6 Sep 2010 – Week 7

I am back, and thanks to Labor Day, have a short week.

Everyday:  Abs.  Giving my calves a rest (I walked a LOT in last week).  Plus, the weight room is being painted, and the calf machine is out of use.

Tuesday:  Arms.  Very good, supersets of hanging prone dumbbell curls and overhead cable tricep presses.  Sets of six from 25 lb dumbbells on down for curls.  Sets of eight for cable tricep presses, from 60 lbs on down.  Also worked in dumbbell tricep kickbacks at 25 lbs, one set of six per arm, and several sets of incline dumbbell preacher curls from 25 lbs down, sets of six.  All done slowly to get the most out of it.  My arms felt like balloons when I was done.

Wednesday:  Shoulders.  After warmups, a set of eight seated dumbbell military presses with 50 lbs, followed by a set of eight at 45 lbs.  Prone hanging shoulder flys, sets of six from 20 lbs down to 10 lbs.  Windmills using 20 lb dumbbells down to 10 lbs, sets of eight.  My shoulders were burning by the end, and it was hard to pick up even light objects.

Thursday:  Legs.  After warming up dry, deep lunges (for my hamstrings) using 25 lb dumbbells, a set of ten or so.  This did not at first seem to do much, but I think it really helped.  Followed by two sets of six slow squats using 55 lb dumbbells.  I was too tired to attempt a third set.  My butt hurts now.

Friday:  Back and Chest.  Well, it was a somewhat weak day.  I got a late start due to a meeting, but I was still not feeling it either.  Discipline gets me through these days.  After core, I started with back.  Seated cable lat pulldowns, alternating reps front and back, one set wide grip, one set narrow grip.  Eight reps for each set, 160 lbs after a short warmup set at 100 lbs.  Done slowly, which is really hard on my forearms and grip.  After pulldowns, I did seated cable lat rows, a set of four at 160 lbs, and a set of four at 120 lbs.  Following back, I did six sets of dumbbell bench presses, after a short warmup.  Incline bench, eight reps, 50 lb dumbbells.  Flat bench, eight reps, 55 lbs.  Decline bench, eight reps, 55 lbs.   Decline bench, six reps, 55 lbs.  Flat bench, four reps, 55 lbs, four reps, 45 lbs.  Incline bench, six reps, 45 lbs.  I was so worn out I didn’t bother with flys (plus, the gym gets crowded around lunchtime).

A Short Introduction…

You can learn more on the About page, but this is a blog about my progress at the gym.  Very dry stuff.

I am 5 ft 11 in tall.  This has not changed over time.  Duh.

In high school, my weight was around 120 lbs.  I exercised then, for a while.

In the Army a couple years later, I got up to around 135 lbs.  Structured exercise consisted mainly of pushups, situps, and running for miles.  Lots of it.

After the Army (and marriage), nothing changed much throughout college or at work, except that after work started, I began to enjoy beer and bratwurst.  (Up to 145 lbs, and getting flabby.)  We went to Hawaii for a few months to work, where we both went to the 24 Hr Fitness gym in Waikiki for about six months, and I started taking creatine (but no protein).  It definitely helped with strength and stamina.  I got a little stronger and my weight went up to about 160 lbs.

After returning home, we started going to the gym in town, and I was still using creatine.  I gradually moved up to about 165 lbs, but my strength peaked.  I eventually stopped growing and going, and started to flab out again.  We had a couple kids.

In 2003, we next moved to Japan where I really flabbed out.  This is when I was informed that I had high blood pressure, so I started taking meds for that (which helped a lot).  I also promised my wife I would no longer take performance boosting supplements such as creatine, since it seems to raise my blood pressure.

A coworker there convinced me to go back to the gym in March of 2006, and told me about taking protein and proper diet.  I still don’t know about proper diet that much, but we eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, yogurt and whole grain breads, and keep the fat and salt intake way down.  We also do not drink sodas or go out for fast food (except for rare occasions), and we do not eat much sweet stuff.  So I guess I eat healthy.

Since I started back in 2006, I have slowly found my groove and pushed myself further than I have ever gone before.  Now that we have moved back to the U.S., I am starting up again (took a three month break).  I have lost most of the flab, and weight around 186 lbs dripping wet.  I do not measure but I definitely am no longer skinny.  My chest and arms have almost outgrown my (skinny-guy) shirts, and at the peak, I was pushing almost 300 lbs (six 45 lb plates, hence the site name) on the iso-bench.  Due to weak shoulders, I have never done more than 210 on the flat bench, so I work my shoulders a lot now to overcome that.

So ends the intro.