GP’s Old Man With A Plan Log

[gphagan1]

10/27/2025
Monday
Stretches
Warmups

DB Bench
30s x 10
40s x 10
50s x 10, 10

Incline Bench Machine
140 x 8, 8, 8

Skull Crushers
80 x 10
90 x 10
100 x 10, 10

Tricep Ext Machine
3 x 10

Side Laterals
20 x 8, 8, 8

Went to see my ART therapist Friday, and he really worked me over….he mainly focused on my recently injured right shoulder, and really went deep, but it loosened it up really good. He said there seemed to still be some inflammation, and he really wants me to avoid any heavy benching for at least a few weeks, and come in weekly until it’s completely healed up. He is very familiar with BPC 157 and Curcumin, and thinks my daily protocol is probably helping ( I know it is). And on another positive note, he says my left shoulder seems to be doing great.
Today’s workout mostly felt good….shoulder was a little tinder, but is getting much better. Of course I kept it pretty light again, just don’t want to get ahead of myself, and do something stupid.

 

[akboom87]

10/27/2025
Monday
Stretches
Warmups

DB Bench
30s x 10
40s x 10
50s x 10, 10

Incline Bench Machine
140 x 8, 8, 8

Skull Crushers
80 x 10
90 x 10
100 x 10, 10

Tricep Ext Machine
3 x 10

Side Laterals
20 x 8, 8, 8

Went to see my ART therapist Friday, and he really worked me over….he mainly focused on my recently injured right shoulder, and really went deep, but it loosened it up really good. He said there seemed to still be some inflammation, and he really wants me to avoid any heavy benching for at least a few weeks, and come in weekly until it’s completely healed up. He is very familiar with BPC 157 and Curcumin, and thinks my daily protocol is probably helping ( I know it is). And on another positive note, he says my left shoulder seems to be doing great.
Today’s workout mostly felt good….shoulder was a little tinder, but is getting much better. Of course I kept it pretty light again, just don’t want to get ahead of myself, and do something stupid.

Great session and glad to hear all on the up and up!

 

[gphagan1]

Great session and glad to hear all on the up and up!

Thanks….yeah that was good news, that it’s not anything major with the shoulder.

 

[Dustin07]

Of course I kept it pretty light again, just don’t want to get ahead of myself, and do something stupid.

easier said than done

 

[MrKleen73]

Good to hear it seems to be nothing major.

 

[gphagan1]

easier said than done

So true.

Good to hear it seems to be nothing major.

Thanks Kleen, me too.

 

[Hyde]

Very relieved to hear this for you! Keep taking care of yourself and it will come.

 

[gphagan1]

easier said than done

Very relieved to hear this for you! Keep taking care of yourself and it will come.

Yeah I was definitely relieved that it didn’t seem too serious.
To be honest, when it happened, I was almost as aggravated with the fact I would be missing bench sessions, as the chance that it was a more serious injury. My bench seemed to have been coming back so quickly, even though I really haven’t done a strength program, so I was really frustrated I may not have been able to bench for a few months. But it’s like you said, Hyde, I think my muscle strength was coming back so fast, that the joints, ligaments, and tendons haven’t been able to keep up. So even when I start back benching in a few weeks, I’m going to take it slow and easy, and not get too aggressive. I’m also going to narrow my grip….I’ve always benched better, stronger, with a wide grip, middle fingers on the rings, but I know that’s harder on the shoulders, so I’m going with a narrower grip when I get back on the bench. When you’re old and banged up you just have to find what works and keep on keeping on.

 

[Hyde]

Yeah I was definitely relieved that it didn’t seem too serious.
To be honest, when it happened, I was almost as aggravated with the fact I would be missing bench sessions, as the chance that it was a more serious injury. My bench seemed to have been coming back so quickly, even though I really haven’t done a strength program, so I was really frustrated I may not have been able to bench for a few months. But it’s like you said, Hyde, I think my muscle strength was coming back so fast, that the joints, ligaments, and tendons haven’t been able to keep up. So even when I start back benching in a few weeks, I’m going to take it slow and easy, and not get too aggressive. I’m also going to narrow my grip….I’ve always benched better, stronger, with a wide grip, middle fingers on the rings, but I know that’s harder on the shoulders, so I’m going with a narrower grip when I get back on the bench. When you’re old and banged up you just have to find what works and keep on keeping on.

Something you could do also is implement a mandatory deload like every 5th week for a couple waves when you do get back to it, to serve as a catch up week since you know the connective tissue won’t keep up with the muscle return.

 

[gphagan1]

Something you could do also is implement a mandatory deload like every 5th week for a couple waves when you do get back to it, to serve as a catch up week since you know the connective tissue won’t keep up with the muscle return.

That is a good idea, because with the exception of these couple of weeks since the injury, I’ve only done one true deload week since starting back.

 

[Hyde]

That is a good idea, because with the exception of these couple of weeks since the injury, I’ve only done one true deload week since starting back.

They always suck, but I always found I made great progress incorporating a deload periodically.

 

[Dustin07]

my volume has been so low I've been deloading on accident it seems, or at least just regulating on accident, but I definitely am one who has been guilty many many times of skipping deloads and then regretting it after weeks of descending progress only to be forced into a deload eventually.

 

[MrKleen73]

I like the idea of a deload every 5th week. Plenty of time for progress and a week for additional recovery and growth.

 

[Hyde]

I like the idea of a deload every 5th week. Plenty of time for progress and a week for additional recovery and growth.

Some folks really hate on them; they can’t reckon with giving up, say, 20% of their time ‘making progress’ to try to prevent injury. These are often the same people trying to run aggressive programs that promise ‘30lbs on your bench in 8 weeks’.

I’d ask those people how many lbs did you actually add to your PR from last year? How much time did you lose sidelined from various tweaks, or time where you had to wave back significantly because you could no longer drive progress? What if investing a week here and there actually let you make more total progress, with less pain, in the long run?

I’m not saying they’re necessary or need a set schedule or frequency, but the truth is you can either choose some time to catch up or often have to let your body decide for you. Maybe in the winter and summer you plan deloads less often, because you KNOW you’re going to get sick for a week unexpectedly most winters or take that week vacation in summer, so you will be getting one already then. But if there’s going to be long stretches of consistent training, I’d throw one in at least every 6-8 weeks.

 

[gphagan1]

Some folks really hate on them; they can’t reckon with giving up, say, 20% of their time ‘making progress’ to try to prevent injury. These are often the same people trying to run aggressive programs that promise ‘30lbs on your bench in 8 weeks’.

I’d ask those people how many lbs did you actually add to your PR from last year? How much time did you lose sidelined from various tweaks, or time where you had to wave back significantly because you could no longer drive progress? What if investing a week here and there actually let you make more total progress, with less pain, in the long run?

I’m not saying they’re necessary or need a set schedule or frequency, but the truth is you can either choose some time to catch up or often have to let your body decide for you. Maybe in the winter and summer you plan deloads less often, because you KNOW you’re going to get sick for a week unexpectedly most winters or take that week vacation in summer, so you will be getting one already then. But if there’s going to be long stretches of consistent training, I’d throw one in at least every 6-8 weeks.

So true….and it becomes even more necessary as we age. Back in the 80s and 90s I would hardly ever do a deload, except like you said for a vacation or getting sick or injured. The first program I ran that programmed a deload week every month was 5-3-1, and at first I was a little reluctant to deload that often, but I did it just as it was laid out. I gained so much strength then, that I learned to appreciate how really important it is. Not saying that in every case one is needed every month, but even though I would do them periodically, that program really helped me appreciate them more and not be so reluctant. Ha, after writing that it made me feel really stupid that after starting back in the gym I didn’t do a deload more often. To be honest it probably would have helped prevent this latest injury.

 

[gphagan1]

10/29/2025
Wednesday
Stretches
Warmups

Wide Mag Grip Pulldowns
130 x 10, 10
145 x 10, 10, 10


DB Rows
80 x 8
85 x 8
90 x 8, 8, 8


EZ Bar Curl
100 x 10, 10
110 x 10, 10

Alt DB Curls
45 x 10, 10, 10, 9

When I was doing DB rows the owner and his wife walked up and said she told him that I was looking really good, and he said that my shoulders and arms were starting to look huge again. I thanked them and told them I really appreciated that, because I had gotten down with this latest injury, and until I had went to see my ART therapist, I was a little concerned that this could be another long term injury. When I told my wife, she said that was really nice, then she asked me if his wife was hot. She is, but I told my wife no she is butt ugly….she said yeah right, sarcastically. Man our women know us so well.

 

[Dustin07]

These are often the same people trying to run aggressive programs that promise ‘30lbs on your bench in 8 weeks’.

this puts a lot of sarcastic jokes in my head but I just keep coming back to this image of me looking like Homer Simpson with a 335lb bench. Juice/Squeeze lol

When I told my wife, she said that was really nice, then she asked me if his wife was hot.

this never changes

 

[Hyde]

Don’t waste any thought on it; everyone knows how it feels when you’re on a roll - last thing you think about is slowing down!

That’s funny about your wife wondering if the compliments came from a pretty woman; I suppose it would be a bad sign if they weren’t a bit jealous/protective of us.

Last weekend as I was leaving my dad's, one of the nurses told me how handsome she thought I was, that she just had to say it. I thanked her for the compliment, but did NOT share that with my wife later on lol.

 

[MrKleen73]

Last weekend as I was leaving my dad's, one of the nurses told me how handsome she thought I was, that she just had to say it. I thanked her for the compliment, but did NOT share that with my wife later on lol.

You have got to love that, and yeah sometimes it is better to keep that stuff to ourselves. I don't tell my wife everytime a woman flirts with me, or says I am handsome. No reason to possibly cause her insecurity when outside of it being nice to get a compliment, I don't care when women flirt with me. I am happily married. I do tell her it happens often if it comes up in a conversation, but tell her it isn't worth mentioning since I don't ever give it a second thought. I have mentioned to her that I seem to be more black women's cup of tea than anything, or they are the ones who are bold enough to say something to me anyway.

 

[gphagan1]

Yeah I agree on not needing to tell our wives everything, especially when a woman flirts. Honestly, as far as his wife giving a compliment at the gym, she just mentioned it to him and he told me, so definitely not flirting. Ha, and I’m twice her age. But I do got to admit as soon as I told my wife I was like oh crap, I may have just screwed up. But honestly my wife is actually really cool and secure in our love, and she knows that gym is filled with young college girls. Now who I have to be careful with is my Grandson telling her about all the girls he sees at the college on our bike rides. She always laughs at him, but man that boy just can’t help himself.

 

[Dustin07]

Last weekend as I was leaving my dad's, one of the nurses told me how handsome she thought I was, that she just had to say it. I thanked her for the compliment, but did NOT share that with my wife later on lol.

You have got to love that, and yeah sometimes it is better to keep that stuff to ourselves. I don't tell my wife everytime a woman flirts with me, or says I am handsome. No reason to possibly cause her insecurity when outside of it being nice to get a compliment

"Of course women think I'm good looking, how do you think I was able to land you?" Funny thing about wives they often think higher of us than of themselves and struggle to compliment as much. When I tell my wife how beautiful she is, she just doesn't see it, but hot damn she's a fox.

I don't care when women flirt with me.

weirdly I'm there now. I think I needed it somehow in my 30s but now days its almost annoying lol

I have mentioned to her that I seem to be more black women's cup of tea than anything,

holy cow the news chick in the morning is this smoking hot black gal. thankfully she does the traffic part which is the only part I typically care about during the cup of coffee when I'm scratching my balls and brushing my teeth pondering how fast I gotta drive the I5 to get to work.

 

[Hyde]

You have got to love that, and yeah sometimes it is better to keep that stuff to ourselves. I don't tell my wife everytime a woman flirts with me, or says I am handsome. No reason to possibly cause her insecurity when outside of it being nice to get a compliment, I don't care when women flirt with me. I am happily married. I do tell her it happens often if it comes up in a conversation, but tell her it isn't worth mentioning since I don't ever give it a second thought.

Yes exactly this

 

[gphagan1]

11/3/2025
Monday
Stretches
Warmups

DB Bench
40s x 10
50s x 10
55s x 10
60s x 10

Pec Fly Machine
4 x 10

Skull Crushers
80 x 10
90 x 10
100 x 10, 10

Tricep Ext Machine
3 x 10

Side Laterals
20 x 8, 8, 8

Shoulder is feeling better week by week. Still kept weights light, and added the fly machine for a nice slow stretch. Decided to not push it with anything else on chest, and just finished with some tricep work and light side laterals.

 

[SkRaw85]

Smart moves!

 

[gphagan1]

11/5/2025
Wednesday
Stretches
Warmups

Wide Mag Grip Pulldowns
130 x 10
145 x 10, 10, 10, 10


DB Rows
80 x 8
85 x 8
90 x 8, 8, 8


Preacher Curl
90 x 10
100 x 10, 10, 10
110 x 8

Alt DB Curls
45 x 10, 10, 10, 9

Started moving into my new upstairs office today. My boss, the manufacturing VP, wanted me in one of the newer offices that overlooks most of the machines in our main plant. Love the office it’s great and has a big window to view the plant. But I spent the last hour and a half moving my cabinets, boxes and my tools….ha so by the time I got to Alt DB curls at the end of the workout I was shot.

 

[gphagan1]

11/6/2025
Thursday
Stretches
Warmups

Leg press
190 x 8
280 x 8
370 x 8
460 x 8
460 x 8

Leg Extensions
3 x 10

Leg Curls
3 x 10

Standing Calf Raises
120 x 15, 15, 15

Didn’t work legs last week, so I think I’m gonna feel this workout walking up and down the stairs to my new office tomorrow. Probably be doing the Frankenstein walk by the end of the day.

 

[gphagan1]

 

[Dustin07]

Probably be doing the Frankenstein walk by the end of the day

honestly I think the toilet seat is usually the scarier endeavor after one of those types of leg days lol

 

[SkRaw85]

11/5/2025
Wednesday
Stretches
Warmups

Wide Mag Grip Pulldowns
130 x 10
145 x 10, 10, 10, 10


DB Rows
80 x 8
85 x 8
90 x 8, 8, 8


Preacher Curl
90 x 10
100 x 10, 10, 10
110 x 8

Alt DB Curls
45 x 10, 10, 10, 9

Started moving into my new upstairs office today. My boss, the manufacturing VP, wanted me in one of the newer offices that overlooks most of the machines in our main plant. Love the office it’s great and has a big window to view the plant. But I spent the last hour and a half moving my cabinets, boxes and my tools….ha so by the time I got to Alt DB curls at the end of the workout I was shot.

Movin on up!

 

[gphagan1]

11/10/2025
Monday
Stretches
Warmups

DB Bench
40s x 10
50s x 10
55s x 10
60s x 10

Pec Fly Machine
4 x 10

Skull Crushers
80 x 10
90 x 10
100 x 10, 10

Tricep Ext Machine
3 x 10

Side Laterals
20 x 8, 8, 8

Shoulder feeling better and better each week. Got home and my wife had made Chili, and man it hit the spot. Hopefully I didn’t eat too many jalapeños and end up paying for it tomorrow.

 

[Dustin07]

its called going on a cleanse

 

[gphagan1]

 

[MrKleen73]

MMMMM, chili!!! We have a cold front here in Houston, lows in the 40's, and high of 60 yesterday, and today. So chili would have been awesome! Of course the high is back in the 80's for tomorrow. It is always fun to switch from jacket weather to convertible weather in one day...

 

[gphagan1]

MMMMM, chili!!! We have a cold front here in Houston, lows in the 40's, and high of 60 yesterday, and today. So chili would have been awesome! Of course the high is back in the 80's for tomorrow. It is always fun to switch from jacket weather to convertible weather in one day...

Yeah our lows have been in the 20s this week, and that 2 bowls of Chili hit the spot. Ha, and so far so good on the porcelain throne front.

 

[SkRaw85]

Totally worth it lol

 

[gphagan1]

11/13/2025
Thursday
Stretches
Warmups

Wide Mag Grip Pulldowns
130 x 10
145 x 10, 10, 10, 10


DB Rows
80 x 8
85 x 8
90 x 8, 8
95 x 8


Preacher Curl
90 x 10
100 x 10, 10, 10
110 x 8

Alt DB Curls
45 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Had a long day at work, and I was cooked after this workout. My wife made her Cajun Rotisserie chicken, though, and I was good after that.

 

[Dustin07]

do you make that in a pot or is it on an actual rotisserie? I've seen a bunch of guys in the kamado joe group get excited over the rotisserie attachment but the thing is pretty expensive so I haven't gone down that road yet. looks awesome though.

 

[gphagan1]

It’s actually rotisserie style with different Cajun seasonings. She puts all the seasonings on at least 24 hours before she cooks it, but man it is good. She has one of those Ronco rotisserie ovens that you can cook two chickens at a time.
I’ll get the recipe and post it if you want it.

 

[gphagan1]

My wife made it easy for me. It’s actually one of the recipes she got with the Ronco a couple years ago. And man it is delicious. Anyway she sent me a link to the recipe. Oh and you can adjust how spicy you want it by increasing or decreasing the cayenne powder.

Cajun Rubbed Rotisserie Chicken

With Mardi Gras 2017 upon us we wanted to share one of our all time favorite rotisserie chicken recipes, Cajun Rubbed Rotisserie Chicken! A dry rub is a great, versatile way to add flavor to your m…

cookingwithronco.wordpress.com

 

[MrKleen73]

do you make that in a pot or is it on an actual rotisserie? I've seen a bunch of guys in the kamado joe group get excited over the rotisserie attachment but the thing is pretty expensive so I haven't gone down that road yet. looks awesome though.

Didn't you say you had a small weber grill now? If so they have a rotiserie attachment that my buddy swore by.

 

[Segansational]

Definitely is getting to be Chili weather, even here in the NE/mid-atlantic. I was feeling soup, so grabbed some chili for dinner last night.

 

[gphagan1]

Definitely is getting to be Chili weather, even here in the NE/mid-atlantic. I was feeling soup, so grabbed some chili for dinner last night.

Yeah, we definitely eat more homemade chili, stews, and soups in the winter. We don’t get as cold of weather as you do up there, but I’ve got a feeling we’re in for a cold Winter. We saw some snow flurries Monday, and they’ve already gotten some snow in North Georgia in the mountains.

 

[MrKleen73]

Yeah, we definitely eat more homemade chili, stews, and soups in the winter. We don’t get as cold of weather as you do up there, but I’ve got a feeling we’re in for a cold Winter. We saw some snow flurries Monday, and they’ve already gotten some snow in North Georgia in the mountains.

This makes me happy I am in Texas.

 

[Dustin07]

Didn't you say you had a small weber grill now? If so they have a rotiserie attachment that my buddy swore by.

we took back the traeger to costco and they gave us all of our money back so we used that and got super lucky to find a new kamado joe on sale at lowes and this propane grill combined for less than the Traeger cost! (we call this one grillbot). so I definitely prefer to cook with charcoal/wood on the kamado, but last night we ran a spatchcock chicken on the grillbot

I told my wife the chicken looked like it was getting ready for an onlyfans photoshoot.

I have seen this rotisserie unit for the KJ's, but they aint cheap!

JoeTisserie®

When you're ready to serve up adventure, Kamado Joe has the tips, techniques, and more to help you fire it up at your next cookout.

www.kamadojoe.com

 

[MrKleen73]

Oh okay when you mentioned a cheap grill, and me knowing your love for charcoal I just assumed you got a Weber Kettle Grill. They have so many attachments for them it is unreal.

 

[Dustin07]

Oh okay when you mentioned a cheap grill, and me knowing your love for charcoal I just assumed you got a Weber Kettle Grill. They have so many attachments for them it is unreal.

I almost did! we looked at the green egg but I was doing the math and by the time it was functional I was going to be $2k+ deep into it. so we went out to lunch to think, and I was about to pull the trigger on a webber just to get back in the game, but scrolling at lunch we found the KJ on sale at Lowes and ran down to grab it. I'm glad I did, it's a beast!

 

[MrKleen73]

I told my wife the chicken looked like it was getting ready for an onlyfans photoshoot.

All I see when I look at this is a dog looking over a fence...

 

[SkRaw85]

we took back the traeger to costco and they gave us all of our money back so we used that and got super lucky to find a new kamado joe on sale at lowes and this propane grill combined for less than the Traeger cost! (we call this one grillbot). so I definitely prefer to cook with charcoal/wood on the kamado, but last night we ran a spatchcock chicken on the grillbot

View attachment 256511



I told my wife the chicken looked like it was getting ready for an onlyfans photoshoot.

View attachment 256512

I have seen this rotisserie unit for the KJ's, but they aint cheap!

JoeTisserie®

When you're ready to serve up adventure, Kamado Joe has the tips, techniques, and more to help you fire it up at your next cookout.

www.kamadojoe.com

Holy hell you’re not kidding! It’s a $350 engineering marvel!

 

[gphagan1]

11/18/2025
Tuesday
Stretches
Warmups
DB McLeod Flys

DB Bench
50s x 10
55s x 10
60s x 10
70s x 10

Incline Bench Machine
175 x 10, 10, 10

Skull Crushers
90 x 10, 10
100 x 10, 10

Tricep Ext Machine
3 x 10

Side Laterals
20s x 10, 10, 10

Starting to feel like I can get back to bench here pretty soon. I think I’ll start back with some moderate benching after Thanksgiving and see how the shoulder feels.

 

[Hyde]

Love to hear things continue to feel better