Chest

Today is my last workout this week so I needed to do chest.

Incline Press: 3 x 8 x 185
Decline DB Flys: 8 x 45, 8 x 50, 8 x 55
Flat Bench: 2 x 8 x 275, 7 x 275 (Barely got up seven on last set so I stopped there)
Push Ups: 50 Normal, 30 Normal, 10 Hands together.

My lower triceps (just above my elbow) were fatigued after the flat bench and were starting to ache after the second set. I had higher hopes for the push ups, but was completely fatigued after the first set, and my triceps were getting even more work that I thought. Overall a very good workout.

Leg Work

Squats no belt: 3 x 8 x 135
supersetted with
Leg Press: 3 x 12 x @275
SLDL: 8 x 175, 2 x 8 x 205

The squats even though they were "light" were still a little tough near the eighth rep. The rest of the workout was good, controlled. I stretched between sets to using all sorts of stretches which hopefully will target those tiny little muscles that hardly ever move. I then played Ping Pong with Kyle for about 45 minutes. I think I may have convinced him to get a serious paddle. He played with my Mark V paddle for a while and he noticed a difference right away. I'm hoping that several other Tomax people get serious about their table tennis game as it would be nice to play different styles rather than just Bala's style all the time.

Crap, this isn't a table tennis blog, but you know? Nobody's leaving comments much anymore, so perhaps my posts aren't getting read, so I can ramble anyway.

Lower Back after work (Name that 2nd exercise)

Today I played Table Tennis with Bala and Kyle (I did very well) during lunch, and lifted after work:

Romanian DL: 12 x 225, 2 x 6 x 275
(I don't know the name of this lift and couldn't locate it on the web): I laid on my upper quads perpendicular to a bench and put my legs under a brace. My upper body bent down to the floor, I held a 35 pound weight against my chest and brought my back upwards so that my upper body was slightly higher than my hips and then bent my upper body back down for 1 rep. Please tell me what the name of that exercise is. I'm sure I've heard of it before, I just can't recall.

I did 3 sets of those with 35 pounds @8 reps

Seated Cable Pulls: 3 x 8 x 200 - On these I kept my arms straight and used nothing but my lower back to pull the weight back so that I was lying on my back and then brought the bar back to my feet.

Shoulders and Neck

Barbell Shrugs: 8 x 185, 2 x 6 x 225
Full Lateral Raises to overhead: 8 x 30, 2 x 8 x 35
Upright Rows: 8 x 95, 8 x 115, 6 x 145
Lateral DB Rows: 3 x 8 x 40

In between sets I did 35 Crunches and 10 Side Bends (5 each side), total of 280 crunches and 80 Side Bends. I had planned a fourth exercise (DB Military Press) but since I went ahead to an overhead position on the lateral raises I considered that exercise done. It was a fairly good workout given I wasn't as motivated as normal today. Body was fine today, mind though not so strong.

First good chest workout in a while

Worked with the shirt today:

Flat Bench: 12 x 225, 8 x 275, 4 x 295, 4 x 315, 3 x 335, 1 x 365
Unshirted Flat Bench: 1 x 275, 8 x 225, 12 x 185 (wide grip), 12 x 135 (Ultra wide)
Incline Bench: 12 x 135

I must have made more noise than usual lifting the 135 up from the flat to the incline pins cause my workplace's hardware administrator, Kevin came down and poked his head in the door. His office is just above the weight room. I hope he wasn't bugged. I wouldn't want to get on his bad side.

I took the last couple days off cause my entire back was more sore than normal and my ankle was sore from the side bends. I saw the Chiropractor for the last time today and he did a few minor adjustments and said I was good to go for a while. I'm glad I went and hope I don't have to go back.

First good back workout since the injury

Chest Supported Rows: 3 sets of 7 x 95, 5 x 125, 3 x 165
Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets of 6 x 160, 4 x 170, 2 x 180
Light SLDL: 3 sets of 12 x 135, 10 x 155, 8 x 175
Seated Cable Rows: 3 Sets of 8 x 180

In between sets I did 33 crunches/10 side bends, Total: 266 Crunches, 80 Side Bends.

The SLDL felt really good, I wasn't feeling any pain or tightness whatsoever between sets so I'm hoping that doing higher reps and lighter weight strengthens those smaller muscles in my lower back/hip that need to catch up. Felt really good about this workout.

Mucho Muscle's Bicep workout

This workout came from Mucho Muscle's website

Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 7 x 105, 5 x 125, 2 x 145
Alternating Standing DB Curls: 3 sets of 7 x 50, 5 x 50, 4 x 55
Armblaster Curls: 3 sets of 8 x 95, 6 x 105, 4 x 125
Barbell Curls (Strip Set): 5 x 95, 10 x 85, 15 x 75, 20 x 65, 25 x 55, 30 x 45

33 Crunches and 20 flutter kicks between sets: Total 200 Crunches, 120 flutter kicks.

The Barbell Curls provided quite the burn. I also did all of these exercises slowly, controlled with a short flex at the top of the curl, except for the last exercise which was done kind of rushed.

I went to see the Chiropractor again this morning and bought a ball. I used it to do one exercise and then placed it on a piece of tin tubing used for air conditioning and it popped! I was so mad. At least I only paid $12 for it. I think I'll give the Dr. one more visit and then I'll call it quits. I only had one episode of pain with my lower back this weekend due to driving to Moab for Cathi's Half Marathon. With my high deductible plan with my Health Insurance I can't afford to keep going, unless its because of an overwhelming need to get some pain relief.

The hotel in Moab had a pool, but no weights at all which was extremely disappointing, so I have a little catching up to do. Today's workout was good and I got a good burn, but I doubt I'll be sore for days like the website claims even though I followed it to a T (except I replaced the Spider Curls with Armblaster Curls since our preacher bench attachment doesn't have a very good back end, plus there is a small rack on the otherside and didn't like getting a piece of metal so close to my crotch. So the 2nd and 3rd sets I replaced with Armblaster to get the same effect.

I also posted a question in the proper forum about whether the utah summer games competition is raw or not.

First time to a Chiropractor

Today I went to visit Mark Dudley a chiropractor that was referred to me by my Mother. He lives next to my parents. His office was downtown so it was convenient to go over. He said that the injury may not have been completely due to the squat or the weight I did, but may have been something that tipped the scale relating to a problem that may have started long ago. He used a tool to "thump" certain points in my back and had me do some movements as he made certain adjustments using his tool. He mentioned that my right hip flexor (I don't remember the medical term he used) was weak and that it also affected my range in my shoulder on my left. He gave me a couple of exercises to strengthen those small muscles that are triggering the problem.

I have another appointment for Monday. Felt really relaxed and loose after the appointment so when I got back I went right to lifting.

Today I did legs:

Romanian DL: 8 x 225, 2 x 8 x 275
Leg Press: 3 x 12 x @250
Hamstring Curls: 3 x 12 x 55

I did 25 crunches between reps: Total 150

Today I cut it short because I started to do DB Lunges with 40 in each hand and this experience confirmed the Dr.'s diagnosis. I could lunge with my right leg just fine, but when I put my left leg forward and tried to stand up with my right hip, I could barely do it. So I decided against agitating that hip any more. I did the Dr's exercises where I get into a lunge position and rotate my hip forward and hold it for 30 seconds (each hip). Then I laid on my side with my forearm against the mat, then push my hip towards the ceiling. That was tough.

Today also somebody put up a nice sign in the locker room on how to keep it clean, etc.... I love how people feel entitled to lecture others instead of just living life laid back. I admit the locker room isn't the cleanest place, but its not like I'm eating lunch off the floor. On the other hand the signmaker is right in that its very easy to put your stuff away and keep it tidy. I'm just not used to getting lectured by someone who is too timid to let me know who I'm getting feedback from. I've been living with the locker room the way it is for the past several years and I haven't felt the need to put up a sign. Now that people are actually getting off their butts its interesting to see that people are starting to establish rules and guidelines. I'll play along.

Moderate Chest Workout

Floor Press: 3 x 8 x 225
Floor DB Flys: 3 x 8 x 45, 50, 55
Decline Bench: 3 x 8 x 225
Fly Machine: 3 x 8 x 3/4 stack (@ 175)
Press Machine: 3 x 8 x whole stack (@225)

In between sets I did 15 flutter kicks (4 count) and 20 crunches: Total 150 FK, 200 Crunches. These were easier, next week I'll increase the reps a bit on these. Abs already feeling really good.

Shoulders/Neck

Standing Military Press(behind the neck): 3 x 8 x 135
DB Front Rows: 3 x 8 x 45
Shrugs: 3 x 8 x 185
Wide Grip Cable Pulldowns: 3 x 8 x 150
Lateral DB Rows: 3 x 8 x 45

In between sets I did some ab work: 15 flutter kicks, 20 crunches. I only did these between sets and not between exercises (2 ab sets per exercise) so I ended up doing 200 crunches total, and 150 flutter kicks (4 count = 1)

The first ab set was kind of hard, but the rest was cake. I'm going to do ab work everyday! Thanks Stinn for the suggestion. Kind of a no brainer, but my lazy butt needs a reminder now and then.

Just a few sets of DB Curls

Alternating DB Curls: 6 x 55, 9 x 50, 12 x 45, 15 x 40, 18 x 35, 21 x 30, 25 x 25, 30 x 20

Quite a burn.

Too hungry to stay out of the kitchen

My back is probably at 80-90% normal. Today I had a tough chest workout planned, but after I couldn't get the weight off the rack without struggling, I decided to abandon it and just take it easy and not push it too hard. Here is what I did:

Flat Bench: 8 x 235 (2 block), Tried to get 285 off the rack, and decided against it. At this point I just took it easy with the following:

3 x 2 x 185 (Letting the weight just sit on my chest for about 20 seconds between each rep)
5 x 8 x 185 (with chains) nice and slow
25 x 135 (with chains)

Got a pretty good burn today. Disappointed that I couldn't do the planned workout, but hey, I was supposed to take the day off anyway!

Taking the week off

Last night and this morning I could barely walk. I've discovered that if I move really slow, I'm OK, but moving fast is impossible. I'm at work with a heating pad on my lower back and that really is awesome.

I'll be taking the rest of this week off from lifting, and taking the rest of my life off of squats.

My body has declared war on Squats

Today even though my lower back was sore (from what I have no idea), I decided to do Squats to start out my workout today. Here is what I did:

Squats from 12" block (no belt): 8 x 185, 6 x 225, 1 x 275

I planned on doing 4 reps of 275, but on the way down about an inch or two before reaching the block my lower back did something that I cannot describe, but it was intensely painful. I barely got back up from the seated position. I tried bending over to do a toe touch but the pain was too much. I had to stand straight up to avoid pain. Even getting off the 25 and 45 pound weights from the bar was painful if I didn't stand completely erect.

My back was actually feeling great after the 225, but just that one 275 unbelted took me out. I think I'm going to give up on squats altogether. I'll still do leg presses and girly leg machines, but my back just has never been very kind to me. I still want to do Deadlifts (Just romanian for now), but squats are out of the picture for me.

Arms instead of squats

Since the back of my neck is so sore and I didn't feel like resting weight on it, I did arms today.

21s: 3 x 30
Decline Bench Tricep Rope Pulls: 10 x 50, 2 x 8 x 70
One Handed DB Preacher Curls: 8 x 35, 8 x 40, 8 x 45
Dips: 3 x 8 x 275 (body weight + 35)
Standing Curls: 10 x 95, 8 x 105, 8 x 115
French Presses: 10 x 115, 2 x 8 x 125

Felt really good today, the dips usually are painful, but I did them slow and controlled (especially on the last two sets) and they went much smoother and without pain. The best song played today while lifting was Reise, Reise by Rammstein. I actually heard an instrumental mix of it during the broadcast of the Olympics and man was it giving me goosebumps. Rammstein imho is the best metal band out there.

Trying to break my pencil neck

Today I focused on neck:

DB Front Raises all the way up to ceiling: 4 x 8 x 25
Standing Preacher Rows: 8 x 95, 8 x 105, 8 x 115, 8 x 135
Shrugs: 8 x 135, 3 x 8 x 185
Cable Neck Extensions: 8 x 10, 2 x 8 x 20, 8 x 30

I don't know who bought a neck harness which has been in the gym for ages, but doubtfully everused for its proper purpose, but I tried it out today. The weight was too easy. One of the clamps was missing on the end of the harness so I had to rig some stupid contraption together to get it functional. It would have been funny to video. I had a small BB end spring attached to the end with a lat rope attached to that and the other end of the harness, then a chain connected to the pulley system attached to the rope in the middle. It wasn't very comfortable, but it did the trick.

I wonder if my neck will be sore. It felt like a decent workout, and I did an exercise I've never done before in my life. We'll see. My chest is sore from yesterday which is good.

I got my tax return back last night, I'm still on cloud 9 with the rebate I'm getting. Yahoo!