Born Again Gym Rat: DB lateral raises super set with Rev Inclined Flyes

Showing posts with label DB lateral raises super set with Rev Inclined Flyes. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Confused Old Men

Had to vote first. Road accident causes delays and I get to the gym later than I planned.

Cardio, foot numbness... try out different gloves to do HG pull ups. Not really satisfactory. Gotta find gloves with enough padding. Back to Amazon...

Right shoulder a bit wonky with the push ups. Not gonna push it! Planks and crunches are okay. Gym is crowded with lots of guys. But the Smith is empty. Yaaay for me!

Disheveled old man keeps looking over at me. WTF? He's at the seated Chest Press with weights I know he can't possibly move. He just sits there looking over at my space. Finally he comes over and asks me how many sets I got left. When someone asks that, it's pretty much a given that they want to use the station next. So I hurry up a bit but I hate being rushed. Instead of going for 120 lbs, I keep the weight at 110. No point in injuring my shoulder since it's already feeling a bit off.

I move over to the DB area. WTF? He's not even using the Smith. Finish up my 6 sets. I see Anime Hair Girl a lot these days. Back to the Smith with the Inclined Bench. The old geezer is nowhere in sight. Best I can figure is that he wanted me to help him, as if I was some sort of nurse or aid. Mind you, I'm dressed in gym gear (ratty blue hoodie, black pants, sneakers, gloves, headphones), not hospital scrubs or a T-shirt that says Staff. I don't chat with anyone, I don't smile, I'm not friendly, or anything close to what I would call "approachable". I hope I don't see him again. Ever.

Pull ups suck when your gloves don't have enough padding and are too big so that fabric catches under your hand unevenly. I have other gloves at home so I guess I'll have to take each pair for a test run with pull ups to see if they'll do. Cardio is my friend. Program #1 today.

Another set of pull ups, but first some easy stretching. Old Hippie Dude stands there with his mouth agape. He's the weirdo who walks around the gym barefoot after yoga class. Must be smoking too much pot. Because gym rules don't apply to him. Must be the weather too. Everyone's in an antihistamine daze. And all the Florida Snow Birds have come back to roost. Time to go.

Tuesday Workout
(6.65 total cardio miles; 22,550 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Steady State

Calorie : 136 CAL
Distance: 3.75 mile
Speed : 7.48 mph
Duration : 00:30:06

Hammer Grip Pull Up

190.4

Set 1 : 112x21

Seated Flat Bench Leg Pull In

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep

Alternate Hand Pushup

Set 1 : 30 Lap/Rep

Plank

Straight/Elbow

Set 1 : 00:00:30
Set 2 : 00:00:30
Set 3 : 00:00:30
Set 4 : 00:00:30

Crunches

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep

Wide Hand Pushup

Set 1 : 80 Lap/Rep

Plank

Bird Dog

Set 1 : 00:00:30
Set 2 : 00:00:30
Set 3 : 00:00:30
Set 4 : 00:00:30

Crunches

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep

Smith Machine Bench Press

154

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x10
Set 4 : 110x12
Set 5 : 80x25

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 20x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

41.67

Set 1 : 20x20
Set 2 : 20x20
Set 3 : 20x20
Set 4 : 25x20
Set 5 : 25x20
Set 6 : 25x20

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

112

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12
Set 4 : 80x12
Set 5 : 50x25

Hammer Grip Pull Up

209.07

Set 1 : 112x26

Elliptical Training

Prgm#1

Calorie : 254 CAL
Distance: 2.9 mile
Duration : 00:30:00

Hammer Grip Pull Up

216.53

Set 1 : 112x28

Monday, February 22, 2016

When Standing Still Is Making Progress

I'm a bit frustrated with my weight because I'd seriously like to drop 3 or 4 lbs and I'm not having much luck lately. The gym scale reads 111.2 lbs today. Egads! But my sciatica seems to be improving incrementally. I can do most things now without actually thinking about whether my leg hurts, except getting in the car and hitting the gas. So that's an improvement. It's about time (it's only been over a month)!

No lunging moves, which means no lunging stretches, no one-leg squats, no pistol squats, no glute-hamstring raises. I can drop down into a full butt-to-heels position but I'm not pushing any weight except myself back up. I'm still 98% certain that this is piriformis syndrome, which means the sciatic nerve is being aggravated by the piriformis muscle that sits deep under the glute. My hamstrings are fairly loose so tightness or lack of stretching isn't the issue. If anything, I suspect over-stretching. I'm 56 and there's probably a limit as to how much an older body can adapt and recover from physical activity. My flexibility and strength have improved over the past several years, but I have to remind myself that I'm not in my 20s and making gains. I'm in my 50s, doing mostly "maintenance" and happily making small gains.

Maybe 100 push ups is a bit rough for a warm up, but it does get you warm! Not that I'm cold after 30 min on the cross-trainer and a set of pull ups. I've added back the Torso Twist machine. Maybe it's helping with my sciatica? It doesn't seem to have hurt me any. I dropped it after reading about the improbable damage of torquing weight on the spine and hip. But I also don't do much weight, with 50 lbs for 25 reps each side. Also added back the Flat Bench Knee-In but only for 50 reps because more than that, I start to rub a scab on my coccyx. Still only doing two sets of planks. Thought about crunches but planned to bench and didn't want my core too tired, especially with my "iffy" right leg.

Smith bench press and leg feels mostly okay today. I"d really like to add another 10 lbs and bench 130, but I'd like hamstring spasms to not be an issue when I do that. What the heck, let's do Inclined Smith Benching too. I do a lot less weight and reps on this movement, but it's rewarding none the less. Because I've put on some weight, I'm now more comfortable in the bigger tanks (Old Navy size S) I bought last year. But I'm not real happy that subcutaneous fat puffs out under my arm pits. It makes me self-conscious and I'm constantly adjusting my tank and sports bra straps.

The hard stuff are always the DB Laterals super set with Rev Incline Flyes. I've upped the sets for the latter movement because I'm trying to hit the posterior delts from three different angles: forward, side, back. The side motion is the easiest, so I do them last and add 5 more reps. So, that's 12 reps of DB Lateral Raises then drop face down on an Inclined Bench and do 5 Reverse Flyes with hands pointed forward (10 and 2 o'clock), then 5 reps with hands pointed back toward hips (7 and 5 o'clock), then 10 reps with hands coming up at the 9 and 3 o'clock position. No wonder my shoulders are sore lately. And it might be wishful thinking, but I think I can see changes in them. Yaaay!

Can't find the 50 lb BB so I skip the Drag Curls. Another set of pull ups. Then 30 min of the elliptical, program #1. Some lateral leg stretches and another set of pull ups, but I fully extend for the last 6 reps just to prove to myself that I can. Full extensions are hard on the elbows, or at least mine. With arms bent, doing pull ups directs more focus on the lats as the pulling mechanism. Besides, I kinda skipped biceps today. I know I could've done one-arm cable rows since I feel those mostly in the biceps and not the lats, but I'm leery of doing anything to aggravate my sciatica, especially since it seems to be healing finally.

A note on ageism at the gym: people always react badly when they find out how old I am. Rose is acting funny now because she thought I was in my 30s and finds out I'm in my 50s. At least the gym staff isn't freaked out. It's not like I'm Dorian Gray. Guys just get embarrassed because they're not suppose to know a woman's age anyway. But other women? I don't understand them. I'm learning to make peace with my hair too since it's now come to mid-back. My neck has suddenly started itching again in spite of taking a daily dose of antihistamines. Oh well...

Monday Workout
(6.47 miles total cardio; 23,696 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Steady State

Calorie : 139 CAL
Distance: 3.89 mile
Speed : 7.74 mph
Duration : 00:30:10

Hammer Grip Pull Up

190.4

Set 1 : 112x21

TorsoTwistMachine

Left : 50x25
Right : 50x25

Seated Flat Bench Leg Pull In

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep

Wide Hand Pushup

100