back work) 15 on Roman chair with 10 pound plate on chest

bench dips: 45 pound plate in my lap, 15 dips, out of gas!

***************

Need to do....

Sumo dead lift high pulls again, but waiting for sore tendon in right arm/elbow to normal out...

Windmills

bench rows....move up to 10 x 90 pounds.

inclined barbell presses, try to get up to : 6 x 70, 3 x 80, 1 x 90

FAST 90-100 pound dumbell-bench squats...explode off the floor!

1-11-10

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1-14-10

Bad, bad development. I've got some loss of strength and that telltale ache in my left quad. Nuts are feeling "funny".  This means that the narrowing of the foramen in L4 is squeezing on the spinal nerve that innervates the quads. It's almost certainly aggravated by my current lifting regime. Looks like 10 - 14 days off from the squats, for me. That puts my goal of 300 pound squat by the end of Feb in doubt, which is too bad. Then again, I got this far, which is a big improvement. It just means I'll be working on core and upper body for a couple of weeks.

Todays "save the back/butt" workout....10/15/2010


bosu lunges: lung forward onto a bosu...go low, stretch, then push off hard, back off the bosu. 50 pounds, 5 each leg, love me some Amazon Goddess Wendy.

hanging leg raises: 15 x, rest...10x

dumbell curls: (I NEVER do these, too much muscle isolation) 40 x 8 each arm...

incline dumbell press: 65 x 8, 75 x 5, 80 x 1...just *barely* got that last one.  Whassup, I did 3 reps of 80 last week. sheesh.

Hypers: go super slow and easy, no weight... 15

bench dips: 55 pound dumbell in my lap...15x, 10x

triceps cable pull downs: 52 pounds, 8x, 8x

lat pulls on the Roman Chair: light weight, go easy 25 pounds 13 pulls each side

upright rows: move the weight as fast as I can...80 x 8, 90 x 6

Seated Flys on the machine: "175 pound"...x8, x7

1-22-10

Felt better today, but there's still a bit of compression in my lower back. It had gotten better, now it's back, again. I squatted today, but I won't, next week.  MORON.

Bosu Lunges and push-back: 5 x 60 pounds each leg

Back Squats: 2 x 6 x 170

dumbell snatch:5 x 80, each arm

incline bench situps: 10 pound weight 15 situps

incline dumbell press: 8 x 60, 6 x 70, 1 x 80...time to move up from the 60's

hypers: 15, slow and easy, no weight

Windmills (finally): 10 x 20 pounds, 8 x 25 pounds

seated/upright flys: 8 x 175, 7 x 175

bench dips: 2 x 15 with a 50 pound dumbell on my lap

Seven hours after workout...lower back feels good. YES.

"BTW, I'd like to thank Greg Hadley for posting his video's and log which are a real inspiration... Ditto to Grasshopper and Duncan MacAllum.

Of course, you all blow me out of the water in both straight out strength and lifting technique (well, haven't seen Duncan lift yet, but I bet....).   I have to remember that you are all young and virile, while I must rely on wisdom, charm,  good looks, and treachery but  *whatever*."

Alan, think nothing of it.  You all are examples to me...I am not an example to follow.  Not yet anyway.  Me lifting is not anything anyone wants to see; it's a lot of sweat, grunting, and Taylor Swift blaring from my Bedazzled iPod.

As far as being young and virile...to quote Mike Baab:

"Duncan, old age and treachery will beat talent and ability any day."

and

"Duncan, I'd rather be lucky than good."

Words to live by!  Keep lifting hard Alan.  Just stay at it.  Someone else made the weights...you made yourself.

Nice workout for a youngster. Glad to see you are improving. Its always hard to get stronger when you can't work your legs the way you want to and haven't lifted in a while. And having a little age on you its a little tougher but it can be done when you find out exactly what works for your body. I also have a bad back and don't do heavy squats. Leg Presses work better for me and high reps. Keep up the good work.

Took the day off, yesterday. I've been short on sleep and was really hurting yesterday. Much better, today...

1-28-2010

Box jumps:  8, up to 30-inch box

bosu lunges and push back:  40 pounds each hand (moved up, today) x 6 each leg

lat pullson roman Chair:  moved up today...15 each side, 50 pounds

hanging leg lifts:  15

"Supermans":  lie on a mat, stomach down, arms out in front. Now raise arms and legs off the mat so that you balance on your stomach...hold position for a slow five-count....did ten of 'em.

hip adductor/abductor/rotation machine:  2 x 10 adduct and abduct each leg x 135 pounds printed on the stack

leg press:  2 x 10 x 290 (as printed on the stack)

Russian twists on the incline board 2 x 10 (5  each  way) with 10 ll ball

push ups:  20 with feet on 20 inch box, hands on wobble boards

dumbell snatch:  6 x 80 right arm, 4 x 80 left arm

seated flys:  moved up to "195" printed on the stack...  2 x 6

I have a good feeling about this hip adductor/abductor stuff, teamed up with the leg presses.  I'm feeling it, but there's essentially no discomfort.

Two weeks of this and I'll give the squats a shot again....

1-29-2010

Felt good today, little twinge in my right knee from pushing a big stack on the leg press yesterday, but it'll get lots of rest this weekend so I'm not worried. Back feels good.  Easy day today as I had to cut out early to get to a work meeting.

bosu lunges and push back;   80 pounds,  6 x each leg

hip adductor/abductor on the machine;  2 x 10 each leg @ "135 lbs" ...done with week #1 of this, another week to go and back to the squats

hanging  leg lifts;  2 x 15

dumbell snatch;  tried 100 pounds just for fun...FAIL!  Pretty funny...so went  85 pounds, 4 x each hand

incline dumbell press:  2 x 6 x 70, managed to crank one up at 80 pounds

bench rows; 2 x 6 each arm @ 80 lbs

hammer wind core crushers on the Roman Chair;   10 each way with 10 lb medicine ball

Alan, I love reading your posts. I get a lot of good ideas from your
workouts as well as enjoy the wit. Thanks for posting.
Bill Gray