Alright, I'm going to admit it. There's too much going on in my life, and I am tired. Man, I want to work out tonight but my legs, back and brain are dying. I'll get to that in a moment.
Last night we made progress in Starting Strength. Here's how it went down.....
First off, we have a new recruit in our weight lifting group. Rod is joining us on most nights now and it's fun having new people in the garage. He started last Friday, but since I've been out of the routine the last few workouts this was the first time we got to lift together. He's kind of doing his own thing with all of the equipment I have, but he's joining us for a few lifts which is cool.
I got into squats at 200. This felt heavy. They weren't terrible squats, but they weren't my best either. I did all 3 sets, but I'm repeating this Friday and possibly Monday too so I can focus on getting lower.
After that was bench, and I moved up to 175. I don't understand....a few weeks ago when I dropped weight I dropped down to 175 and had no problem. After that I started the 100 pushup thing, and being tired from that I had to go down to 165. I've since stopped doing the pushups (ya, I know...I'll start that program again soon, I promise), but last night 175 was freakin' difficult. I finished with 1x5, 1x4 and 1x3. When the muscles stopped, they stopped. It felt like I was pushing against a wall. As far as progress goes those are good numbers to start 175 with, but considering I've completed 175 before with good form before going down in weight I'm pretty upset overall. Hopefully I can blast through 175 next week and can move up to 180.
Incidentally I think bench is my best exercise. It's the only one where I lift more than anyone else in the group, and I really do go all the way to my chest and all of the way back up. I'm proud of that part.
There was some downtime after that since I'm usually the first one to do bench (we start with the heaviest weight and go down), and Rod was using the curl bar to do upright rows. I tried a set and realized that this was using muscles that I wasn't actively working. I decided to do 2 more sets, all 3 at 65 lbs, and focused on going slow and only using my arms....the same mentality as the shoulder press. These felt good, and 65 lbs surprised me for being so heavy. I don't know how or why, but these are now my 4th exercise for Wednesdays. I'm planning on adding 5 lbs next week and working my way up. They're awesome because they use different muscles, focus on a pulling motion, and they don't require a spotter. Perfect!
We finished with deadlifts. I did 185 again, and this time they felt pretty good. Still heavy, but I felt much stronger than last week and I'm planning on moving up 10 lbs next week. I'm so proud of my form on these. Seriously, I've come a long way! Incidentally, Vince lifted 315 last night! It was ridiculous. Good for him! He had to bring over 4 more 45's so we could get there, but we did. He said he's moving up 5 lbs next week. I wish him luck!
After that we did Ab Ripper X. Overall it was a good ab ripper day. The gang all felt sore and there were moans and groans throughout, but we did it. It was one of my stronger ab rippers overall, and as always I did my 50 mason twists.
Only one more day in Week 14!
So a few quick updates. First off, while I was writing this Rod texted me and said his body was in an absurd amount of pain from yesterday. Good for you Rod! Welcome to my world!
Second, due to the downtime of waiting for others to finish their sets, I want to add in more exercises, specifically on Mondays. Right now I have curls on Fridays and as of yesterday I have upright rows on Wednesdays. The more weight I've been adding to deadlift and squats, the more I think I need to strengthen my lower back. That said, I think Monday I'm going to try and possibly add in Romanian Deadlifts. These are the opposite of a regular deadlift. They are all back. You start with your body shaped like the number 7, holding the weight straight down. Then you come straight up, only using your lower back to lift you. They have to be done extremely slowly and controlled, and I have to use a lot less weight than any other lift. But, I think these will get my lower back stronger and feeling better. And I can use the curl bar, so I can do them on the side while everyone else is finishing something else. So ya, Monday I will be adding those in, and if I like them they will stay.
On that note, I'd also like to get barbell rows in there somewhere too. These are also done with your body shaped like the number 7, but from there you use all arms and upper back, bringing the bar to your chest just like a benchpress, except with gravity in reverse. We'll see how those go though. With the upright rows they may not be necessary. I'll keep you posted.
Third and finally, this week has been taxing on me. I realize I've been making excuses lately, but tonight may be one of those excuse nights. I just don't feel like doing cardio, On that note, I just hosted my biggest, best, and sadly last job fair ever. This is my favorite event at work and I'm always so proud of it. But due to the company changes, today was my last one, and I'm glad it went out with a bang! It was huge! I had so many employers and I was so proud. But from that I'm really tired (spent the whole day on my feet going up and down stairs) and I followed it up with a fat burrito for lunch that my boss was cool enough to buy us. So I'm ready for a nap tonight. Also I have homework, so cardio is probably not gonna happen.
So that's where I'm at. Cardio needs to happen soon, but probably not tonight. But soon. And tomorrow is more lifting. Ya!
Bring it!
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