ExRx.net

Wednesday, 14 September

c18w2d2

"Half-day", but I used part of it...well, long story. To gym in afternoon. Bill came in to bench. I invited him to DL with me. He laughed, made a funny excuse, and ramped up close to his max and back down again, then left. A while later Jim came in to ride the stationary bike and bench. Out of the blue Bill comes back in and together the ramped up to their respective maxes and back down again! I've been sick, not even sure that I should work out today. Didn't sleep well last night, etc., etc.

Deadlift
3x205
3x230
6x260

Lt Squat
Step ups with single DB (held in on-side hand--it worked really well, Bob)
5x24
5x35
5x44
5x54
5x64
5x69
5x76

Chins
sets of 2, 3, 4, 5 to total of 47

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Saturday, 17 September

c18w2d3

Jeff is back! 3 PM with him and Bill. Jeff has not lifted in the 4 months he was in the US. His shoulder feels better, so he can now bench without doing any pulling!

Bench
3x135
3x155
2x175

BB Press
4x10x45
13x45

BB Row
10x45/65/85/95/105

Waiters' Walk
4 trips of 4 laps, 30#

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Monday, 19 September

c18w2d4

Surprisingly early afternoon at work for a Monday after a holiday weekend (Friday was PNG's Independence Day). Bill and Jim were at the gym benching and doing cardio. I got Bill to do a few BW squats.

Squat
3x172
3x189.5
4x214.5

G'morning
10x62
10x82
10x112
5x122
5x142

Chins
3x+10
3x+20
4x+30

Hip Thrusts
10x135
10x4x155

Huge rainstorm started while I was changing clothes to go home. I phoned my wife and whined, and she came and got me with a car. My little compact umbrella was not in the bag I carry around with me, don't know why. It's one of my essential "always be prepared" items.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Wednesday, 21 September

c18w3d1

"Half-day" at work. Doing volunteer stuff, emails, schedule, etc. Boring but necessary. To Maintenance in the afternoon to get some pipe to make new, longer DB handles to load more plates on and get big and strong. Bill and Jim came to bench, but went to play football with some of the kids and young adults. Jim came back to bench some more and ride the stationary bike. Jim is more open to new ideas about training than Bill or Jeff are ("new ideas" = training something other than bench). I may be able to get him doing a full-body W/O. Maybe.

Press
5x90
3x100
1x115, a little sloppy

Lt Bench
5x8x125
Just right.

DB BO Row
5x85
2x95
0x115

Front plank
5x30secxBW+35

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Saturday, 24 September

c18w3d2

Slept in and spent a quiet day recovering from Thursday night's killer on-call. Put a grip on a couple of pieces of 20mm pipe to use as longer DB handles, so I can stuff more plates on. To the gym about 3:30. Jeff was there on the stationary bike. I talked to him again about his shoulder problem being caused by unbalanced bench pressing, and promised not to every say anything again. I hope he'll think about it.

Deadlift
5x225
3x245
6x275

Step-Ups
16" box
5x24
5x44
5x54
5x64

Chin-ups
All BW
1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1/1/2/3/4/5/6/5/4/3/2/1/5 (66)

Lateral Raises
10x14
5x14
4x10x10
9x10

DL--It's been ages since DLs felt this good. Wore a belt on the last set.
Step-ups--still a bit shaky, balance-wise.
Chins--I think this is the most reps I've done in 1 day.
Nygmen Memorial Lateral Raises--Gosh, these are humbling. ROM is an issue for me, even doing these unweighted. I'm going now to review the ExRx instructions for these.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Monday, 26 September

c18w3d3

Not a bad work day for a Monday. Nothing depressing. A bit late to the gym. Jim came, mostly to spot for me. We talked about a full-body program for him, and he is interested! Bill came by, just back from a medivac of an expatriate down to Australia in a psychiatric emergency. I'm betting it was a really interesting trip. He didn't lift.

Bench
5x145
3x165
1x185 (woo-woo)

Light press
DB shoulder press
5x10x26.5

Row BB supinated grip
3x10x95
2x5x115

Side Plank
3x30sec+25#

Bench--This matches my previous all-time PR, set about 2 1/2 years ago. I've been working back to this for a long time. Surprisingly easy, but I really didn't want to risk the frustration of a failed second rep.

Planks--stink

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Wednesday, 28 September

It was my "half-day", so home after rounds. Worked on a talk I'm giving this evening at the College of Nursing. To the gym about 4. Jim came in, road the stationary for a while while I did my squats. Then 1 by 1, 4 teenagers showed up. Jordan is coming back in a few weeks, and I think they want to impress him. Then Imelda came to do treadmill. Then Jim and I started working on squats. Unfortunately, his son kept piping up with suggestions for him. He has some flexibility issues--it's not as easy to teach a 57-year old to squat as it is a teen-age boy. Then we started on DL a little and discussed his program. The teens put on their own music, which I wouldn't begrudge them for the world, but it made the place pretty loud and chaotic. Jim left, but Steven, the new HS teacher came in! I had to leave early because of dinner guests and my talk in the evening, but I didn't mind leaving!

Squat
5x185
3x205
2x230

G'Morning
10x45
10x65
10x2x85
These seemed heavy enough for today after the heavy squats.

Chins
5x+15
3x+25
3x+35

Squat--I was real happy with that. I know that this is a rep record for me. Only 10 away from my all-time PR.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Saturday, 1 October

c18w4d1

Quiet Saturday. Jeff, Bill, Jim and I in the gym all about the same time. If I just don't allow myself to get critical about other people's lifting, it's a great group of friends. Bill tried and missed a new PR on bench. Jim benched with Bill then he and I worked on lifting techniques for his new whole-body program. Some flexibility issues, but doing pretty well. It's deload for me, so I did some planned and some random, impulsive stuff.

Press
10x32
2x10x52

Bench
10x45/65/85/95/105

BO DB Row
3x10x44

Front Planks
4x35#x30sec

DB Swings
a couple sets of 10

Bench--I have never really figured out leg drive, at least not until this week. Always if I push with my legs, my body just slides up the bench, and I lose upper-body stability. This week I was in the gym alone for light bench day. I didn't have a shirt on (I rarely do) and didn't throw my towel down on the bench like I usually do. The skin of my upper back gripped the bench enough that I was able to get a good push with my legs without moving my upper body. I really felt like I was moving stronger. We'll see next week how I do with more weight on the bar.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Monday, 3 October

c18w4d2

Trying to follow some of my own advice and really deload for at least 3 workouts. It's hard to remember sometimes ("It's light--I'd better do a few more reps!")

Not too bad a day at the hospital. At the gym Jim arrived about when I did, but forgot his cheat sheet for his workout. I think I remembered what we had planned for him, though. He wants to do more. Bill came in about when Jim was ready to bench.

Deadlift
5x135
5x135
5x185

Squat
5x95
5x115
5x135
5x135
5x135

Chins
4s to a total of 44--oh, yeah. Deload. Stop.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Saturday, 8 October

c19w1d1

Stayed overnight last night at friends' coffee plantation. Late after to the gym with Jim. Imelda also came in.

Press
5x83
5x95
3x105

Light bench
8x3x120

DB BO Row
5x71
5x84
4x95

TGU
3x14
2x24

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Monday, 10 October

c19w1d2

Not a bad day at work. A music group practice after clinic, then to the gym. Only was there benching. I had to go pull the bar off his chest once.

Deadlift
5x195
5x225
8x255

Light Squat
Box Squat
10x32
10x52
10x72
10x92
10x112

Chins
Mostly 5s to total of 52 reps

Dead--I feel good about moving up and still being able to get a good rep count on the last set.
Box Squat--I really thought that this was starting light! I've only done a few light box squats at a time before. Maybe I should have kept the volume down a little. My glutes are starting to get sore, and I'm tired all over!

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Wednesday, 12 October

c19w1d3

"Half-day", so worked on a talk I'm giving the medical staff on Friday. Ugh. I hate stuff like that. Then an unnecessary doctor's meeting in which we all agreed that what everybody has been saying is the best thing to do is in fact the best thing to do, and to punt the final decision to the management team whose decision it is anyway. Oh how I love meetings. Then to the gym. The young boys were working out and spotted for me. They are really doing pretty well. Then Jim and Bill came to bench. Jim didn't notice that on his new workout, bench is second today, and that it's only 2 warm-up sets and 3 work sets, not 375 work sets.

Bench
5x130
5x150
5x170!!

Light Press
barbell, for speed
10x52
8x72
3x3x72
3x3x52

Row
10x52
5x82
4x5x112

Bench--Rep record. Last cycle on 5s day, I missed 2 reps at 165. I concluded that it was just a bad day, and went ahead and raised the training max this cycle. At this point I'm glad I did. Looking back the most I've gotten was 3 reps at 170.

Edited for typos.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Friday, 14 October

c19w1d4

Steady, but not awful day to the hospital. 2 of the kids I'm treating for clubfoot reached major milestones in their treatment, so I'm happy about that. I was entirely alone at the gym, for the first time in a while, which is fine with me on squat day. Bill on call, Jim busy, Jeff I have no idea, kids with a better way to spend Friday afternoon. Just me.

Squat
5x165
5x190
5x215

G'Morning/Chins SS
GM 5x5x115
Chins BW 2x2
5xBW+10
5xBW+20
6xBW+30

Side planks 5x+10x30sec.

Squats--wish I could have got one more, but prudence won. This time. Still, it's a rep record. In fact, it was at this weight and on squat day that I stopped the cycle back in December and reset all the training maxes. Considering that, I feel pretty good about making my reps today.

Chins--real happy to get 6 reps with 30#.

Planks--Man, I hate these. The happiest moment of my day was when I was done. And to think I do this of my own free will.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Monday, 17 October

c19w2d1

Pretty easy day at work, but I ended up doing a bunch of odds and ends and stretching it out kind of late. I got to the gym first, then Jim, then the boys and Jordan. Today was the boy's day to max on C&J. Imagine trying to do TGUs on the floor of a tiny weight room next to 2 teenage boys C&Jing near their max! Too much.

Press
3x90
3x100
2x115

Bench
3x8x130

DB BO Row
3x76
3x96
3x101

TGU
20, 5 sets, odd rest times spent shuffling around trying to avoid the dangers of flying barbells. Too much for me psychologically, I had to get out.

Press--Looking back more carefully than I did when I was setting up the new cycle I see that I missed 3 reps last cycle. I have now missed 3 reps and I'm only in 3s day. Time for a small reset.
Bench--blah
Row--3 is definately a rep record at 101, and is close to my PR of 102!
TGU--you really can't do these very well when you can't pay attention. I need to talk to Jordan about working out some coordinating of schedules so we don't have so much going on at the same time.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Wednesday, 19 October

My "half-day" so home after rounds, and that by 9:30! Work and play at computer, yard work. Had planned to workout earlier to avoid the young ones, but ended up overlapping with them again. Better, since I was done with DLs by the time they got there, and nothing else on the floor. We're negotiating a schedule. With only 7 or 8 people using the gym, there's no reason that 4 or 5 of us have to be there at once.

Deadlift
3x210
3x240
7x270

Lt Squat
speed
8x95
3x2x135
3x6x115

Chins
1,2,10,8,7,5,5,3,3 (44)

DL--rep max
Squats--it's distressing how slowly my "speed" squat moves. It doesn't feel much faster than my heavy working sets.
Chins--tried to go 1 rep shy of a grinder on each set. I really thought I got over 50 reps, but what I wrote down doesn't add up.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan