Born Again Gym Rat: Smith Benching

Showing posts with label Smith Benching. 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

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Curing What Ails You

I took yesterday off and sorted through a few big piles of paper in my house. I'm still not even close to being done. The leg is better but not cured. And not working out for three days in a row makes it harder to even think about going to the gym. But I go. And when I get there, I feel depressed. Not because I'm at the gym, but just in general. People dying everywhere. People I know, famous people, and people, kids, I don't know. There's been another teen suicide on the train tracks. It makes my heart hurt for his mother. People killing each other all over the world. The sun is shining, it's warm for February and I feel numb and hollow inside. That my leg is uncomfortable most of the time doesn't help. I cut back time on the Cross-trainer to just 15 minutes because that's where my toes go numb. I cut out the lunge stretches, and when I do my first set of hammer grip pull ups, I feel weak and sickly. It's probably because I'm not really warmed up yet.

I try not to limp when I walk, but the ache in my heel, calf and butt, although not severe, is chronic and wears at you, like a small animal gnawing on your tendons from the inside. I do push ups and planks, crunches and then wander over to the Smith machine for bench presses. I'm leery of pushing too hard because not only do I tend to slide across the bench (my tanks are too slippery), but I can feel the hamstring threatening to cramp. It's hard to concentrate on benching if you can't plant your feet and make your core solid. But I'm okay with the reps and weight I get today. I muscle through the DB Laterals superset with Reverse Incline Flyes. It makes me feel better. The 50 lb solid BB is in use, as is the EZ bar. No Drag Curls today. When I'm finished with 30 minutes on the elliptical, I feel good. Good enough to do most of a Mat Stretch, splits and all.

Tomorrow I'll whack the machine. That always makes me feel good.

Tuesday Workout
(4.52 miles cardio; 16,029 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Steady State

Calorie : 65 CAL
Distance: 1.86 mile
Speed : 7.4 mph
Duration : 00:15:07

Hammer Grip Pull Up

190.4

Set 1 : 112x21

Wide Hand Pushup

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep

Plank

Elbow/Straight

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

Wide Hand Pushup