Originally Posted by
Gun Mutt
Thank God for the weight pile, it's my only solace lately. I liken weight lifting to the Glock platform in that it just works for me and I genuinely like it. Sure, I love all kinds of pistols, I own several non-Glocks and want to own oh so many more, but I quite happily carry a Glock every day.
I should do more cardio, I sorely miss the dojo, I crave hikes in my beloved Rockies, my sole kettlebell holds the floor down in the corner, my mountain bike's had a broken rear brake cable for two years and it's been longer than that since I've remotely done yoga...but damn I love lifting! When life forces me to abstain, I am lessened mentally and physically.
I've been dealing with a shoulder issue since Father's Day when I went golfing with long time friends who are dads themselves and my left shoulder has been pissed ever since. I'm not a golfer, but I do like to hit things and swear, so a day of drinking beer with friends I don't see nearly often enough was not to be missed. I've been working with a chiropractor and I'm definitely on the mend, but it forced me to change up a couple of things.
Ironically, I've had to ditch incline bench for flat bench because it's less stressful to the top of my shoulder joint...usually it works the other way for most shoulder pain. At 53, I've lessened the actual lb's and tried to focus more on the pause on each rep, bending the bar, a rock solid, braced platform for all lifts and technique over everything. T-Nation keeps me tweaking things and right now, Monday's see me doing a few warm up sets of 135lbs for 10-12 reps followed by 8 sets of 3 reps at 200lbs with minimal rest between sets.
Once I'd learned to squat properly (for me), I'd finally gotten to that love/hate level with squats that made me look forward to getting under the bar at least twice a week to hate on them. I've got arthritis in my joints and plenty of bone on bone in my knees, so no deeper than parallel is a rule my orthopedic surgeon insists I live by. Again, current shoulder impingement makes good form too painful to maintain, so what's T-Nation got for me? Hmm, Zercher squats, even better, sumo stance Zercher squats! Sweet, still lifting, still living.
I don't get up at 4:30am every weekday because I'm a Jocko devotee...I do it because life outside my Fortress of Solitude, er, I mean, garage gym, is a currently a bowl of stressful shit with a straw and no napkin. Those 30-45min of working out are as good as I can know it's going to be any given day. The day might not suck, but counting on that right now is stoopidly optimistic. Good news though, my lifting is going hell bent for leather. Zerchers hit muscles in my back that heavy rows and deadlifts just can't. Stress and cortisol leak out the soles of my bare feet as they anchor to the ground, anger and resentment are my spotters, dread and foreboding motivate me to squeeze in one more set...I lift, I live.