Me, myself and I

Feb17
by Duf on February 17, 2016 at 6:10 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

Today for bi/tri day there was nothing exciting going on, no excessive sexual sounding grunting, no odd fashion statements.  It was just basically me in the free weight area, mostly by myself trying to make the guns grow. I did close grip bench press as a tricep exercise, something I last tried the previous decade.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Seated alternating dumbbell curl – 25lbs x 12

Seated overhead tricep extension with ez curl bar – 50lbs x 12

Seated alternating dumbbell curl – 40lbs x 8

Seated overhead tricep extension with ez curl bar – 70lbs x 8

Seated alternating dumbbell curl – 50lbs x 5

Seated overhead tricep extension with ez curl bar – 90lbs x 5

Cybex preacher curl – 70lbs x 10

Close grip bench press – 95lbs x 10

Cybex preacher curl – 90lbs x 8

Close grip bench press – 135lbs x 8

Cybex preacher curl – 110lbs x 5

Close grip bench press – 155lbs x 6

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200 not better than 20

Feb16
by Duf on February 16, 2016 at 7:02 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

Today at the gym it was more about the sights and sounds than the workout.  My bench press buddy wasn’t there so I pushed up to the 95 pounder dumbbells during my chest workout. However doing my various sets in between I was “treated” to some annoying yet funny scenes.

The entertainment was provided by a middle aged man that appeared to be in good shape.  He sported the beginnings of the dreaded bald spot that afflicts so many men in that age range.  His workout gear was unconventional consisting of jeans, a white t-shirt and brightly colored running sneakers.  His first exercise was on the squat press machine.  He immediately started on his signature move, moaning/grunting loudly after every rep, even though he only had 315 on the machine which is sort of warm up weight by squat press standards.  His grunting and groaning drew a lot more stares than just mine as I exchanged glances and eye rolls with a few other gym patrons.

Well this guy then moved onto the ab portion of his workout.  He grabbed a flat bench and moved it into the Smith machine.  He then adjusted the bar to a height where it nestled into the back of the guys knees as he laid on the bench with his knees up.  He then grabbed a 10 pound plate and held it on his forehead.  He then began crunching up and down up and down for what seemed endlessly.  I bet in total he did around 200 reps with each one again including the disturbing grunt/groan exclamation point.  It got to be borderline maddening.

I never understood people that do super high amounts of reps of exercises.  All that tells me is you aren’t picking exercises that are challenging enough.  Doing something that requires you to strain to eek out an 8th rep is far more effective than something that allows you to cruise control through triple digit reps.  It’s pretty common sense.

The good news is I never saw this guy before so hopefully his presence there over lunch hour was an isolated incident instead of a regular occurrence.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stetching

Dumbbell chest press – 50lbs x 12, 70lbs x 10, 80lbs x 8, 90lbs x 6, 95lbs x 3, 90lbs x 6, 80lbs x 8, 70lbs x 10, 50lsb x 12

Floor to overhead fly – 25lbs x 10, 25lbs x 10

 

 

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End of the rack

Feb11
by Duf on February 11, 2016 at 6:44 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

41AP3XQJDJL[1]There was a lot of straining in today’s workout.  It came courtesy of different movements.  The standing barbell shoulder press with 135 pounds had my face turning different shades of red.  The static skin the cat holds made me feel nauseous from the tension going across my chest in the extended position.  Finally when I grabbed the heaviest dumbbells in the gym, the 120 pounders, to do dumbbell rows it felt like the fibers in my back were starting to break loose.  I’m sure it will add up to a very sore Friday and Saturday.

Last night I took a step in my pull up progression, crossing the 20 rep mark, adding exactly one additional rep.  21 reps down, 9 to go.

Today’s Workout 

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Standing overhead barbell press – 95lbs x 10

Seated low row – 100lbs x 10

Standing overhead barbell press – 115lbs x 6

Seated low row – 120lbs x 8

Standing overhead barbell press – 135lbs x 2

Seated low row – 140lbs x 5

Static skin the cat hold – 20 sec x 3

Incline prone dumbbell back raise – 10lbs x 12

One arm bent over dumbbell row – 80lbs x 10

Incline prone dumbbell back raise – 15lbs x 10

One arm bent over dumbbell row – 95lbs x 8

Incline prone dumbbell back raise – 20lbs x 8

One arm bent over dumbbell row – 120lbs x 4

 

 

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50, B & T

Feb10
by Duf on February 10, 2016 at 6:33 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

biceps-triceps-workout[1]Nothing all that exciting to report today for my bicep and tricep session.  It’s more exciting that I did a total of 50 pull ups at home last night.  I would like to get my pulling power and endurance back on an incline instead of a plateau or slight decline.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 dips

Standing alternating dumbbell curls – 25lbs x 12

20 dips

Standing alternating dumbbell curls – 40lbs x 8

20 dips

Standing alternating dumbbell curls – 50lbs x 4

Seated overhead dumbbell tricep extension – 55lbs  x 10

Standing straight bar narrow grip bicep curl – 60lbs x 10

Seated overhead dumbbell tricep extension – 65lbs  x 8

Standing straight bar narrow grip bicep curl – 80lbs x 8

Seated overhead dumbbell tricep extension – 75lbs  x 6

Standing straight bar narrow grip bicep curl – 100lbs x 3

Standing tricep push down with rope attachment – 80lbs x 10

Bent over one arm cable preacher curl – 30lbs x 10 (each arm)

Standing tricep push down with rope attachment – 90lbs x 10

Bent over one arm cable preacher curl – 40lbs x 10 (each arm)

 

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Extra 3K to burn, cruise control at 235

Feb09
by Duf on February 9, 2016 at 6:20 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

297_1Jerome_Bettis_Food_Spread[1]We hosted a Super Bowl party this weekend that of course had copious amounts of beer drinking and bad food consumption.  I have no doubt I tacked an extra 2000-3000 extra calories over my normal daily intake.  Getting back to the gym today felt very necessary.

I remained stuck in my 235 1RM bench press plateau.  Part of the problem has been I have not been able to consistently connect with my bench press buddy the last couple months.  When you have a trusted spotter around you are more willing to go into the fringe territories of your strength capacity.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 225lbs x 1, 235lbs x 1, 225lbs x 2, 205lbs x 5, 185lbs x 8, 135lbs x 15

Decline barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 205lbs x 3, 225lbs x 1

30 push ups

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