What Was Your Work Out Today?

I would still consider that a triceps pushdown if the only thing which changed was the attachment used. Different bar shapes were developed to better isolate specific parts of a movement, or the muscle involved, or sometimes simply for comfort…my wrists rebel doing pushdowns with a straight bar, but are perfectly fine if I use a slanted bar.

@nossmf instead of letting the elbows in and just using the forearms, I had straight arms from the top to bottom. She said it was more for the middle back. No matter what muscle was used, I enjoyed trying something new. Thank you for your insight

2 min Helix warmup, 7 miles on the stationary bike, 28 min strength and conditioning, then 5 miles on my bike after work. Also 45 min walking outside.

Temps are going to drop in three days, so I'm trying to squeeze out the last enjoyment from outdoor riding that I can now.

Cardio (warmup): Treadmill jog, 20 min

Strength (Upper 3):

Bench Press 5x5
BB Row 5x5
Incline Bench Press «superset» Pullups 3x12
Seated DB Lat Raise «superset» Seated DB Rear Lat Raise 3x15
DB Shrugs 3x10
Preacher Curl 4x10, 15, 20, 25
Cable Pushdown 4x10, 15, 20, 25

Abs

DB Side Crunch 2x10 «superset» Cable OH Pallof Press 2x10s

21 min treadmill run, 10 min elliptical machine, 25 min walking outside. Various standing stretches.

Today's workout is going to be a shoulder and ABs day.

Rear delts 3x10

Side/Lateral delts raises 5x10

Shoulder press 3x10

Front delts raises 3x10

Shrugs 3x20

ABs

Rope Cable pull downs crunch 3x20

Cable axe swings 3x20

Hanging leg raises 3x20

DB oblique crunch 3x20

Cardio Warmup: Treadmill Jogging (20 min)

Strength: Lower Body Day

Squat 4x10
Rack Pull 5x5
Hack Squat 3x20
Seated Calf Raises 2x10, 2x20
Leg Extensions 2x12
Seated Leg Curl 2x12
Machine Crunches 3x20
Stretching 15 minutes

This is my first lower body day (which includes lower lumbar back) since my injury, so I took it extra easy on the lifts which put strain on the torso: squat, hack squat, rack pull. At 70% working weight, my back felt fine. Next week I will increase to 85% working weight. If that's still good, then the third week back I will resume using normal weights.

Back in my school days, we would do our training runs outside, in the snow, wearing shorts below but sweatshirts, caps and gloves above.

I'm usually fine with that as far as comfort during the run goes, but not a fan of the burning skin once you get back inside 😆

Headed to the gym today. The gym's a lot less crowded on Sunday mornings, so it's enjoyable to work on the weights without having to wait for equipment.

Did a light full body strength workout today just to see where we were at with everything. I typically drastically reduce or completely stop strength training by week 16ish of marathon training just because there aren't enough hours in the day to get all of life crammed in and maintain any kind of mental stability 😆

Legs - Strong, as expected, with an asterisk by glutes medius/minimus. Not at all shocking.

Core - Noticed some doming and gapping have returned. Needing to regress to basic DR rehab before progressing forward. Fully expected this, and will most likely have to cycle through these after each drop in strength training. The price of growing large babies!

Upper - Weak AF 🤣 Also expected as I've never had much upper body strength - I can squat heavy for days, by don't ask me to press anything.

Trying a new maintenance and build plan for a spring marathon that keeps some more maintainable strength workouts throughout the whole plan. We'll see how it goes!

Cardio (Warmup): Treadmill Jog, 20 min

Strength (Upper 1):

DB Bench Press «superset» DB Row 4x10
Incline Cable Fly «superset» Machine High Row 3x15
Cable Lateral Raise «superset» Cable Rear Lateral Raise 3x15

Abs:

Cable Woodchoppers 2x10 «superset» Cable Palloff Press 2x10 sec

If you've been doing this without injury for a while, there's no reason to change it because of the calendar.

I'm 69F, and have found that if I resume strength training after a long break (so am deconditioned to it), I usually start with relatively higher reps at lower weight to ease back into it - my joints are less likely to have problems that way. Similarly, sometimes I go up in reps or sets before going up in weight, but that's related to how the lower no-longer-challenging weight feels subjectively. (Does it feel rock-solid controlled in 3 dimensions consistently, how do the relevant joints feel during and after, that sort of thing.)

That's just me, and it's from experience, including some past negative experiences.

Once a person has relevant experience, I think what adaptations to make for age or for actual personal physical limitations/risks . . . that's quite individual, I think. Sometimes personalized advice from experienced trainers, physical therapists, or doctors is relevant.

Don't let the birth year on your drivers' license all by itself tell you anything, in my opinion. There's a lot of mythology in our culture about what we're (not) capable of as we age. Also, most articles and videos are usually pitched at the average person of X age, and sadly the average person of X age is under-conditioned, higher risk. It tends to be "safe for everyone, even those with real risks" advice.

Rest day yesterday (20 min walking outside).

Today: 21 min treadmill run, 21 min elliptical trainer, 2 min Helix to warm up, walking lunges, other leg stretches, 5 min walk to cool down.

Maybe you already know/do this, but a common thing - one I generally do - is to pick a rep range then start at the lower end of that range, add a rep to each set when that gets easy, until at the top of the range. When the top of the range gets easy to do with good/safe form, add weight and drop back to the lower end of the range again. I usually use 10 to 14 reps as my range, but different ranges make sense depending on specific goals.

That's oversimplified: Sometimes I can't complete all the lower number of reps on all sets with the new weight; or the reverse, that it's too easy at the new weight at the lowest end of the range; or I do the add-sets alternative or some other way of increasing intensity if I feel like I need more challenge but don't feel confident about the jump in weight; etc. It's a concept, not a strict blueprint.

@nossmf has much more expert/nuanced lifting advice than I do, though, plus he has a couple of great posts here about setting up a routine and increasing intensity, in case you don't happen to have seen them already.

How to Set Up a Weightlifting Routine

30+ Tips to Increase Strength Training Intensity