Our Physical Fitness

[Evaniel]

Thursday night I failed to go in- got a buyer for my couch which was in storage since the move who wanted to meet right during what would have been gym time, then a friend of mine who works in a kitchen had a rare night off, so we went out and got excellent food and a couple of drinks.

I did have Friday off though, so I went in the morning before my other plans.

• Smith inclined barbell bench 102.5x11, 102.5x9, 102.5x9 +97.5x3, 97.5x8 (-2 reps, -3 reps, -1 drop set rep, plus a light bonus set, compared to last time). Whelp. Regression rather than the progress I was hoping for. I guess I'll attribute that to the drinking and slightly disrupted sleep. Added the extra set to try to make up for it.
• Overhead shoulder press machine 50x14, 50x12, 50x12 +40x4 (+1 rep, +1 rep, 1+ rep main and drop set) Ok, at least that one was better.
• Machine biceps curls 70x25, 70x20, 70x15 (+5 reps, +2 reps, -3 reps; I'll take it!)

Sunday morning got in a somewhat rushed session before book club:

• Lat Pulldown (narrow): 120x18, 120x12 +105x4, 120x11 +105x4 (from last time +2 reps, -2 reps, same)
• Machine shoulder press: 50x18, 50x15 +40x3 (+3 reps, + the drop set reps, but skipped the third set)
• Rear delt flies: 90x15, 90x11 +80x3.5 (+10lbs -1 rep, +10lbs -5 reps compared to Feb 5 when I hadn't strained my shoulder like last time, but I added the drop set).

Overall still felt good for an abbreviated set; slept in after a wonderful Chinese New Year dinner the night before with some friends, and a couple of drinks.

If it weren't for the blizzard outside and the gym being closed today I probably would go after work today, as I have plenty of energy, but I'll take the rest and plan to get back in Wednesday.

How's your energy level been overall since you recovered from the crud?

 

[Mannahnin]

How's your energy level been overall since you recovered from the crud?

Slowly improving. I still feel like I'm not necessarily 100% over the crud. Still got a little bit of nagging post-nasal drip and congestion approaching two months later.

 

[Scribe]

Upper was great. I only deloaded on Bench and Dips...then I thought 'wait, this is last Upper for a week fool' and went back to pushing hard lol

 

[Scribe]

177.2 feeling it this morning. Going to have to ramp up some cardio/core next month.

 

[Scribe]

Arms and Shoulders.

Really not an enjoyable group of muscles? I don't know, it was decent but I'm just not into Curls and Delts stuff.

 

[Scribe]

177.4, no walk last night so no weight dip it seems.

I'll weigh in tomorrow morning but have no expectations of losing any weight over the next 5 days as I'll be traveling.

Then once I'm back, hard push to 175, and blood tests.

 

[Mannahnin]

Wednesday 2/25 after work:

• Overhead shoulder press machine 55x15, 55x13, 55x9 +45x4 (+5lbs +1 rep, +5lbs +1 rep, +5lbs -3reps main, steady on drop set) This was a notable increase, but I think that's a demonstration that exercise order matters and that this exercise has overlap with my Smith inclined bench; I reversed the order because all the Smith machines were occupied, and then my bench took a hit.
• Smith inclined barbell bench 102.5x9, 102.5x9, 102.5x8 +97.5x3, 97.5x7 +95x2 (-2 reps, steady, -1 rep, -1 rep on the light 4th set but added a tiny drop set, compared to last time). So a little more regression still working with the slightly higher weight I increased to a couple sessions ago, but I think exercise order is a factor. Did feel good engagement/a little bit of pump, which I usually don't, so I'm not too sad.
• Machine biceps curls 70x25, 70x15, 70x15 (steady, -5 reps, steady) Meh. Arms definitely felt the work, at least.

Seem to be sleeping a little deeper, GRADUALLY clearing the congestion still, and was up to 170 even this morning (though I ate a lot yesterday).

 

[Evaniel]

Measurements and "official" weekly weigh-ins happen on Saturday (so tomorrow), but I've been checking my weight each morning. It's been going steadily down, and I weighed in at 163.4 this morning, so I feel confident I'll hit my 163 mark tomorrow. It's been a fairly predictable 1.5 lbs each week despite my slip ups.

 

[Evaniel]

Weighed in at 163.8, so I'm satisfied with the progress so far. 18.5% BF, so down just a smidge despite the 1.5 pounds dropped. Doing some back-of-the-napkin math, though, it means I'd still have to lose a full 10 lbs to get to about 12% BF. That, in turn, means I'll have to drop lower than my 155 lbs goal to get to my BF goal.

Today will be a "just under maintenance" day for my calories, but for the rest of the week, I think I'm dropping another 50 cals/day for a daily total of 1750.

I felt good at the gym this week, and I'm pretty sure I've completely shaken the crud. We'll see how this weekend's workouts go!

 

[Mannahnin]

Took Friday 2/27 off for some errands and to go have lunch with an old friend who's relocating to the area soon from across the country. Also had a pro massage therapist massage afterward, which was lovely! I got in a gym session in the morning before heading down.

• Lat Pulldown (narrow): 120x18, 120x15 +105x5, 120x12 +105x6 (from last time: same, +3 reps & 1 drop set rep, +1 rep & 2 drop set reps). Nice.
• Machine shoulder press: 50x18, 50x15 +40x5, 50x15 +40x5 (same, +2 drop set reps, added back the third set). Happy.
• Rear delt flies: 87.5x15, 90x11 +80x4 (-2.5lbs on the first, +1 rep & 1 drop set rep on the second). This one lately feels like it's probably too much of a clash/overlap with the lat pulldowns. I think I need to have those exercises on different days.
• Triceps press machine: 140x18 +130x5, 130x18 +120x5, 130x25. (+10lbs -12 reps then the drop set, -12 reps then the drop set) Tiny twinge in the upper left shoulder but overall just didn't have the gas compared to last time. OTOH last time I did this exercise (2/18) it was first in the rotation, so that's probably a significant factor.

Sunday noon-ish 3/1 managed to motivate myself to go in after a leisurely morning and fancy breakfast.

• Smith inclined barbell bench 102.5x12, 102.5x12, 102.5x9 +97.5x4, 97.5x9 +95x3 (+1 rep, +3 reps, +1 drop set rep, one more on the 4th set and a drop set on it, compared to last time). Getting back to where I was before the last regression, plus a little. I think the massage Friday may also have helped. She worked a good bit on my pectoralis minor and shoulders which she suggested might help the pec major function better.
• Leg extensions 100x18, 100x15, 100x14. (+2 reps, -1 rep, +2 reps). Got some decent pain and wobble. Enough to feel like real leg work.
• Overhead shoulder press machine 55x7 +50x2 +40x2, 50x9 +40x4, 50x11 +40x4 (-8 reps first set, so added the drop sets), -5lbs +2 reps, -5lbs on the drop set). Dropped back down from my big increase on Wednesday, I think confirmation that exercise order matters here and that this and the inclined bench are a bit in conflict. I should try swapping this exercise onto the lat pulldown days, and swap the rear delt to the incline bench day.

Next session I should probably do lat pulldowns, overhead shoulder press, and triceps. Then the one after that incline barbell bench, rear delt flies, and biceps, I think.