early shoulders at GVAC

Like Tuesday's chest routine, I started sets on the 2:00 today. Felt OK. Shoulder exercises take a little longer to find a rhythm, I believe.

• warm up
• bench
• 2 x 12 @ 135 lbs on the 2:00
• DB flys
• 2 x 12 @ 25 lbs on the 2:00
• good. Shoulders down and back, elbows up, pinkies up. Felt a goood chest stretch.
• behind-the-neck press
• 3 x 12 @ 65 lbs on the 2:00
• 1 x 10 @ 75 on the 2:00
• too heavy
• 1 x 12 @ 65 on the 2:00
• shoulders were spent
  
• Arnold presses
• 3 x 12 @ 20 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 25 on the 2:00
• 1 x 12 @ 30 on the 2:00
• could have gone heavier. Try 5 sets at 25 or 30 lbs next time.
• front raises
• 3 x 12 @ 10 on the 2:00
• 2 x 12 @ 15 on the 2:00
• important to find rhythm on this exercise.
  

early shedding

Lifted chest at the shed this morning. Went extra light and fast - sets on the 2:00, 5 sets each exercise, 12 rep sets. Even sets between exercises were on the 2:00.

• bench press
• 5 x 12 @ 135 lbs, on the 2:00
• really felt it in my chest
  
• close-grip bench press
• 1 x 8 @ 115
• too heavy, not recovered from bench
• 3 x 12 @ 95
• easy, got recovered
  
• 1 x 12 @ 105
• good weight. Do 5 sets of this next time.
• incline bench press
• 5 x 12 @ 95
• easy. Maybe do 105 next time.
  

GVAC first iron

Felt good. Went through this routine fast, and only did 3 exercises. Good little pump though. I'm a fan of going fast through light sets lately.

• warm up
• bench
• 1 x 12 w/ bar
• 2 x 12 @ 135 lbs
• DB flys
• 1 x 12 @ 30
• 2 x 10 @ 40
• this is kinda a lot of weight, but went fast and got a pump
• behind-the-neck shoulder press
• warm up
• 1 x 12 w/ bar
• 1 x 12 @ 65
• 1 x 12 @ 75
• work sets
• 2 x 12 @ 85
• intense. good pump

Finished the whole routine, including my rotator cuff exercises, in 45 minutes.

Tuesday morning on the rowing machine

Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Felt OK. I put shoes on after my warm-up because the foot straps were killing me. Too bad - almost anything that's done bare foot is rad. My lower back got a little sore halfway through but loosened up and felt good.

• date: 5/20/2008
• start: 7:45 AM
• duration: 10:43
• highest HR: 168
• Kcal: 110
• avg. HR: 138
• fan on level 4
  
• 28 SPM
• avg. 2:21.0 /500m
  

Sunday's run

Sunday, May 18, 2008
I tried to go easy this time but my heart rate was high. Didn't feel too bad - maybe it was the heat.

• date: 5/18/2008
• start: 3:51 PM
• highest HR: 184
• Kcal: 329
• duration: 23:16
• avg HR: 170
  

the best part of waking up...

Knowing I'm going to bench press gets me out of bed Monday mornings. Had I not been motivated by the bench I might still be in bed.

• bench press
• warm-up
• 1 x 12 w/ the bar
• 1 x 10 @ 135 lbs, feet up
• work sets
• 1 x 12 @ 155
• 2 x 10 @ 165
• close-grip bench
• 1 x 10 @ 145
• 1 x 12 @ 145
• incline bench
• 1 x 12 @ 115
• 1 x 12 @ 125
• dips
• 30

Did not feel good today. Starting with the flat bench, 165 is more than I've been doing on my light chest days but this felt not good. I could not find a rhythm. Nothing felt great after that. Concentrate on getting the lats involved.
This workout made me feel that I should change something. I still want to do these lifts on Monday but probably should mix up the pace. Try lifting on the 3 minute, for instance. Keep things going fast, be done with bench, close-grip and incline early then move on to a couple more chest/triceps lifts.
Finished with shoulder rehab exercises.

first iron at GVAC

This morning I went to the Goleta Valley Athletic Club to lift shoulders. Shoulders and GVAC are rad. Anyways, I started with some light chest lifts before getting it on with my shoulders. Felt alright.

• light chest
  
• bench press
• 2 x 12 @ 135 lbs
• DB flys
• 2 x 12 @ 30 lbs
• behind-the-neck press
• warm-up
  
• 1 x 12 @ 45
• 1 x 12 @ 65
• work sets
  
• 1 x 12 @ 85
• 1 x 10 @ 95
• Arnold press
• 1 x 12 @ 30
• 2 x 10 @ 40
• DB front raises
• 2 x 12 @ 10
• 2 x 12 @ 15
• skull crushers
• 1 x 12 @ 45
• 1 x 12 @ 65
  
• 1 x 12 @ 75

Finished up with my rotator cuff exercises.
I didn't go too all-out today - felt kinda stiff.

first iron

So, I got up at 5:30 this morning to lift at the shed. It, of course, was rad. First iron is always rad. You need to be pretty committed to be the first dude to handle the weights in the morning. Same old thing today - bench, close-grip bench, incline bench. And I finished with some dips. Felt strong, was psyched. These numbers are good for me.

• BB flat bench press
• warm-up
• 1 x 12 w/ the bar
• 1 x 12 @ 95 lbs
• 1 x 12 @ 135
• work sets
• 2 x 12 @ 155
• this last set was hard. got my lats involved. last rep, second set was epic. watch elbow position - keep them away from torso (I think)
  
• close-grip bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 135
• easy
• 1 x 12 @ 145
• good weight. last 2 or 3 reps were hard
• BB incline bench press
• 1 x 12 @ 105
• way easy
• 2 x 12 @ 135
• good weight. felt strong.
• dips
• 1 x 25
• good triceps burn
  

My right shoulder felt a little bad today - was popping during stretches, shoulder dislocations.
Kind of a lot of rest between sets. These weights were strong, good benchmarks.

row, row, row your machine

First rowing session in a while, maybe third ever. It was OK. Rowing gets hard. Kinda amazingly hard. My breathing was a little off, hard to find the right timing - stroke was too slow to match my breathing rate.

• date May 9, 2008
  
• start time: 2:06 PM
  
• duration 10:10
• highest HR: 168 bpm
• Kcal: 121
• avg. HR: 146 bpm
• fan on level 6
  
• 27 SPM
• avg. 2:21.2 /500M

first shoulder heavies in a few

It's been since before the hospital that I lifted heavy shoulders, maybe 3 months. Shoulders are my new favorite muscle group to lift.
Warmed up w/ stretches & shoulder dislocations (which are rad, by the way).
Lifted some light chest to warm-up then went to shoulders.

• warm-up
  
• barbell flat bench press
• 2 x 12 @ 135 lbs
• went slow, big pause at the bottom
• dumbbell flys
  
• 2 x 12 @ 25 lbs
• went slow, paused/bounced a bit at the bottom. good burn
• behind-the-neck press
• warm-up
• 1 x 12 @ 45 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 65
• 1 x 5 @ 85
• work sets
  
• 1 x 5 @105
• good. paused a little at the bottom
• 1 x 5 @ 115
• good, heavy. didn't go for last rep. got my lats involved.
  
• concentrate on: hold shoulders down and back, keep torso under the bar, and position elbows forward of the bar
• DB front raises
• warm-up
• 1 x 5 @ 10
• 1 x 5 @ 15
• work sets
• 1 x 5 @ 20
• good.
• 1 x 5 @ 25
• Arnold press
• 2 x 12 @ 35
• easy, good burn. rested short between sets.
  

Today was for heavy shoulders. I wanted to go for 'way pumped' but made myself stop early.
There was some popping, moving around, of my shoulders - focus on pulling shoulders down & back, flexing the lats.
I should maybe start recording my rest time between lifts.

glad I'm not a runner

May 2, 2008 - Went kinda hard today. Temps were cool so I could push my lungs and heart a little more.

• date: 5/2/2008
• start time: 3:49 PM
• highest HR: 186
• Kcal: 325
• duration: 19:15
• avg. HR: 165
  

running's OK

April 30, 2008 - I'm not totally sick of running yet. It seems to help my poor lil' lungs :(

• date: 4/30/2008
• start time: 2:18 PM
• highest HR: 181
• Kcal: 337
• duration: 19:57
• avg. HR: 165
  

started running again

April 29, 2008 - This is my second or third run since the hospital. I'm probably not going to the Olympics this year. Here's what my new heart rate monitor had to say about it:

• date: 4/29/2008
• start time: 3:49 PM
• highest HR: 181
• Kcal: 388
  
• duration: 22:24
• avg. HR: 165
  

first heavy day in a while

This was my first heavy lifting day in a while. I was aiming for sets in the 5 rep range on flat, close-grip and incline bench presses. Between my hospitalization for pneumonia and today, this was my first heavy day in at least three months. Most definitely today's session will shock my body to do some growing. As I'm not trying to gain weight, I'm planning to go heavy once a month, with other days dedicated to sets in the 10 to 12 rep range.

• barbell flat bench press
• warm up
• 1 x 12 @ 45 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 135 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 155 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 175 lbs
• work sets
• 1 x 5 @ 185 lbs
• clean, picked up the pace a bit
• 1 x 5 @ 195 lbs
• sorta difficult, paused after 3rd rep
• tried snapping at the bottom (needs work)
• concentrate on exploding
• keep hips down
• Felt alright on flat bench. I can tell there's work for me to do to get back to heavy weights.
• close-grip bench press
• warm up
• 1 x 5 @ 155 lbs
• work sets
• 1 x 5 @ 175 lbs
• get rid of pause near the top
• 1 x 5 @ 185 lbs
• get rid of pause, keep hips down
• Felt good. 185 sounds heavy if flat bench is at 195 but I felt strong with this weight.
• incline barbell bench press
• work sets
• 1 x 5 @ 155 lbs
• 1 x 5 @ 165 lbs

I need to develop a scale by which I can quantify how I feel during a set, maybe multiple metrics. The focus of my notes on a specific session's lifts should be to guide subsequent sessions - today's lessons should guide me tomorrow, not depress me by dwelling on recent mistakes.