55th Year Tuneup and DO NOT DO THE RITE OF PASSAGE White Album Review

Welp, the time has come. SHOULDER REPLACEMENT SURGERY on my left shoulder on November 16.  The cortisone shots were working for less time and my range of motion was lessening. When putting on pit rub or combing your hair is an effort, it's time to address what's wrong. 6 weeks in a sling, right through the New Year.  Currently practicing shaving and brushing my teeth with my right hand. Three- month recuperation, will be ready by spring.  Going to PT twice a week to make the muscles around the shoulder stronger and to pre-habilitate my right shoulder which isn't great either.

I also need a protein injection in my right cornea to keep it from degenerating and starting Wednesday, removing some pre-cancerous skin blemishes from my face. Going to use an ointment that will turn my face completely red on the left side.  Use for 4 weeks. It's basically, chemo ointment.  Good times, going to look fantastic on the family Christmas card.

Been going to the gym. Physically in good shape, can lose 10 lb. but the engine and cardio are strong.  Echo Bike, Sled, Kettlebell Swings, and Hands-free Stairmaster intervals.  The Echo Bike is the nastiest piece of equipment, I've used in a LONG time.  Worked my way up to 19 miserable minutes, adding 1 each time. Tabata on it is the WORST. Now if I could re-lock in my diet, we'd be in business.

So, what caused all this shoulder problems?  Kettlebell volume.  All the pressing and snatching wore the cartilage down to a nub.  I also didn't start until I was 40 and already had mileage on me. All this work pressing double 70's for reps, snatching a 55, 200 times a couple times a week. Dumb dumb dumb.

I'm not saying don't do presses or snatches, I'm saying, pick a volume and go no higher.  For example, the Rite of Passage has you pressing 3x a week. 30 reps, 50 reps and 75 reps each arm, while doing pullups in between sets.  Recipe for disaster.  Both are brutal on the shoulders.  The ideal reps' scheme is 25-50 reps twice a week.  Lose the heavy day.  Grease the groove instead. Most people when they get to 32kg/70 lb. start getting nicked up. I'd say, for most average men, under 225 lb. don't go higher than a 24kg/52 lb. bell most of the time.  

Snatching is just as bad.  Think of the rolling of the ball and socket as it goes over your head.  Is that really good for your shoulders?  I love the exercise but 50 reps MAX per arm a couple of times a week and NEVER heavy.  Meaning no higher than 24kg/52lb. if you aren't interested in tennis elbow.  

I have no one to blame but myself.  I was the ignorant one. I love working with kettlebells, it's just now my time is over with them. Don't get fooled by programs that tell you, to keep banging your head against the wall to achieve 1/2 your body weight press and 200 snatches in 10 minutes.  Showing up, putting in the work, is all that counts. For the last 30 years, my weight has been between 180-200. It doesn't matter if I was running 5/3/1 and squatting 3 plates for 10 or doing 155 lb. with the safety bar.  Or pressing 70's for 3-5 reps or just doing shrugs.  I look the same. Maybe older, fatter and less muscular, but not much of a difference.  

This is not meant to be bitter.  It's reality and I hope others will learn the lesson. I'd be weary of any pressing programs that have you doing it 3x a week for volume. Including THE GIANT. What's the end game?  Squat instead, do rows, swings. 

Quick recap of the Beatles' 1968 White Album.  They did everything better than everyone else.  The Beach Boys in Back in the USSR, hard rock with Helter Skelter, the blues with Yer Blues and Why Don't We Do It in the Road? Music hall with Martha My Dear, Rock with While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Country with Rocky Racoon and Don't Pass Me By.  

30 songs, uneven, a hot mess. You could easily cull 9 songs off of it. Revolution 9, Long, Long, Long, Everybody Has Something To Hide, Rocky Racoon, Bungalow Bill, Wild Honey Pie, Piggies, Goodnight, Cry Baby Cry, and I would even lop Birthday to make it 10. Dumb lyrics.  

I really don't like most of John Lennon's stuff on here. Yer Blues is awesome and so is Sexy Sadie. Mommy issues and wanting to revert to a child with Bungalow Bill, Julia (McCartney with an acoustic singing is WAY better than Lennon), Dear Prudence (no wonder why she wouldn't come out to play). Revolution 9 should have been put on Two Virgins.  I always thought Happiness is a Warm Gun is overrated (ironic a warm gun killed him). I like Glass Onion, Dear Prudence, and I'm So Tired.  He peaked in 1965.

Back in the USSR and While My Guitar Gently Weeps are spectacular. Mother Nature's Son is better than Blackbird.  

Album Reviews Beach Boys Pet Sounds and Locking In The Diet

 Good news, I have been LOCKED IN fitness wise for the past 3 weeks. Workouts have been fantastic, diet has been perfect, and a fresh cortisone shot in my shoulder at the end of June has worked wonders along with my PT exercises.  I'm not ready to announce the whole program but will talk about it when I complete it.  The only time I use kettlebells are for 2 hand swings, farmer walks and double front squat.  I don't press overhead anymore.  There's no reason to, and it hurts.  I don't do Turkish Getups anymore or snatches.  The goal is not to get hurt. 

Exercises: Safety Bar Squat, Leg Press, Hack Squat, Kettlebell Front Squat. Deadlift, 225-275. Two hand swings 24-48 kg. (A 48 kg set of 10 two hand swings makes a set of 32 kg swings feel like a toy), Machine chest press, cable chest press, Iso-Max Chest Press, Shrugs, Machine Pulldowns and Rows, Machine and cable triceps and curls, HIIT with the StairMaster (10 rounds) Push prowler (180 lb.) Low bar and vertical bars. 10 rounds.  

Total body workout 3-4 days a week.  3-5 sets of 10-15 reps. 

What works for me.  

1. Don't eat until Noon

2. Weigh yourself no more than 1 x per week. 

3. Let me put this in bold capitalized letters LOGGING MY FOOD

4. Drink a gallon of water a day

5. Take Metameucil, one TBS with 2 TBS of lemon juice and 2 TBS of Apple Cider Vinegar with water. Chug.  

6. No alcohol

7. A 45–60-minute walk daily which leads to the title of this blog.

Why these steps have worked. 

I usually finish my dinner by 7 PM. This means, I am fasting for a minimum 16 hours. I work out fasted, so it sets up some good fat burning.

Whether it's golf, fasting, sales revenue or weighing myself.  When I chase numbers, I make myself miserable. I put no stock in the scale, because it depends on how much water I'm holding. The best measure is the tape measure around the navel.  If I eat clean and practice good habits, I'm getting healthier. 

Logging food and water is a game changer. I use the MyfitnessPal app. Simple, just input what you eat.  You can also link it to your GoogleFit. You can log your water as well. It works because it holds me accountable.  I'm not going to log, ate 1/2 bag of Cape Cod Chips.  Or drank 4 scotches and had a Five Guys for lunch the next day.  

The gallon of water a day can be overkill and can be a pain in the bladder.  It helps wash out your body and keeps you full.  Especially if hunger pangs occur around 9:30 AM. First thing in morning before coffee, I drink 14 oz. of water.  Dehydration from the night before is immediately eliminated. 

I've praised the wonderful effects of Metameucil on this blog.  It's a great mid-afternoon snack, if you have the 3 PM pangs.  It fills you up.  If you don't want to drink it, you're not really hungry. Plus, it clears you out beautifully.

Alcohol doesn't love you back.  It makes you fat and leads to poor eating decisions that night and the next day.  

Walking is awesome. Low impact, good for everything. 

My son was able to get me unlimited Spotify. When I go to the gym or walk outside, I don't wear headphones.  I like socializing and hearing what's going on around me.  Plus, they're really not so great for hearing.  I have a little ringing in my ears from time to time and my doctor mentioned. they're starting to believe it's the brain making up for hearing loss. 

I walk with my phone in my pocket and blast music. Currently, I listened to Pet Sounds and now I'm going through the Beatles catalogue. 

Let's review Pet Sounds Released 1966

Rating 10+/10

Pros:    Best album of all time.  Absolutely brilliant, Especially the 2nd side. Has the greatest love song ever "God Only Knows." Unbelievable instrumentation and production.  Best listened to with, gulp, a good set of headphones.  Beautiful vocals, great material

Cons: Beach Boys didn't play most of the instruments.  The Wrecking Crew did. 

I listened to this for the first time six months ago in Florida and was blown away by it.  Wouldn't It Be Nice, kicks it off, and then the next 3 songs are probably the weakest on the album.  They're good songs, but not great. You Still Believe In Me, That's Not Me, and Don't Talk.  I remember thinking, "it's fine, I don't get it though." Then, I heard Waiting For The Day with the percussion banging away, and I thought, this is good. Followed by an instrumental, Let's Go Away For A While, which sounds like background music to a love excursion in the 1960's. Then comes Sloop John B, great song.  Then, God Only Knows which is sung by 19-year-old Carl Wilson. The greatest love song ever opens up with the lyric, "I may not always love you." Unreal. Next is I Know There's An Answer which is about Brian Wilson dabbling in LSD.  The song is extremely catchy with the sleigh bells, and carnival sound. It's like being at a Christmas festival. Here Today follows and is my favorite song on the album.  The horns, organ, bass are amazing.  I Just Wasn't Made For These Times is an autobiographical song by Brian Wilson trying to figure out where he fits in.  He had quit touring with the Beach Boys and was creating this masterpiece while they were on tour, at the age of 23. Unfortunately, it was a sign of these to come regarding his mental state. The second instrumental and title track Pet Sounds is next. It's pleasant enough and the album ends with Caroline, No about a girl who has changed.  Finally at the end of the album there is a bunch of sounds, that the Beatles would copy on later songs and albums. You can really hear the influence that this album had on the Beatles' later albums.  

I'm a HUGE Beatle fan and this is better than any album they put out.  

Next Post will be Please Please Me, With The Beatles and A Hard Day's Night. 

The Dream is Over (Done with Kettlebells)

Welp, that's a wrap on my favorite fitness tool.  It was a great 14 years, but physically I just cannot use them the way I want to.  And I'm absolutely fine with it.  As the Traveling Wilburys sang, "we're going to the end of the line." 

The good news is physically, I'm well.  My foot issue is pretty much gone and I can run again.  I can go into the gym and do the machines, get a pump and leave without injury.  And at 54, that's what I am accepting.  I'm going to physical therapy for my shoulders.  Intervening on the left one and preventing on the right.  I'm one of the crazy 9% of people who does his physical therapy homework, as boring as those exercises are.  

The issues with kettlebells for me are twofold.  The majority of upper body movements are shoulder related.  (Presses, Snatches, TGU's). I have enough wear and tear on them.  Don't need to aggravate the situation doing The Giant.  Second, I can squat, BUT.....I don't like the clicking of my arthritis holding the bells in the rack and I've popped SI joints dropping my hips back when fatigued.  

All that I can do without getting hurt are 2 hand swings. Which I still do at the gym, but that's it.  Monday, I had this grand idea at the end of the day to do some cleans and presses. Double 55's, sets of 2, auto regulated rest.  Got to 15 minutes, did my 12th set and barely got the last rep up.  My older son, said, "what the hell are you doing and why?'  He was absolutely correct.

Which leads us to my next point.  It does not matter what program you do.  If the diet stinks, you're not going to get results.  For 30 years, I've been between 180 and 197.  It doesn't matter, if I do kettlebells, pick ANY program, 5/3/1, bodybuilding, 5 x 5, running 30 miles a week.  Unless you lock in the diet, the results will not be there.  

There are 0 victories for 1 rep maxes other than injuries. Unless you're on steroids or testosterone replacement therapy, you're not going to gain muscle after 40.  You can get stronger, but that's it.  My 20 year old is into lifting.  He's filled with high testosterone, is 6'2", 205 lb. and has shoulders like an aircraft carrier.  He's not strong yet, but aesthetically looks fantastic.  He's getting all my unsolicited advice, like a letter to my 20 year old self.

1.     Don't barbell bench.  Use dumbbells and supinate the grip.  
2.     Don't 1 rep max.  Do reps in the 5-12 rep scheme with good form
3.     Leave a rep or two in the tank every set.
4.     Don't waste your time chasing deadlift maxes
5.     Do pullups.  A set of 1-2 between sets of everything else.
6.     High rep back squats are wonderful
7.     Do your cardio.  1-2 mile runs or 200 swings
8.     You get strong on rest days.
9.      Supplements are a waste of money. 

The best results I've ever gotten from a program was Geoff Neupert's Kettlebell Burn Extreme.  Why?  Because it has the diet right there. Workouts were manageable 20-25 minute long.  BUT the nutrition and cold showers were rough.  The diet works.  Really, really well.

I feel like John Lennon singing God.  He rips off 15 different things he doesn't believe in including Beatles.  "I just believe in me."  

I'm still going to blog about fitness here, but if you've come to see any updates about the ROP, MKM or anything else regarding kettlebells other than 300 swings a day, look elsewhere.  

Daily 45-60 minute walks

Yoga 2 x a week

Planet Fitness machine workouts + run for 20-30 minutes

Shoulder exercises for PT.  That's it for now

Cue up Glory Days, These were done in 2013 at my old house at the ripe young age of 44. "When I was young and stupid, I was young and stupid." George Bush

Double 70 Press Rep Test

88 lb. Turkish Get Up

This does not come from a place of unhappiness.  It just is reality.  What else is reality is The Beach Boys Pet Sounds is the greatest thing I've ever listened to on a rock and roll record.  Put a pair of headphones on and listen to all the different sounds. I discovered it, while in Florida at the pool in January. Yes, I'm completely late to the party.  Way better than the overrated Revolver and was the inspiration for Sgt Pepper which is dogged by the horrible, Within You Without You. The only scar on Pet Sounds is Brian Wilson used the Wrecking Crew as his backup musicians for most of the album.  While the Beatles played their instruments.  Put on Pepper and listen to Ringo's drumming and Paul's bass, they're amazing.