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| RGBO Rows here I come! |
I don't quite make my quota but only by a skosh. Seated cable rows are hard but probably because I really need to warm up better than with a set at 90 lbs. In the middle of my last heavy set, V comes over and waves at me with his floppy arms, as if I'm suddenly going to break form and wave back. I'm so aggravated that when I finish my set, I grab my gear and stalk off to the Smith Rack to do Pull Ups. After the shock of the initial twinge from the first pull up, my elbows settle down and I do a set of partial pull ups because I can't fully extend my arms without my elbows screaming.
Today's 1st Pull Day: Back and Biceps
35 min cardio hill #5 = 3.99 miles
Seated Cable Rows: 12 @ 90 / 10 @ 105 / 8 @ 120 / 3 x 6 @ 135 lbs
Smith Bar Pull Ups: 12 legs curled to chest
Cage Stretch & Kicks
Smith Bar Pull Ups: 12 legs straight out
I grab a pair of 2.5 lb magnetic discs out of habit but I've decided to up my weight and see how it feels. Reverse Grip Bent-Over BB Rows: 3 x 15 @ 100 lbs / 3 x 12-15 @ 105 lbs
These don't feel too bad and also reassure me that I can do Dead Lifts with at least as much weight because it's initially a dead lift movement. My fingers get really sore by the last several reps though because it's hard to hang onto the bar in this position. The next bar on the rack is 110 lbs. There aren't any others so if I go heavier, I'll actually have to plate an Olympic bar which is unwieldy for someone of my height and size.
Alternating DB Curls: 3 x 12 @ 25 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Lower Back Extensions: 2 x 25 @ 97.5 lbs
BB Curls: 6 x 15 @ 45 lbs (I'm still too chicken to grab the 50 lb bar)
The curls are making the bruise on my bicep look much worse than it is. It doesn't even really hurt!
Reverse Grip BB Curls: 3 x 20 @ 40 lbs
I'm grimacing and cursing under my breath by the last 5 reps of the last set.
Smith Bar Pull Ups: 12 legs curled to chest (the last two were really really hard)
Mat Stretch
I see R peripherally and we walk past each other several times while grabbing weights or putting them back. Finally we both wave an uneasy Hi and move on. It's probably in my head (a legend in my own mind!), but I'm probably a fairly disconcerting sight for some guys. Other guys look positively smitten. B chatted with me earlier. She's smiling again but only because her husband appears to be under the weather?! There are a lot of regulars here today (the Mayor, Nixon, M, Ranger Rick) but I'm not in the habit of interacting with them so unless they're in my way, it's as if they don't really exist. It's much easier for me to interact online instead of face to face. I guess that's not so surprising in this day and age: once a geek, always a geek.
I've actually gotten some very encouraging words from people online when I voice my concern about going further with my physique. I actually wasn't expecting to put on size so easily once I upped my weights, and now I fret about having to buy new clothes because damn, it was hard enough finding these clothes that look cute and mostly fit. If I change my physique again, I'll never find clothes that fit and I'll have to tailor all my stuff. Which I suppose is fine if you're independently wealthy, which I'm not. My personality, though, dictates that I take this as far as I can go naturally. I'm not a fan of all those expensive supplements. I just want to see what my own body can do if I push it, and of course, properly feed and water it.
Funny thing you mentioned dropping weights on feet. I was stripping a big bumper plate off a bar at squatting height, and I didn't see the small 5 lb. steel plate in front off it. The small plate came to the end of the bar and dropped straight down, perpendicularly, onto the first phalanx of my big toe. It resulted in 2 fracture lines, including one splitting the joint surface in half. Pins were placed last week, and will be pulled in about 4 weeks. Apparently that scenario happens fairly often--time to paint the small plates red!
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