Dumbbells, Headbands and Ink (Day 20 of 365)

Long day.  First one of the semester.

Class started at 10, that’s nice.  Finishing class at 9 at night… less nice.

I worked out before my speech class at 6.  It started off a fantastic workout, I banged out 225 on the bench twice for the first time ever.  After that it turned into a mediocre at best workout.  I tried to improve it by pushing myself and working up the weight I used on several exercises (flys, dips, skull crushers) but I sucked at the preachers bench. I’m actually looking forward to February when I can mix up my workout (More on that tomorrow).

Bench

• 115 x 10
• 135 x 8
• 155 x 6
• 185 x 4
• 205 x 2
• 225 x 2
• 135 x 15

Flys

• 25 x 10
• 25 x 10
• 30 x 10

Preacher Bench

• 70 x 8
• 70 x 8
• 70 x 8
• 70 x 7
• 50 x 8

Shoulder Set

• 15/20 x 10
• 15/20 x 10
• 15/20 x 10

Dips

• 15 x 10
• 15 x 10
• 15 x 10

Rows

• 10 x 10
• 10 x 10
• 11 x 10

Lat Pulldown

• 10 x 10 
• 10 x 10
• 11 x 10

Dumbbells, Headbands and Ink (Day 19 of 365)

I am dead.

Let me give you a little timeline of my day…

8 30-2 30 – Class

3 00-4 00 – Yoga Class

4 00-5 00 – Recouping

5 00-7 15 – Working Out

7 15-8 15 – Dancing

 

First… I was at the Rec from a little before three to a little after eight.  That’s a long ass time.  My legs are now exhausted.

The yoga class was intense.  I haven’t been in an organized workout group like that in a very long time.  It took so much endurance to go through those poses I was sure my workout was going to suffer.  After a couple of sets squatting I was sure my workout was going to suck.  Again, I stopped myself and said that I hadn’t worked as hard as I have to have a bad workout now.  My workout turned around and I ended up having a good workout.

Then I went dancing for an hour, pretty much burning out my legs.  Now, I think I’m going to go to bed early.

Squat

• 135 x 10
• 185 x 8
• 205 x 6
• 225 x 4
• 275 x 2

Lunges

• 95 x 8
• 115 x 8
• 115 x 8

Leg Press (number will reflect number of 45 lb plates per side of machine)

• 4 x 10 + 50 calf raises
• 5 x 10 + 50 calf raises
• 6 x 10 + 50 calf raises

Single Leg Calf Raises

• 60 x 25 
• 80 x 25
• 80 x 25
• 80 x 25

Single Leg Hamstring Curl

• 35 x 15
• 45 x 15
• 60 x 15

Partner Ab Set (Partner tosses medicine ball of 7 lbs and I rotate to either side then toss the ball back with a declined crunch)

• 12
• 12
• 12

Seated Ab Crunch

• 10
• 10
• 10

Side Bends/Back Extensions

• 35/25 x 15/10
• 35/25 x 15/10
• 35/25 x 15/10

Dumbbells, Headbands and Ink (Day 17-18 of 365)

Holy CRAP!

The Eagles are going back to the NFC Championship Game… in ARIZONA?!?!

I’ll let that sink in for a second.  

The Eagles have a VERY legitimate chance at making it to the Superbowl for the second time in five years.  Wow!

Anyways, yesterday was Sunday, my day off.  I woke up early to watch the Pre-game show for the Eagles V. Giants game, and got bored, so I went for a run.  It was about 2 miles.  Then in the evening I went and played some basketball, nothing major.

Today I worked my upper body.  While I was in the middle of my benching I was ready to write my workout off as a failure and make tons of excuses, the biggest one being all the freaking people in the gym!  It drives me crazy how many people go to the gym every year from Jan 1 to Feb 15.  All the new years resolution people crowd the gym, have no etiquette, and are slobs.  

I was benching, and I got up to get some water, when I got back there was some guy re-setting the bar.  I was polite and I told him that I had a few more sets, and he tell me “Sorry man, you weren’t here.”  I was super pissed.  Lucky for me (I suppose) I found another bench empty and finished my workout.  I stopped, and sat there for a second, decided that I would not let this asshole ruin my workout. I finished strong, even if I did have to wait several times for equipment.

 

Bench

• 115 x 10
• 135 x 10
• 155 x 6
• 185 x 4
• 205 x 2
• 225 x 1
• 135 x 17

Flys

• 25 x 10
• 25 x 10
• 25 x 10

Preacher Bench

• 70 x 8
• 70 x 8
• 70 x 8
• 70 x 8
• 50 x 15 + 1

Skull Crushers (w/ 15 close grip bench after each set)

• 40 x 10/15
• 40 x 10/15
• 40 x 10/15

Shoulder Superset

• 20/15 x 10
• 20/15 x 10
• 20/15 x 10

Row and Dip Superset

• 10 x 10 + 10
• 10 x 10 + 10
• 11 x 10 + 10

Lat Pulldown

• 10 x 10
• 10 x 10
• 10 x 10

GO BIRDS!!! (Eagles that is)

Dumbbells, Headbands and Ink (Day 16 of 365)

As Brink would say, “Good Form Jack!”  Or in this case me.  Today when I was squatting I had a bit of  revelation.  I was unable to reproduce my 275 x 4 at the end of the workout, but it was because I wa using much better form, therefore getting a better workout.

It always boggles my mind how people will put on more weight than they are capable of moving and use shitty form, or cheat to move the weight.  Like I was telling Brink and marvA yesterday, it’s so much better for you to use less weight with good form than more weight with bad form.  I used fantastic form through my entire squat workout and was therefore burned by the time I got to the 275 set.

I then moved to lunges, like always, and there was a guy in a Buffalo Bills shirt (so I already felt sorry for him) doing lunges right next to me, with atrocious form.  He took steps that were way too small and then pushed off while his knee was still about a foot and a half off the ground.  It really made me feel good about lunges (and I HATE lunges) to see him lift like this, then right next to him lift more than him with better form.

Another example of using good form to push yourself came when I moved to the seated torso rotation machine, one that I was ready to abandon cause I didn’t feel like it did anything the last time I used it.  I decided to give it one more try and found that if I slow down the exercise and isolate my oblique I get a really good workout!

I added a couple of leg workout cause I didn’t feel like my legs were getting are burned out as my upper body and I felt great about the results.  Both my leg and ab workouts went extremely well today, great way to end a great week of lifting.

Side note: Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens for being the first team to move to the conference championship level of the NFL playoffs, with a defense like they have they have the ability to beat anyone with competent play on the offense, somehting Joe Flacco has done all year, watch out for the Birds of the AFC!

Squat

• 135 x 10
• 185 x 8
• 205 x 6
• 225 x 4
• 275 x 2

Lunges

• 95 x 8
• 115 x 8
• 115 x 8

Leg Press (number will reflect number of 45 lb plates per side of machine)

• 4 x 10 + 50 calf raises
• 5 x 10 + 50 calf raises
• 6 x 10 + 50 calf raises

Single Leg Calf Raises

• 60 x 25 
• 80 x 25
• 80 x 25
• 80 x 25

Single Leg Hamstring Curl

• 35 x 15
• 45 x 15
• 60 x 15

Declined Ab Set (with 20 oblique sides)

• 15 x 6-7 lb Med Ball
• 15 x 6-7 lb Med Ball
• 15 x 6-7 lb Med Ball

Seated Ab Crunch

• 10
• 10
• 10

Seated Torso Rotations

• 80 x 10
• 90 x 10
• 100 x 10

Side Bends/Back Extensions

• 35/25 x 15/10
• 35/25 x 15/10
• 35/25 x 15/10

Dumbbells, Headbands and Ink (Day 15 of 365)

Today was fun.  I only had one class which was fantastic!  Then after my class I went to work out with some buddies of mine, Brink, and marvA.  They are new to working out, but I hope they had a good time.  I haven’t really talked to them since we left the gym, but by now I’m sure they are having trouble straightening their arms.

 

Bench

• 115 x 10
• 135 x 8
• 155 x 6
• 185 x 4
• 205 x 2
• 225 x 1
• 135 x 16

Flys

• 25 x 10
• 25 x 10
• 25 x 10

Preacher Bench

• 70 x 8
• 70 x 8
• 70 x 8
• 70 x 8
• 50 x 16 + Negative

Skull Crushers w/ 15 close grip bench at the end of each set

• 40 x 10/15
• 45 x 10/15
• 40 x 10/15

Shoulder Raises (Front then Side)

• 20/15 x 10
• 20/15 x 10
• 20/15 x 10

Seated Rows (Arbitrary restricted plate number)

• 10 x 10
• 10 x 10
• 11 x 10

Dips

• 10
• 10
• 10

Lat Pulldowns (Arbitrary Restricted Plate Number)

• 10 x 10
• 10 x 10
• 11 x 10