Thursday workout
Back again for more punishment.
Squats:
2×5 using stick
1×5 empty bar
6×5 bar + 15 lbs
I caught myself cheating a little, so did an extra set. Note that it’s cheating if the tops of your thighs are not parallel to the floor at your lowest point. That sounds like it would hurt your knees, but it doesn’t, and I have bad knees. The fact is, when you don’t go down that far, you don’t engage your glutes and hamstrings, and your knees will hurt, because we are used to using our thigh muscles when we should be using the glutes and hamstrings. Once you think of using them, there isn’t a problem at all.
Bench press:
2×5 empty bar
1×3 bar + 30 lbs
1×2 bar + 50 lbs
5×5 bar + 70 lbs
The secondary muscles that used to let me know their problems have stopped complaining. This exercise is getting more comfortable. I still have room to put more weight on before I have to move to doing this exercise in the power rack (which can be set up to catch the weight in case you can’t push it back up).
Barbell row:
2×5 bar + 20 lbs
1×5 bar + 30 lbs
5×5 bar + 40 lbs
This is getting pretty close to my standard workout weight when I’m slacking. I can do more, but haven’t been a regular gym rat lately so I got weaker.
I finally went to Target and bought some tiny notebooks so I can take notes in the gym and plan my next workout. I have been guess what weight I should be doing, and going on memory, which can be faulty. From now on I can be a little more scientific about it.
So far I consider this a success. I have not come close to injuring myself, and equipment access hasn’t been a problem since very few people do squats. Also, I can move my weight up every time and am not in any pain, even though I know I’m stronger already, especially on the squats.