When am I going to listen

Jan24
by Duf on January 24, 2017 at 6:36 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Injuries, Today at the Gym

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

 

 

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No thanks I’ll just kill myself

Jan23
by Duf on January 23, 2017 at 6:52 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Failure, Injuries

So I did bench press today solo.  It was the first time I slid under the bar for a number of weeks due to a painful shoulder and being out of town.  I was conservative with my game plan, not wanting to go over 185 pounds, slightly more than my body weight.  As expected I felt weak and my shoulder still was not very cooperative.

I set the meager goal of doing four sets of five reps at 185 pounds, something that would have been a piece of cake 6 months ago.  When even the first set felt relatively difficult I knew it was going to be a struggle.  So I successfully grinded through three sets.  On the final set I paused before rep four and had to struggle to get that one up.  I was laying there in the locked out position for a little while, hoping to regain some power to get the last rep completed.  Some guy saw me in this position and asked if I wanted a spot.  Of course I said “nah, it’s ok”

So I go down for the final rep and start moving the bar back up against gravity until it stops moving.  In the span of a millisecond I surveyed how close I was to the lower set of safety hooks and simultaneously thought about how incredibly stupid and embarrassing it would be for me to wind up with the bar on my chest after I waved off a spot.  I focused every remaining ounce of energy I had left to barely get the bar on the hooks.  The desire to avoid that embarrassment helped fuel that effort.

It’s disappointing that my pushing strength is so diminished.  The only course of action is to just keep working.

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Do it Donald

Jan20
by Duf on January 20, 2017 at 6:12 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

I spent Donald Trump’s inauguration the way he and a lot of other Americans who are irresponsible with their health should, at the gym.  In addition to being the country’s 45th president,  Donald holds the honor of being the most obese person to hold the office during my lifetime.  (to be fair HRC would have held that title as well)  So anyway, as millions of people sat glued to their tv’s, phones, and tablets, I did reps.  If this election has reenforced anything with me it is you can only control what you do or think.  Trying to sway the rigid is a recipe for madness.

I felt better today than yesterday.  I have been blowing my nose far less and my energy level was better, perhaps fueled by the day’s events.  Hopefully next week I can start getting closer to the groove.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

50 push ups

Hanging knee raises x 20

Standing stiff arm oblique rotations x 20

Hanging knee raises x 20

Standing stiff arm oblique rotations x 20

Hanging knee raises x 20

Standing stiff arm oblique rotations x 20

Ab wheel rollouts x 10

Standing one arm oblique side raises – 45lbs x 10

Ab wheel rollouts x 10

Standing one arm oblique side raises – 45lbs x 10

Ab wheel rollouts x 10

Standing one arm oblique side raises – 45lbs x 10

 

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Long road back

Jan19
by Duf on January 19, 2017 at 6:25 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Injuries, Old Age

Today was my first day back at the gym in half a month.  I was back home in frozen PA for several days to visit my family.  I then was in Miami this past weekend for Cindy’s brother’s wedding.

During the time off I did no organized exercise.  Up north I considered staying warm as exercise as the 5 degree temps freezer burned my exposed skin.  I did do a lot of walking around on several days so I was somewhat active.

The cramped plane rides and cold weather did nothing to make my right knee/hip/IT band feel any better.  I was doing a lot of limping around.  A few days after getting back to Florida I developed a pretty nasty cold that I assume started incubating during the trip.  That cold kept me out of work until yesterday and I still am very symptomatic.

Despite still feeling worn out and sniffling I had to get back to the gym today so I could start the long road back just to get back to where I was health/strength/endurance-wise six weeks ago.  I did a very different type of workout where every set of exercise was different, doing movements that hit chest, back, shoulders, triceps, and biceps either two or three times.  In total I think I did 15 different exercises and no, I’m not going to recant them all below.

It also felt good to resume my pre-workout stretching routine which is something I think my body was sorely missing.

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Storming the beaches

Jan04
by Duf on January 4, 2017 at 6:23 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

Today the Resolutionists hit the gym in large numbers. For whatever reason yesterday was not all that bad yet.  If I were to guess, there were 4x the amount of people in there as I would normally see on a Wednesday from 12-1.  It’s fine, within three weeks the numbers should shrink back to near normal as new year motivation fades, until next year.

I did bi’s and tri’s today.  I actually did some elbow hinged tricep work but I kept the weight super low, just hoping I can slowly introduce the movement back into my routine.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 pull ups

Seated bicep dumbbell curl – 25lbs x 12

Seated one arm overhead tricep extension – 20lbs x 12

Seated bicep dumbbell curl – 40lbs x 8

Seated one arm overhead tricep extension – 20lbs x 12

Seated bicep dumbbell curl – 50lbs x 4

Seated one arm overhead tricep extension – 20lbs x 12

Seated cable front curl – 70lbs x 10

Standing cable tricep push down – 80lbs x 10

Seated cable front curl – 70lbs x 10

Standing cable tricep push down – 100lbs x 10

Seated cable front curl – 70lbs x 10

Standing cable tricep push down – 120lbs x 8

Standing barbell curl – 100lbs x 2

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