Gym regimen - October 2010

[Someone was confused about my routine and asked, so I thought I should point out that I do these exercises in circuits. Meaning: I do one exercise and then another, rather than three sets of one exercise, followed by the other exercises. Warmup and Cooldown are, of course, shown in "chronological order."]

A1: Quads and Biceps (MONDAY): 50 mins
92kg, BMI 26.5

Warmup: Ski machine, stretching, curls, squats

Leg extension: 15, 12, 9 @ 40kg, 45kg, 55kg

Decline leg press: 12, 8, 6 @ 150kg, 190kg, 200kg
[A funny case of "strength by accident": I miscalculated the weights on the pegs my 2nd set, so I did 20kg more than I intended. And then I just had to go heavier on my last set!]

Squat: 12, 9, 6, 6 @ 75kg, 90kg, 110kg, 100kg
[I decided to challenge myself--if not on the squat, then when!--so I went for 110kg on my 3rd set--after an already fairly demanding regimen of leg extensions and leg presses--and ended up using my back too much a few reps. But I took the set fairly slowly and finished it without undue pain or risk of falling.]

EZ Barbell curl: 10, 8, 6 @ 35kg, 45kg, 50kg
[I was feeling distinct pain in my forearm on the 2nd and 3rd sets, a pain that developed a couple months ago from barbell curls. This thread, among many others, shows how common a problem it is. I haven't pinned down the anatomical source of pain, but it's where some muscle attaches to my ulna midway between wrist and elbow. I might swap the EZ bar curl out for chinups (which are not pullups!) {If chinups and pullups really were equivalent, why aren't over- and underhand cable pulldowns equivalent?}.]

Incline dumbbell curl: 10, 8, 6 @ 14kg, 18kg, 20kg
[Kept tight form on these, better than last week.]

Hammer barbell curl: 10, 8, 6 @ 35kg, 40kg, 45kg
[A little lighter than last week, but also tighter form, though still cheated a bit with the backward lean.]

Cooldown:
Plate curl: 18, 18 @ 15kg
[I sort of made this up on the spot, or rather, while loading plates for my last squat set. Hold the plate in front of you with hands at 9 and 3 o'clock for X reps, then shift hands to 10 and 2 o'clock for X reps, and finally grip with both hands at 12 o'clock for X reps.]

+++