Here and gone

Feb23
by Duf on February 23, 2017 at 6:36 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

Oddly enough the strain-like pain I was feeling in my right wrist yesterday seems to have gone as quickly as it came.  I woke up this morning with the wrist once again feeling more or less normal.  It’s strange how it came and went but I am thankful it did.  I did a mash up workout that covered back, shoulders, bi’s and tri’s in a quick way.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Pull ups x 15

Seated alternating dumbbell curl – 25lbs x 10

Ez curl skull crushers – 50lbs x 10

Seated alternating dumbbell curl – 40lbs x 8

Ez curl skull crushers – 60lbs x 10

Seated alternating dumbbell curl – 50lbs x 4

Ez curl skull crushers – 70lbs x 10

Cybex seated overhead press – 90lbs x 10

Seated row – 130lbs x 10

Cybex seated overhead press – 110lbs x 10

Seated row – 170lbs x 10

Cybex seated overhead press – 150lbs x 6

Seated row – 230lbs x 5

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How is that ok, no limp, phantom strength

Feb21
by Duf on February 21, 2017 at 6:38 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Endurance activities

I am pretty sure in the past I have talked about another annoying phenomenon at the gym, the octopus.  This is the inconsiderate individual that thinks they gym is his own personal kingdom thus there is no problem if he ties up multiple pieces of equipment simultaneously.  Today there was a young guy in there doing exactly that, going between the squat rack, squat press and smith machine.  Luckily I was doing chest today so it didn’t impede my work but an old guy did ask the kid how long he intended to tie up multiple things.  If there is only one of a certain type of plate loaded equipment at a gym, leaving it loaded as you jump between other things just is a dick move, sorry.

So I resumed running over the weekend doing a two mile test run at the track Sunday.  I could tell my body had fallen out of running shape from the roughly two month layoff so doing two miles felt nearly the equivalent of the 4+ mile runs I was doing previously.  The important thing is since the run my IT band has been pretty stable and no limp has returned to my stride.  I hope to keep building on the progress slowly.

Today during decline bench press day there was something really, really weird going on.  For some reason I had significantly more strength, endurance and power than I have felt at the gym in 6 months or more.  I went all the way up to 235 pounds and did a a lot more reps on the way up to it.  In addition all the reps were slow and controlled with none of the chest bounce that will sometime accompany tackling higher weights.  I have no idea what the magic sauce is that made me feel so good today but I hope I can put it in a bottle.  As you can see from the numbers, it’s a huge jump from anything I have posted recently.

Today’s Workout 

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Decline barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 205lbs x 3, 215lbs x 2, 225lbs x 1, 235lbs x 1, 225lbs x 2, 205lbs x 5, 185lbs x 9, 135lbs x 15

Pec dec – 130lbs x 10, 170lbs x 10

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Bosu balance

Feb17
by Duf on February 17, 2017 at 6:39 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

I did some movements during core day that I haven’t pulled out in awhile.  One of them was using the bosu ball during my planks.  When I plank I always do it on my hands instead of my elbows as it forces you to engage more of your upper body.  The one disadvantage about doing them in push up position is your body angle is less parallel to the ground meaning the forces of gravity on your core are not quite as much as an elbow plank.

One way to have the best of both worlds is to raise your feet.  I could feel the difference as I had my feet up on the bosu for a standard plank.  However when I did one arm side planks on the bosu it was an entirely new level.  I was fighting the entire time to keep my body from twisting over one way or the other.

I also did some toe to bar reps.  They were ridiculously hard. I also did two frog stands holds that I may have last attempted in 2015.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 pull ups

50 push ups

Dip bar knee raises x 20

Standing straight arm oblique rotations x 20

Toe to bar x 8

Standing straight arm oblique rotations x 20

Toe to bar x 6

Standing straight arm oblique rotations x 20

Toe to bar x 6

Standing dowel oblique rotations x 20

Side bosu plank – 60 seconds

Standing dowel oblique rotations x 20

Bosu plank – 120 seconds

Standing dowel oblique rotations x 20

Frog stand x 60 seconds

Dip bar knee raises x 20

Frog stand x 60 seconds

 

 

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Poor pulling power

Feb16
by Duf on February 16, 2017 at 6:26 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Failure

So as part of my back and shoulder workout I incorporated some weighted pull ups into my sets.  I was very disappointed in just how poor my pulling power was.  I couldn’t even get one rep cleanly with 60 extra pounds, stalling out at eye height.  There was a point in time where I got a +90lb pull up with my bodyweight 10 pounds less than it is right now.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Pull ups x 15

Cybex seated plate loaded shoulder press – 110lbs x 12

Pull ups + 25lbs x 6

Cybex seated plate loaded shoulder press – 200lbs x 10

Pull ups + 45lbs x 3

Cybex seated plate loaded shoulder press – 250lbs x 8

Pull ups + 60lbs x 1

Cybex seated plate loaded shoulder press – 290lbs x 3

Seated plate loaded row – 160lbs x 10

Standing dumbbell shoulder shrug – 80lbs x 10

Seated plate loaded row – 210lbs x 10

Standing dumbbell shoulder shrug – 90lbs x 10

Seated plate loaded row – 260lbs x 8

Standing dumbbell shoulder shrug – 100lbs x 6

 

 

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Old energy

Feb15
by Duf on February 15, 2017 at 6:23 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

Today I brought along my own dip belt for weighted dips.  Last week I tried to use the one the gym provides and it sort of sucks.  I managed to get a single 90 pound dip at the end of the workout which wasn’t bad considering I had pre-fatigued my triceps already.

Lately I have felt a little bit of that fire that helped me for many years achieve things out of my comfort zone.  I hope to leverage it more going forward.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 pull ups

Overhead dumbbell tricep extension – 50lbs x 10

Seated alternating dumbbell curl – 25lbs x 10

Overhead dumbbell tricep extension – 65lbs x 8

Seated alternating dumbbell curl – 40lbs x 8

Overhead dumbbell tricep extension – 80lbs x 5

Seated alternating dumbbell curl – 50lbs x 3

Bodyweight dips x 15

Standing cable bicep curl – 80lbs x 10

Bodyweight dips + 45lbx x 7

Standing cable bicep curl – 90lbs x 10

Bodyweight dips + 70lbx x 3

Standing cable bicep curl – 100lbs x 8

Bodyweight dips + 90lbx x 1

 

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