Attacking My Nemesis, Gravity: Exercise Log 20190214
This is the machine I use to stay humble
There was a Universe of reasons to not go lift today, and only a smaller section of the Galaxy of reasons to go. So, eventually, I went today, at about 35 hours into a fast. Always an interesting metabolic experience, but all I noticed was a slightly faster, heavier sweat. And, no, I do not glow.
Many of the exercises I do are done in 2 or more sets, and in most cases, the last set is done 'to failure'. There are 3 thresholds of failure: 1) mental (I do not want to do another rep); 2) functional (poor form, sloppy control of the weight), and 3) physical (I simply cannot move this weight at all). I avoid #3, because the risk of injury is too high. I try to blow thru #1, because it isn't physically real. Leaves #2. The spreads from 1 to 3 aren't as far apart as they seem. Gravity strikes back.
Doing way more reps during the failure set than 'the usual' implies the set is "too easy". And, vice versa. Today, "too easy" were 05_dumbbell chest press (fail), 06_seated cable row (fail), 15_cable pull thrus (fail). "Too hard" were 10_incline bench hammer curls (fail), and 17_acc ecc neutral grip lat pulldown (fail), where the fail occurred within the usual reps for the set. What to do about those is in the Notes.
Finally, the exercise set itself is about as complicated as I can take. I'm spending too much time thinking about what to do next. Focus is not my strongest feature, and the complexity of this exercise set doesn't help. It also took 50 minutes to complete, and a few extra moments to set up. I don't want to go longer.
By the numbers: total weight, pounds, 29,780; duration, minutes, 50; pounds per minute, 596. In the Zone ...
Notes: Lower the weight on the curls to 10# dumbbells from 15#. Increase the reps on the bench press nominal sets to 18. Increase the plates on the seated cable rows from 4 per stack (8 total, =90 pounds), to 5 per stack (10 total, 110 pounds). Add another plate to the pull thrus, from 11 (115 pounds) to 12 (125 pounds).
Think about simply replacing the curls with more sets of dumbbell chest press and / or more seated cable rows.
Many of the exercises I do are done in 2 or more sets, and in most cases, the last set is done 'to failure'. There are 3 thresholds of failure: 1) mental (I do not want to do another rep); 2) functional (poor form, sloppy control of the weight), and 3) physical (I simply cannot move this weight at all). I avoid #3, because the risk of injury is too high. I try to blow thru #1, because it isn't physically real. Leaves #2. The spreads from 1 to 3 aren't as far apart as they seem. Gravity strikes back.
Doing way more reps during the failure set than 'the usual' implies the set is "too easy". And, vice versa. Today, "too easy" were 05_dumbbell chest press (fail), 06_seated cable row (fail), 15_cable pull thrus (fail). "Too hard" were 10_incline bench hammer curls (fail), and 17_acc ecc neutral grip lat pulldown (fail), where the fail occurred within the usual reps for the set. What to do about those is in the Notes.
Finally, the exercise set itself is about as complicated as I can take. I'm spending too much time thinking about what to do next. Focus is not my strongest feature, and the complexity of this exercise set doesn't help. It also took 50 minutes to complete, and a few extra moments to set up. I don't want to go longer.
By the numbers: total weight, pounds, 29,780; duration, minutes, 50; pounds per minute, 596. In the Zone ...
Notes: Lower the weight on the curls to 10# dumbbells from 15#. Increase the reps on the bench press nominal sets to 18. Increase the plates on the seated cable rows from 4 per stack (8 total, =90 pounds), to 5 per stack (10 total, 110 pounds). Add another plate to the pull thrus, from 11 (115 pounds) to 12 (125 pounds).
Think about simply replacing the curls with more sets of dumbbell chest press and / or more seated cable rows.
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