Strong workout at Xsport Fitness

I went to XSport Fitness on Tuesday night for a workout.  I accomplished exactly what I set out to get done.  I warmed up with a 1 mile run.  Next I went to the free weights and did barbell bench presses, lat pulldowns and seated behind the neck military presses.  Then I wrapped up the workout with a 2 mile run on the treadmill.

My highpoint of the workout was during my bench presses.  I worked my way up to 245 lbs.  I got a spot from one of the young guys working out nearby.  I was able to get 8 reps without any help from my spotter.  Afterwards the young kid said "Dude, you're pretty strong."

I came home and told my wife.  I narrated the progression of weights and the spot I got and the statement the young kid made.  Without so much as a moment of reflection my wife said "He meant strong for an old guy."  Doh!

Great workouts the last 4 days!

That's 205 pounds for 10 to 15 reps (but not to failure)!

Well, at least I can bench press the equivalent of my body weight for reps now.  I'm still stuck in the 205 to 210 pound range in terms of body weight.  Yesterday I worked out with 205 pounds on the bench press for a lot of reps.  I'm not lifting to failure at home since I don't have a spotter.

This evening, as part of my Running for Relief - Help the Pakistan Flood Victims fundraising effort, I ran 4.26 miles on the treadmill.  I told a friend at the office about my plan to run 30 miles in the last 10 days of Ramadan.  He wasn't impressed.  He thought I should shoot for 50 miles.

We'll see what can be done about hitting the 50 mile mark by the end of the day on September 9, 2010 (the last of the 10 final days of Ramadan).  Today, however, I did run 4.26 miles.  I'll give a nod to my marathon-running, car-restoring, model building, I-don't-want-to-socialize-with-people-in-the-office friend for pushing me.  He was right.  I hit 3 miles even while fasting without too much trouble.

It took a while because I started out slow...

After running I rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes.  I just wanted to do something else for my legs to keep them from getting too tight.  Later in the evening, as we put the kids to bed, I did some stretching.  I should be okay to run again tomorrow.

Well, it's getting late and I have to be up again at 3:45am to eat my pre-daybreak meal so its off to bed.

Great strength training day yesterday

I went to the gym yesterday right after work. That’s part of my normal routine. What made yesterday unique was that it was the first day of Ramadan and I was fasting (I hadn’t had any food or drink for over 12 hours by the time I start working out).

It was a good workout. I lifted weights for 1 hour. I focused on chest, shoulders and triceps. I started out on the barbell bench press. I then moved to seated barbell behind the neck shoulder presses, dumbbell lateral raises, upright rows and finally tricep pushdowns.

The bad news is that I feel pain in parts of my body I never thought out would the last time I trained so consistently (that would be about 18 years ago). My right shoulder has sharp painful sensation in the rotator cuff. It will not go away but it doesn’t seem to impede my strength either. My right wrist also hurts. I can’t explain it.

The good news is that I am getting stronger. Back in February I struggled with 135 pounds on the bench press. Yesterday I cranked out 250 pounds for 5 reps (and I weigh 45 pounds less now!). Other milestones include the shoulder press where I’m using 135 pounds for reps (compared to 95 pounds I struggled with in February). In February I used two 25 pound plates on the hack squat and it felt heavy. Today I can put on four 45 pound plates for reps and feel great.

This is great. I felt awful going into the gym back in February. I felt very self-conscious about the weight I was training with. I feel much better today.

But I’m not even close to where I want to be in terms of my overall physical fitness. I’m still overweight - I need to drop another 25 pounds. I want to be able to run a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and presently the farthest I’ve run is 7 miles at one time. I don’t necessarily have set goals for my strength training but now I’m tempted to set some given that the numbers are more respectable now!

I’m heading to the gym after work today (on my way now as a matter of fact). Today will be strength training for my back, biceps and legs!