Asking for it, effort

Jun23
by Duf on June 23, 2015 at 5:39 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

maxresdefault[1]Not only were both Smith machines occupied at Planet Fitness today, the leg press sled was as well. (by someone with 25 pounds on each side)   I find myself getting more annoyed with the refusal of the gym to make a few inexpensive changes to make their facility just a little more efficient for their customers that wish to do more than cardio and Cybex weight machines.

Of course I have to be realistic, this is Planet Fitness after all, home of the Lunk Alarm and $10 a month memberships.  It’s a trade off I really have no choice but to accept since I have no other realistic lunch work out options.  Still, two or three simple changes would make things SO much better.

So anyway I did seated leg press to start off the lower body workout.  I decided to take on the dumbbell lunges once again, a movement that left me limping badly after I tried them last time.  I once again used 40 pound dumbbells but I upped the reps per set from 16 to 20.  The last few reps as I got deeper into the sets were very shaky with me struggling to keep my balance.

As I mentioned before, working out at Planet Fitness is a trade off with the intentional lack of some core gym equipment and clientele that are mostly old and/or inexperienced at exercising.  Despite these limitations I think I have managed to improve my strength and fitness since joining PF using something that is always available no matter where you workout, effort.

Whether you are doing 400 pound dead lifts or curls on a Cybex contraption, if you are working yourself in a way that uses good form/range of motion while utilizing high effort level, you are accomplishing something.  Yea dumbbell/barbell work or calisthenics will give you more bang for your buck since they recruit multiple muscle groups in a more consistent way than any exercise machine can do.  However if you are working at near max effort level on a consistent basis at any exercise you are going to reap benefits.  I guess my point is no matter type of exercise you are doing the point is to push the boundaries of what you have done in the past to slowly but steadily increase the “can do” real estate you can claim as your own.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 pull ups

Seated leg press – 170lbs x 10, 230lbs x 10, 290lbs x 8

40lb dumbbell lunges – 20 reps (alternating legs) x 2 sets

Seated leg extension (1sec top pause) – 110lbs x 10, 130lbs x 10, 190lbs x 5

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

Seated rotary calf extension – 190lbs x 10, 250lbs x 10, 310lbs x 5

 

└ Tags: ,
Comments Off on Asking for it, effort

Top of the curve, officially tweaked

Jun22
by Duf on June 22, 2015 at 5:25 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Injuries

bench_press[1]Today was an odd chest day at the gym.  In my very first set, a warm up with only 135 pounds on the bar I could feel a tweak inside my left shoulder.  You may recall the last week or two I have mentioned the same pain in the same shoulder.  It isn’t severe but I have had enough shoulder issues to know that that is where it could easily lead. As I warmed up more in subsequent sets the pain was less significant so I continued.

Despite the shaky shoulder I felt like I was in one of my monthly strength apexes.   I matched my recent one rep max on the bench, getting 240 pounds up and off my chest followed by getting 225×3 on the way down.

After I was done benching I thought I would get on the pec dec.  I shut that down almost immediately after rep three as it really irritated the shoulder.  I am hoping to be able to heal whatever is wrong in there without disrupting my weekly bench press schedule.  I don’t have time for more setbacks.

Today’s Workout

Barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 10, 225lbs x 1, 235lbs x 1, 240lbs x 1, 225lbs x 3, 205lbs x 6, 185lbs x 10, 185lbs x 6, 185lbs x 6, 135lbs x 10 (dead stops)

10 pull ups

 

└ Tags:
Comments Off on Top of the curve, officially tweaked

Solid core day

Jun19
by Duf on June 19, 2015 at 5:27 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

5-bodyweight-ab-benchmarks-2[1]Today was a good core session, highlighted by three sets of dragon flags.  The best part was I was able to get through the 15 reps without hurting myself, something I haven’t been able to do recently. I also discovered that the roman chair is a good tool to get a good IT band stretch.

 

 

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 pull ups

25 hanging knee raises

Dragon flags x 5

20 stiff arm standing trunk rotations

Dragon flags x 5

20 stiff arm standing trunk rotations

Dragon flags x 5

20 stiff arm standing trunk rotations

25 hanging knee raises

Roman chair back extensions x 15

25 hanging knee raises

Roman chair back extensions x 15

25 hanging knee raises

Roman chair back extensions x 15

60 second wall handstand hold

 

 

└ Tags:
Comments Off on Solid core day

Start with 20

Jun18
by Duf on June 18, 2015 at 5:53 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

hqdefault[1]This week I have been reinstituting something I used to do at the start of every workout no matter what the focus of it was, a max pull up set.  I have a line in the sand of 20 pull ups.  If I can’t at least get 20 half decent pull ups I feel pretty shitty about my current fitness level.  Right now I am just at that line, being able to squeeze out a 20th rep barely.

My pulling power is a far ways off from my apex when I once managed to get 30 reps on my home bar.  Of course back then I was doing a lot more bodyweight training and also weighed 10 pounds less, both of which make a big difference in your numbers.

My hope is getting back on the daily pull up path will start me creeping towards better numbers and overall strength.  Getting back to 30 is unlikely unless I start to boycott my girlfriend’s delicious home cooked meals.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 pull ups

60 second wall hand stand

Seated dumbbell shoulder press – 40lbs x 10

Seated dumbbell alternating bicep curls – 30lbs x 12

Seated dumbbell shoulder press – 50lbs x 10

Seated dumbbell alternating bicep curls – 40lbs x 8

Seated dumbbell shoulder press – 65lbs x 5

Seated dumbbell alternating bicep curls – 50lbs x 5

Cybex seated tricep extension – 60lbs x 12

Cybex seated row – 130lbs x 12

Cybex seated tricep extension – 80lbs x 10

Cybex seated row – 170lbs x 10

Cybex seated tricep extension – 100lbs x 8

Cybex seated row – 210lbs x 5

Standing cable machine tricep push down – 70lbs x 10

Seated cable machine front lat pull down – 120lbs x 12

Standing cable machine tricep push down – 75lbs x 10

Seated cable machine front lat pull down – 135lbs x 10

Standing cable machine tricep push down – 85lbs x 6

Seated cable machine front lat pull down – 195lbs x 5

└ Tags:
Comments Off on Start with 20

This is why you fail, small could become big

Jun16
by Duf on June 16, 2015 at 5:39 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Injuries, Soapbox, Today at the Gym

e1eccdbeeb2c33160239bd66b850866a[1]From my past experience writing about people at the gym I know it runs the risk of offending a percentage of potential readers.  It’s a risk I have come to accept so here we go again.  Today  at the gym there was a morbidly obese woman there.  The fact that she is morbidly obese is not the key portion of the story but rather the end result of the behavior I witnessed.

First let’s offer up the mandatory disclaimer that at least the woman was at the gym, indicating some level of awareness that she has a problem that needs to be addressed.  Now that is out of the way, let’s examine the behavior that is going to cripple her in making any progress towards that goal.

Her entire workout lasted maybe 15 minutes.  She was on the cross trainer on level one for the majority of those 15 minutes, probably burning calories on par with vigorous paper stapling during that period.  Her next stop was the ab coaster, one of the worst pieces of gym equipment I have ever seen.  It’s design encourages people to use it incorrectly, resulting in no actual ab work being done.  After a few swinging reps on it I heard her say “that’s enough for me”.  She then moved to a Cybex seated row machine where she did one set with the lightest weight followed by rigorous sitting.

After her 15 minutes of exercise she walked up to the front desk and asked about getting an aqua massage, surely to relax the muscles she just worked so intensely.  When she was told there was an additional cost for the massage since she wasn’t a black card member she acted quite taken back.

This behavior of wanting to over reward yourself for what in reality is minimal effort is something I have talked about before.  At Retro Fitness I had to laugh when I saw gym goers that just completed low intensity, short duration work outs reward themselves with huge, calorie packed sweet “protein shakes” afterward so they can give their muscles fuel to grow.

Simply showing up at the gym is a good start but not nearly enough.  If you feel the need to constantly reward yourself for minimal effort you are doomed to a life of simply treading water and not improving a thing.  Hopefully the light bulb goes on for this woman at some point before it’s too late.

My lower body is a mess after yesterday, I have been hobbling around like an old man after not only aggravating my knee/IT band but also my groin on the same side. My lifting buddy was no show so I benched alone today.  I have some minor pain in my left shoulder that kept me conservative on my top end as well as the amount of reps.  I have blown up my shoulder in the past via benching and want to avoid going down the same road again.   I then stupidly tried incline bench which was even worse, I bailed on that after three reps.

Today’ Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 pull ups

Barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 225lbs x 1, 230lbs x 1, 205lbs x 5, 185lbs x 9, 135lbs x 10

Pec dec – 100lbs x 10, 120lbs x10, 130lbs x 10

30 push ups

└ Tags: , ,
Comments Off on This is why you fail, small could become big