Saturday, September 11, 2010

Gym regimen - September 2010

10 September, 2010 (W)
Ur-Workout: 50-60 mins
90kg, BMI 25

0. Warmup: Stretching, leg extensions, leg curls, lat pulldowns, bench press

1. Bench press: 12, 10, 8, 6 @ 60–80kg

2. Pullups: 13, 15, 16*
[I used wrist straps for my second and third set. My right forearm has been really sore lately, partially due to the pronation involved in curls, partially due to the habit of resting my forearm on the table when I read, and partially just due to, um, all the bobdybuilding I've been doing the last three months. The 16th rep on the 3rd set used a big kip/negative.]

2a. Lever bench row: ø

3. EZ Bar military press: 10, 8, 6 @ 35-55kg

4. Barbell curl: 10, 8, 6 @ 35–45kg
[Very high and tight form on these, though I did feel more tired than on Wednesday. Awesome pump on my 3rd set. It's definitely Friday, time for a full weekend off.]

5. Elbows-out extension: 10, 8, 6 @ 18–22kg (per hand)

6. Decline leg press: 16, 13, 11* @ 160kg, 170kg, 185kg
[I could have gone a good bit heavier on these. The 11th rep of the 3rd set was a bottoms-up press: I lowered the plate all the way to the bottom and pressed up from negative. A deep dig on that one!]

7. Stiff-leg deadlifts: 12, 10, 8 @ 55–70kg

8. Standing calf raise: ø

+++

I'll be joining in for the annual Sun Moon Lake swim this Sunday. 27,300 people swimming across the lake. It will be a nice full-body workout, but I will be taking it nice and slow. Get myself limber. I've been doing my Ur-Workout for a month now and the results are satisfying. I will be taking next week easy, mostly to give my forearms some time to recover, but also so that my body is refreshed to go to a slightly higher level with the Ur-Workout. I see no reason--and have little time--to go on a 4-day routine until I feel the Ur-Workout isn't getting me anywhere, which should not happen for another few months. Rest is actually a much larger part of strength training than most people realize. I'm looking into it!

UPDATE:

Thursday was the first time in weeks I have been able to do jumping jacks! I only did 60, but it shows my foot is getting much better. It was an off-day so at home I did dumbbell shrugs, standing Russian twists, oblique leans, and alternating rowing crunches. For the Russian twists I hold some weight at my throat/chest and twist from side to side with a dip in the legs each time. I've explained the oblique leans before, but I noticed they only feel effective with a fairly large weight, or at a very high number of reps. I've been doing rowing crunches since I was 13. I alternate in a set between, say, 10 straight reps and then 10 reps from side to side. Here's a demo video, but I've never been trained to do them on a bench, nor to hold onto anything. In crew, we did them on the ground and kept our hands crossed at our chest, or at least hovering by our hips. Having the hands at your chest really adds a nice touch to the alternating reps.

Now that my foot is on the mend, I can get back to my successful career as a diamond thief. The Russians got the better of me last time, but I should be ready for another job in the next few weeks. Hey, a switchblade in the foot will slow anybody down.

I've also finally decided that Inception is simply not a great film. It's a great series of gimmicks and high-intensity close-ups glued together with far too much clichéd existentialist, Jungian, Freudian, meta-narrative allegorisation. I don't regret that I saw it five times, since seeing it each time involved hanging out with friends.

Stay tuned.

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