I'm still Sure!

Yep, messy problem but we just shut folks out of certain actions to prevent further damage.

139.8 still stupidly sore, what's up with that? Makes me feel old! Would have considered doing weights again but we have rescheduled last weekend climbing date to Saturday and I didn't want to risk more soreness. Did stairmaster for 35 minutes on level 10. Was a good, sweaty workout that will hopefully help the hammies and glutes ease off.

Should be a lovely weekend and I'm looking forward to a good day playing outside at my favorite climbing area.
 
Climbing was pretty good although a night with too many interruptions due to squabbling cats left us both a tad grumpy. Got a little bit of sunburn on my arms and got to enjoy some time without shirts on which felt wonderful as we worked out the moves on a route that is both technically hard and quite strenuous. I love sunshine!

Sunday did household chores and cooked for the week, then did a brief stint at the gym before joining friends for a short hike and dinner. With a willing spotter, I did my max bench press ever at 95 lbs, 2 reps!

Bench: 8x55, 8x65, 6x75x2, 4x85x3, 3x90, 2x95, 7x75
captain's chair leg lifts: 8 in between the first 5 bench sets
pullups 3, 4, 3
T2B 3
Squats: 8x65, 6x95x2
Short workout as we were out of time.

138.8 fast cardio on the elliptical this morning was all I was capable of this morning. We need to find a new home for one of our cats and coming to terms with the idea is really hard.
 
Congrats on PB

We had a cat for a number of years. Good job we had a rotty with her around. Her idea of playing would involve such delightful things as hanging from the underside of the dog by having her claws in its side. Dog is so stupid it never cared or seemed to notice the claws, treating it all as a game. There would be occasions where the cat would feign being scared of the dog, then we would see her laying on top of the dog having made it comfortable in the way cats do with bedding.

Best of luck with your cats. It's not nice having to give pets up.
 
Thanks guys. The 95 was wobbly, I definitely need to shore it up, but I am happy nonetheless.

The cat thing has been developing for years but has taken a nasty turn for the worse recently. I'm reading cat psychology books in hopes of helping the situation while we look for a better place for Dilly to be.

139.4 Went for a total body sort of workout this morning in the vein of move around the weight room and just be doing something at all times. Lots of push-up sets (50 pushups in all) mixed in between cable leg weights, lunges between OHP, T2B & pull-ups between squats, back extensions in between 70lb step-ups, and some land mine twisters. I'm beat, so it was good.

OHP has really suffered by not doing it - no surprise, but I hate how hard 55 and 60 lbs feel. 2 sets of 5 at each weight.

Squats were OK at 95lbs again, 2 sets of 6 plus some warm up sets. I am not ready to add more weight, but close. I think I'll get to sets of 8 before adding weight.
 
139.8 Ended up doing .25 mile intervals this morning as a result of an iPod technology problem, but as it happened, I liked them a lot. Alternated running at 1.5% incline/7.0 mph with 3% incline/5.0mph and 12% incline/4.0 mph. Three miles and some change.

Was working on a little circuit in the weight room of 3-4 pull-ups/6 dips/8 captain chair leg raises/15 back extensions but after the first 2 circuits it became too annoying to work around the guy who wanted to just stand under the pull-up bar and admire himself on his LONG breaks between sets. When I asked nicely if I could use the bar, he moved about 2 inches to the side... dropped the pull-ups for a set and then when another guy stayed on the back extension stand even when not doing anything, I gave up and went to stretch.

4 sets of dips was pretty hard and my depth was nothing to be proud of, but at least I am starting back in.
Pull-ups were actually feeling very good, too bad about not being able to finish them, and the leg raises/back extensions always feel good.
 
That is a big limiting factor with circuit training. Have you ever tried a complex? That's where you take a single piece of equipment (eg a barbell, a pair of dumbbells, a kettlebell) and perform a full circuit with that equipment. I used to do complexes along the lines of high pull > hang clean > front squat > OHP > jerk > bent over row. I don't find them quite as good as a circuit with varied equipment, but they do prevent you from having to get around lots of people to use all the equipment you're after, and they prevent other people from getting annoyed at you for using up half the gym at once.
 
Hm, nope, haven't tried a complex, and I usually don't do circuits, or at least limit myself to a piece of equipment and some floor space to do something with bodyweight such as pushups or maybe KB work. There weren't many people when I started today, but the guys who were there moved in.

With the exception of the weight racks, people at my gym are usually pretty good about sharing - and I get the not sharing with the weights - too messy to change things around. I don't share on those either.

In a rare event for me, I am actually quasi-planning my Thursday workout - thinking TRX would be good and haven't done it in ages.
 
139.0 No workout for me as things at home went awry and needed attention. So much for that preplanning thing! Unfortunately that means 2 days in a row as I am headed down the hill to Phoenix for a meeting and must leave early in the morning. Hoping the weekend brings some good activity and some much needed sleep. This week has been particularly short on sleep :(
 
Phoenix day went OK, but I am sick - not sure if it is killer allergies or a weird cold - few symptoms other than tight feeling in my chest like congestion, whopper headache and total sick exhaustion.

Saturday hiked SHL with Tom then did a lot of cooking and small household chores before giving up and going to bed. Spent Sunday and Monday mostly resting. Up today to try a partial day at work but can only keep a thought in my head for about 30 seconds so am not tackling anything that actually matters. Grrr, not at all what I had in mind for this week.
 
Sure! said:
Phoenix day went OK, but I am sick - not sure if it is killer allergies or a weird cold - few symptoms other than tight feeling in my chest like congestion, whopper headache and total sick exhaustion.
Click to expand...

I know the feeling. I've been bent over coughing for three days, which is unusual for me. I don't usually get it in my chest.
 
We had the work plague earlier in the year. I would have caught it anyway, but epilepsy meds hammer my immune system. I took 3days off work went back for 1.5 before getting sent home for quote 'looking like a good advert for death.' I like my supportive colleagues, haven't found them yet, but I'm sure I like them. Good job I warned them at 2nd interview that I stay I'll longer than pre medication, I don't believe in the nonsense approach of giving a positive when asked for a weakness and every employer so far liked my honesty when giving a real one.

Anyway get well you two. No passing it across to me Ryan style!
 
I'm trying not to share with anyone - still not totally convinced this isn't somehow allergy related except that allergy meds don't budge it. Happily, I'm not doing anything "germy", no coughing, no snot, no exercise, and no brain power. Have a budget deadline Friday but I'm afraid to touch my spreadsheets! Copies! Must make copies!

Thanks for the well wishes.
 
The word in IT which means ultimate safety 'backup'
I do a lot on constructed environments where backups are considered a waste of resource. Would take about a day or 2 to rebuild though.
 
So finally, I get what you are talking about with "the arch" in bench press.

Tom was perusing youtube and showed me a video with a 13yo girl bench pressing 240 lbs. At first I couldn't figure out what she was doing when she practically sat up under the bar, then swings into a near backbend and starts lifting with her arms practically out against the plates. That is not even the same thing as what I call bench press. Sheesh! Can hardly imagine that the position helps, but it was so practiced and extreme looking there must be a benefit. No plans to try it...
 
I never was an "archer". I whipped my back pretty bad one night curving it up pushing out a heavy bench. Never really tried it again after that. As Tony has stated before, it's really just a way to shorten bar travel for heavier bench presses. You'll never see somebody arch a light bench press.
 
Once I saw what it was, it seemed rather silly. Since 'lifting heavy' for me might, at most, entail body weight, I think I can say I'll be skipping that technique, particularly since the super wide grip seems like a cheat.

Have high hopes of taking a walk on campus later today to do an errand, might entail 40 minutes of walking - woo hoo - small movement toward resuming fitness! I'll happily take what I can get.
 
I tend to use wide grip with slight arch most of the time, this makes bench easier but the pause at the bottom more than makes up for it.
Pure personal choice as with a lot of techniques. I've done that for so long now anything else feels unnatural, which is why I did flat back recently.
 
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