I've been upping my dead lift totals lately. My last two sessions I've finished my sets by doing 325lbs for 8 reps. Both times #7 and #8 were bordering on losing my form, though yesterday was certainly better that my first go around. Below is video.
New Link - My Fitness Pal
Added a new link to the sidebar - MyFitnessPal.com. Started using it yesterday to track my calorie intake. Time to get a bit more serious about losing the weight. We'll see how it impacts my strength gains, but the weight needs to come off.
Holy Sweat - 3 reasons church leaders should get in shape
Great article by Greg Stier on ChristianLeaders.com.
Keep reading here.
I don’t run triathalons or marathons. Nor am I a fitness freak. But as a 47-year-old preacher, I’ve become increasingly aware of my mortality and the ever-sagging effects of gravity.
It was early on in my ministry experience that I began to realize that I had better start working out or bad stuff was going to happen to me. Heart attacks, diabetes, and strokes happen to preachers, too.
It was easy for me to dismiss my out-of-shapeness in ministry because for years I was in excellent shape. In my late teens and early twenties, I was a roofer by trade. The result of 10-12 hour days of manual labor was me being slim, tan, and quasi-ripped. In college, I had 8% bodyfat and could hang with the best of them when it came to push-ups, sit-ups, and the like. But then something strange happened. I went into ministry full time.
My roofing hammer was exchanged for a commentary, my ladder for a desk, and my once rigorous manual labor job for a sedentary calling. To add injury to insult, I tore my ACL while dancing to a Michael Jackson video (don’t ask.) My injury gave me an excuse to be even less active.
Keep reading here.
Great night at the gym - a bunch of PR
Lifted hard tonight. Set a new personal record (PR) - by a lot - on decline bench tonight. I'm not sure how long I'll continue to progress in growth in decline, but I'm really enjoying it while I can.
Decline Bench - 135x8, 225x8, 275x8-PR, 285x6-PR!
Also did standing cable decline presses (PR), single arm triceps extensions, preacher curls, standing reverse fly (PR), dumbbell lateral raise, Cable Seated Row (PR).
Plus I'm fighting a cold, and today was my 38th birthday! All in all though, a really good night. We hit Buffalo Wild Wings for supper to celebrate my birthday, and I'm sure I consumed way too much, but today I don't care.
I have started tracking my workouts with an Android app called Jefit. It has a pretty solid corresponding web site that the phone app synches with. I've added a link in the side bar if you want to check it out.
Decline Bench - 135x8, 225x8, 275x8-PR, 285x6-PR!
Also did standing cable decline presses (PR), single arm triceps extensions, preacher curls, standing reverse fly (PR), dumbbell lateral raise, Cable Seated Row (PR).
Plus I'm fighting a cold, and today was my 38th birthday! All in all though, a really good night. We hit Buffalo Wild Wings for supper to celebrate my birthday, and I'm sure I consumed way too much, but today I don't care.
I have started tracking my workouts with an Android app called Jefit. It has a pretty solid corresponding web site that the phone app synches with. I've added a link in the side bar if you want to check it out.
Keep on trucking
Decline bench night again. 8x135lbs to warm up. 8x225, 8x245, 8x265 as my workout. I think I could've gotten 10 on the last set at 265lbs.
Then did arms (biceps and triceps), shoulders, and upper back with seated rows.
And I am definitely tight from the dead lifts last night. I would've guessed I might be sore in my quads, but definitely tight in my hamstrings instead with no other soreness. And quite happily, my knees feel great.
I need to order a lifting belt one of these days. I have an old one that might fit around one of my thighs now...
Then did arms (biceps and triceps), shoulders, and upper back with seated rows.
And I am definitely tight from the dead lifts last night. I would've guessed I might be sore in my quads, but definitely tight in my hamstrings instead with no other soreness. And quite happily, my knees feel great.
I need to order a lifting belt one of these days. I have an old one that might fit around one of my thighs now...
Tough night at the gym
Legs & lower back tonight. Definitely a tough workout.
Leg press - 8x370lbs warmup. 8x460lbs, 8x550lbs, 8x600lbs. At 600lbs it really was a good bit of effort to get out of the hole (to start the weight back up). I made them all, but I'd guess another 30-40lbs more and I might not have done so.
Dead lift - 8x225lbs warmup, 8x245lbs, 8x245lbs. Last two were starting to have bad form so it was clear I was getting tired.
Closed the workout with some ab work.
Leg press - 8x370lbs warmup. 8x460lbs, 8x550lbs, 8x600lbs. At 600lbs it really was a good bit of effort to get out of the hole (to start the weight back up). I made them all, but I'd guess another 30-40lbs more and I might not have done so.
Dead lift - 8x225lbs warmup, 8x245lbs, 8x245lbs. Last two were starting to have bad form so it was clear I was getting tired.
Closed the workout with some ab work.
Seeing steady improvement in decline bench
Sticking with the decline bench in spite of my one flat bench session last week. While I don't have pain in my shoulder from that session of benching, there was a bit of lingering soreness that let me know I still need to hold off for a while longer to be fully healed.
With that said, I pushed it heavier on my decline bench last night. Started out with 8x135 as a warmup. Then jumped to 8x225, 8x245, and 8x255. To finish my chest segment I did some standing cable push downs (imagine decline bench while standing. Cables starting at shoulder level pressing to waist level at a 45 degree angle). I moved up 20ish lbs on these cable presses as well. I could go heavier, but getting the cables away from the machine to start the movement is nearly impossible at my finishing weight, so I don't have an easy solution at this point.
Finished the workout with machine bicep & triceps work. Had planned on doing shoulders as well, but got distracted with a very impressive thunderstorm out the gym windows. I cooled down while watching it, so decided to call it a night. I did fit 20 minutes of recumbent bike in after the arms segment.
With that said, I pushed it heavier on my decline bench last night. Started out with 8x135 as a warmup. Then jumped to 8x225, 8x245, and 8x255. To finish my chest segment I did some standing cable push downs (imagine decline bench while standing. Cables starting at shoulder level pressing to waist level at a 45 degree angle). I moved up 20ish lbs on these cable presses as well. I could go heavier, but getting the cables away from the machine to start the movement is nearly impossible at my finishing weight, so I don't have an easy solution at this point.
Finished the workout with machine bicep & triceps work. Had planned on doing shoulders as well, but got distracted with a very impressive thunderstorm out the gym windows. I cooled down while watching it, so decided to call it a night. I did fit 20 minutes of recumbent bike in after the arms segment.
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