Dufisthenics

So my left shoulder feels like absolute shit today even after doing a pretty meager amount of bench pressing yesterday.  It hurt so much that I could only get 3 reps into a planned 20 rep pull up set before I dropped off the bar.  I gave up bench press years ago for the same problem, chronic shoulder pain.  I only resumed benching between 2-3 years ago, mostly because my gym friend and I like benching together.  Since resuming I have had off and on shoulder discomfort while benching but now is about as bad as it’s been.

To be honest, if it wasn’t for my gym buddy I probably would have tapped out of benching awhile ago once the consistent pain started.  However now I think I need to shelve the movement for the forseeable future.  Sooner or later I will start listening to my body on a more consistent basis, like when I’m dead.

There is the weird older guy at the gym who I would guess is in his early to mid 60’s.  He has a nondescript build with male pattern baldness setting in.   His  routine really needs to be on YouTube, it’s that funny.  His workout includes a lot of things I think he thinks helps his abs.  The only thing is every single movement I see him do is terrible form with minimal range of motion. Everything he does is a rubber band-like pulse.

He also does really weird things with the wide grip lat pull down bar.  He takes the bar bar and will hold it over his head like a golf club with the length of the bar hanging down behind his neck.  He will then start rapidly pulsing it up and down in a very spastic manner.  I also see him swinging the bar like a golf club quite often.  My guess is this guy is an avid golfer and somehow thinks this fail core/fake golf club exercise regimen will get him a few extra yards off the tee.  Good for him for at least doing something to move around.  It’s a bonus that it gives me something entertaining to watch between sets.

My workout was conservative, doing the first lower body weighted reps since my knee/hip/IT band pain began in earnest the week before the new year.  Any lower body pressing movement was not a possibility as it would surely aggravate what is going on with my right leg.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Seated leg extension – 115lbs x 10

Prone leg curl – 90lbs x 10

Standing calf raise – 205lbs x 10

Seated leg extension – 130lbs x 10

Prone leg curl – 100lbs x 10

Standing calf raise – 250lbs x 10

Seated leg extension – 145lbs x 8

Prone leg curl – 110lbs x 8

Standing calf raise – 295lbs x 8