Little bit of chest

Just enough to probably rend me sore:

Flat Bench: 4 x 15 @ 155
DB Flys: 4 x 15 @ 30

Not very motivated today, but know this will be enough to make me sore.

Starting with Shoulders

On Monday I did two exercises (three sets each) of biceps, but it was after work and before I went home. Today I did shoulders:

Standing Military Press: 15 @ 95, 3 x 15 @ 105
Standing DB Lateral Raises: 15 @ 30, 3 x 15 @ 25
Seated Widegrip Rows: 4 x 15 @ 100
Arnold Presses: 4 x 10 @ 30

Christian came in and worked through ten minutes of lifting, pretty much no rest. That was about as much work I do in one hour so that looked tough. Haven't swam in over two weeks thanks to the vacation and the holidays. First night back tonight.

Almost there...... Stay on target

Since the last week's chest workout I have been recovering. Yesterday was the first day without a trace of soreness. I can't believe a simple workout like that would make me sore for an entire week!

Last Friday I was able to finally fully assemble my new table tennis paddle which consists of:

• Joola R*1 blade - ($60) Thanks to Bryce Parkinson for the good deal on it.


• Juic Shenron - Two sheets at $39/sheet - from Paddlepalace.com

That's $138 for this ping pong paddle which is a new record for the price I'm willing (or dumb enough) to pay for the latest thing. Austin, Jacob and I are taking the family down to the US National Open next week.

Almost there... Stay on target!
In order to not completely choke I'm practicing a little bit during lunch instead of lifting, not to mention to avoid becoming so sore that it makes me hobble around in pain.

So watch for more activity in the lifting arena come Dec 26 onward. I'd like to participate in a virtualmeet sometime next year.

Just a touch of bicep work

This week has been crazy at work. I didn't get to take a lunch break a couple days. Which has been fortunate really because I've been so debilitating sore in my chest from Tuesday's workout. Today Austin came to work with me and I did this workout. In between sets we played some foozball which was fun.

Preacher Curls: 4 x 15@95
Standing Alternating DB Curls: 4 x 15@30
One Arm Concentration Curls: 4 x 15@25

Swimming quite well lately, but lifting leaves much to be desired. It's funny (in a sad way) that it only takes three measly exercises to make me overwhelmingly sore for a few days.

Light Chest workout

Bench Press: 20 @ 135, 15 @ 185, 15 @ 175, 15 @ 165
DB Flys: 4 x 15 @ 30
DB Press: 4 x 15 @ 45

Let's see if just three exercises gets me sore. Cause lately four has been kicking my butt!

Short Back workout

Since I am significantly sore in my Traps and Upper Lats I only did three exercises today:

Bent Over Close Grip Barbell Rows: 4 x 15 @90
Wide Grip Seated Cable Rows: 4 x 15 @100
Lying Bent Arm DB Pullover: 2 x 15 @40, 2 x 15 @50

Going for some breath control and speed swimming tonight.

Shoulders

Holy crud was I sore all of last week! Didn't lift due to soreness and Thanksgiving weekend. Today did light shoulders:

Standing Overhead Press: 4 x 15 @95
DB Shoulder Shrugs rotate: 4 x 15 @30
Standing DB Lateral Raises: 4 x 15 @25
Close Grip Upright Rows: 4 x 15 @75

Bala surprisingly was in the weight room when I started. Hope I'm sore, but not half as sore as my arms were last week.

First day back - Light Biceps

I set a goal a while back that I was going to get back into the gym just after Christmas (after the US Open). But after the past week's performance at lunch time and at the Utah Open, I've decided that I'm officially at a plateau with my table tennis so I started today to lift at lunch time which will continue on work days until around September of next year where I will go back to table tennis and drop lifting at lunch.

Here is what I did today:
Seated Preacher Curls: 4 x 15 @ 75
Alternating DB Curls: 2 x 15 @ 30, 2 x 15 @ 25
Concentration Curls: 4 x 15 @ 20
Standing One Arm Reverse Curls (With Armblaster): 4 x 15 @ 15

Nothing heavy at all, just alot of reps (no less than 15 per set) to get a good pump. Part of my motivation is swimming. Would like to tone up so I don't look like a fast whale.

Alternative method of fitness

Sorry to have been such a slacker with lifting lately. I haven't lifted in well over eight months. My weight has remained the same, even though I'm sure I'm much weaker. Cathi has really stepped up her own weight loss plan and has encouraged me to do the same and has offered me $1000 to reach a reasonable goal which I set.

I figured that getting down to 200 would be the goal that I would like. We purchased a family membership to Layton surf and swim and have been swimming every Mon - Thur Night. Starting out at just over 1000 yards. The first two days were a little tough, but already its getting easier. Hoping to be up to about 1800 yards (1 mile) in about two weeks.

If you feel like checking on our progress you can check out my old school swimming log which I started many years ago. But I definitely don't have plans to hit the weights again until well after the new year. I have the U.S. National Open Tournament in December and am dedicating my lunch periods to training for that. I spend on average about 12-15 hours a week to table tennis. Weight lifting while training for table tennis hurts my game because I'm usually sore and that either affects my ability to move or hit the ball properly. Swimming doesn't leave me overly sore or stiff. That's probably in large part because I'm terrible at doing stretches which would probably minimize this, but another reason I like swimming is because I have a dedicated partner and I also get to go on a date with my wife every night. That's a huge perk.

Rather lift weights than play doubles

Today there were quite a few peeps waiting to play table tennis (9 people and 2 tables). The suggestion was made to play doubles. I hate playing doubles! You don't learn how to play better with doubles, alot of it is teamwork. That's why I like individual sports better. Nobody to blame but yourself. So I opted to lift during the crazy 15 minutes when everyone and their dog wanted to play.

Shoulders - Lateral DB Raises/DB Shrugs: 5 x 8 x 35

Haven't done shoulders in months so I'm hoping this is enough to generate some soreness and some liking for the gym. Afterwards 4 people left and we went back to singles. Played well against everyone except Bala.

Very small bench

Bench: 18 x 165, 16 x 185, 10 x 205, 6 x 225, 2 x 255, 10 x 115 (speed press)

Knowing how weak I am, I bet I'll be sore tomorrow. That should be enough. Any more and I probably wouldn't be able to move the next couple days.

Light Bench

Flat Bench: 15 x 185, 12 x 195, 10 x 195, 8 x 205, 15 x 135
Wide Grip Cable Pulldowns: 8 x 130, 8 x 140, 8 x 150, 8 x 160

Considering how terribly sore my biceps were from the wimpy workout, I didn't want to push it today. Hopefully I'll be sore. Felt tight afterwards.

Man have I turned into a marshmallow!

Yesterday I went into the weight room with Tim and did a few exercises:

Alternating DB Curls: 15 x 35, 12 x 35, 2 x 8 x 35
Straight Bar Curls: 3 x 6 x 95
Dips: 3 x 6 x bw

That's all I did, not cause I thought I would be sore, but cause it was boring! I forgotten how it is to be in a gym. Tim did his own exercises, and I did mine. Wasn't much interaction. I was hoping for a collaboration, but he rushed through his exercises (He did one arm DB Tricep Rows). I didn't have fun, it was hot (the table tennis guys moved the fan in their room), and wasn't what I envisioned, so I don't think I'll continue.

Table Tennis is so much more fun than lifting! However today my arms are completely sore! I can't even straighten my arms. I wouldn't have thought in a million years that that amount of work, and amount of weight would have caused me this much grief. I guess taking this much time off has really turned me into a marshmallow!

If I'm going to get back into it, I'm going to have rely on my own motivation rather than try to leech off somebody else's who doesn't really understand the point of group lifting.

My quest to 200

For the past 10 years I have loomed around 240 pounds. Well the time has come to lower that to 220. Then once that milestone has been reached, go for 200. So in order for this to happen I have resolved to do the following:

1. No more Mountain Dew (or any soda for that matter)


2. Eat breakfast, medium lunch, light dinner (no eating after dinner)


3. No deserts


4. More fruit


5. Drink lots of water


6. Bike with Cathi in the evenings (5 days a week)


7. Play more intense table tennis


8. I will add more techniques to this list as time goes on

I'm hoping that I can be down to 220 by September, and then 200 by Christmas. I'll update how things go.

Mixing things up with Chest workout

Incline Bench: 3 x 8 x 135, 2 x 8 x 155
DB Flys: 6 x 65
Static Hold Pushups: 5 x 3 @10 seconds, rest 5 seconds between reps

Today I had a major lack of motivation and decided to at least mix things up so I'm not killing myself, yet doing something different to trigger different muscles. The Static Hold Pushups were great. I was shaking all over and I was holding my body just a couple inches off the ground so that my arms were at 90 Degree angles. Hold that for 10 seconds and then drop for 5. Doing that three times.

Tris

Tricep Cable Pulldowns: 2 x 8 x 70, 2 x 15 x 50, 2 x 15 x 60
Cross Face Tricep Press: 6 x 8 x 30
Dips: 2 x 10 x bw, 2 x 10 x bw +25
50 Crunches

Table Tennis Drills with David To.

Here is video sample of today's dips.

Back

Cable Pulldowns: 20 x 60, 15 x 100, 8 x 140, 6 x 180, 4 x 200
Midrack Pulls: 12 x 135, 8 x 225, 8 x 315, 6 x 405, 4 x 480

Had to leave early to keep my break short. Need to leave early today from work to work on the Playland. Which is also why you see no lifting on Monday. I honestly thought I was going to be extremely sore on Tuesday as a result of tilling the garden and working on the playland, but I wasn't. The top parts of my forearms are a little, but not much. That was it. Very surprising.

Here is video sample of the two last sets of midrack pulls.

Bench

Today I didn't want to mess my shoulders up again, but wanted something a little more heavy. Put in the "spotter" hooks a little too high. It was just above my chest so it was touching the spot instead of my chest which was annoying.

Bench: 8 x 225, 1 x 315 (shirted), 4 x 315 (shirted), 2 x 335 (shirted), 3 x 335 (shirted), 12 x 225 (3 x 2 high and 3 x 2 low alternating), 12 x 225 pinky inside ring, 12 x 135 slow
Cable Press Machine (Outside part of press only): 50 x 60, 25 x 120, 13 x 240
Inside half: 13 x 240, 25 x 120, 50 x 60
DB Flys: 4 x 8 x 45

Here is a sample video.

Felt OK about this workout, but wish I could have another 30 minutes or so. Only can do so much during lunch.

Upper back workout

My forearm is sore still from Monday's Biceps workout. According to this page it is the Pronator Teres Muscle to be specific. It is sore in the muscle on the inside of my forearm just as it comes from the tendon from the inside of my elbow. It doesn't hurt, its a good sore.

Today's workout went better than expected. I went in late, without a real plan and didn't have a whole lot of motivation.

Deadlifts: 5 x 225, 4 x 275, 4 x 315, 3 x 335, 1 x 355
Crunches: 6 x 50
Bent Over DB Rows: 5 x 8 x 65

Here is a video sample.

Decent Biceps burn

Today I was lacking motivation, but did manage to get my lazy butt into the gym. I did light/high reps biceps:

Armblaster Curls: 5 x 12 x 75
Preacher Curls: 5 x 12 x 75
Alternating DB Curls: 5 x 12 x 35