gym was very busy this morning, so my order got messed up. randomly dropped 0.5kg from yesterday and 1.5kg down from Monday and I felt weaker all around, so the reps suffered on all my chest exercises

hammer bench press 3x9-80
incline db bench 3x9-27.5
flyes 3x8-25kg
seated press 3x10-22.5kg
lat raise machine 3x10-32
press machine 1x10-47kg
1x10 pull ups to finish, just because

all fine. am going to a dance party Saturday pm that will involve chems, so I'll train til Sat am and then have a few days off I think

medium width neutral grip pull downs 4x14-67
seated close grip hammer row 4x13-120kg
barbell shrug 3x18-110kg ss with
back extensions 3x10
barbell curl 3x10-35kg ss with
hammer curl 3x9-15kg

had a night out on the chems at a dance party on Saturday night but seem to have got away with it physically and emotionally. 9 hours sleep on sat night helped and managed 3 hours of heavy digging and wrangling of heavy plants in the garden yesterday. then felt good enough this morning to head to the gym

9am on a Monday....crazy busy...don't these people have work to do? I had to adapt my session a little

Incline DB Bench 11,10,11,11-27.5kg
Flye Machine 3x14-54kg
Upright Machine Press thing 3x12-70kg
Seated DB Press 3x9-22.5kg
DB Lat Raise 3x12-12.5kg

So I randomly saw a Jay Cutler video grab on FB this morning about not bringing the DBs together at the top of a seated press but just do them straight up and down like you would with a barbell and I trialled that for both the bench and press sets and I actually preferred it. It seemed to keep tension in the muscle all the way through.

This makes less sense for me with DB bench since adduction is one of the main roles of the pecs, but I'm assuming the answer is "that's what cable crossovers are for" and I'm not going to pretend to know more than Jay Cutler, so here we are.

Gave it a shot with seated DB press today and didn't feel any noticeable difference, but who knows. Perhaps my MIND:MUSCLE CONNECTION^TM needs work?

yep I can't argue with the Press v Bench point. Also think there's a large part of things which are 'doing it slightly differently makes the muscle feel slightly different afterwards'. Which...is probably a good thing all around but also prolly argues against it being a big difference in the long run. Nevertheless, I'm attempting to do different lifts in different order to bring a little variety to my 6x a week gym habit and hope it might make a miniscule difference

seated chest supported hammer close grip row 4x11-120

neutral grip medium width pull downs 4x14-67

seated chest supported row where the handles start above head height (no idea how else to describe this) 3x9-80kg ss with back extensions 3x12-15kg

Barbell curl 3x11-35kg ss with
Hammer Curl 3x10-16kg

Chins 1x10

as an aside, I'm not sure I've done cable crossovers in 30 years. Flyes and Flye machine but never crossovers. Will try them on my next chest and shoulders day

really enjoyed this morning's session...not sure why, maybe just feeling good this week in myself? IDK

500m row

all single leg alternating....
leg extensions 3x11-47kg
glute extension machine 3x11-72.5kg
leg press 3x10-110kg
leg curl 3x11-20kg
then
hack squat 3x10-110kg (not sure I can do single leg hack squats comfortably)
tricep push downs 3x12-35kg ss with
tricep extensions 3x12-24kg
tricep machine 3x10
pull ups 1x10

did 2 hours physical work in the garden yesterday afternoon, digging out two huge plants...both prolly 200lb. (literally 0 work to do in my business right now, so may as well do this..and will be painting this pm I think for the same reason)

It absolutely wiped me out and I went on a salt and carb eating frenzy last night.

still felt sore and tired this morning but managed to get to the gym, albeit it took a long while to get my head into the session.

Isometric flat bench machine thing 3x9-80kg
Incline DB bench 3x11-25
DB Flyes 3x10-22.5
Seated DB Press 1x9-22.5, 2x12-20
Lat Raise machine 3x15-32

I used more incline on the DB press and I think I prefer it - it hits the shoulders more but hopefully also the upper part of the pec area.

neutral grip medium width pull downs 14,13,13,13-67kg
chest supported isometric close grip rows 4x10-120kg
barbell shrug 3x16-110kg ss with
back extensions 3x11-15kg
chins 1x11
preacher curl 3x12-40kg ss with
hammer curl 3x9-15kg

all fine. also did 30 min UT3 on the bike last night basically just to clear my head after being at home all day

Omg my body is broken

Spent 7 hours in the garden today. Hired a jackhammer to dig out a concrete slab and then had to carry about 2 tonne down to the road. Also dig out some plants, painted a wall and some fencing.

Ridiculously then went to the gym at 4pm and am now paying the price

Leg extensions 4x12-89kg
Leg press 3x11-230kg
Hip extension/thrust machine thing 3x14-160kg
Power clean 4x3-80kg
Skillcrusher 3x11-40kg ss with
Close grip press 3x20-40kg

rest day yesterday, although 5ish hours in the yard

Isometric bench press 3x9-80. pause reps
Incline DB bench 3x9-27.5kg
Flye machine 3x14-52
seated DB Press 4x12-20kg
Lat raise machine 3x12-37 - third set did 3 weight drops...prolly 30 reps in total

Wide Grip, chest supported seated rows 4x12-120kg
Wide Grip pull downs 3x12-60kg
Medium width neutral grip rows 3x12-67kg ss with
Back Extensions 3x10-15
Chins 1x8
Barbell Curl 3x10-35, ss with
Hammer Curl 3x8-15kg
Power Clean 3x5-60

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel re: all the yard work?

the house will go on the market at the beginning of October. Planning on having two more big weekends finishing off a ton of jobs outside the house and then the final weekend to move furniture around/into storage and clean everything up so that it looks ready.

generally the way you sell big/nice houses in Australia is via auction. So you do a 4 week campaign with two hour long showings per week and if you don't get offered a price you're happy with beforehand....or if there's a ton of interest...then you hold an auction. Ideally you then get good price for it, but if not it then goes on the market as 'for sale' at a target price

the market isn't ideal right now as interest rates are high and the economy has slowed, but really hoping we get what we want so we can move on. We've thrown quite a lot of money and I've put a huge amount of time into getting it right to sell

What's the plan on where to live after you sell? We are currently in the final stages of buying a house and I would be very surprised if there is a system more broken for buyers than the UK

I'm selling a property in the UK at the moment and it seems worse for sellers than buyers? I can't believe how long the process seems to take.

re my next steps, I want (and need) to stay in my current location. I have two kids still in the local high school and my parents live there too. I sponsored them to retire to Australia about 12 years ago, so it would be tough to leave them here and disappear further away. Plus, I've been living here for 18 years and I love it. It's an idyllic beachside big village/small town and I know a ton of people here.

It's complex - I have a daughter going away to college next Feb and another one going into her final year of high school. Both of have chosen to live with me FT (the elder one when she's home from college) and then a 14yo son who will split 50:50 with my soontobeexwife and me. So I kind of need a 4 bed place, which will involve borrowing a huge amount of $$ at age 53. Where I live is bloody expensive though and while my house has done very well over the past 11 years, buying back into the market at a lower level will be traumatic. There aren't any 4 bed places for less than $2m Aus and even at that price there will be big compromises. A lot easier for the soontobeex and she can get a 2 bed apartment and will probably be able to buy one pretty much mortgage free.

So I might rent for a year and then see what happens with the elder two kids. But that is crazy expensive too - looking at $1500 per week to rent an ok but not incredible 4 bed/3 bed with study. Obviously, the ideal scenario would be to meet a new partner who is local and in a similar life scenario and pool resources with her, but that's a long shot to happen in the next few years.

and my business isn't going great right now due to the stage we're at in the economic cycle. so it's all fun and games

the soontobeex wants to get back with me (no chance) but is trying to talk me into renting with her for a year if/when we can sell the house, but I don't want that at all. but I'm playing nice with her right now both for the kids(we're still all living together) but also because we haven't agreed financial splits yet and what we've discussed is way better than what I would get if we all lawyered up

complex stuff. sorry for long rant

happy you've met someone serious. a nice lady from the right background who your family approve of??

The process is long for both, but buyer's have to pay for solicitors, surveys, etc with no protection. We had our offer accepted 2 months ago, have paid for everything, and everything seems to be going smoothly. But if the sellers change their mind for whatever reason (someone offers more, life circumstances, market goes up), we have lost all those fees and months of our time.

It sounds really hard, but I also think you will look back on it in a few years and feel so relieved you stuck to your guns and made it through. Pretty much the same advice you gave to me. Renting seems to be the obvious play here, given the 3 older kids and likely them moving out at some point? Maybe rent for a few years and then buy when your life is more stable and say 2 of them have moved out?[/QUOTE]

Haha thanks, but background and family approval are not really factors for me. She's half english, half greek and easy going and fun. I forgot how nice an easy relationship is after the last one. I've never wanted kids, but she definitely wants one and I actually think it will be fun doing that with her.

[/QUOTE]

thank you and yes, I hope so. just need to keep grasping the nettle and get out the other side.

yes, renting is the obvious play except....

- I don't want to miss the next price rise spike, which I think is a real possibility if I wait a few years and
- I'm 53. While there's no chance I'll be paying the home loan off without a) pooling resources with a new partner or b) an inheritance (which hopefully there will be something of when my parents pass on...although unlikely to be for 15 years IMO as while they're both in their 80s, my dad is very healthy and his parents both lived to 99) so I'd actually like to make some impact on a mortgage and I wonder if there's an age when a bank stops lending large amounts? I guess that depends on the size of the downpayment.

I'm a huge advocate for kids. life definitely easier without them but by far the best thing that's ever happened to me and if your missus is a keeper and you're solid with each other for the long term, then ggggggo for it

didn't sleep brilliantly today and was up from 4. as such, the morning gym session felt difficult from beginning to end

all single leg alternatiing

leg extension 3x11-47kg
leg curl (prone) 3x9-22.5kg
glute extension 3x11-72.5kg
then
hip extension 3x12-170kg
seated leg press 3x14-135kg (new machine as the 45 degree leg press and hack squats were both in use - didn't like it)
tricep push downs 3x11-35kg ss with
tricep extensions 3x12-24kg
tricep machine thing 3x10

thank you and yes, I hope so. just need to keep grasping the nettle and get out the other side.

yes, renting is the obvious play except....

- I don't want to miss the next price rise spike, which I think is a real possibility if I wait a few years and
- I'm 53. While there's no chance I'll be paying the home loan off without a) pooling resources with a new partner or b) an inheritance (which hopefully there will be something of when my parents pass on...although unlikely to be for 15 years IMO as while they're both in their 80s, my dad is very healthy and his parents both lived to 99) so I'd actually like to make some impact on a mortgage and I wonder if there's an age when a bank stops lending large amounts? I guess that depends on the size of the downpayment.[/QUOTE]

Renting vs buying historically is pretty equivalent finanically if you dump your deposit money into an index fund. There's obviously pros and cons to both sides. One major pro to buying is the emotional happiness. And then of course if you buy a house, you're leveraged up, so that can work both for and against you.

I'm sure you know all this, but purely financially I wouldn't be worried about missing a spike, as long as your deposit is not in all cash.

But yeah, idk about the long term mortgage and that's definitely an arguement to try and buy asap if it all makes sense.

two really tough sleeps - up for 2 hours in the night on Weds and Thurs. Yesterday I couldn't force myself to get up early to go to the gym but managed a bike cardio session last night, basically to get the body moving and feel a little better. Call it an active rest day

this am I did get up but body felt unresponsive and every set was a grind. All dumbbell session due to machine avails

DB Bench 3x10-30kg
DB Incline Bench 3x11-25kg
DB Flye 3x9-22.5kg
seated DB Press 3x11-20 ss with
Lateral raise 3x10

not brilliant but something

did half sessions of Pull and then Legs on Sat and Sun after very heavy days in the garden. Really just wanted to get those muscles moving and I reckon it loosened me out. Prolly 12 hours of yard work over the weekend. Made a lot of progress but still feels like a lot to do