Dufisthenics

So a few weeks ago I described an odd old man that was using a piece of cardio equipment that had something wrong with it, causing an ear piercing squeak on each rotation.   Eventually gym staff had to tell him to get off the machine.  This old man was so set in his routine that he would rather annoy everyone around him than use another machine.  After they kicked him off they put an “out of order” sign on the machine and I had not heard any more noise, until today.

So once again the noise was back, louder than ever.  I looked back and it was Mr Clueless at it again with his brought from home fan pointing his direction and stylish headband.  The noise was just insane and I saw people from all over the gym shooting WTF glances in this idiot’s direction.  I was on a nearby machine warming up so I heard an interaction when one of the gym staff came up to the squeaker.

The gym employee asked the old man if he could hear the terrible noise the machine was making? “Of course I do!” he snapped back.  He went on to complain that they never fixed the machine and I guess annoying the 25 other people in the gym was his way of getting even.  It of course was ridiculous.  Yes the gym sucks at maintaining/fixing equipment but thinking it’s ok to make the gym environment miserable for every other person there is just a total dick move.  Eventually, after a parade of people went up to the counter to complain they made the squeaker get off the machine.

Today the decline bench press I have been using the last couple weeks was occupied at the start of my workout so I began with dumbbell flat bench presses which did not feel good at all, even with light weight.  The decline bench opened up so I immediately relocated there.  Last week we only had one 25 pound plate under the foot to increase the decline.  We added a second one this week to see if it was better or worse as far a shoulder discomfort went.  For me, it was definitely better.

Despite doing the couple sets of dumbbell press my strength and endurance was very good on the decline bench.  I went up to 235 pounds, got 225 pounds for three reps, and did 185 pounds ten times, twice on the way down.  All of these numbers have not been reality since probably 2015.  Unfortunately my bench press buddy doesn’t feel as good as I do doing decline press so he has not seen as positive of results as I have so far.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Dumbbell bench press – 40lbs x 10, 50lbs x 10

Decline barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 10, 205lbs x 3, 225lbs x 1, 235lbs x 1, 225lbs x 3, 185lbs x 10, 185lbs x 10, 135lbs x 15