Progress Log: Week 16

Details

Mode

It’s a make-up week. We’re going high reps/low weight.

Sunday

After last week, I was really happy to get back into the gym. It was a double bonus today to visit the new Physiq facility on Lancaster.

I’ll be writing a more thorough review of the new facilities in a separate post here soon, but I’ll speak to bits and pieces of it throughout this update as well.

I was really happy to see a whole collection of free weight flat benches, as well as a couple of fixed incline benches as well. The equipment is new and shiny.

I felt real good with my flat and incline presses. The birthday massage and time off from the previous week did some good healing for my shoulders.

I was disappointed to see that the Smith machine was out of order. The gym has been open less than a month and there’s only one Smith machine in the whole facility, this should not have been the case. I was also disappointed in the fact that there are absolutely no adjustable incline/decline benches in the entire facility. This combination of misses forced me to switch out my Smith machine decline presses with the Hammer Iso Lateral Decline Press machine.

I stuck with my standard biceps workout, but I think I may end up adding in one-arm machine Preacher Curls versus the dumbbell version that I do currently. Due to my buggy left shoulder, I’m never really able to get that left arm in a comfortable preacher position with dumbbells.

I’m very familiar with Hammer equipment. I spent years working out with this brand in Gold’s Gym back in the 00’s. This particular machine took some getting used to. It takes up a smaller footprint than models of old. It’s also not quite as comfortable or solid as I remember, however that could just be because I’m not quite as thin or limber as I was twenty years ago.

The workout, in general, went great. I finished it off with 20 minutes on a stationary bike and was pretty satisfied, overall.

Monday

Work took over. I was expecting it out of the gate, however, as I had to be on campus today. I have preemptively given myself grace because of the week of User Acceptance Testing that has been scheduled for over a month now. It’s going to be a busy, demanding week.

Tuesday

Made it into the new space for a killer leg and shoulder workout today.

To be honest, this is the main reason why I’ve spent 6 months with my eye on the opening of the new facility. My little bitty home gym is very limited in terms of both leg equipment as well as floor space for any kind of agility or plyometric exercise.

There are a lot of cable machines, four of five total, if I remember correctly. The one I was on felt new and kind of rough. I think it just needs to be worn in. Between that and the massive selection of dumbbells, I rocked right through the shoulder part of my workout.

The Leg Press machine left me with some mixed feelings. It’s variable resistance, which is supposed to provide better gains with less injury, but it also takes some getting used to. Additionally, the sled is much smaller…it weighs about a hundred pounds less than the machine I’ve been working out on for several years now. This means more time spent loading more plates, which have to be scrounged from surrounding machines because the press has a tiny footprint and no place to hang weights on it.

Let me tell ya though…the Leg Extension machine is a damn godsend. Smooth, comfortable, cam-driven and provides 5 lb increments throughout the entire range of weight. No weight adapters needed. Super nice and convenient.

For the first time in years I was able to add substantial Hip Adduction and Abduction back into my routine. There’s also a Hip Thrust machine, which I didn’t try this time around, but appreciate as it keeps people away from the Smith machine. There’s also this Glute Coaster thing that I did try, which is kind of like a stomping motion. I added three more exercises to my light leg day, which adds about another 20 minutes to my workout, but rounds it out so much more.

Wednesday

Back and triceps were mighty nice. The Hyperextension bench was so much more comfortable than the one at my little gym, which has a tendency to put a lot of strain on the backs of my knees. There’s also a Back Extension machine which I’ve added in, and an Iso Lateral Upper Row machine that’s joined the mix.

I was really satisfied with Back and Triceps day.

Thursday

Work took over, as expected.

Friday

Work took over, as expected.

Saturday

Today is supposed to be a light/no rain day and overcast, which is perfect for lawn work. I’m going to get out there and finish up what I started last weekend. If I’m lucky I’ll be able to start an attack on the back as well.

I start to become a little more comfortable with missed days in the gym when the weather starts getting nicer (as long as I get my Big Three in). I love working outdoors on my lawn and usually end up getting at least 10,000 steps in, while also doing a lot of functional movement such as pulling weeds, digging things up/sod removal, mowing, hauling things etc.

Diet

Yeah I did a terrible job of tracking things this week. There were two Victorico’s days in there, which for sure blows my diet out of the water. The rest of the days were fairly decent, however.

I wasn’t as good with hydration this week as I normally am and need to pay more attention to that, especially as the weather warms up.