The last bar

Apr20
by Duf on April 20, 2017 at 5:18 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Today at the Gym

So today as I was stretching I heard one guy come over to one of the PF employees, “What happened to the preacher curl bench and bar?”  The PF employee says he has no idea but he came in the other day and they had disappeared.  I suspect he knows exactly what happened to them and I suspect I can make a pretty accurate guess as well.

The preacher curl bar was the last bar in the gym that could be loaded up with plate weights.  Since I returned I have seen people using that bar for movements like shoulder press, squats and even deadlifts.  Sure the bar is not at all designed for that but it was the ONLY way to do those movements free from the restrictions of the smith and weight machines.  I am guessing somebody did something really stupid with the bar and the gym management knee jerk reaction was to pull it too, making PF more of a fake gym than it already is.  Even if that is the case, it makes less sense that they would pull the preacher bench as that could still be used with the preset weight barbells and dumbbells.

I’m not that bent out of shape about it but because my expectations for the gym are already so low.  I just remind myself I am biding my time until another legitimate alternative becomes available.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Strict pulls ups x 15 x 10 x 10

Seated overhead shoulder press – 120lbs x 12, 160lbs x 10, 200lbs x 8

Plate loaded low row – 120lbs x 12, 160lbs x 8, 200lbs x 6

Standing behind the back barbell Smith shoulder shrug – 200lbs x 10, 250lbs x 8, 295lbs x 5

 

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Hate the route, leg extension lounge chairs

Apr18
by Duf on April 18, 2017 at 5:36 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Today at the Gym

Road rage rules with this infuriated driver shaking his fist

So even though the physical distance to Planet Fitness is actually less then Retro, the drive often takes longer and is much more annoying.  To get to Retro I could stay mostly in a residential neighborhood with quiet streets.  Getting to PF requires me to merge into Tamiami Trail which is a freaking zoo and then try to get to the left lane two lights later to turn left into the shitty parking lot of the shitty shopping center the gym is located in.

So today I am waiting to make a right turn on red onto Tamiami Trail.  I see there is a beat up Taurus facing the opposite direction on Tamiami waiting to make a left turn. Well he was in the turning lane although I don’t think he had his turn signal on.  So a long landscape truck pulling a long trailer is the last vehicle before a small break in traffic so I make my right turn, the landscape vehicle due to it’s length blocked my view of the Taurus.  So as I am already entering the right lane of traffic I see the Taurus is making a U-turn instead of a left turn.  I accelerated and made sure I stayed in the right lane so he had space to complete his turn.  I was then able to accelerate further and merge into the left lane a couple hundred yards down the road.

So as I am waiting in one of the two left turn lanes to get to the shopping center I see a vehicle slowing to my left.  I glance over and see it is shitty Taurus U-turn guy.  He has his window down and is yelling something at me.  I normally am not the type to seek out confrontation but if it is brought to my door I will not turn the other cheek.  By the time my window was down he had rolled past my truck.  I just stuck my arm out the window and gave him a wave while yelling “Keep on moving buddy….”

So anyway yes, I do realize that by traffic law, a U-turning vehicle has the right of way in that situation.  However by the time I saw he was doing a 180 I was already partially in the lane of traffic.  Plus I did everything I could to allow him space and he was trying to get in the left most lane to turn anyway, just like I was, so me being the right lane of three gave him plenty of room.  Perhaps the guy was just having a bad day or maybe he’s a natural hothead.  If I reacted similarly every time a local driver did something annoying I would need to be on blood pressure meds.  Chill out dude, you never know what is going to be waiting for you when that window rolls down.

At the gym I had my own personal annoyance.  As I walked back to begin my lower body workout I noticed two Haitian guys sitting on the two leg extension machines, having a conversation.  I thought nothing of it as I assumed they would be long gone before I needed to use one of the machines.  Well after doing my warm up stretches, four sets of leg press, and three sets of leg curls these two guys were STILL sitting on the machines talking.  I finally had to break it up and ask if one of them minded if I actually did some sets.  The one guy jumped out of the way without making a fuss, seemingly they had no idea their use of exercise machines as lounge chairs for 20 minutes would inconvenience others.

I had a near blackout moment during the last leg press set.  With these Cybex machines your starting position is with your legs compressed.  With 310 pounds selected, which is only two plates short of the max, my field of vision started to narrow as I tried to push my legs for the first rep. It felt like my head was about to pop off my shoulders.  Once I barely got my legs straight I saw stars for awhile.  I just held the weight with my legs locked out for 30 seconds or more until my head cleared.  I then did three more reps and called it good.

Getting out of the PF parking lot is equally annoying.  All the time you have people making right hand turns that immediately want to be able to go all the way to the left lane.  So instead of making the turn when the closest lane is clear and then merging left they instead insist on waiting for all three lanes to be clear to turn which quite often is not possible.  It results in just one final poke in the ribs each day as to why I really dislike having to use Planet Fitness as my lunchtime gym alternative.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Cybex leg press – 130lbs x 12, 190lbs x 10, 250lbs x 8, 310lbs x 4

Seated leg curl – 100lbs x 10, 120lbs x 10, 140lbs x 8

Seated leg extension – 110lbs x 10, 130lbs x 10, 150lbs x 4

One leg weighted calf raise (45lbs) – x10, x 10, x10

 

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Hasn’t sunk in, too short

Apr17
by Duf on April 17, 2017 at 5:23 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

So I guess my brain still does not want to acknowledge I am now once again a member of Planet Fitness.  I found myself a half mile into the drive to Retro before I realized I was going the wrong way.

So one of the annoying things I have mentioned about Planet Fitness is it’s removal of all barbell benches from the gym.  When they replaced those benches with machines they added one additional Smith machine, so there are three of them.  Now of course Smith machines are far than ideal but it at least is an option.  Well the issue I have seen is availability.  Pretty much every time I have gone to the gym all three machines are in use, often by people that are absolutely clueless.

Today was a perfect example.  On one of the machines was an extremely short woman, maybe five feet tall.  She must have seen somewhere that it is good to do squats using a bench as a “seat”.   Well if you are a six foot tall man this might be a half decent way to get better depth on your squats, but you will still find you aren’t getting your thighs parallel to the ground.  Well when you are a borderline little person, using a bench as a stopping point meant she was doing reps that were about a third of the range of motion of what they should be.  It’s frustrating not being able to get on a machine because a nub is tying it up.

I eventually did manage to get on a Smith machine for some “bench pressing”.  The numbers I post are if I had the same plates on a regular barbell.  The reality is a Smith machine barbell only weighs around 20 pounds instead of 45 due to the counterweight rig. I tried one set on the incline chest press machine and bailed because it hurt my left shoulder.  The pec dec didn’t feel great either.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Smith machine bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 225lbs x 3, 245lbs x 2, 255lbs x 1, 225lbs x 5, 185lbs x 10

Incline chest press – 120lbs x 10

Pec dec – 90lbs x 10, 130lbs x 10, 170lbs x 8

 

 

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At least Jimmy is there

Apr14
by Duf on April 14, 2017 at 5:48 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

So as Retro was in the final weeks of running itself into the ground I had mentioned how I was bummed that I never saw Jimmy, one of my old time gym buddies show back up.  I knew he snowbirded from Delaware every year but he never came back to Retro after it reopened under the second owner.  Well guess what, he is at Planet Fitness.

I was pleasantly surprised earlier in the week when I heard Jimmy’s familiar voice saying hi.  He had been at Planet Fitness ever since Retro closed the first time.  It was nice to have a positive reason to be back at Planet Fitness after a long list of negatives.

I don’t feel like typing out my workout, it was core work, it was hard, and I felt like shit.

 

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More familiar faces

Apr13
by Duf on April 13, 2017 at 5:34 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

I have seen a lot of familiar faces from the now shuttered Retro Fitness showing up at Planet Fitness.  If your gym choice is geographically motivated this is your only real option.  It’s nice to see some of the old gang, I just wish it wasn’t inside the walls of purple and yellow hell.

I did shoulders and back today as most Thursdays.  I don’t think the PF clients are used to seeing someone doing wall handstands.  I got a lot of WTF looks as I scanned the gym while upside down.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Wall handstand x 60 sec

Wide grip strict pull up x 15

Wall handstand x 60 sec

Wide grip strict pull up x 10

Wall handstand x 60 sec

Wide grip strict pull up x 10

Seated shoulder press – 100lbs x 10

Seated row – 110lbs x 10

Seated shoulder press – 120lbs x 10

Seated row – 150lbs x 10

Seated shoulder press – 140lbs x 6

Seated row – 190lbs x 6

One arm cable shoulder shrug – 75lbs x 10

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