Gym regimen - July 2010

11 July 2010
87kg, BMI 25
"A4" workout: Traps, Tris & Shoulders: 100 mins (?)

Warmup: 60 jumping jacks and calisthenics/stretching... lots of stretching

Barbell shoulder press: 12x, 10x, 8x, 6x @ 40kg-60kg

Dumbbell upright row (dumbbell weight per arm): 12x, 10x, 10x, 8x @ 15kg-24kg (?)

Prone reverse fly (weight for each arm): 12x, 10x, 8x, 6x @ 12.5kg-20kg (?)

Shrug: 12x, 10x, 8x, 6x @ 50kg-110kg
[A guy at the gym helped me a lot with shrugs. It seems I have been doing way too little weight, which explains why shrugs felt so... unimpressive, so unchallenging. He said big guys commonly do twice their bodyweight, which is why he had me use the hip-high bar rest: just grab with a wide grip and shrug high and hold.]

Behind the head triceps raise: 12x, 10x, 8x, 6x @ 15kg-24kg (?)

Lying triceps extension (EZ barbell): 12x, 10x, 8x, 6x @ 20kg-27.5kg (?)

Rope triceps extension: 12x @ 20kg, 10x @ 20kg, 8x @ 25kg, 6x @ 25kg

Cooldown: Underhand tri pulldown: to pump/failure; Rear delt cable flye: to pump/flye; High rope row ("Split face rope row"): to pump/failure
[These are new exercises my friend showed me to work more of the body of these muscles and I was just getting to know the form and feel of them. I like them, hope to incorporate them into future workouts.]

+++

My notes on this workout are hazy, since it was my birthday last Friday and I had a lot of social activity all weekend. Plus I took my Macbook to the shop for a new hard drive and OS, so I didn't have a chance to work on the computer much. I now run OS Leopard, the chief benefit of which is that I can now type Chinese at a normal, efficient rate!

You'll notice I've also switched to noting only the range of weights used over the sets, since it's too much of a hassle to remember each weight per set. I think I will make a primitive spreadsheet in a folder to use at the gym. Each sheet will be for a workout (e.g., Tris and traps, Quads and bis, etc.), and each column will name a type of exercise. The rows will be blank so I can in the date of the workout and in the lattice formed by the columns and rows I will write what the weight was for that workout. Each row must have at least four smaller rows within it for the sets. Enthralling, I'm sure.

I felt pretty good for this workout, but once again I see I must rein in my bad habit of wanting to go for just... a little... more... weight... at the expense of pristine form. The key with the tri raises is to keep the elbows parallel and very close to your head, always letting only the forearm move. I see my friend's point about behind-the-head raises not being very "ergogenic," which is why I will switch to the underhand cable pulldown.