GP’s Old Man With A Plan Log

[gphagan1]

your back days always look strong, I know that machine and I know how hard that 330lbs is in reality. it might be a machine but thats legit work.

Love having the boy cook too, thats an important skill for him! I started doing that with my boy when he was younger too "I'm hungry" well ok, here's a fry pan and some eggs. lol of course I'd show him what to do but, teach a man to fish....

All our boys are excellent cooks. Teaching your kids life skills is so important.
Yeah, those HS Row machines will put it on you, but man I love it. That’s why normally on back day I’ll only do 2 sets of pull-ups after those two row machines, because my upper back is usually cooked after those machines.

 

[Hyde]

Yeah over 3.5 plates on that high row definitely takes some work!

Also, I had pork chops yesterday and they were delicious

 

[akboom87]

9/10/2026
Thursday
Stretches
Warmups

HS Iso Lateral High Row
270 x 8
330 x 8, 8, 8, 8

HS Iso Lateral Mid Row
230 x 8, 8, 8, 8

Machine Preacher Curl
4 x 10

Stationary Bike 10 minutes

Leg Press
90 x 8
180 x 8
270 x 8
360 x 8, 8

Had to take my wife Wednesday to her Neurologist for her MS appointment, and today she had a follow up with her Urologist, so I left work at lunch, hit the gym for this quick workout, and went and picked her up. When we got home our Grandson had made Pork Chops, garlic mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli with carrots. She had told him how to cook it all before we left, but he prepared and cooked it all by himself. And it was really good….we told him our compliments to the chef. I told him you may have found your calling. He was so proud.

Great session! Hope the appointments were all good for your wife. Pretty awesome he cooked that up for you guys, sounds delicious!

 

[gphagan1]

9/11/2026
Friday
Stretches
Warmups

Overhead Press 5-3-1
115 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 8 (2 RIR)

Side Laterals
30s x 10, 10, 10

Incline DB Press with pause
70s x 10, 10, 10

V Bar Push Downs
3 x 10

Low Cable Row
145 x 10
160 x 10, 10

Cable Curls
3 x 10

HS Ab Crunch Machine
2 x 15

I almost went ahead and did 150 for 10 on OHP, but decided to leave a couple in the tank since my shoulder is doing good. That Hammer Strength Ab Machine is one of the new machines my guy had that he had bought for us a couple of months ago, and he found a good spot for it, so I had to try her out.

 

[akboom87]

9/11/2026
Friday
Stretches
Warmups

Overhead Press 5-3-1
115 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 8 (2 RIR)

Side Laterals
30s x 10, 10, 10

Incline DB Press with pause
70s x 10, 10, 10

V Bar Push Downs
3 x 10

Low Cable Row
145 x 10
160 x 10, 10

Cable Curls
3 x 10

HS Ab Crunch Machine
2 x 15

I almost went ahead and did 150 for 10 on OHP, but decided to leave a couple in the tank since my shoulder is doing good. That Hammer Strength Ab Machine is one of the new machines my guy had that he had bought for us a couple of months ago, and he found a good spot for it, so I had to try her out.

Another good session! Great work on the OHP and the incline db press. HS torture machine is what that is

 

[Dustin07]

150 x 8, especially with a couple reps in reserve is a big OHP. your shoulder must be doing much better! our OHP's are very close, I bet we finish the year around a similar 1RM there if we both stay healthy-

 

[gphagan1]

150 x 8, especially with a couple reps in reserve is a big OHP. your shoulder must be doing much better! our OHP's are very close, I bet we finish the year around a similar 1RM there if we both stay healthy-

Thanks, yeah the shoulder is doing pretty good now. I think I could probably do 195 right now, so you’re probably a good 10-15lbs ahead of me.

 

[dapack]

150 x 8, especially with a couple reps in reserve is a big OHP. your shoulder must be doing much better! our OHP's are very close, I bet we finish the year around a similar 1RM there if we both stay healthy-

Agreed. Huge lift

 

[Dustin07]

Thanks, yeah the shoulder is doing pretty good now. I think I could probably do 195 right now, so you’re probably a good 10-15lbs ahead of me.

well my best so far is still only 200 the past couple cycles, I know on the one hand in theory I hit that after working sets as a joker so I could blame fatigue for not going higher but on the other hand, we all know how I operate and typically I either have it or I don't regardless of warmup work lol. I feel very good about 200 being in my back pocket right now but as for more, I have no idea lol .

 

[gphagan1]

well my best so far is still only 200 the past couple cycles, I know on the one hand in theory I hit that after working sets as a joker so I could blame fatigue for not going higher but on the other hand, we all know how I operate and typically I either have it or I don't regardless of warmup work lol. I feel very good about 200 being in my back pocket right now but as for more, I have no idea lol .

 

[gphagan1]

9/16/2026
Wednesday
Stretches
Warmups
Rotator Cuff
McLeod Flys

Bench 5-3-1
195 x 3
220 x 3
250 x 5(1- 2RIR)
Spoto Bench
235 x 6, 6

HS Iso Horizontal Bench Machine
208 x 10, 10, 10, 10

CG Bench
185 x 10, 10
205 x 10, 10

Arnold Press
45s x 10, 10, 10

Cybex Tri Extension Machine
3 x 10

Man I felt great today…. I had to take my wife to her Internal Medicine Doctor Monday for a checkup and bloodwork, and I went to my Doctor Tuesday for my yearly checkup and bloodwork, so today was my first chance back in the gym since Friday. Since I was a day later on my bench, I wondered how good the workout would be or would I be dragging. Well I felt good all day, so I couldn’t wait to get to the gym. And man it was a blast and such a fun workout. Did a lot of band work with my stretching and warmups, because I just wanted to make sure the shoulder was good on the bench. I had no aches or pain when I started benching, and felt really strong. 250 moved really smooth and I know I could have hit 6 and maybe 7. I made up my mind that I’m definitely doing a Joker set next week after the last set of the prescribed 260, but I’m really contemplating going for 280 or 285 instead of 275 on the Joker set if 260 feels really easy. I definitely don’t want to go too heavy, but I’m feeling strong so I guess I’ll figure it out that day…..just need to think about it.

Edit: Almost forgot…the 250x5 is a 60s PR.

 

[Hyde]

Glad it was an awesome workout! From a science angle, adding about 5% load to the bar from a recent heaviest exposure is all they can say is generally safe from a connective tissue adaptation perspective. That’s about 12lbs based on what you have been doing.

So going past 275 is sailing out into open waters a bit. Truthfully it will probably be fine, but just understand the more you attempt the more risk you add. You’re already on track to bench 300 by end of year if you do 275 now, so I am not sure there’s a ton of reason to rush it too much.

 

[gphagan1]

Glad it was an awesome workout! From a science angle, adding about 5% load to the bar from a recent heaviest exposure is all they can say is generally safe from a connective tissue adaptation perspective. That’s about 12lbs based on what you have been doing.

So going past 275 is sailing out into open waters a bit. Truthfully it will probably be fine, but just understand the more you attempt the more risk you add. You’re already on track to bench 300 by end of year if you do 275 now, so I am not sure there’s a ton of reason to rush it too much.

That’s a great point….there really isn’t any reason to go over 275, and I definitely don’t want to go too far with the shoulder, so 275 it is then.

 

[Segansational]

PR city up in here!

 

[Dustin07]

Glad it was an awesome workout! From a science angle, adding about 5% load to the bar from a recent heaviest exposure is all they can say is generally safe from a connective tissue adaptation perspective. That’s about 12lbs based on what you have been doing.

Over what period of time? Layne likes to have funny battles on X and this one cracked me up. at 10% I should be squatting more than you by new years

I popped that 5% rule into excel real quick to see what it would look like on a monthly basis for fun. Its kinda funny how big 5% really is, like its a lot.

Here's 2%. its HUGE imo

Edit: Almost forgot…the 250x5 is a 60s PR.

Gotta love it!! raising the bar for all of us!

 

[Hyde]

Over what period of time? Layne likes to have funny battles on X and this one cracked me up. at 10% I should be squatting more than you by new years

View attachment 263168

View attachment 263169

I popped that 5% rule into excel real quick to see what it would look like on a monthly basis for fun. Its kinda funny how big 5% really is, like its a lot.

View attachment 263170

Here's 2%. its HUGE imo

View attachment 263171



Gotta love it!! raising the bar for all of us!

I’m not sure what you’re asking.

Adding 2-5% load to the bar weekly seems to be pretty safe for connective tissue that hasn’t experienced that load in a long time (or ever). This isn’t to say you CAN handle that much more load from a muscular perspective, but rather this is how fast tendons seem to very safely adapt. This is going to be ~5-15lbs in a lot of cases. If the athlete has handled these poundages recently, it wouldn’t apply (like typical wave loading where you have already handled similar 3-4 weeks prior).

It’s mainly going to be relevant for lifters coming back off a layoff/injury where load was greatly reduced but muscles are still much stronger, and steroid users when they hit the gas again. Think comeback scenarios. This is why I always ramp up to the contest; I can get 10-15% stronger from the steroids but if I just slam that out the gate it’s way more dangerous.

That’s also why I was so nervous getting my squat ready for this meet. 7 weeks after my knee tear, I jumped up from around 445 to 507 for a single, then the next week did 578 just 8 weeks post (15% more load!) - that’s uncharted water for sure; there’s a real risk. But when I did that, I knew I could taper down over 3 weeks and do 4% more (600) safely then.

 

[Dustin07]

I’m not sure what you’re asking.

Adding 2-5% load to the bar weekly seems to be pretty safe for connective tissue that hasn’t experienced that load in a long time (or ever).

yes sir, that answers the question perfectly. I see people often throw out percentages of how much is safe to increase but they don't usually highlight specific time periods. Like Gary up there stating 10% per week is pretty absurd unless you're brand new to the sport and adding 4.5lbs to a 45lb empty barbell.

 

[MrKleen73]

Nice the boy is a good cook, and congrats on that new PR!!!!

 

[gphagan1]

Nice the boy is a good cook, and congrats on that new PR!!!!

Yeah he’s doing good…..he’s already been making breakfast like omlets, bacon, biscuits etc., and simple meals at dinner, but now he’s starting to get interested in how to cook and season meat properly, side dishes, and prep food properly. Just have to work on cleaning the kitchen afterwards and not leave it for Maw Maw.

 

[gphagan1]

9/17/2026
Thursday
Stretches
Warmups

HS Iso Lateral High Row
270 x 8
330 x 8, 8, 8, 8

HS Iso Lateral Mid Row
230 x 8, 8, 8, 8

Pull-Ups
12, 10

Machine Preacher Curl
4 x 10

Standing DB Curl
45s x 10, 10, 8, 8

DB Rear Laterals
40s x 10, 10, 10

Leg warmups and stretches
Stationary bike 10 minutes

Leg Press
90 x 8
180 x 8
270 x 8
360 x 8, 8

Man I was drained and really dragging today. Had to work late, so I was pretty tired by the time I made it to the gym. Felt pretty good after stretching and warmups, but I realized how drained I was when I got to pull-ups after the heavy HS high and mid rows and could only hit 10 on my second set. I knew I needed to throw some leg press work in since I missed leg day, but man that’s all I had in me. Got home and my wife had made Cajun Rotisserie Chicken, and had the boy make roasted red potatoes with peppers and onions, and salads. That really hit the spot.

 

[Hyde]

Learning to cook and feed yourself is such a valuable skill; it will save your grandson a lot of money & health and be a blessing to his family the rest of his life.

I can’t believe the number of people I meet that do not know how to cook anything to feed themselves! It doesn’t have to be fancy, but you have to eat. This is why so many rely on takeout, fast food & processed stuff instead of seeing that as a treat or luxury.

 

[Dustin07]

pull-ups are sorta a funny one around here. I feel like its that after thought movement that we all intend to throw in but often times gets forgotten. Nothing wrong with a couple sets of 10+ for a dude your size. guys 60lbs lighter than you can't do that. I need to focus on them more myself!

 

[Dustin07]

I can’t believe the number of people I meet that do not know how to cook anything to feed themselves! It doesn’t have to be fancy, but you have to eat. This is why so many rely on takeout, fast food & processed stuff instead of seeing that as a treat or luxury.

I briefly rented this awesome loft in Tacoma (bachelor pad, it did the job) from an older well-to-do couple in 2016 and first thing I scoped out was the kitchen etc. He goes "you cook?" I said well I'm no chef but I gotta eat.

he pulls his wife in and says "hey honey, he cooks!" they were shocked. neither of them could cook, they were pushing 60 and I was around 34. I couldn't wrap my head around how the average person survives if they can't cook food lol!!!

 

[gphagan1]

Learning to cook and feed yourself is such a valuable skill; it will save your grandson a lot of money & health and be a blessing to his family the rest of his life.

I can’t believe the number of people I meet that do not know how to cook anything to feed themselves! It doesn’t have to be fancy, but you have to eat. This is why so many rely on takeout, fast food & processed stuff instead of seeing that as a treat or luxury.

I briefly rented this awesome loft in Tacoma (bachelor pad, it did the job) from an older well-to-do couple in 2016 and first thing I scoped out was the kitchen etc. He goes "you cook?" I said well I'm no chef but I gotta eat.

he pulls his wife in and says "hey honey, he cooks!" they were shocked. neither of them could cook, they were pushing 60 and I was around 34. I couldn't wrap my head around how the average person survives if they can't cook food lol!!!

I know it really is surprising how many people don’t cook, and like you said Hyde they are forced to get takeout or go to a restaurant…more expensive and usually not healthy.
My middle son’s wife couldn’t cook when they got married, but she wanted to learn. He taught her to cook within their first month of being married, and continued through the early part of their marriage and now she is an excellent cook. Ha, he is already teaching his boys to cook. The 11 year old makes a mean beef nachos with cheese, jalapeños, and salsa…hey you got to start somewhere…he calls it his Mexican Special.

 

[MrKleen73]

I often forget what a treat it is to cook a great meal for yourself and your loved ones. Don't get me wrong, I can throw things together and make them taste great, most of my convenience dishes would rival a meal at most common sit down spots like chilis and the like. However, when you take the real time and effort do do the thing, and make something amazing even if it seemed a little overwhelming at the jump it is so worth it.

I can't imagine not knowing how to cook, I was learning to cook standing next to my mother on my tip toes in the kitchen. Getting popped by the grease with her, I loved that she let me be a big boy and join in. I was like 7 when I cooked my first successfully flipped over easy egg! Up until then it was accidentally scrambled, but I was cooking. By the time I was in 3rd grade, I cooked almost every steak from a half side of beef in about 3 months coming home after school and making myself a steak on the broiler. I saw them do it and I was like I can do that...

I am guessing you can all imagine the ass whooping i got when my step dad went in to grab some steaks from the deep freeze and I had demolished 95% of them when the idea was to save money by buying a half side of beef and I basically ruined that plan.

Yeah, anyway the point is, I love that I know how to cook and am the "Meat Master!" in my house. I think maybe I should start planning a family dinner at the house at least once a month and just throw down for everyone. Food and family is always a great thing!!!!

 

[gphagan1]

9/18/2026
Friday
Stretches
Warmups

Overhead Press 5-3-1
125 x 3
140 x 3
160 x 6 (2 RIR)

Side Laterals
30s x 10, 10, 10

Incline DB Press with pause
70s x 10, 10, 10

V Bar Push Downs
3 x 10

Low Cable Row
145 x 10
160 x 10, 10

Hammer Curls
50 x 10, 10, 10

Shoulder still feeling great….

 

[gphagan1]

9/22/2026
Tuesday
Stretches
Warmups
Rotator Cuff
McLeod Flys

Bench 5-3-1
205 x 5
235 x 3
260 x 1

Joker
275 x 2 (0-1 RIR)….PR in my 60s
Pause on 2nd rep.

YEAH BABY

HS Iso Horizontal Bench Machine
208 x 10, 10, 10, 10

CG Bench
185 x 10, 10
205 x 10, 10

Arnold Press
45s x 10, 10, 10

Cybex Tri Extension Machine
3 x 10

Man I was so fired up to get to this workout…. I couldn’t wait to leave work, and everything went great. I knew as good as my shoulder felt, no pain or stiffness, that this was going to be a good day. 260 moved so easy that I almost did more reps, but I restrained because I wanted to really go for more than 1 rep on 275. There were no men in the gym today, not even the owner, so I got a couple of the more experienced girls to get on each side, but not to touch the bar unless I asked. I was so fired up when I sat on the bench, planted my feet good to drive through the heels, got my lats back and tight, tightened my core and was in the zone. The first rep moved so well, that I was surprised, so on the second rep I did a 2 second pause and drove it home. I really think I may have gotten 3, but definitely no more. It was 2 solid reps and I was really pleased I was able to pause on the second rep. The girls cheered me on which was really cool, and the one said you killed it Pops. I didn’t realize but the other 5 girls in the gym were watching too and gave me high fives….that actually meant a lot because you could tell they were genuinely excited for me.
I may could do 295 for my max now, but probably no more. This really made my week…it’s truly a victory after a long uphill battle. The 275 is the most I’ve benched since 2023. I injured my shoulder at the end of 2023 benching 275 for 5 reps, and 2024 was just battling one injury after another. In September of 2024 is when I had the bad shoulder and upper pec injury and then had that long 7 months rehab up until I started this log last year. In 2019 I had benched 365 at 55 years old but I realized I tweaked something, and you guessed it, I had injured my shoulder pretty badly and didn’t know until I racked the bar. I was out of the gym most of 2020, and was able to have a good 2021, 2022, and 2023 until the injury at the end of the year. I brought all that up, because it’s been a long hard fought battle to get back to where I feel like I was in ‘23. It feels like everything has come around full circle now. I know I won’t ever get back to 395 my all time best or even the 365 which was my best in my 50s, but 315 is a very realistic goal. Not sure if I will be able to hit that by the end of the year, but I do believe 305 is on the table, and it may be 2027 when I get 315, but I will get it. I’ve been trying to be steady and smart since getting back to the gym last year, and it’s paying off. I do want to thank all you guys for your encouragement, support, and advice. This brotherhood means a lot, and there is no doubt in my mind that you guys helped me get here, and I really appreciate that.

 

[Hyde]

MAN THAT IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT RIGHT HERE!

Awesome work. I know what it’s like to go years between PRs. It was 5 & a half years to put 5 more lbs on my deadlift this February. And I have gone 3 years on benchpress before for 5lbs as well. But when you finally get there, it’s not that all that time was worth 5lbs - it’s the knowledge that you have surpassed your previous limitations