Chest and biceps

Ben did to my arms this week what he did to my legs last week. They're barely able to function now.

Had a nice compliment from another gym member in the dressing room after my training session. He said he's watched me working out and I'm the only person who trains as hard on their own as with their trainer. I'm certainly pleased with the results.

More progression pics here...

In no particular order...

Incline bench press

Barbell curls, with weight on one side only, then switching. Harder than you'd think!

Dumbbell flat bench press. Last set included light (ha!) dumbbell flies.

Decline bench barbell curls, switching between wide and close grip.

Incline hammer dumbbell curls

Superset: cable flies/cable curls (great finisher)

Legs

Early start; no energy. Bleh.

Back squats
95lb x 5
115lb x 5
145lb x 3
165lb x 3
185lb x 3

Leg extensions
87.5lb x 10, 10
Drop sets - 87.5lb/62.5lb/37.5lb x 10 each

Straight leg deadlifts
135lb x 10
215lb x 5, 5

Leg curls
55lb x 12, 12
Drop sets - 55lb/25lb x 9/12

Abs

Bicycle crunches - 50, 50, 50 per side

Plank with feet elevated on a Swiss ball
38 seconds, 55, 49

Dumbbell side bends
40lb x 15, 15, 15 per side

Leg hip raises - 12, 20, 20

Side planks - 30 seconds each side x 3 (continuous)

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Treadmill - 15 minutes

Back and calves

Deadlifts
135lb x 10, 10
225lb x 5, 5

Wide grip pull-ups
11, 8, 7

Bent over barbell rows
100lb x 10, 8, 9

Lateral pull-downs
90lb x 12, 10, 11

Cable row, full extension
60lb x 20, 17, 15

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Seated calf raises
75lb x 15, 15
Drop sets: 75lb x 13, 45lb x 10

45 degree calf raises
110lb x 40
110lb x 20 single leg, per leg
110lb x 40

Chest and biceps

Had a crappy night's sleep, so I felt a distinct lack of energy this morning.

Bench press with safeties
95lb x 10, 10
115lb x 3
125lb x 3
130lb x 3
135lb x 2
140lb x 0, 1
145lb x 0

Dips - 17, 10, 8, 7

Cable flies
30s x 12, 10, 10, 9

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Pinwheel curls
40s x 12, 10, 8

Standing barbell curls
65lb x 9, 9, 7

Machine preacher curls; slow negative
50 x 7, 6, 5

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Barbell holds - 185lb x 3

Would have liked to have done wrist rolls, but ran out of time.

Arms

Dumbbell curls - 25s x 10, 30s x 10, 10

Bench dips, feet elevated on a Swiss ball
22, 14, 16

Incline dumbbell curls
20s x 10, 25s x 8, 8

Dumbbell one-arm tricep extensions
25lb x 12, 30lb x 10, 9

Dumbbell 21s - 20lb per arm

Seated French press - 15lb x 15, 20lb x 13, 11

One-arm dumbbell preacher curls
25lb x 8, 8, 8

Dumbbell skull-crushers
20s x 12, 10, 11

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Reverse dumbbell wrist curls over bench
10s x 16, 14, 12

Dumbbell wrist curls
20s x 15, 25s x 12, 12

Legs

This is only the second time I've had a leg personal training session that left me almost unable to walk and with a spinning head. Ben was brutal!

Preloading: Traveling lunges (2 x no weights, 1 x 25lb dumbbells)

Back squats

Leg curls

Leg press - singles

Leg extensions

Leg press calf raises - both feet and singles

Skipping

Planks and side planks

Shoulders and triceps

Power clean and press
85lb x 8, 6, 6

One arm front raise
20lb x 10, 10, 10

Barbell shrugs
185lb x 10, 10, 10

Dumbbell lateral raises (burn)
15s x 40

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Close grip bench press
100lb x 10, 8, 6

EZ bar skull crushers
65lb x 8, 7, 7

Dumbbell tricep extensions
25lb x 12, 12, 12 per arm

Reverse cable tricep extensions
30lb x 12, 10, 9

Chest, biceps and forearms

Wide grip bench press
95 x 5, 5
120 x 8, 7, 6, 5

Push-ups - 22, 25, 12

Wide grip dips - 7, 6, 6

Machine flies (burn) - 55lb x 40

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Alternating dumbbell curls
30s x 12
35s x 10, 10

Barbell curls, 21s x 3

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Barbell wrist curls - 45lb x 22, 17, 10

Wrist roller - 2, 2

Legs

Light weight, high reps kind of day.

Back squats, a2g with 2 second pause
95lb x 10, 10, 10, 10

Leg extensions, slow negative
62.5lb x 10, 10, 10, 10

Leg curls, slow negative
50lb x 10, 10, 10, 10

Straight leg deadlifts
135lb x 10, 10, 10, 10

Barbell calf raises on a step
135lb x 10, 10, 10, 10

45 degree single leg calf raises with 110lb
40 reps per leg, alternating after every 10 reps, with no rest

Biceps and triceps

Dumbbell curls - 25s x 10, 10, 10

Bench dips, feet elevated on Swiss ball
20, 15, 15

One-arm dumbbell preacher curls
20lb x 15, 25lb x 10, 8

Dumbbell one-arm tricep extensions
20lb x 15, 25lb x 12, 12

Dumbbell 21s - 20lb per arm x 3

Dumbbell skull-crushers - 25s x 7, 6, 5

Back

Back. Ben. Aliens. Monkeys. Termites. Don't ask.

Cardio

Just a quick, short, sweaty session due to lack of time.

Rowing - 10 minutes

Treadmill - 10 minutes

I listened to Led Zeppelin's greatest hits during this, which helped maintain a challenging speed, especially on the rower.

Chest and biceps

I'd planned on doing some cleans today, but when I started a warm-up set at 95lb, I found I had no energy. After a hectic few days, during which my daughter got married, my adrenaline level plummeted, so I just did a basic chest and biceps day instead.

Bench press
100lb x 12, 10, 8, 6

Incline bench press
100lb x 5, 5, 5

Dumbbell bench press
40s x 12, 9, 8

Cable flies
30s x 10, 10, 9

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Barbell curls
65lb x 8, 7, 7

One-arm machine preacher curls
25lb x 8, 9, 8 per arm

Cable curls (burn)
40lb x 40

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10 minutes on the treadmill

Quads, hamstrings and abs

Back squats
95lb x 5
115lb x 5
145lb x 3
165lb x 3
185lb x 3
195lb x 3

Leg extensions
87.5lb x 10, 10
Drop sets - 87.5lb/62.5lb/37.5lb x 10

Straight leg deadlifts
135lb x 10, 10, 10

Leg curls
50lb x 12, 55lb x 12
Drop sets - 55lb/25lb x 12

Crunches - 25, 25
Front raises - 15, 15
Bicycle crunches - 50, 50

Chest, biceps and forearms

Another early morning workout, but pretty good energy level.

Bench press
100lb x 5, 5
120lb x 5, 5, 5, 5

Alternate sets - dips/push-ups
11/15, 7/12, 7/13

Incline bench press
95lb x 5, 5, 5

Machine flies (burn) - 55lb x 40

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Barbell curls
60lb x 10, 9, 8

Drop sets - curls @ 20s / hammer curls @ 17.5s
10/7, 9/5, 10/6

Machine preacher curls (burn) -25lb x 40

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Barbell wrist curls - 50lb x 15, 14, 13

Wrist roller - 2, 2

Quads and hamstrings

Stacie Tovar

Front squats
95lb x 10, 10
115lb x 10, 10, 10

Leg extensions
75lb x 10, 10
Drop sets - 75lb x 10, 50lb x 10, 25lb x 10

Straight leg deadlifts
135lb x 5, 5
205lb x 5, 5, 5

Leg curls
50lb x 12, 12
Drop sets - 50lb x 10, 25lb x 12

Wall sits - 29 seconds, 35 seconds

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Run - 3.2km (gym to home)

Biceps and triceps

Took it a bit easy today. Just some simple light weight/high rep arm work.

Pinwheel dumbbell curls @ 40lb x 10, 10, 10

Parallette dips, feet elevated - 14, 15, 14

One-arm machine preacher curls
25lb x 10, 9, 8

Tricep cable extensions @ 40lb - 12, 9, 8

Barbell 21s x 3

EZ bar skull crushers @ 65lb - 10, 9, 7

5k: Run for the Cure

Today I took part in my sixth consecutive Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Run for the Cure. This isn't a competitive race, of course, but I time my run every year and try to improve each time. Here are my times for which I kept a record. I didn't make a note of 2009's time, and I remember I had an ankle injury in 2010 that meant I had to walk the course.

2008 - 30:09
2011 - 26:43
2012 - 25:47
2013 - 24:59

For years I've been trying to break 25 minutes, and I did it for the first time ever today. That's 5:10 quicker than six years ago, when I was 41 years old.

So what did I do differently this time? (1) I knew I wanted to finish as quickly as I could, and when I ran the New Hamburg Classic in May, I had my worst 5k finish ever. The reason for that wasn't a lack of fitness, but simply starting too slowly. Today, I didn't care about running a consistent pace throughout the entire course, just finishing with a good time. I started really quickly at a pace I knew I wouldn't be able to maintain. If I had to slow down occasionally, or even walk, then so be it, and that's what happened. (2) I listened to music! As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I listened to Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits while on the treadmill and for some reason that gave me added momentum. I played the same album on my phone today - starting with "Born to Run", of course! - with the same effect. I never usually listen to music while running because I like to hear what's going on around me. That's going to change from now on!

Back, calves and abs

Listened to The Boss while running on the treadmill.
I'll probably do the same while on the Run for The Cure tomorrow.

Had a great night's sleep, so full of energy this morning. Also, no need to rush today so I got to do a good, full session.

Deadlifts
135lb x 10
225lb x 5, 5

Bent over between-leg barbell rows
50lb x 12, 75lb x 12, 12

Lateral pull downs - 90lb x 12, 11, 10

Back extensions - 12, 12, 10

Cable row (burn) - 60lb x 40

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Seated calf raises
75lb x 15, 15
Drop sets: 75lb x 13, 45lb x 13

45 degree calf raises
110lb x 40
110lb x 20 single leg, per leg
110lb x 40

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Crunches - 25, 25, 25

Plank plus side planks x 2 - 30 seconds rest inbetween

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Treadmill - 15 minutes
I listened to Bruce Springsteen while running, which made it easy to pound out my strides.

Chest and biceps

Another one of those personal training sessions with Ben that is going to hurt increasingly over the next few days. Love it.

Bench press - regular and negative, to failure

Alternating dumbbell curls - increasing weight, then drop sets

Wide grip dips, using the bars on the pull-up station

One arm machine curls

Cable crossover flies, pausing at the bottom

One arm barbell holds, alternating every 30 seconds

Quads and hamstrings

I had much more energy than I've had in a long time, for various reasons. (1) I had a good night's sleep for the first time in more than two weeks. (2) Cher gave me a lift to the gym, so I didn't knacker my legs by cycling before a leg session. (3) I went to the gym mid-morning, not, as Kristen calls it, "the crack of stupid."

Back squats
95lb x 5
115lb x 5
145lb x 5
165lb x 5
180lb x 5
195lb x 2, 2

I think my failure to get more than 2 reps at 195lb was more to do with confidence than my legs giving out. This is the first time I've done heavy back squats without safeties since my adductor cleared up, and I thought I was going to fail and gave up on trying a third rep each time.

Leg extensions
87.5lb x 10, 10
Drop sets - 87.5lb x 10, 62.5lb x 10, 37.5lb x 10

Straight leg deadlifts - 215lb x 5, 5

Leg press (burn) - 120lb x 40

Leg curls
50lb x 12, 12
Drop sets - 50lb x 8, 25lb x 12

Dumbbell straight leg deadlifts (burn) - 40s x 40

Shoulders, traps and triceps

Push press
85lb x 10, 8, 7

One arm front raise
17.5lb x 10, 10; 20lb x 10 per arm

Barbell shrugs
185lb x 10, 10, 10

Dumbbell lateral raise (burn)
12s x 40

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Close hand push-ups
12, 7, 7

Dumbbell tricep extensions
25lb x 12, 12, 10 per arm

Cable tricep extensions
40lb x 10, 8, 7