Saturday, June 29

In a somewhat unusual move, I decided to go to the gym around 10:30 in the morning, prior to a 12:30 to 9 shift at the Major Home Improvement Retailer. I didn’t want to miss a day, and even if the gym were open after my shift (it wouldn’t be) I knew that after eight hours at the MHIR any semblance of motivation would be entirely absent. So a morning trip it was.

I did some fairly light back and bicep work. First came cable rows, 5 x 8 x 145. I tried to concentrate really hard on the stretch and contraction to increase the results. Next came a session on a Life Fitness lower back extension machine that hardly anyone except me ever seems to use, 3 x 10 x resistance level 12. Hey, it’s not used much, but I like it. I finished the short set with some cable bicep curls, 4 x 8 x 42.5. All in all a quick session, but it will help.

Friday, June 28, 2019

Yes, I am aware it has been months since an update. You need not remind me. Thanks.

It being my day off, I got to the gym about 4pm for a nice long session. I’ve been rather negligent about going for the past several months, partly out of laziness and partly because between my main job and the Major Home Improvement Retailer I’ve been working long and rather exhausting hours. With my birthday just having passed, I’ve come to the realization that while I’m hardly old and decrepit, I’m not a teenybopper either and if I don’t be careful I could be looking at declining strength and fitness in a way that a 25-year-old would not.

With that out of the way, I had a pretty decent session considering my relative lack of practice.
– Barbell bench press: 6 x 135, 6 x 155, 4 x 185, 4 x 205, 4 x 225, 2 x 235, 4 x 225, 8 x 185. I would have wanted more reps at 225, but that’s something I have to work on.
– Close-grip bench press: 4 x 135. This targets the triceps, which I believe are my weak point on the normal bench press.
– Seated dumbbell shoulder presses: 5 x 8 x 30/30. Not much weight, I know, but enough for now. My main concern with shoulders is that my range of motion isn’t what I want it to be.
– Pec deck flies: 8 x 130, 3 x 8 x 145, 8 x 130. One of the better machine exercises, in my opinion.

I finished with 20 minutes on the stationary cycle, moderate resistance level and a 15 mph pace.