By Friday afternoon I was fully recovered ... and somehow I can't wait to do them again.

Almost died on Saturday so I count my blessings. We went to the lake this weekend where my friend and I drove our sports bikes while our wives and kids went together in another vehicle. While driving we passed a semi-truck and when I got back into our lane I crossed over some pot holes and nearly lost control. At 147 kmph (92 mph) I got a speed wobble due to the pot holes but thankfully I was able to recover as I did not panic. To be honest it didn't even phase me ... that is till later that day when I really thought about it. My buddy who was behind me thought I was a goner but said thankfully I have a lot of upper body strength and was able to control the bike. So thankfully for weight lifting, thankfully it wasn't my day (unlucky day), thankfully I was calm and didn't panic, thankfully somebody was looking out for me. It wasn't the speed but the pot holes as afterwards when coming back we took a look at them and realized even doing the speed limit of 100 kmp (62 mph) the same thing could have happened.

I realize when I get on my bike that something could happen to me. I realize that most times it will be somebody else's fault but yes ... I am not always a saint when riding. But Saturday was a great day at the lake and the rest wasn't too shabby either. Thankfully I'm hear to tell the tale and to live to fight another day.

I forgot how demanding Supersets are. Here is what I'm doing:

Bench Press - Rear Lat Pulldowns - 1 minute break
Bench Press - Rear Lat Pulldowns - 1 minute break
Bench Press - Rear Lat Pulldowns - 1 minute break

Dumbbell Press - Bent-Over Rows - 1.5 minute break
Dumbbell Press - Bent-Over Rows - 1.5 minute break
Dumbbell Press - Bent-Over Rows - 1.5 minute break

Decline Bench Press - Closed-Grip Lat Pulldowns - 2 minute break
Decline Bench Press - Closed-Grip Lat Pulldowns - 2 minute break
Decline Bench Press - Closed-Grip Lat Pulldowns - 2 minute break

I am thoroughly enjoying this type of workout as it is one exercise right to the next without a break. It is demanding both physically and mentally. By mentally I mean that it is easy in the beginning to go from one to the next but as you go through the workout you get tired physically and mentally and have to push yourself to keep going as you don't get a break before your next opposing muscle exercise. As well with little break between everything your heart rate never really goes down so it is almost like a low end cardio workout ... which is good.

Understand that this type of workout is a body building regiment though I'm lifting explosively and not going fully to fatigue ... but close. Something like this is demanding as your muscles get weaker as they are getting tired as many of the stabilizer muscles are being used, you are not getting rests between lifts ... so this means you cannot lift as much as you normally would. The upside is that you will push to do more and when you go back to your regular routine you should be able to lift more and should be over any humps/plateaus. Plus with Supesets you can do more in less time which is another bonus.

Friday I do Shoulders/Arm and then next week Legs/Abs. TKD today (Wednesday) including a 3-5 Km run (1.5 hour class) and then TKD on Thursday (1 hour class).

Good Job Derek, i cringe just looking at that superset routine lol Also very glad ur sill here with us aswell, it would be a crying shame if we lost u :P

Thanks Jasper.

Supersets ... wow, very very very draining. For Shoulders/Arms last night I was sapped of strength to finish the workout. I only had two sets left consisting of 3 exercises each and I couldn't finish them. Physically and mentally I was done and my heart rate was through the roof. It felt like I had just ran full out and was now trying to catch my breath. I will survive and plod on.

Just an update. Leg is about 70-75% though I do get some odd pains at times but is not stopping me from training. I went through a lull where I wasn't enjoying any training; weight lifting and martial arts ... though I continued training both while taking a 2 week break in July from both. I have plans in place to push forward and am on track. 10 years of weight lifting and 5 years of martial arts can get draining mentally and physically and I need(ed) to find some focus again. It was getting to a point that when I got home from work I knew I had to do one or the other or both and it was getting to a point I didn't want to come home. The small break, coming up with a plan of attack, a little bit of self encouragement and then kicking myself in the ass to just do it will hopefully get me over this hump.

Moving away from Supersets and am now going to focus on a Upper Body and Lower Body routine with an isolation day for arms; like the look of big arms. Upper/Lower looking more at a strengthening routine of 5x5 and so will only be doing 1 exercise per body part. Did my upper body yesterday and then Wednesday will do the lower body which includes the core. Then I will try to fit in an isolation exercise for arms but won't go overboard. Have TKD sparring tonight and then again on Thursday which will be more of a target kicking class. Haven't really done any BJJ as I haven't really had a chance but will look forward to this in the near future. Done only some basics but will need to re-educate myself.

Back to the topic of weight lifting; back doing Squats though not with the weights I'm used to 5 years ago before martial arts. Pay very close attention to my leg when doing them plus even more attention to my neck. I've found a great balance by lowering it down my back which also keeps me in good form and puts no stress on my neck. Don't have a spotter so putting it back on the racks requires me to shrug them up when I'm done to get them back to the right height. Thankfully because I'm not using huge weights this is possible but I wonder what I'm going to do as I am moving up on weights quickly with adding another 20 lbs tomorrow making what I'm lifting 1.8 times more then I weigh. I think the most I've ever lifted was 2.2 times more then my body weight so not too bad.

Just thought I'd give an update to my progress. Going slow, finding direction but keeping at it. Not bad for a 39 year old, eh?

No sparring last night but instead black belt training. Yah, they are wanting me to test in November as I should have tested at least 2 or 3 times previously but something always came up like injuries or surgery, etc. I need to get back into shape as the conditioning part of the requirements I am not up to par yet. Last night I had to run 12 minutes stairs, 10 pull-ups, 50 push-ups, 100 sit-sups and 1000 skips. I was also suppose to do 50 stand-ups but was unable due to time restrictions as we started working on patterns. Thankfully others also doing this could not complete them also so I don't feel so bad. I could have easily doubled the pull-ups and in fact I was only suppose to do 5. Push-ups were a walk in the park and I could have doubled those as well. The stairs are draining and I dislike them so did them first to get them out of the way. 1000 skips I can do no problem. The sit-ups on the other hand I had problems and took me a while. Though I didn't do stand-ups, this exercise I know I will have problems. This is the exercise where somebody hold your feet like your are doing sit ups and you have to stand up and then sit down; find a very hard work out. I must prove I can do this numerous of times, along with all of the other requirements before I get the nod to take the test. Then I have to do this all on test day prior to the testing. Grueling.

Not working out tonight after all as I was talked into going to class for grappling. Like I said earlier it has been some time so I am looking forward to it. Will lift on Thursday night.

Good stuff Dereck. Happy to hear your training is going well. I'm sure you'll get your black belt. All the best

Thanks.

Just an update for those that read this. I had hit a slump with my training for both weight lifting and martial arts. It seemed I was always on the go and it was wearing me down. Little breaks here and there weren't helping and I wasn't working at either with intensity and my workouts were starting to tapper off. Thought of quiting one or the other or even both had entered my mind. Knowing that I had to come home from work to do one or the other or both made me not want to come home anymore. I was at a cross roads.

I talked with my Instructor and expressed this to him and he said I had to find my own way. No sooner then I told him this I was told that a handful of us he wanted to test by the end of November and I was in that group. I took off all of November from working out and put my training into my martial arts 5-6 days a week. I did the physical endurance test one weekend, the next weekend the hard test which is the pretest and then the Provincial test the following weekend. Now that this is all out of the way the pressure is gone and going to class is refreshing again.

I stared weight lifting as well on December 3rd after a full month off and so far have done 4 workouts. I still need to fine tune my program but after reviewing my records over the last 10 years I came to the realization that I was at my best and had the most energy after work so I have now started to do this and I can see the difference. I'm still mentally and physically awake and with some good music I am more focused then I have been in a long time and that is good; very good. I'm not all there yet but I'm on my way. Last night was a workout that I enjoyed so much and I missed; days like that is what made me go these last 10 years and I hope to have plenty of more like that. Sadly I have to admit that at 39 I do feel it more but I still can work out hard with intensity and put up some decent numbers. Onward and upward.