Deadlifts

Saturday - 12/22/12
Deadlifts - 4 sets
135x8
225x5
305x5
305x5
295x5
295x5

Cable Rows - 3 sets
120x10
140x8
160x7
150x8

Also did some other weird exercises for back and forearms and stuff.  Nothing crazy.

I should note though, that my hands and forearms are very fucking sore today.

If all goes well, I should be benching this afternoon.

Clean and Press

Tuesday - 12/18/12
Clean and Push Press - 5 sets
95x8
95x8
105x7
105x7
105x6

Reverse Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 3 sets
40x10
50x10
60x8

"Bicep 21's" - 1 set
50x21

Cleans were exhausting, but felt great.  My shoulder feels like shit, but I was able to push press the weight with little trouble.

The reverse bi's were just gripping them upside down, so as to work out grip a little more.  The 21's were just an excuse to do some more biceps.

Next up on Friday should be Deadlifts.

Life Changes!

All right.  Time is short.  A few quick things.  I HAVE been going to the gym, not quite as often as I want, but I've been going.  Been doing a 4 workout rotation.

Squats/Chinups
Clean/Press/Bi's
Deadlift/Row
Bench/Dips

It takes me about a week and a half to go 4 times and complete 1 round of this.

Most recently, on Saturday I squatted.  Here are those sets

Saturday - 12/15/12
Squats - 4 sets
135x8
185x5
255x3
235x5
235x5
235x5

Weighted Chinups - 5 sets
25x5
25x5
25x5
25x5
25x5

Short, sweet and to the point.

Also, I have a new addition to the family.  A 1 month old son, named Anthony.  Life's been different.  Sleep is more difficult to come by, and my time is always limited.  He's been great, but it's been a completely different life for me these past few weeks.

Anyway, as always I'll try to get on and post my lifts after each session.

Some Catching up

With the hurricane that ripped through NY/NJ last week, I haven't posted much about what I've done at the gym.  Here's a quick catchup.  It's been a while, so I don't remember exact dates.  Anyway, here's what I've got.


Tuesday - 10/30/12
Squats - 4 sets
135x8
185x5
245x5
245x5
245x5

Saturday - 11/2/12
Bench - 4 sets
95x10
135x8
195x5
185x5
185x5
175x6

Standing Shoulder Dumbbell Press - 3 sets
35x8
45x7
45x6
40x7

Tuesday - 11/6/12
Deadlifts - 3 sets
135x8
225x5
295x5
295x5
295x5

A lot of stuff here.  Shoulder felt uncomfortable during the press.  Deadlifts felt great, bench felt great.  Squats didn't feel too good, I actually had a stomach bug that day.

Bench and Dips

Tuesday - 10/23/12
Bench - 5 sets
95x10
135x8
185x8
185x7
175x8
175x7
165x10

Dips - 2 sets
25x8
25x7

Generic Back Day

Sunday - 10/21/12
Weighted Chins - 21 reps total
25x5
25x4
25x4
25x4
25x3
Bodyweight x 5

Wide-Bar Cable Rows - 3 sets
120x8
160x7
150x8
150x8

Shrug Machine - 4 sets
90x12
180x10
230x10
180x10
90x12

Squats

Thursday - 10/19/12
Squats - 3 sets
135x8
185x5
255x5
255x5
245x5

Dumbbell Bicep Curls - 1 set
30x10
40x10

Bench and Dips

Tuesday - 10/17/12
Bench - 4 sets
95x10
135x8
175x9
175x8
165x8
155x10

Weighted Dips - 3 sets (with weight belt)
45lbs x 6
25 x 8
25 x 7

Squats coming up on Thursday.

Deadlifts 5X5

Deadlifted Saturday morning with a friend who I used to lift with.  Having a partner was a good thing, and it's something I've really been missing.  Having a partner at the gym is great for several reasons:

It keeps you motivated and in the gym more often.  I've been going to the gym very infrequently lately,  2-3 times a week.  With a partner, you feel an obligation to make sure you don't miss a workout, or just put it off till tomorrow or the next day.

It helps you to try heavier loads.  I usually don't hesitate when I want to try a higher weight, but there have been times when I want to push the weight up on squats (for instance) and don't because there's a nagging worry in the back of my head that I don't have a spotter.  Or I won't try a 5th rep because I'm worried I won't be able to stand back up with the weight on my back.  Or I'll end up doing a shitty last rep because I didn't want to go all the way down.  Etc, etc.  Having a spotter and not needing it is better than not having one at all.

It makes you keep your workout fresh.  Having someone to bounce ideas off of helps.  Sometimes your workout needs to change, and a second pair of eyes on the workout helps make this happen.

And finally, it makes you train harder.  This one is the simplest, and most important.  Honestly, no matter how self motivated you are, when you have someone looking over your shoulder, you work harder.  Not only that, there's always a small element of competition, even if it's never acknowledged.

So there, some benefits to having a partner. Anyway, I deadlifted.  Here are the sets.

Saturday - 10/13/12
Deadlifts - 5 sets
135x8
225x5
285x5
285x5
285x5
275x5
275x5

And then a crazy blood blister formed on my right hand.  No idea how that's gonna turn out.  It's still there, beneath the surface, only hurts when I put pressure on it.  Maybe it'll just go away...?

Bench

Wednesday - 10/10/12
Bench -  4 sets
95x10
135x8
175x8
165x8
155x8
155x8

Tricep Rope Pulldown - 3 sets
50x12
50x10
50x8

Squats

Did some squats on Sunday, here they are.

Sunday - 10/7/12
Squats - 3 sets
135x8
185x5
255x5
245x5
245x5

Slight improvement.  Hopefully this picks up to 255 all across.

Dumbbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
30x10
40x10
35x10

Bench Improvement

Benched late last night after a long day at work.  Saw some improvement in the weight I could throw up.  I'm still trying to push the 8-10 reps thing until I'm really doing that rep range at higher weight.  If I can get to a point where I'm doing 10 reps at 185, it'll make the transition to 5 reps at 205, and then at 215 and 225 that much easier.

Thursday - 10/4/12
Bench - 4 sets
95x10
135x8
175x8
165x8
155x8
145x8

Tricep Rope Pulldown - 3 sets
35x10
57.5x8
50x8
42.5x8

Bench, Squats, Back

Thursday - 9/27/12
Bench - 3 sets
95x10
135x8
165x10
165x9
155x8

Dumbbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
30x10
40x10
40x8

Tricep Rope Pulldowns - 3 sets
50x10
60x8
50x8

Sunday - 9/29/12
Squats - 3 sets
245x5
245x5
245x5

Was very happy with this.

Tuesday - 10/2/12
Single Hand Dumbbell Rows - 3 sets
65x10
85x10
90x8
90x7

Dumbbell Shrugs - 3 sets
65x10
80x10
85x10
85x10

Dumbbell Bicep Curls - 1 set
35x10

Grip was destroyed at the end of the workout on Tuesday.

Deadlifts

Monday - 9/24/12
Deadlifts - 4 sets
135x8
225x5
285x5
275x5
275x5
225x5

Dumbbell Flat Bench Press

All 3 regular flat benches were taken...

Friday - 9/22/12
Flat Bench Dumbbell Press - 3 sets
55x10
70s x8
70s x8
65s x7

Dumbbell Bicep Curls
30x10
40x8
40x6

Squats and Bi's and... books?

Thursday - 9/20/12
Squats - 3 sets
135x8
185x5
245x5
235x5
235x5

Dumbbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
30x10
40x7
40x8



Also finished reading War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells.  It was a good read, and especially interesting because it was written in 1898.  The style was just so different than most of what I've read.

For those who don't know, I'm an avid reader.  Mostly Sci-Fi and fantasy, but some autobiography's and mystery/thriller type books too.  In recent months, I've somewhat strayed from the volume of reading I usually do.  In part, it's because when I found out my wife was pregnant, I immediately began reading financial and fatherhood books I guess in an attempt to better prepare myself and my family for the upcoming months.  A good thing, but I think now I'm ready to come back to my bread and butter.

I have a blog, I might as well double down on both lifting and reading.  I don't expect to get too crazy, but I'll pop in from time to time with what I'm in the middle of reading, or what I just finished reading.

So, as I said. Just finished War of the Worlds.  I also just bought the last book of the Steven Erikson series, Malazan Book of the Fallen.  I've read through the series twice now, but the final book only recently came out.  It's been over a year since I read through the entire series, up until the second to last book.  I'm either going to re-read the 2nd to last book to catch up, or find some cliff notes online to refresh my memory.

Bench Bi's Tri's

9/16/12 - Sunday
Bench Press - 3 sets
95x10
135x10
165x9
165x8
155x7

Dumbbell Bicep Curls - 3 sets
30x10
35x10
35x9

Tricep Rope Pulldown - 3 sets
42.5x10
50x10
57.5x8
50x9

1st deadlifts in over a month

Wednesday - 9/13/12
Deadlifts - 3 sets
275x5
275x5
275x5

Shrug Machine - 2 sets
1 plate on each side - 12 reps
2 plates on each side - 15 reps

Tricep Rope Cable pulldown - 3 sets
50x10
57.5x8
50x9

My scab didn't rip open, but it fucking hurt like hell on the last set of deadlifts.  It's actually sore today, that one spot on my palm.

It's been a while

It's been a while.  I haven't posted for a lot of reasons, most of which revolve around me being too busy and even just plain being too lazy.  Rest assured, I have indeed been going to the gym, and while I haven't been doing anything fantastic, I've been at least keeping up with squatting and benching.  And some sprinting.

But, I haven't been keeping track of my lifts.  I tried backing off of bench and doing lighter weight for 10 reps.  I guess I'm still kind of on that kick, but I just can't bench more than 165lbs for 10 reps.  It kind of sucks.  I've been squatting too, steadily increasing from jack shit to jack shit plus a little bit.  I'm doing 245 low bar squats, going down as far as possible and coming back up.  It's nice.  And finally, I sprinted twice over the past month or so.  A couple of sessions of 10-12 sets going all out for short distances, with the walk back to the starting point as my rest in between.

I haven't done much pulling at all, because each time I've tried, my wart scab rips open and puss oozes out.  This happened twice while doing rows with a bandage on it.  So I stopped even trying anything pull related for 2 weeks.  I did sneak in some biceps here and there.  Today, I still have a scab, but it's much smaller.  I'm going to try deadlifting.  Maybe RDL's.  Light weight, nothing too crazy.  Just enough to get me back into the mix again.

Anyway, here are my sets from Monday.

Monday - 9/10/12
Bench - 3 sets
165x8
165x7
155x8

Dumbell Bicep Curls - 3 sets
30x10
40x8
35x12

My life has become very busy lately.  I've been given much more responsibility at work, and I've been working more hours.  My wife is almost 8 months pregnant now, and time has been scarce.  When I get to the gym, which has only been maybe twice a week the past few weeks, I can only spend about 20-30 minutes.  As such, my output has decreased.  And my eating has sucked.

My plan is to improve both.  For now, I'm going to continue posting without all the filler.  Just a quick log of what I lifted and for how many reps.  If I can get in 3 sessions a week I'll be very happy.  I'll let you all know tomorrow how things went today.

Cheers,
Chris

Another big update

Man, it seems like I'm barely able to keep up with the updates.  Part of it is that I haven't been going to the gym that much lately, and the other part is that I've been BUSY.  Many late nights at the office, a bachelor party, a wedding, and most importantly...surgically removed warts.  Exciting!

I haven't posted in 12 days.  That's a long time.  I've been to the gym 2 or 3 times since then, but my lifts have been very limited.  It will help my own memory if I build a loose timeline here, so bear with me.

Weekending 8/12/12.  It was a rough week.  There was an intense project going on at work, and everyone at my office was working crazy hours.  I had a bachelor party to go to Friday night, and swapped late nights at the office for late nights in Atlantic City.  Long story short, we come back Saturday evening, and drag myself to the gym Sunday morning.

8/12/12 - Sunday
Bench Press - 4 sets
95x10
135x10
155x10
145x10
135x10

I think that was it on Sunday.  I was feeling shitty, hungover and tired.  I made some silly decision to do 10 rep sets, and as you can tell, I was going terribly light, and struggling with it.

Monday, I went to the dermatologist, and he surgically removed 2 warts from my hands.  The one on my right hand was an ugly bastard, and it was right on the back of my hand near my pointer finger's knuckle.  Very visible.  Tough to shake hands with people when you have something like that.  The other one on my left hand I've had for years, and it's on my palm, near my ring finger callous.  That one was bigger, uglier, but very inconspicuous.  It never really bothered me because nobody knew it was there.  Hell, even my wife didn't know about it for a very long time.

Either way, the Doctor cut them out and cauterized the wounds, leaving me with these 2 gaping holes in my hands.  So Wednesday, instead of doing the gym, I go for some sprints.

8/15/12 - Wednesday
Short Sprints - 12 sets

Not much else to say, really.  I just sprinted 12 times, and my rest was the walk back to the starting point. My guess is it was like 30 yards.

Saturday morning I make it to the gym again, and I have intentions of doing some pulling.  My warts don't agree.  I do 2 sets of rows on the universal, and the handles I'm using are digging into the bandaids on my hand.  No good.  So I switch to bench.  Here are those sets.

8/18/12 - Saturday
Bench Press - 3 sets
95x10
135x8
155x10
155x8
145x10

Rows (universal) - 2 sets
120x10
160x8
160x8

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 1 set
70x10

Saturday night was my cousin's 30th birthday party.  Had fun.  Ate well.  Sunday was my sister in law's 33rd birthday party.  Ate well and had fun there too.  I also ate some delicious ice cream cake.  And a brownie.  No good.

And now here I am.  It's Tuesday, I hope I can get to the gym today after work.

Lots of stuff

Well, this is embarrassing.  I worked out last week, both Wednesday and Friday.  I'm sitting here trying to remember what the hell I even did.

I think Wednesday (8/1) I did bench and RDL's.  I don't remember the weight.  I must have done 195 and dropped it to 185.  I honestly can't remember.  I think Friday I wanted to squat, but couldn't.  Instead, I did something.  I can't even freaking remember.  Maybe I didn't even go?  Hell.  It's been a rough 10 days or so.  It started with a heavy week at work, staying late almost every night.  Now that I think about it, I definitely stayed late on Friday, and I think I skipped the gym.

Saturday I went to an annual "party in the park" with friends and family.  It's always a long day of fun and games and beers.  I'll say that I drank for most of the day and night, and definitely did not go to the gym on either Saturday nor Sunday.  Monday continued the heavy workload.  There's a project going on, and it's requiring a lot of late nights.  In fact, last night (Tuesday) I went to the gym and squatted, but didn't get there till almost 9pm!  That's after a 12 hour workday.  The squats were... awkward.

I can deal with a little exhaustion.  It is what it is.  But I wore my vibrams at the party in the park, so they were annihilated.  I had to wear my sneakers to squat, and it felt really off.  I still did a set at 235, but it felt like my feet were sliding towards the outer side of the shoes.  Anyway, here are the sets I can remember from last week, plus the weak squats I did yesterday.  Soon, the craziness at work should die down and I can get back to something that resembles a normal workout schedule.

8/1/12 - Wednesday
Bench Press - 3 sets
95x8
135x5
195x3
185x4
185x4

RDL's - 3 sets
135x8
135x7
135x7


8/7/12 - Tuesday
Squats - 3 sets
135x8
185x5
235x5
225x5
225x5

That's all for now.

Bench and Squats and Deadlifts

Benched and squatted light weight on Wednesday.  Here are the sets.

7/25/12 - Wednesday

Bench - 3 sets

95x8

135x5

195x2

185x3

185x3

Squats - 3 sets

135x8

185x8

185x8

185x8

Then, Sunday I did some deadlifts and bi's. 

7/29/12 - Sunday

Deadlifts - 3 sets

135x8

225x5

275x2

305x3

305x3

285x4

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 2 sets

80x8

70x10

And that pretty much wraps up the week.  

Some Deadlifts and a birthday

Man, life has been busy.  Once again I find myself doing a weekly recap on a Friday, instead of consistently posting throughout the week.  Such is life, I guess.

Lets start last week.

After the collision I had with my brother, (almost 2 weeks ago at this point) I stayed away from the gym.  I thought I was alright, and I guess overall I was.  But my head was hurting the day after (Monday).  Touching it with any kind of pressure hurt.  And I noticed that after about 3 hours of being awake, I got really tired.  By the end of the day I was exhausted, and mentally drained.  I came home, went right to sleep.  Tuesday was much of the same, and Wednesday saw some improvement.  Thursday, I was much better.  3 days of good sleep, no alcohol or anything, and I was doing well.  I gave it one more day before going to the gym on Friday.  I went in with a bang and did some deadlifts.  I decided to go a little light, take it easy and see how I felt.

7/13/12 - Friday
Deadlifts - 4 sets
135x8 (warmup)
225x5 (warmup)
275x5
275x5
275x5
275x5

Well, I felt great.  So great, that Friday afternoon my wife and I went out and had some sushi.  Really enjoyable afternoon.  Then Saturday, I went out for a friends 30th birthday.  Had a great time, plenty of drinks, plenty of fun, and only a few minor injuries.

Laziness got the better of me, and I stayed away from the gym until Tuesday.  Tuesday I went in and did some flat bench and some incline dumbbell fly's.  I also screwed around with some tricep pulldowns using the rope handles on the universal machine.  But screwing around is all I really accomplished with that.

7/17/12 - Tuesday
Bench Press - 4 sets
95x8 (warmup)
135x5 (warmup)
185x4
185x4
185x3
175x4

Incline Dumbbell Fly's - 2 sets
45x8 (warmup)
55x6
60x5

Next, I did some simple squatting on Thursday.  It's been a while, so I took it easy.

7/19/12 - Thursday
Squats - 4 sets
135x8 (warmup)
185x5 (warmup)
225x5
225x5
225x5
225x5

And finally, Saturday.  Ahhhh, generic back day Saturday.  I did do some cleans, no heavy weight at all.  Did 2 reps every minute, on the minute, until I failed to get the bar up.  Yes, it's pretty weak.

7/21/12 - Saturday
Hang Cleans - 1 set of 3, 7 sets of 2
95x8 (warmup)
135x3
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2

Cable Rows - 3 sets
120x8 (warmup)
135x8 (warmup)
180x7
180x7
180x6

Weighted Chinups - 21 reps total
25x4
25x3
25x3
25x3
25x3
25x3
25x2
0x5

Rear Delts on Pec Deck Machine - 3 sets
180x8
195x6
180x8

And that pretty much sums up the week.  The plan is some benching tonight, followed by some squats on Thursday.  I need to get deadlifts in somewhere too.

I need to actually follow a program.

Too much this weekend

This weekend was a mess.  Too much of a lot of things.  Too much sun, too much booze, too much exercise, too much food, and not enough sleep.  Where to begin? I've been behind in posting... as in Friday I posed Tuesday's workout, meanwhile I went to the gym on Thursday.  Time to catch all of that up so that I'm current.

Lets start with Thursday.

7/5/12 - Thursday
Bench - 4 sets (plus warmups)
185x4
175x4
175x4
175x4

Incline Dumbbell Fly's - 3 sets
35's x 8
45's x 8
55's x 7

Pretty straightforward.  Since I waited so damn long to post it, I don't remember what else I did, if I even did anything.  I remember being somewhat rushed.  Why, I have no idea.  Onto Friday.

7/6/12 - Friday
Barbell Complex - 5 or 6 sets at 95lbs


7 cleans, 7 RLD's
7 cleans, 7 Overhead Press
7 front squats, 7 RDL's
7 cleans, 7 Overhead Press
7 front squats, 7 underhand rows

You get the picture.  I don't remember the exact combinations, but I pretty much just kept doing 2 exercises of 7 reps and resting about a minute and a half in between.  Pressing was really weird.  I haven't done anything with my shoulders in a long while.  By the last set I could only press 4 or 5 reps before failing.

Onto Saturday.  Not a real workout, but I went for a walk with 25lbs in a backpack.  Walked for about 25 minutes.

7/7/12 - Saturday
25lb Walk - 25 minutes in vibrams.


The walk wasn't too bad, but man, I was definitely feeling it.  Sore in the shoulders from the weight, and just plain uncomfortable on the feet and lower back.  Just goes to show I might be getting a little stronger (barely) at the gym, I'm not really getting into great "shape."  Stuff like this can only help though.  I'd like to say that I want to do this on a weekly basis.  We'll see if I actually do it.

After this my wife and I spent a few hours in the sun at the pool.  Between a few drinks and the sun, we left there totally wiped.  Oh, and I ripped my left middle toenail partially off when jumping into the pool.  Completely random.  Came home, ate some dinner, and quickly went back out to watch the UFC fight.  More drinks and more food, and finally left and went to bed close to 2am.

7/8/12 - Sunday

Onto Sunday morning where I woke up bright eyed at 6:30 am, unable to fall back asleep.  Sunday's mean softball.  I eat a small breakfast, pound coffee and water, and head to the field by 11am.  It's really hot and bright, and I'm not handling it too well.  I started the game in a tank top, but my shoulders started burning up halfway through the 1st game.

To get to the point - I was playing left field, and my brother is playing left center field.  Between the heat and the hangover, I wasn't feeling too great.  I was downright hurting, but I was still playing hard.  So when a bloop fly ball is hit in between left field and left center, both my brother and I are sprinting all out for this ball.  It's a little blooper, so it's not in the air too long, and before you know it we're both converging on it together.  And both of us dive for it at full tilt.

My head collides with his shoulder and we both collide with the ground.  My immediate reaction is "Where is the ball, did one of us catch it?"  I see the ball dribbling away from us, and stupidly yell to someone to get the ball in. I go to stand up as if everything is normal, and that's when it hits me.  I just fucking collided with my brother.  The world tilts and I go back on my hands and knees, suddenly realizing the pain shooting through my skull.

I ended up alright, stayed in the game.  Just needed a minute to collect myself.  No symptoms of concussion, I was still "with it" and remember everything.  No real headache, just pain on the side of my head.  And a nice long nap afterwards.

The good news is we won both games and I had a bunch of hits and a few good plays in the field.  Now, I can concentrate on getting my shoulder fixed up in time for the fall league.

Today, I'm beat up.  My head is not aching, but it's painful to touch the area that was hit.  My shoulder hurts from landing awkwardly on the ground.  I'm limping from soreness in my legs from the walk on Saturday plus the missing toenail.  I feel like shit and need a few days off.  At least today, and probably tomorrow too.

I'll update when I head to the gym.  Take it easy.

Independence Day Deadlifts

Alright, I didn't deadlift on July 4th, but I did do them on the 3rd.  I envisioned myself "stepping my game up" and pushing it to 315.  All on the course to getting a new deadlift PR in a few weeks.  Well, I got 315 for 3 reps, but my form was atrocious and my grip was slipping like crazy.

I was feeling weird, so I did some quad extensions on the machine.  Haven't done those in at least a year.  I don't know what came over me.  As I said... weird.

Independence day was fantastic.  Went to my aunt's house, and enjoyed the sun, the pool, and amazing food.  I ate 2 plates of pulled pork and homemade bbq sauce, with corn, coleslaw, chick pea salad, burgers and venison.  It was a lot.  Plus some apple pie and a fruit/pudding/whipped cream pie.  And then we ended the night with some fireworks brought over by my cousin.  And of course, there was plenty of beer to go around.

Really, it was such a great day.

Anyway, here are my sets from the 3rd.

7/3/12 - Tuesday
Deadlifts - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
225x5 (warmup)
315x3
295x5
295x5

Leg Extension Machine - 3 sets
175x8
195x8
195x8

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 1 set
70x10

To top off this whole post, the Mets vs Phillies last night was one hell of a game!  On a night where Dickey and Hamels both struggled a little, the score went back and forth all night.  A big walk off hit by D. Wright in the bottom of the 9th put the game away!  Just awesome!  I'm a huge Mets fan, so this one really made my night.

Bench and Chins

A quick update:  Saturday morning I did some bench, chins and shrugs.  Here are the sets.

6/30/12 - Saturday

Bench Press - 5 sets

95x8 (warmup)

135x6 (warmup)

185x3

185x3

185x3

165x5

135x8

Weighted Chinups - 23 reps

25x5

25x4

25x4

25x3

25x3

25x2

25x2

Shrug Machine - 3 sets 

90x10 (warmup)

180x10

180x10

180x10

Not going to the gym tonight, I'm really sore.  Hopefully Tuesday I can go and do some deadlifts.  Wednesday morning I'll probably go and do something light, like arms and abs or something, just to keep active.  Or sprints?  We'll see.

Squats

Squatted on Wednesday.  Nothing crazy at all.  3 sets at 225, and then a quick set of biceps before jetting home.

Here are the sets.

6/27/12 - Wednesday
Squats - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
185x5 (warmup)
225x4
225x4
225x4

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 1 set
60x10 (warmup)
80x8

Also, since this post is pretty weak, here are two cool links I read through yesterday.



First, a post on freetheanimal, where he talks about his love for deadlifts and his journey through injuries to where he is now.

http://freetheanimal.com/2012/06/how-do-i-love-thee-let-me-count-the-ways-deadlifts.html

Next, a post (link  found on freetheanimal comments) about 9 things you might be doing incorrectly in your deadlifts.  I break rule #7 a lot, slamming the weight.

http://davethomasperformance.com/2012/06/19/9-deadlift-corrections-to-a-safer-and-stronger-lift/


Tonight I plan on benching and maybe doing some chinups or shrugs.

Enjoy your weekend!

The full shoulder story

The saga of my shoulder problems continue.  Get ready for a long story.

To sum up the whole experience up to this point, a while back (probably something like 6-8 months ago), I injured my shoulder somehow.  I don't remember a specific event causing the injury, but I do remember one day I was doing seated overhead press, and when I went to rack the weight above and behind my head, I felt sharp pain in my right shoulder.  It wasn't the pain of an injury happening, it was just pain as if I was aggravating something in there.  The next week, I tried overhead shoulder press again, and again had the same problems racking and unracking the weight.

So, I switched to different shoulder exercises.  It didn't hurt to press, so I continued to press, but not seated military.  I would use dumbbells, or a machine, and even a standing press in the squat rack.  Eventually, I noticed that I wasn't able to go up in weight.  Literally, months of me barely pressing 125 lbs.  No improvement.  So I come up with this hypothesis that it's my shoulder, and I should let it rest.  So I do.

I stopped doing any kind of shoulder specific lifts for about 2 months.  But I still felt the pain in there whenever I did anything weird with my shoulder, like a throwing motion.  Or stretching the my shoulder with my right arm above and behind my head.

Eventually, softball season comes around.  At our first practice, if you could even call it that.  My 1st throw of a softball was terrible extreme pain.  I try to shake it off and "warm up."  10 throws in, and my arm is KILLING me.  The rest of the practice I was underhand lobbing the balls in from the outfield.

The thought of not playing ball terrified me.  I love baseball.  Played it as a kid, played it as a young adult in highschool.  And from 18 onward, I've played softball with my friends every year.  And now I can't fucking throw a ball.  So I began icing it every night.  Then I tried trigger point therapy on myself.  Then I tried stretching every day.  I tried icing, stretching, and trigger point therapy all at the same time.  No dice.

So, next I went the route of the doctors.  2 orthopedic surgeons, an MRI and an x-ray.  Both orthopedists don't know what's wrong.  Evidently my MRI and x-ray both look good.

Fast forward to now, about halfway through the softball season.  I'm able to throw, but I have to do it like a girl.  I throw with my elbow, not my shoulder.  Anyone who played little league baseball might recognize the term "short-arming" it.  It's able to bypass most of the pain.

According to the doctor, the next step is to put me through physical therapy for a month and see if my condition improves.  If not, the next step is to inject me with dye to try and get a more accurate MRI done.

And if they STILL don't see a problem, they can begin to inject me with cortisone shots to see if it improves the pain, and helps them locate where it's coming from.

I'm reluctant to go to physical therapy.  First, the Doctor wasn't sure it would even help.  Second, I have to pay a $40 copay for each session.  He wants me to do 8 sessions minimum, which adds up to 320 bucks.  That's a lot of money to shell out for something I don't even know will work.

I've got another idea.  Before I commit to that kind of a monetary investment, I'm going to give 2 weeks towards working out the "non-pressing" part of my shoulder and see if strengthening the muscles around where I'm feeling pain will help anything.  Why?  I don't know.  Call it a last shot at something other than paying hundreds of dollars towards a possible fix.  Plus, a while back my uncle (who's been lifting for over 20 years) gave me some sound advice about giving this a try.  I didn't follow it then, but I'm going to follow it now.

At this point, who knows if it will help.  But I'm willing to wait 2-3 more weeks before throwing $320 at the problem.

So, Monday started my weird shoulder workouts.  I did rows first, nothing to do with shoulders, but I wanted to squeeze em in.  As for the actual shoulder stuff, I used the universal machine, and brought one of the cables with a handle down to about chest height.  From there, I either internally or externally pulled the cable away from the universal, either towards or away from my body.

For the internals, picture grabbing a cable to your right with your right arm and pulling the cable left across your chest, keeping your elbow at your side.

For the externals, picture grabbing a cable to your left with your right arm and pulling the cable right across your chest, keeping your elbow at your side.

Finally, I did 3 sets where I moved the cable to the floor, and pulled it up and away from my body.  I'll call them shoulder pulls.

For the shoulder pulls, picture grabbing a cable from your left foot with your right arm and pulling it up and above your head.

Here are all of the sets from the day.

6/25/12 - Monday
Machine Cable Rows - 3 sets
90x8 (warmup)
120x8 (warmup)
165x8
180x7
165x8

External Rotator Cuff - 3 sets each arm
30x8
30x8
20x8

Internal Rotator Cuff - 3 sets each arm
30x8
30x8
20x8

Shoulder Pulls - 3 sets each arm
30x8
30x8
30x8

It's Wednesday, and while my shoulders both feel a little sore, my right one feels more sore than the left.  I'm going to try throwing a ball on either Friday or Saturday, depending on how it feels.  I'll throw VERY LIGHTLY, and again - see how I feel.  I'll work out my shoulders this away again next Monday, and maybe one more time during next week before my next softball game.  I want to see if doing this 2-4 times has any improvement on my level of pain and ability to throw.  If not, I'll go the physical therapy route.  If it helps, then great!

I'll keep you posted.

The Coccyx

I'm trying to play catch-up here, so I'm a little behind with my posts.  I also went to the gym on Saturday last week.  It wasn't a good session.  In fact, I'd barely call it a workout.

I was uncomfortable, slightly hungover, and felt some pain while warming up for deadlifts.  Because of the pain in my first 2 warmup sets, I did a 3rd one, and it didn't feel right.  I was feeling pain in my ass bone, aka the coccyx.  I think it's from sitting too much during the day.  Either way, I felt pain and decided to keep the weight low and just do some RDL's instead.  

And then I went home.  Here are the semi-sets that I did.

6/23/12 - Saturday
Deadlifts - 0 sets
135x8 (warmup)
225x5 (warmup)
225x4

RDL's - 2 sets
135x8
135x8

So - to sum it up.  I warmed up for deadlifts, didn't do them, but did 2 sets of RDL's.  And then went home. What a day.

Oh, here's the coccyx!

3 C's in Coccyx

I don't know if it's the bone that's really hurting me, it's just pain down there.  I sit all day and work, and then come home and sit all evening playing games, eating dinner, and watching TV.  Occasionally I'll go to the gym or do some activity, but really - I sit all the time.  

The Wednesday Bench

Here's the quick rundown:

Benched Wednesday, felt pretty good.  I ended up doing 4 working sets.  I pushed the first up to185 for 3 reps, and slowly took weight off and increased reps over the next few sets.  I also did some dips and I think 1 set of biceps.

Here are the sets.

6/20/12 - Wednesday
Bench Press - 4 sets
95x8 (warmup)
135x6 (warmup)
185x3
175x5
175x5
165x6

Dips - 2 sets
45lbs x 7
45lbs x 6

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 1 set
50x10 (warmup)
80x8

More quick updates

Alright, today's Thursday and I haven't been to the gym since Saturday.  I squatted Saturday, played softball on Sunday, and drank some beers Sunday afternoon for father's day.

Monday I was really sore, no chance for the gym.  Tuesday I went to a Mets game with my brother and father.  We had a great time! Wednesday I actually got home a little early from work, but was just not mentally ready for a trip to the gym.

Today, I'm doing bench.  I let you know how it goes.

As for Saturday, here are my sets.

6/16/12 - Saturday
Squats - 3 sets
215x5
215x5
215x5

Dumbbell Shrugs - 3 sets
75x10
75x10
75x10

Felt good on squats, I'm going to just build them back up, nice and slowly.  Shrugs, I dropped the weight because I hadn't done them in a while.  And I just kind of went for reps with a very deep ROM.

Doing bench tonight.

Keeping up with the Chris's

In keeping pace (or lack thereof) with my workouts the past few weeks, I again declined to lift on Monday and Tuesday this week.  Went Wednesday, and I planned on squatting.  It didn't happen.  Squat racks were taken when I got there, so I started out with some 1 handed rows.  After these, one of the racks was open, but I was already fucking exhausted and figured I'd push ahead with a shitty back workout instead.

That night, I realized that I was starting to get sick.  Throat was hurting, and Thursday morning I woke up feeling like shit.  Worked really late Thursday night, and came home with a mild fever.  Thankfully, today I don't have a fever, but my throat is still on fire.  I'm trying to avoid another doctor visit.

Anyway, here are the sets from Wednesday.

6/13/12 - Wednesday
1 Handed Dumbbell Rows - 3 sets
65x8 (warmup)
100x7
100x6
95x8

Weighted Chinups (wide bar) - 5 sets, 20 reps
25x5
25x4
25x4
25x3
25x4 (eeked out the 4th)

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 3 sets
70x8
70x8
70x8

A return to flat bench

Before I get into the lifts, check out this video.  Cracked me up bigtime!

Now that that's out of the way....

I've been doing incline bench for about a month now, with little progress.  I'm stopping it because my shoulder has been hurting.  Not during the lift, but during the recovery afterwards.  And my ability to fake it during softball has gotten worse.

So, I went back to flat bench on Saturday. Nothing crazy, just a few sets of 5 at 175.  Enough to get me cranking.

Here are the sets.

6/9/12 - Saturday
Bench Press - 3 sets
95x8 (warmup)
135x6 (warmup)
175x5
175x5
175x5

Tricep Cable Rope Pulldown - 1 set
60x7 - Didn't feel right, shoulder was weird so I stopped

Dips - 3 sets
Bodyweight x 10 x 10 x 10

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 2 sets
50x8 (warmup)
80x8
80x7

A quick session of deadlifts

Alright, a quick update.  Thursday afternoon I hit up the gym for the first time in almost a week.  Did some nice warming up, and then deadlifted.  Pushed it to 305, and it was surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be. I was in a rush at the time, so that's all I did.

Here are the sets.

6/7/12 - Thursday

Deadlifts - 3 sets

135x8 (warmup)

225x5 (warmup)

305x4

295x5

285x6

I also did some chest, dips and bi's on Saturday, but I'll post up that workout tomorrow.

It's been a busy week

It's been a busy week, and I haven't updated since last Friday!  I did get to the gym twice last week, and I'll post about both sessions below.

First off, my Memorial Day weekend was awesome.  Spent time with the family at my parent's home upstate, and we had a blast.  Fun times with my niece and nephew, playing on the ATV, and even enjoying a fire on Sunday night.  And beers.  Lots and lots of beers.  We also installed 2 new windows in one of the bedrooms of the house.  All in all it was a good combination of work, fun, and plain old good times with the family.

We left Monday morning, and missed most of the traffic getting back onto Long Island.  But I was hurting.  A weekend of drinking and working will do that to ya.  Tuesday was back to work, and I ended up working a little late.  No gym.  Finally, Wednesday I made it, and at that point I was practically forcing myself to go.

Here are those sets.

5/30/12 - Wednesday
Incline Bench - 3 sets
95x8 (warmup)
115x5 (warmup)
155x6
155x5
155x5

Cable Rows - 4 sets
90x8 (warmup)
120x8 (warmup)
165x8
180x7
165x8
165x8

Tricep Cable - 3 sets
30x8 (warmup)
60x8
60x7
60x3

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 2 sets
70x10
70x10

By the end, my arms were linguini.  The Tricep cables did me in.

Thursday I started getting something in my throat, and Friday I woke up with my throat on fire.  No fever, but I felt like shit.  Called out from work and spent most of the day either in bed or playing some video games.

Saturday I felt much better and hit up the gym.  Squatted and did some shrugs.  Here are THOSE sets.

6/2/12 - Saturday
Squats - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
185x5 (warmup)
205x5
205x5
205x5

Machine Shrugs - 4 sets
90x10 (warmup)
180x10
270x8
270x8
180x10

Came home, did some bodyweight chinups and some generic "ab work."  Then played softball on Sunday on my wobbly legs.  All in all, a good weekend!

Some Random Friday Links

It's Friday!  No gym yesterday.  Instead, here are some interesting links on stuff that ranges from infuriating to somewhat interesting.  Enjoy.

A story of a teenager in highschool who had an asthma attack - but the school wouldn't let him use his inhaler b/c of zero tolerance rules.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/05/25/apparently_the_1.html#comments

An opinion piece about how low pitch counts may be contributing to pitching injuries.  I lol'd when he called today's pitchers panzies. 

http://bigapplemetstalk.com/?p=5002

And some tips from professionals in their prime.

http://www.futilitycloset.com/2012/05/22/pro-tips/

Enjoy the holiday!

Deadlifts and quasi-pain

Ahh... pain.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I've been feeling pain lately in my lower back, upper right buttocks area.  Not soreness, or muscle pain.  It's more like sharp, occasional shooting pains that probably have something to do with a nerve in there.  I "feel it" when deadlifting or last week when I did RDL's.  It doesn't particularly hurt, but I "feel it."  Same when I'm doing squats and rows too.

I'm only mentioning it because I've been feeling it for a few weeks now, and it hasn't gone away.  I felt it during my last deadlift session earlier this month too.  I also feel sharp, shooting pain sometimes randomly when walking if I step funny, or if I'm bending down or shifting weight from foot to foot.  In other words, somewhat random.  Not crazy pain, just short and a little sharp.

Now that THAT's out of the way, onto my hamstrings.  I did RDL's on Tuesday last week, and my hammies were sore for over a week afterwards.  This means, going into Sunday's softball game, my hamstrings were still sore.  I was OK, and able to sprint with no problem.  But, Monday through even still today, my hamstrings are still sore.  I went into this deadlift session last night expecting to have some problems.  Either I wouldn't be able to deadlift at all, or I'd be really weak.

I had problems alright.  But not with my hamstrings, and not with the silly pains in my right ass-cheek.  My GRIP was failing.  Repeatedly.  Talk about frustration.  My back was loving 295 and wanted me to go to 305, but my hands and wrists were just dying.  I was practically dropping the 4th reps of every set, including the last one where I took 20lbs off.

The only reason I can think of is maybe because I've been doing random bodyweight chinups throughout the week... but I do this often, it shouldn't have any real impact.  I don't know, but it was a little frustrating.

5/23/12 - Wednesday
Deadlifts - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
225x5 (warmup)
295x4
295x4
275x4

Upright Rows - 4 sets
45x8 (warmup)
65x8
85x7
85x7
65x8

Barbell Bicep Curls - 3 sets
45x8 (warmup)
75x8
85x6
65x8

Deadlifts, while my hands were failling, I felt much better on form.  Despite hammies being sore, I was still using them correctly in the lift, instead of my quads.  I usually tend to use my quads to almost squat the weight up, instead of using hamstring tension to pull it up.  I used hamstrings much more yesterday.

Upright rows, the weight may be a little light, but my reps are more "complete" and I feel like I'm getting the most bang for my buck if I keep the weight lighter.

And finally, I was the jerk curling in the squat rack.  I've officially done it twice now in the past few months.  At this point, my hands and forearms felt like shit.  I'm glad I pushed it up to 85 for a few reps though.

If I don't post before then, enjoy your Memorial Day!

No Weekend Workout

I planned on going to the gym on Saturday, but no dice.  Instead, I spent 5 hours at a Hyundai dealership on Saturday.  I traded in my 2008 Mustang and some cash for a 2009 Hyundai Accent and 2009 Kia Rio.

What a deal! Psyyyyyyyyych!

Google images for the win

My wife's car was a 96 Sentra and has seen better days.  We figure with a baby on the way she needs a more reliable car, and I need a more baby friendly car.  So I traded in my Mustang for both the Accent and a 2009 Kia Rio.  Both are used, but in good shape.  Of course, nobody wants to give away a Mustang, but after a (very) long discussion, we both agreed that it's the best thing.

And while this absolutely puts our house hunting on hold, it's well worth it.  We get rid of a huge car payment, and can save faster in the long run to buy a house.  Next, we're thinking of paying off our student loans so we can save another 200 each month.  It's a tough decision because if we get too dedicated towards paying off loans, we're not dedicated towards saving for a house.

Sunday morning I played softball and we lost both games again.  It sucks to lose, but we're having a lot of fun playing anyway.  I love that I'm getting my ass kicked every Monday morning.  Getting out of bed today was rough.  I'm sore all over, and my shoulder hurts bad from throwing through an injury.

I'll be honest, I probably won't go to the gym tonight.  I'm feeling like an old man lol.

Here's something funny to keep you happy in the meantime...

Continuing with incline bench

I'm sticking with incline bench.  I don't like it because I'm just ridiculously weak in my shoulders, but I think it's what I need.  I haven't worked out my shoulders in a long time, and it's a problem. I have practically no upper body strength.

It shows when I can flat bench for 205, but can barely get up 165 on an incline.  Shitty.

I did some rows too, and absolutely felt sharp pain in my lower back.  I've kind of been getting this pain every once in a while, but it hasn't been bad.  I felt it a little last week when I deadlifted, but it didn't impact my session at all.  I think I even posted that I felt great.  Needless to say, I felt it last night and kept the weight lower as a result.

Anyway, here are the sets.

5/18/12 - Thursday
Incline Bench Press - 3 sets
95x8 (warmup)
115x5 (warmup)
155x6
155x6
145x6

Cable Rows (universal machine) - 3 sets
90x10 (warmup)
120x10 (warmup)
150x8
150x8
150x8

Bent Barbell Bicep Curls - 1 set
80x10


It's friday.  I found a funny video of a dog who skateboards and surfs.  Seriously.  Evidently it was on an iphone commercial, but I never saw it.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

A positively "eh" session at the gym

Had a weird day at the gym.  Absolutely sucked at squats, but the rest of my workout went really well.  I'll get the sets out of the way first, then I'll talk about how bad the squats were.

5/15/12 - Tuesday
Squats - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
185x5 (warmup)
225x3
215x4
185x4 - failed on 5th rep

Upright Rows - 4 sets
45x10 (warmup)
85x8
105x5
105x5
85x8

Romanian Deadlifts - 3 sets
135x7
135x7
135x7

Straight Barbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
75x8
75x7


As you can see, my squatting was terrible.  I don't know what it is with my legs, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding power when I come up.  I don't feel confident under the bar at all.  I literally was doing 20 rep squats with 185 a while back, and now I can barely squeeze out 5 reps.  The only redeeming thing is that I'm going the deepest I've ever gone.  No joke. At 185, I actually went so deep that I hit the crossbars in the squat rack on my 5th rep... which was partly why I couldn't get it up.  I bounced around and then ended up just dropping it.

Rows went very well.

RDL's were intense.  I haven't done them in a long time, and my hamstrings were crying like a little girl.  Felt really good though.  You should really, really do RDL's.  Here's my post on them:

http://takeittothedepths.blogspot.com/2011/12/some-information-on-rdls.html

Here's the original post on 70's big which I highly recommend you read:

http://70sbig.com/blog/2011/06/the-rdl/

And biceps were....well biceps.  Nothing new.

I'm pissed about squats, but happy about the rest of the workout.  And BTW, I did the entire thing in 1 squat rack.

Exhausted

This weekend was a little rough, physically and sleepily.  Most of it was my own fault, staying out too late or just not going to sleep when I should have.  It all started Thursday.

Thursday night has become the weeknight that I go out with a few friends, have a few drinks, and play some cards.  This Thursday ended up being a few more drinks, a few more cards, and went a little later.  I got home early Friday morning around 1:30, and had to be up for work at 6:30.

While I lasted alright through the day on Friday, the afternoon/evening was another story.  My wife and I planned all week to spend this weekend rearranging some furniture.  When I got home from work, Anna was already getting started.  We spent the rest of the night moving dressers, a couch, a bed and 2 closets around.  When we were finally done, we ate some dinner and immediately went to sleep.

Saturday morning, I woke up somewhat refreshed, and went to the gym.  I'll post my sets later, but suffice it to say I did some more incline bench (which I sucked at, btw) and weighted chinups.  And bi's and tri's.  Went home, ate some eggs and headed out to my friends place to help him move.  After about 5 hours, we finished up.  I ended up having a few friends over for dinner.  Afterwards, we had a repeat of Thursday night: cards and some drinks, and most importantly, another late night.

And Sunday?  Well, Sunday was mothers day.  Brunch, then a BBQ dinner, and a visit with my mother in law. All topped off with a ridiculously huge chocolate ice cream cone with crunchies.  Man, that was good.  And stupid.  Last night I was asleep by 9:30.  This morning I'm feeling much better.

What a weekend.  Fun, tiring, and totally worth it. Here are my sets from the Saturday gym session.

5/12/12 - Saturday
Incline Bench - 3 sets
95x8 (warmup)
135x5 (warmup)
165x3
155x4
145x5

Weighted Chins - 5 sets - 22 reps
25x5
25x5
25x4
25x4
25x4

Tricep Rope Pulldown - 3 sets
60x7
50x8
50x8

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 1 set
70x10

My thoughts and feelings afterwards?  Incline bench sucked.  Sucked bad.  I think it's because I haven't worked out my shoulders in something ridiculous, like 3-4 months.  Either that, or I just suck.  Happy with weighted chins.  The triceps thing was a different pulley system than the regular universal.  One one side I can do like 120 lbs on triceps, on the other I can only do 50.  And finally, by the time I started doing biceps, I was feeling so tight in my forearms, I knew it was a bad idea.  And then I was having visions of dropping my friends couch later that day because my grips were too tired.  I made the wise decision to just go home and eat.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

My Wife is Pregnant

In the relatively short time I've had this blog, I 've done my best to keep it focused mostly on lifting, and occasionally mention things like my diet and some general things that are going on in my life.  Like softball, or the shoulder injury.  I try not to get TOO personal.  I know this blog isn't even really read by too many people, but it's still public, and I don't like to put myself out there too much.

It's been tough to talk about anything here without mentioning this huge change in my life.  So, here it is.  We have a baby on the way!  We've known for a while now, and she's about 13 weeks along, just into her 4th month. We've done multiple sonograms, we've seen the baby moving around, and she's taking the giant sized prenatal vitamins.  I'm feeling really excited, happy, and yes, a even little scared too.  But I think that's normal.

Look, I can even make a joke about how it's "obviously" a boy! ::wink wink::

My wife, Anna, is handling it very well.  She's eating right, and she's still going to the gym.  She's been lifting heavy for a while now, and she doesn't want that to stop.  She's just using common sense with her workouts.  She'll squat, but she's not going for PRs.  Same with deadlifts and the other big exercises.  We've read that it's no good to bench press because of the pressure while laying on your back, so we've switched to incline bench.  (Hence, my incline bench post the other day)  And even then, she's not going too heavy.  On top of all that, she's doing rows, shrugs, and a few chinups here and there.  Nothing too crazy, but she's making sure that she stays active, which is great.

She's taken to walking more often, and while her diet hasn't been perfect, she's been doing a fantastic job.  Getting lots of protein and fat from meat and dairy, and she's been staying away from grains for the most part.  She is eating some carbs, mostly from potatoes, fruits and vegetables.  Did I say she's been loving dairy?  Anna's been having lots of cravings for milk, cheese and greek yogurt.  Dark chocolate too.

All in all, we're both tremendously excited, and we can't wait to see what's next!

A good deadlift session

Worked late on Tuesday, so I wasn't able to lift.  I still worked a little late on Wednesday, but I got out in time to slip into the gym and sneak in some deadlifts.  Gotta say, I felt great.  Had no trouble pulling 295 for 5 reps, and almost had to force myself to back down to 285 for the sake of patience.

As I've said, I'm trying to go slow and steady upwards so that I can blow through my deadlift PR of 325 for 5 reps.  It's slow going, b/c I alternate deadlifting and squatting each week.  With softball on Sunday's, my legs are always a little sore for a few days afterwards.  It's tough to squeeze in both squats, deadlifts, and a day of crazy sprinting all within 7-10 days.  In just a few more weeks I should be back up

Here are the sets/

5/9/12 - Wednesday
Deadlifts - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
225x5 (warmup)
295x5
285x5
285x5

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 2 sets
80x7
70x8

That's it!  As usual, I was rushed.  The final game of the Knicks vs Heat was on, and I wanted to watch.  Even though I knew they were gonna lose.  I wasn't dissapointed!

In other sports news, the Mets are killing it right now.  5 in a row!  Lets go METS!

Incline Bench!

Saturday I did some incline bench for the first time in a long while.  In fact, according to this blog the last time I benched at an incline was 11/14/11.  That's almost 6 months ago!  Either way, I was not impressed.  I barely got up 165.

Maybe I can blame some of that on my shoulder.  It's still injured, and it still hurts a lot when I try and throw (which I've been doing every Sunday).  After getting an MRI done, the doctor I'd been seeing had good news and bad news. The good: he doesn't see anything wrong with my rotator cuff, or really even my shoulder in general.  The bad news: I'm still in pain, and he can't figure out why.

The result is that I need to see a shoulder specialist (who he recommended).  I just don't want another copay.  At 40 bucks a pop, out of nowhere I've spent 160 bucks on doctors visits in the past month or so.  Something needs to be done, so I'll be making an appointment sooner rather than later.

Here are my sets from the gym.

5/5/12 - Saturday
Incline Bench - 4 sets
95x8 (warmup)
135x5 (warmup)
155x5
165x4
165x3
155x4

Upright Rows - 3 sets
70x8
80x8
80x8

Bicep Curls - 3 sets
70x8
70x8
70x8

If all goes well today at work, and I get out on time, I'll be at the gym deadlifting tonight.

Wednesday Night Squatting

As the title suggests, I squatted last night.  Legs were actually still tired from softball on Sunday.  In and of itself, that's ridiculous, but I guess I'm relatively out of shape when it comes to sprinting around for a few hours.  I didn't do as many reps as last time, but I felt really solid on my form and depth.

5/2/12 - Wednesday
Squats - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
185x5 (warmup)
225x3
225x4
225x3

Weighted Chinups - 5 sets (22 reps total)
25x5
25x5
25x4
25x4
25x4

It was a short workout, but felt good.  I'm pleased with the progress on chinups.  Since I can do them at home now, it might be a good idea for me to increase the frequency.

Friday I have a Biometric Screening at my office, related to my health insurance.  I'm actually kind of excited to see how it turns out.  They're doing a finger prick cholesterol test, blood glucose, and a blood pressure test.  Also measuring height, weight and BMI.  And I have to fast for 8 hours, which is nothing new to me.

What I'm REALLY interested is afterwards, a health coach is going to meet to discuss the results and provide dietary and exercise advice.  I want to ask his or her opinion on my diet, and see what they say.  It's always interesting to get other people's opinions on that kind of stuff, regardless of what I think.

Anyway, Friday is bench day.  I'm gonna do incline bench with my wife.

A back day

Short and sweet post.  Friday did some back stuff and a couple of sets of bi's.  Did everything in the squat rack (except squatting heh.)

4/27/12 - Friday
Barbell Rows - 4 sets
135x8 (warmup)
165x7
175x4
165x6
155x8

Barbell Shrugs - 4 sets
135x10 (warmup)
225x8
275x4
265x7
265x7

Barbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
45 (just the bar) x 8 (warmup)
65x8
75x8

Felt good.  Sunday was softball.  I didn't play that well, but we won a game and lost a game.  AND, afterwards I felt great.

Oh, other than my shitty shoulder, which I got an MRI on on Saturday.

Bench is still weird

Went to the gym on Wednesday and did some bench.  Not much discomfort in the wrist, but I felt unsteady with the bar.  I was going light, but was unable to pump out any 8 rep sets.  I'm thinking that my wrist is probably still a tad bit weak, and it's impacting my ability to press the bar.

I also did some more weighted chinups and cable triceps with the ropes.  The tricep stuff felt very uncomfortable.  I finished the sets but dropped the weight.

Here are the sets.

4/26/12 - Wednesday
Bench Press - 3 sets
95x10 (warmup)
135x6 (warmup)
175x7
175x6
165x7

Tricep Cable Pulldown - 3 sets
80x8 (warmup)
120x5 (discomfort)
100x7
100x6

Weighted Chinups - 3 sets
25x5
25x5
25x5

Wasn't too happy about bench or triceps, but I was glad about the chins.  I could have probably done a couple of more reps in there somewhere too.  I hope I can keep up the chinning, and do them a few times each week.

On another note - I'm still sore from softball on Sunday! Quads, glutes, calves.... almost everything about my legs is STILL sore, 4 days later.  I didn't mention it in my last post, but the 1st and 2nd days after the game were brutal.  Limping around and hunched over like an old man.  In theory, I'm supposed to be squatting on Friday, but we'll see how that goes.

Deadlifts on Saturday, Softball on Sunday

As the title suggests, I hit the gym on Saturday for some deadlifts.  During warmups I felt a little weird in the lower back, but I figure I was just working out some of the kinks.  It's been over a week since my last deadlift session.  Increased the weight to 285 for 2 sets, and 275 for the last set.  Grip was slipping, as usual.  But I fought through it.

Here are all the sets.

4/21/12 - Saturday

Deadlifts - 3 sets

135x8 (warmup)

225x6 (warmup)

285x5

285x5

275x5

I was going to do some curls, but the wrist felt weird, so I opted out.  

Sunday was softball.  We play 2 back to back games of 7 innings, 10 guys on the field (4 outfielders).  We had just enough guys, and I played left field.  As expected, my shoulder sucked.  Really, it sucked bad.  I could barely throw, and when I did it was all pain.  We lost both games, but we all had a blast.  Here are some highlights.

First off, there was a storm in the northeast on Sunday, so it was raining the entire time.  Not pouring, but windy and coming down hard.  I'm glad the ump let us play through it.

As a team, we had a TON of errors.  I'm not surprised, we barely practiced and most of the guys haven't even looked at a softball since last season.  I had an error in the outfield as I missed a ball that was hit over my head.  I tracked it down well, but didn't eye the ball into the glove.  I also had a diving miss, but I wouldn't call it an error.  

Batting, we did well.  Everyone on the team swung the bat well, and as a group we scored a ton of runs.  It was really our fielding that did us in.  But as I said, we all had a blast.  I can't wait for next weeks game.

Doctor Visit and a trip to the gym

The visit with the orthopedic surgeon went about how I expected.

Doctor: "What brings you here today?"
Me: It's my shoulder.  I feel intense pain during specific motions, like throwing.
Doctor: Okay, lets take a look.

Proceeds to move my arm in different positions to test mobility and what exactly causes the pain.


Doctor:  It seems like you have asdfjsdkl blah blah happening.  (Something about a bone in my shoulder pushing forward out of place as I move my arm forward, causing tension and pinching on one of my tendons)
Me:  Okay, what can we do to fix this?
Doctor: Get an MRI to be sure, then we can decide if you need physical therapy or something else.

Writes and hands me a script to get an MRI.


Me: Thanks, Doc.

In and out in 5 minutes.  But at least it confirmed that there's something wrong.  I need to get this MRI and I have an appointment back with him in 2 weeks.  THEN I'll begin physical therapy.  In the meantime, this Sunday I get to throw like a girl during my softball games.  I can't wait.  He also said to discontinue whatever act I'm doing that's aggravating it.  (aka don't play softball, and don't do military press at the gym)

After the appointment, I did indeed go to the gym.  No military press, but I did do some rows, shrugs and weighted chinups.  Here are the sets.

4/18/12 - Wednesday
Cable Rows (close grip) - 4 sets
90x10 (warmup)
120x8 (warmup)
165x6
180x6
180x6
180x6

Shrug Machine - 4-5 sets
90x10 (warmup)
180x10
270x8
270x8
270x10
180x10

Weighted Chins - 3 weak sets
25x5
25x3
25x3

Weird afternoon at the gym.  I left work early for the doctor's appointment, so when I got home and went to the gym, it was earlier than usual, around 5:30.  The place was ridiculously packed.  More packed than I have ever seen it.  Usually I get there at 6:30 or later, and I guess it usually thins out a little by that time.  Both squat racks, every free weight bench, and half of the machines were taken.  I literally had to wait a minute before even getting onto the cable row on the universal.  After shrugs, I couldn't even find a place to do chinups, so I actually went home and used my pullup bar there.  My wife got me a weight belt for Christmas so I've been using it sporadically.  Even still, I didn't do a great job with the chins.  I was all sorts of tired.

As for softball this weekend, I'm gonna try and throw sidearm.  It hurts other parts of my shoulder, but doesn't really aggravate the tendon that's hurting me now.  I won't have any power behind my throw, but it should get the job done.  It's that, or play 1st base.  I don't trust myself to dig balls out of the dirt, so I think outfield it is.

Back in the saddle again

Thaaaaaaaats right!  Squatted on Sunday, along with some light benching.  Legs felt fine, elbow felt mostly alright, and my wrist felt 95% fine.  Middle of my bench sets, I felt a little... something.  Not pain, not even really discomfort.... just something.  I couldn't put my finger on it, so I dropped the weight even further. My elbow was fine until I stupidly grabbed the ropes for the tricep cable pulldown exercise.  Did a warmup set, and then tried a regular "heavy" set.  I got through it alright, but felt some discomfort and decided to call it quits.

Squats went kind of well.  I jumped the weight up to 225, and after a shaky first set, I did 3 more there.  Here's all of my sets!

4/15/12 - Sunday
Squats - 4 sets
135x5 (warmup)
135x6 (warmup)
225x3 (ow)
225x5
225x5
225x4

Bench Press - 3 sets
95x8 (warmup)
135x8
165x8 (felt some weirdness)
135x10

Bent Barbell Bicep Curl - 2 sets
50x10 (warmup)
70x8
70x10

Tricep Rope Pulldown - 1 set
80x10 (warmup)
120x6 (some discomfort)

All in all, I was just happy to be back in the gym.  Taking almost a full week off is not cool.  I have an appointment Wednesday to look at my shoulder.  I'm scared shitless, and I'm also excited.  Maybe he'll be a magician and magically make me able to throw for our first game on Sunday.

Injuries Abound!

I went to the gym yesterday to bench... no good.  Not my shoulder even.  Evidently from swinging a softball bat 50+ times on Saturday screwed up my left wrist.  I didn't even feel the injury until I got under the bar and began to warm up.  10 reps at 95lbs hurt, but I was able to do it.  I couldn't even do 1 rep at 135.

So I figure I'll just do some chinups and rows.  Pulling shouldn't hurt my wrist, right?  Wrong.  I did 3 reps of bodyweight chinups, and my wrist was in pain.  Switched to pullups.  Wrist didn't really hurt, but my SHOULDER did!  I haven't done pullups in so long, I didn't realize the effect my shoulder injury would have on them.

So, I made the decision to walk out of the gym.  Instead of walking home, I went to the schoolyard around the corner from my house and did 10 short sprints.  They were probably about 7-8 seconds long each.  Nothing crazy, but I felt good afterwards.  At least I accomplished something.

But...weird thing.  As I was running, I was "pumping" my arms.  You know, the natural shit you do with your arms when you run?  Evidently I was pumping too hard, or maybe I just haven't sprinted in so long I wasn't used to it.  On my 9th sprint, I felt pain in my elbow.  Fucking ridiculous.  I did the 10th sprint and then walked home, practically clutching my elbow.  It really hurt!  At this point I'm pissed.  I feel like I'm the black knight from Monty Python.

Tis but a scratch!

Walked home, took a shower, and immediately iced it.  And iced my shoulder at the same time.  Kind of weird trying to keep 2 ice bags on my right shoulder and right elbow at the same time.  Kept em on there for 20 minutes.  In the morning, the elbow felt much better, but still a little tender.  I think I'm just gonna stay out of the gym for now, and once my legs are feeling alright I'll just do some squats.  Hopefully nothing else gets injured in the meantime.

Deadlifts again

Friday was deadlifts.  Increased the weight by 10lbs, and stayed with 3 sets of 6.  It was significantly harder this time, but it still felt great.  My grip wasn't too good, but I got it done.  The higher reps are more taxing on my grip, even with 50lbs less on the bar than what I normally lift.

I finished the workout with some shrugs and 2 sets of bicep curls.

More importantly, I had a small softball practice on Saturday.  It was just 3 people, but there was a problem.  The moment I threw the ball, I knew I was screwed.  My shoulder.  As I've been saying all along, there's something wrong with my shoulder.  It's bad.  To the point where I'm feeling EXTREME pain when I throw the ball.  I couldn't even warm up my arm, it hurt too much.

It's very specific, the pain I'm feeling, and what motions cause it.  When throwing, it's at the back of my windup, at the peak of the "cocking" motion, right as I move my arm forward with the ball.

Through googling, I think it's probably some form of shoulder impingement, something to do with my rotator cuff.  Since Saturday, I've been icing it multiple times a day, and doing some digging around in there, trying to apply pressure to the part that hurts.  Kind of to break up any scar tissue that's developed.  It's only been 2 days, but it feels marginally better at best.  Not really much improvement.  I'm going to continue to ice it and rub it down every day and see if it improves over the next week or so.   Season starts officially in 2 weeks.  My wife is making me an appointment today with a pain management center to get an official diagnosis on what the exact problem is.  I can google all I want, but I have medical insure:  I should get a doctors opinion.

Unfortunately though, the season starts in 2 weeks!  I play outfield, I need to be able to throw, even if it's weak.  I could switch it up and pitch or play 1st or 2nd base for now, but that really sucks.  I knew this would happen, and I let it happen anyway.

Anyway, here are the sets from Friday.

4/6/12 - Friday
Deadlifts - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
225x5 (warmup)
275x6
275x6
275x6

Shrug Machine - 4 sets
90x10 (warmup)
180x10
270x8
270x10
180x10

Bent Barbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
70x8
70x8

Today I'm benching and I'm gonna be that guy doing "rotator cuff" exercises on the universal.  We'll see how it goes.

Building my bench back

Had a short session on Tuesday where I again did 3 sets of 8 on bench.  I followed it up with some actual weighted chinups.  It's been a while since I deviated from brocep curls.

Bench is doing good.  And I lost some weight over the past 2 weeks.  Maybe about 2-3lbs.  Nothing crazy, but it seems like I'm not really losing strength, which is what I was afraid of.

Here are the sets.

4/3/12 - Tuesday

Bench Press - 3 sets

95x10 (warmup)

135x6 (warmup)

175x8

165x8

165x8

Chin ups - 3 sets

0x5 (warmup, no weight)

25x5

25x4

25x4

Only 2 exercises, I probably should have done another push, like shoulders or triceps, or another pull, like shrugs or something.  Today is Friday, my back is a little sore, but I think I can pump out some deadlifts, especially since I don't plan on going crazy heavy.  Building myself back up on that one too.

Enjoy your holiday.

Quick Update

It's been a rough weekend.  This is a blog about lifting, and gaining strength.  I don't go into my personal life too often, because this blog functions for me as a personal escape from the stress of real life.  And a tracker for my success/failures at the gym.  Suffice it to say that this was a very rough weekend, personal life-wise.

I had a poor gym session on Friday.  Again, I failed to hit 20 reps at 195 on squat.  I've been eating a little bit less lately, and I know I ate shittily before the session.  I had a serious lack of motivation.. I even considered not going to the gym.

It's funny too.  As I stood back and looked at the bar I kept repeating "I will not fail this" in my head.  "I WILL get 20 reps, no matter how hard it gets."  I got myself focused, stepped to the bar and began.  1st 5 reps were rough, legs were already tired by 5.  By 8, my legs were burning.  By 10 I was struggling to even get the reps out.  By 13 I was ready to quit.  By 14 I was saying "oh god save me" in my head.  The 15th rep I almost failed completely, but managed to rack the weight.

So much for perseverance and "not failling."  The funny part was I was really angry at myself, but I couldn't tell if I was mad because I'm supposed to be mad when I fail, or if I really was angry.  It was a weird time.

Afterwards I did some barbell rows and then some bicep curls.  It made me feel a little better at least.

3/30/12 - Friday
Squats - 1 set
135x8 (warmup)
155x5 (warmup)
195x15

Barbell Rows - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
165x7
165x7
165x6

Bent Barbell Bicep Curls - 1 set
60x8 (warmup)
70x10

Straight Barbell Bicep Curl - 2 sets
65x10
75x6

The better news is that after taking off over the weekend, I hit up the gym Tuesday night, and I finally did some weighted chin ups.  Not TOO many, but enough to get me in the mood.  I'll post em up tomorrow.

Restarting Bench

Did bench last night.  I've been stalling at 205 for about 3 weeks now, so I think it's time I drop the weight, increase the reps, and build up some momentum over the next month or so to push beyond 205lbs.

Here are the sets.

3/27/12 - Tuesday
Bench Press - 3 sets
95x8 (warmup)
135x6 (warmup)
165x8
165x8
165x8

Tricep Cable Pulldown - 3 sets
50x8 (warmup)
60x8
60x7
60x6

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 2 sets
60x8 (warmup)
80x5
70x7

It felt good to do more reps on bench.  I imagine I'm going to be more sore than I've been in a while.  On Thursday, I'm planning on a 20 rep squat of 195.

Deadlifts! Wart is still chillin

I've come to the conclusion that this wart isn't coming off on it's own.  I'm probably going to have to rip it off, dig it out, use some kind of sharp object or something.  Visualize whatever grossness that's gonna mean.  As far as I can tell, it's just chillin out on my hand with a pocket of puss and blood underneath it, and it's not doing anything. It's been 2 weeks since it was zapped with nitrogen, and the only change is that it doesn't really hurt anymore.  It's just weird looking, and weird feeling.

Anyway, now that I've gotten all of that weirdness out....  I ended up working a little later than expected on Friday, and didn't go to the gym as planned.  What did I do?  I ended up staying in with some friends and drank some delicious beer and black label.  Enjoyed some good times and some good laughs. Oh and the delicious beer?  Saranac white IPA.  I liked it so much I went and picked up a 12 pack of it on Sunday.

mmmmmm

Saturday morning, I woke up with a hangover.  Nothing crazy, but I definitely didn't feel like going to the gym.  So I didn't.

So that brings us to Sunday.  Went early in the day and deadlifted, my first time since 2/28.  That's like 4 weeks!  I can't believe how long it's been.  Either way, I took it relatively easy.. I calculated 80% of what I did last time (325), and came up with ~265lbs.  So I did 3 sets of 6 reps.  Felt good.  And I feel sore as hell today... in a good way.  Here are the sets.

3/25/12 - Sunday
Deadlifts - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
225x5 (warmup)
265x6
265x6
265x6

Shrug Machine - 3 sets
90x10 (warmup)
180x10 (warmup)
270x8
270x8
270x8

The shrug machine is just a fancy lever.  I'm putting the weights on a bar that's attached to a focal point and shrugging it up.

Today I'm off, but I'll be back there tomorrow.

And PS - My shoulder still sucks.  I tried some more trigger point therapy on it, and it helped a little... but it still hurts.  I keep saying I need to ice it, but I always forget when I'm home and ice is available.  Softball is gonna start up and I'm gonna be unable to throw.

Finally did some pulling - lightly

On Wednesday I made it to the gym and did some cable rows on the universal machine.  I normally shy away from the universal, but the gym was packed.  Both squat racks were taken, the dumbbell area was jammed, and even the regular back machines were taken up.  It's been packed the past few times I've gone, I guess because of the summer rush.

So I did some rows, and my bloody blisterwart survived.  It did so well, I'm gonna try some RDL's today.  Still kind of light weight, but it will help me get ready for deadlifts next time they're up.  Here are my sets from Wednesday.

3/21/12 - Wednesday
Cable Rows - 3 sets
120x8 (warmup)
180x7
195x5
180x7

Seated Military Press - 4 sets
95x8 (warmup)
115x5
125x5
125x4
115x6

Dumbbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
30x10 (warmup)
45x5
40x6

Tonight it's RDL's... and I'm not really sure what else.  Maybe some chinups or shrugs.  We'll see how the hand is doing.

A quick bench session - and an idiot spotter

Short and sweet.

Got to the gym yesterday for short session of benching.  Nothing else because of the wart.  It's softening up, and once it pops I'll throw a bandaid on there and see what I can lift.  Here are the sets.

Oh.  Some dude worked in with me after I dropped the weight to 185, which was fine.  Which wasn't fine, was when he spotted me on my 3rd set and fucking practically lifted the weight for me.  Ok.  I was pissed.  But, being an idiot, I told him to only lift the weight if it's obvious I can't get it up.  And then gave him an opportunity to spot me again when I "redid" my set b/c he fucked it up.  Fucking guy does the same thing again.  When I asked him why he lifted the weight for me, he says "I thought you couldn't handle it."

Motherfucker.  Guy was curling the weight while I'm pressing it... on my FIRST REP!  I wanted to flip the fuck out.  Instead I just said, "I'm done," and left the gym.

3/19/12 - Monday
Bench - 4 sets
135x5 (warmup)
135x5 (warmup)
165x3 (warmup)
205x3
185x5
185x infinity
185x infinity

Yeah it's infinity, b/c I probably could have done infinite reps with this dude curling it while I'm benching.  Don't even remember what I did.

Finished up with a short jog around the block to cool down.

Warts Suck!

It's Monday again.  I went a whole week without posting.  Lets just say life has been busy.  I went to the gym just once last week, on Friday.  I squatted with 195 lbs again, and while I still didn't hit 20 reps, I nailed a solid 17.  I struggled mightily to get that last rep up.  I'm happy I made some kind of progress, even if it's only 2 reps higher than my previous.

As for life... Last week was busy.  My wife and I are making an offer on a house we like.  It's a short sale, which can complicate things.  Needless to say, we took 2 trips to the house to give it a really deep look, and then kind of scoped out the neighborhood.  If things work out, the house is nice, but really needs a LOT of work.  And not just painting and cleaning.  The basement would need to be gutted, bathrooms would need to be redone, one of the bedrooms would need to have the carpet ripped up and the ceiling dropped.  This is just off the top of my head.

On top of all this, I've been working late almost every night.  It makes getting to the gym difficult.  Top that off with the house hunting, and these crazy wart blisters on my palm... lifting isn't so easy.  I picked up some dumbbells the other day and immediately I felt it tearing at the blister.

I'm gonna bench today, and I don't think it should be a problem.  The way the blister's forming, I don't think pressing should be a problem.

Here are the sets from squatting.

3/16/12 - Friday
Squats - 1 set
135x6 (warmup)
135x8 (warmup)
195x17

Updates!

It's been a few days since I've updated.  Went to the gym on Thursday and Saturday.   Thursday I did some seated military press, 1 handed rows, and some bi's.  Here are those sets.

3/8/12 - Thursday
Military Press - 3 sets
85x5 (warmup)
115x5
125x3
125x5

1 Hand Dumbbell Rows - 3 sets
65x8 (warmup)
100x7
100x7
100x6

Shrug Machine - 3 sets
90x10 (warmup)
180x10
270x10
270x10
270x9

Then, on Saturday I did some flat bench, and again put in some bi's and tri's.

3/10/12 - Saturday
Bench Press - 3 sets
95x10 (warmup)
135x6 (warmup)
155x3 (warmup)
205x3
195x3
185x4

Bent Barbell Bicep Curl - 2 sets
60x8 (warmup)
80x8
80x7

Tricep Cable Pulldown - 3 sets
80x10 (warmup)
125x7
120x7
120x6

Today, I had planned on doing deadlifts, but never made it to the gym.  For one thing, my forearms are still a little sore from shrugs and rows.  For a second thing, I went to the dermatologist today and he zapped a wart on the palm of my left hand.  The thing is crazy red and irritated.  And I'm not sure how soon it'll be okay to deadlift.  We'll see how it's doing tomorrow.

Squatting Failure

I failed 20 rep squats last night.  I really just punked out.

My plan was 190 for 20 reps.  Problem is, my gym doesn't have 2 1/2 lb weights.  My wife and I usually bring them from home.  I forgot them.  So, being a tough guy, I jumped to 195 instead.  And, like a tough guy, I only got 15 reps.  I think I could have eeked out another 1 or 2, but I just didn't do it.  Didn't have the drive.

The logical part of me is telling the angry part of me that it's okay.  I had just hit a PR on bench, and didn't eat great the day before.  I was a little tired, and I wasn't focused.  All resulting in me not having a great session.  I'm going to try again at 195 next week.

3/5/12 - Monday
Squats - 1 set
135x8 (warmup)
155x5 (warmup)
195x15

Bent Barbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
60x8 (warmup)
80x8
80x6

All in all, I'm chalking this one up to just a bad day at the gym.  Next time I'll do better.

PS - Notice how I've substituted biceps for chinups the past 3 workouts?  That's called laziness, and I'm an asshole for doing it.