Approved Log Training Cycle Comeback Log

[ulter]

Sorry I've been absent. Not absent from the gym, though I haven't been able to be as consistent as I'd like. I had to be much more involved in the HVAC installation than I expected. I may be repeating myself here, can't remember if I mentioned this before or not: my wife and I are neck deep in a major construction project which I am doing most of myself and mostly by myself. I have had a lot of help from a few friends, but mostly it's just me. I decided to hire out the downstairs HVAC. I did the upstairs myself and it took me forever. I couldn't afford to take the time to do the downstairs system myself.

Anyway, I'm still in the gym and still playing hockey.

My wife remarked that I was starting to get fat a week and a half or so ago. I'd been looking at myself in the mirror and thinking I was getting a little bit of fat accumulating around my waist; her saying so confirmed it. I was up to 194-195 but obviously it was fat not muscle gain. I cut my carbs (and calories) back to around 3600 per day and have lost the fat but now I'm right back where I started, 193.

The sleep issue is improved but not resolved to my satisfaction. I'm keeping notes to discuss with my doc when I go back to see her on 6/18. I'm at 1mg per night of Ropinirole and have been for about a week.

I played better at hockey this week than I have because I was less tired (as a result of improved sleep) but also identified several things I need to improve. I also got a couple of minor injuries during Wednesday's game. I got tripped and fell, landed somewhat awkwardly and hurt my left shoulder. This shoulder is the one that's already problematic. I'm quite sure I did some damage to the rotater cuff, though it is feeling better than it was. I now struggle to lift a gallon of orange juice (so roughly 8 lbs) to the top shelf of the fridge, so that's a setback. It's definitely not fully torn, but obviously hurt.

And I blocked a shot which resulted in a pretty spectacular bruise. See pics. First one was when I got home Wednesday night. Looks like I have a tennis ball in my shin.View attachment 36841

These next two are the following evening. The guy whose shot I blocked is a former teammate; he texted me to ask how my leg was, so I took these pics to show him:
View attachment 36842View attachment 36843
Today, it's even more purple and the blood has run down to my heel. It looks worse than it is. It's a little bit sore when I tie my work boot; in fact, I had to tie it looser than normal. But besides that, it doesn't hurt. I had a coaching session yesterday (the day after the game) and the bruise didn't hinder my skating; plus my wife and I went for a 2.5 mile hike after dinner. I'm not worried about my leg at all. It will get better (I might have a lump that lasts a long time - I have one from a shot I blocked almost a year ago). I am worried about my shoulder, however. That I'm going to have to rehab diligently and carefully.

My Thursday coaching session was with the captain of the team I'm going to try out for and his brother, who also plays for that same team. The session is only 30 minutes, but it's a private session and it is INTENSE. I was gasping for air halfway through. I've been training since February with a different coach and with another player, plus games since March, so I thought I was in half decent shape. I am NOT in half decent shape. I need toadd wind sprints to my workout routine.

To that end, I rearranged my gym a little bit and brought the treadmill in from storage. The incline function doesn't work, which it did when it went into storage (4 years ago). So that'll have to get fixed. But I can still run on it, and I can run in the yard, too. I don't like running, really, but I'm too far away from the rink to skate multiple times per week, so I'll have to run.

I'll get back to logging workouts hopefully tomorrow morning.

A while back, someone asked for a picture of me playing. This is not a very good picture, but someone in the stands took some pics a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure when I'll get better pictures. Quite a few friends have expressed interest in coming to see me play. I'm going to ask them to come to the tryouts when that happens in the early fall. Hopefully someone can get some good action shots there. For now, this is what I have:
View attachment 36848

@EMW14 as more people don't get injured because hockey is a rough one that ice is really hard, my ex-wife used to do some skating. She was from up north.

 

[2thick]

Sorry I've been absent. Not absent from the gym, though I haven't been able to be as consistent as I'd like. I had to be much more involved in the HVAC installation than I expected. I may be repeating myself here, can't remember if I mentioned this before or not: my wife and I are neck deep in a major construction project which I am doing most of myself and mostly by myself. I have had a lot of help from a few friends, but mostly it's just me. I decided to hire out the downstairs HVAC. I did the upstairs myself and it took me forever. I couldn't afford to take the time to do the downstairs system myself.

Anyway, I'm still in the gym and still playing hockey.

My wife remarked that I was starting to get fat a week and a half or so ago. I'd been looking at myself in the mirror and thinking I was getting a little bit of fat accumulating around my waist; her saying so confirmed it. I was up to 194-195 but obviously it was fat not muscle gain. I cut my carbs (and calories) back to around 3600 per day and have lost the fat but now I'm right back where I started, 193.

The sleep issue is improved but not resolved to my satisfaction. I'm keeping notes to discuss with my doc when I go back to see her on 6/18. I'm at 1mg per night of Ropinirole and have been for about a week.

I played better at hockey this week than I have because I was less tired (as a result of improved sleep) but also identified several things I need to improve. I also got a couple of minor injuries during Wednesday's game. I got tripped and fell, landed somewhat awkwardly and hurt my left shoulder. This shoulder is the one that's already problematic. I'm quite sure I did some damage to the rotater cuff, though it is feeling better than it was. I now struggle to lift a gallon of orange juice (so roughly 8 lbs) to the top shelf of the fridge, so that's a setback. It's definitely not fully torn, but obviously hurt.

And I blocked a shot which resulted in a pretty spectacular bruise. See pics. First one was when I got home Wednesday night. Looks like I have a tennis ball in my shin.View attachment 36841

These next two are the following evening. The guy whose shot I blocked is a former teammate; he texted me to ask how my leg was, so I took these pics to show him:
View attachment 36842View attachment 36843
Today, it's even more purple and the blood has run down to my heel. It looks worse than it is. It's a little bit sore when I tie my work boot; in fact, I had to tie it looser than normal. But besides that, it doesn't hurt. I had a coaching session yesterday (the day after the game) and the bruise didn't hinder my skating; plus my wife and I went for a 2.5 mile hike after dinner. I'm not worried about my leg at all. It will get better (I might have a lump that lasts a long time - I have one from a shot I blocked almost a year ago). I am worried about my shoulder, however. That I'm going to have to rehab diligently and carefully.

My Thursday coaching session was with the captain of the team I'm going to try out for and his brother, who also plays for that same team. The session is only 30 minutes, but it's a private session and it is INTENSE. I was gasping for air halfway through. I've been training since February with a different coach and with another player, plus games since March, so I thought I was in half decent shape. I am NOT in half decent shape. I need toadd wind sprints to my workout routine.

To that end, I rearranged my gym a little bit and brought the treadmill in from storage. The incline function doesn't work, which it did when it went into storage (4 years ago). So that'll have to get fixed. But I can still run on it, and I can run in the yard, too. I don't like running, really, but I'm too far away from the rink to skate multiple times per week, so I'll have to run.

I'll get back to logging workouts hopefully tomorrow morning.

A while back, someone asked for a picture of me playing. This is not a very good picture, but someone in the stands took some pics a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure when I'll get better pictures. Quite a few friends have expressed interest in coming to see me play. I'm going to ask them to come to the tryouts when that happens in the early fall. Hopefully someone can get some good action shots there. For now, this is what I have:
View attachment 36848

sounds you have a strong relationship with your wife. she is brutally honest calling you fat lol. but that is good motivates you ! @EMW14

 

[EMW14]

About your injury but hopefully it heals up clean. @EMW14 you look great in your hockey uniform. Are you allowed to fight in your league?

Thanks!

No fighting allowed in my league. There are only 4 teams and it's a "beer league," (though there's no booze allowed in the rink, so there isn't usually any drinking). I won't say everybody knows everybody else, but you get to know at least a few guys from every team, and the teams typically get shuffled every season. So you wind up being friends with your opponents. The guy whose shot I blocked is a friend. He felt terrible...

Now, the team whose tryout I'm training for is a professional team. There are fights in that league all the time. Last summer at the tryout, the coach specifically said fighting IS allowed during the tryout. There was only one fight; it was brief; and I wasn't in it.

Funny story about that: check-in for the tryout was Friday evening. It was August in the South, so it was hot. I was wearing shorts and a tank top. After check-in as I was walking from the rink to the hotel, I didn't realize a kid from the check-in line was a few paces behind me. He caught up, looked me over and said, "You gonna fight some guys, or what?"

Honestly, I was looking forward to fighting, but the pace of the game was so fast and the skill level so high, it was all I could do to try to keep up. It was the fastest, highest level hockey I've ever played. We'll see what happens this year. My current coach, the team captain, fights frequently. He'll have some input on whether that will help me or not. As unrealistic as it is, I badly want to get invited to the main training camp, at least, and get a chance to sub in when the team is shorthanded for whatever reason. I don't care if I'm 56 (I'll be 57 Halloween)... I want to play pro hockey at least once! Lol!

 

[EMW14]

Let me see if I can get this log going again:

I mentioned above I was going to add wind sprints to my workouts. Did that today. We have a nice treadmill that has been in storage since we moved 4 years ago. I got that moved into the gym with only a little rearranging. I figure I'll do my sprints on it or in the yard, depending on weather. It was raining today, so treadmill it is.

I started with some shoulder lateral raises and front raises for warmup and rehab of my newly re-injured left shoulder. One set each of 20 reps with 10lb Dr's.

Then lat pulldowns:

180: 1x10
Wind sprint at 9.2mph until I was winded, then slow it down to 2.5mph and then 2mph until my heart rate was down to 113.
195: 1x10
Wind sprint to 9.5mph as above.
230: 1x5
Wind sprint to 9.5
230: 1x5
Wind sprint to 10mph
235: 1x5
Wind sprint 10mph
235: 1x5
Wind sprint 10mph
235: 1x5
Wind sprint 10mph
240: 1x5
Wind sprint 10mph followed by cooldown.

Barbell rows: my low back has been very sore lately, so playing this by ear...
135: 1x5 no problem
186: 1x5 no problem
205: 1x5 that's pretty heavy. Stick with that for another set or two.
205: 1x5. I'm going to drool back down for the next couple of sets.
190: 1x5. That was work, but I can do more.
195: 2x5

Dumbbell Rows:
70lbs: 5x5

I haven't paid my arms much attention in recent years, so I threw in a couple sets of EZ bar curls:

65lbs: 1x10 and 1x7

Incline bench externally rotated hammer curls: this is more of a PT exercise for bicep tendon and rotater cuff. Bench at 45°, let arms hang with the weight of the db's in the hands. This gives an AWESOME stretch of biceps rotater cuff. Feels fantastic. Then hammer curl with forearms externally rotated.

I tossed in a couple sets of external rotation lying on my right side, 5lb db in left hand. This would be better with a band, but I don't have any bands.

Back is pumped, shoulder feels better AND the matching painful knots I've had in my back, one each side, are finally letting go.

 

[SuperAbsVin]

Let me see if I can get this log going again:

I mentioned above I was going to add wind sprints to my workouts. Did that today. We have a nice treadmill that has been in storage since we moved 4 years ago. I got that moved into the gym with only a little rearranging. I figure I'll do my sprints on it or in the yard, depending on weather. It was raining today, so treadmill it is.

I started with some shoulder lateral raises and front raises for warmup and rehab of my newly re-injured left shoulder. One set each of 20 reps with 10lb Dr's.

Then lat pulldowns:

180: 1x10
Wind sprint at 9.2mph until I was winded, then slow it down to 2.5mph and then 2mph until my heart rate was down to 113.
195: 1x10
Wind sprint to 9.5mph as above.
230: 1x5
Wind sprint to 9.5
230: 1x5
Wind sprint to 10mph
235: 1x5
Wind sprint 10mph
235: 1x5
Wind sprint 10mph
235: 1x5
Wind sprint 10mph
240: 1x5
Wind sprint 10mph followed by cooldown.

Barbell rows: my low back has been very sore lately, so playing this by ear...
135: 1x5 no problem
186: 1x5 no problem
205: 1x5 that's pretty heavy. Stick with that for another set or two.
205: 1x5. I'm going to drool back down for the next couple of sets.
190: 1x5. That was work, but I can do more.
195: 2x5

Dumbbell Rows:
70lbs: 5x5

I haven't paid my arms much attention in recent years, so I threw in a couple sets of EZ bar curls:

65lbs: 1x10 and 1x7

Incline bench externally rotated hammer curls: this is more of a PT exercise for bicep tendon and rotater cuff. Bench at 45°, let arms hang with the weight of the db's in the hands. This gives an AWESOME stretch of biceps rotater cuff. Feels fantastic. Then hammer curl with forearms externally rotated.

I tossed in a couple sets of external rotation lying on my right side, 5lb db in left hand. This would be better with a band, but I don't have any bands.

Back is pumped, shoulder feels better AND the matching painful knots I've had in my back, one each side, are finally letting go.

good log restart bro
get some deep tissue massage can u get it?

 

[EMW14]

good log restart bro
get some deep tissue massage can u get it?

Maybe a good idea but I won't have time to get that for a couple of weeks, I don't think. Maybe...

 

[EMW14]

I'm getting frustrated and a little bit discouraged, truth be told. I was 191.2 this morning and similar yesterday. I've lost the fat that was accumulating around my waist, but zero muscle gains. Also, today is chest day and I've gotten weaker on bench press.

Some of this is probably irrational. I have been doing mild cardio by hiking with my wife regularly. My hockey training has jumped way up in intensity. And I added wind sprints this week. Just once, but still. Also, the reinjured shoulder surely is affecting my bench press. So I guess all the above is expected, or should be. My lat pulldown went up to 240, so I got stronger there. I will keep plugging away. I'm also going to increase my calories again, especially since cardio intensity has gone way up.

I'm thinking about adding some EQ to my stack and see how I respond to that. I've never done it. I have one vial of it which I bought to try out and have been holding it for quite some time. Maybe it's time to Crack that open and see what happens. I'm currently running 120mg Deca in my TRT stack for joint support. I tried increasing that to 180mg and that didn't go well (gave me Deca dick) as I logged earlier in this thread.

So... if I add the EQ, should I drop the Deca?

The other thing is, I'm going to have to figure out crypto currency, I guess. My old source took Venmo which made it very easy. But with the border lockdown (which I TOTALLY support, BTW, please don't misunderstand this as bashing the president or the border policy) his source of laws dried up. I stocked up right before that happened but I'm starting to run low. So I need to resupply. It seems crypto is the preferred payment method, but I am just NOT comfortable with it. Maybe due to my ignorance. Anyway, I'm going to try to get more comfortable with it and figure it out.

Chest day today:

Warmup with shoulder stretching with the PVC pipe and 10lb db lateral raises, plus empty bar bench press for 30 reps.

135: 1x10
185: 1x8 - this was my first clue that I wasn't going to be very strong. 185 was heavier than it should have been.
225: 1x5
245: I got one rep and knew I was never going to get 5. Might get stuck on the 2nd rep, so I gave it up and went back down to 225.
225: 3x5

Incline db press:
55lbs: 3x5

I'm calling it done. Game night tonight, I need some energy for that and I am already tired. I still don't have my sleep issues resolved. Improved but not resolved. I wake up every 2 to 3 hours. Not anywhere near restful, restorative sleep.

 

[EMW14]

Yesterday's macros:

 

[SuperAbsVin]

I'm getting frustrated and a little bit discouraged, truth be told. I was 191.2 this morning and similar yesterday. I've lost the fat that was accumulating around my waist, but zero muscle gains. Also, today is chest day and I've gotten weaker on bench press.

Some of this is probably irrational. I have been doing mild cardio by hiking with my wife regularly. My hockey training has jumped way up in intensity. And I added wind sprints this week. Just once, but still. Also, the reinjured shoulder surely is affecting my bench press. So I guess all the above is expected, or should be. My lat pulldown went up to 240, so I got stronger there. I will keep plugging away. I'm also going to increase my calories again, especially since cardio intensity has gone way up.

I'm thinking about adding some EQ to my stack and see how I respond to that. I've never done it. I have one vial of it which I bought to try out and have been holding it for quite some time. Maybe it's time to Crack that open and see what happens. I'm currently running 120mg Deca in my TRT stack for joint support. I tried increasing that to 180mg and that didn't go well (gave me Deca dick) as I logged earlier in this thread.

So... if I add the EQ, should I drop the Deca?

The other thing is, I'm going to have to figure out crypto currency, I guess. My old source took Venmo which made it very easy. But with the border lockdown (which I TOTALLY support, BTW, please don't misunderstand this as bashing the president or the border policy) his source of laws dried up. I stocked up right before that happened but I'm starting to run low. So I need to resupply. It seems crypto is the preferred payment method, but I am just NOT comfortable with it. Maybe due to my ignorance. Anyway, I'm going to try to get more comfortable with it and figure it out.

Chest day today:

Warmup with shoulder stretching with the PVC pipe and 10lb db lateral raises, plus empty bar bench press for 30 reps.

135: 1x10
185: 1x8 - this was my first clue that I wasn't going to be very strong. 185 was heavier than it should have been.
225: 1x5
245: I got one rep and knew I was never going to get 5. Might get stuck on the 2nd rep, so I gave it up and went back down to 225.
225: 3x5

Incline db press:
55lbs: 3x5

I'm calling it done. Game night tonight, I need some energy for that and I am already tired. I still don't have my sleep issues resolved. Improved but not resolved. I wake up every 2 to 3 hours. Not anywhere near restful, restorative sleep.

good day bro to the limit
i would drop the deca and add old eq back

 

[SuperAbsVin]

Yesterday's macros:

way too much fat bro

 

[EMW14]

way too much fat bro

How much fat do you think I should include?

 

[SuperAbsVin]

How much fat do you think I should include?

70grams max