Over the weekend I got inspiration to try a random challenge, a 10 minute plank hold.  I didn’t want to do the conventional plank that is held on your elbows, I wanted to hold the top push up lock out position which is much more difficult.  I had no basis to know if 10 minutes was a reasonable goal to hold this position but I wanted to try.

It turned out my estimates of my ability to endure the discomfort were off by 50%.  I dropped to my knees right around 5:03.  I probably could have held a little longer but since I stupidly decided to use my iPhone as the timer, the screen turned off at 5 minutes which was annoying.  By that time my core, legs and traps were on fire so it was just as well.  I had done a hard core workout the day before which I am pretty sure affected my hold a bit.  I would like to try it again without dragon flag sore abs next time.

Today my bench press buddy didn’t get to the gym until I was 2/3 done with my bench press workout so I went at it solo.  The good news was my left shoulder didn’t hurt as much as I expected it might after tweaking it last week.  The bad news was overall my pushing power was not great.  I barely got 235 up and my reps at lower weights were somewhat off as well.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 225lbs x 1, 235lbs x 1, 225lbs x 1, 205lbs x 6, 185lbs x 8, 135lbs x 10

Decline barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 205lbs x 3, 225lbs x 1, 205lbs x 3, 185lbs x 5, 135lbs x 10