Yeah it was sunny most of last week. Rained Saturday. Sunnyish today. Daffodils are out and saw my first bit of cherry blossom. Spring’s finally here. Whew! It’s been a long and miserable winter even by British standards. I’m glad to see the back of it.
i swear if i go to post in ONE MOAR LOG and you silly bastards are talking about the fucking weather i’m quitting again for good.
I’m British, it’s in my genes to talk about the weather. National passtime and all that. Ooh look, a rain cloud!
[quote]nlmain wrote:
Glad to know your Mom’s doing better than expected.[/quote]
x2
That’s great to hear!
Sorry CBear - canadians talk about the weather too. Cal was burried in snow all winter. A rarity in her part of the world and I was just wonderin if most of it had melted enough to put a smile on her face while she was dealing with family issues. Isn’t ok to sneak out of that hardcore dungeon once in a while to breath some fresh air?
Monday morning, ugh. Slept a decent amount and decided to head to the gym. I just was not feeling strong today. I have no real expplanation for it - everything felt heavy.
Bench
1 x bar x 20
1 x 30kg x 10
1 x 40gk x 10
1 x 50kg x 10
3 x 55kg x 5
50kg felt way heavier than normal - 10 reps should be standard, and I’ve had 12 before. I wasn’t even going to try for that many at 55 so just stuck with sets of 5.
I tried some pull-ups - did a few singles but they were bothering my rotator cuff so I stopped. (I’m still sore around the AC joint now). Thinking I should really just buy some bands.
Straight leg Rack pulls
1 x bar x 10
1 x 40kg x 10
1 x 50kg x 5
3 x 60kg x 5
I lowered the pins again - I’m on the bottom now, can’t go any lower. Main thing is trying to keep my back as flat as possible.
I’ll see if I can video these on the weekend.
Military Press
1 x bar x 10
1 x 30kg x 6
1 x 32.5kg x 3
1 x 35kg x 3
(35kg = 77lbs). Actually not displeased with this. I had 35kg pegged as my max for 5/3/1 so three reps isn’t so bad. There was a bit of tippy-toe on the last rep but no knee bend.
Then stretching and off to work.
For CBear’s benefit, we had sunny intervals turning to drizzle late afternoon.
I would love to see a rack pull video.
Currently, I am off chins, but neutral grip pullups are going OK. Might changing up the grip help with the shoulder issue?
Good on you for training through the “everything feels heavy” day. It sucks, don’t I know it.
I admire anybody who can straight leg rack pulls. I probably look like I’m having a seizure when I do them.
Nice lifting even if you didn’t feel it today.
Shortish workout today as I left the house later than I should.
Clean and press (from floor)
10 x bar
5 x 30kg
10 push-ups
5 x 30kg
10 push-ups
5 x 30kg
10 push-ups
Dumbell Rows
3 x 8 x 26kg
Seated Cable Row (strict)
3 x 10 x 30kg
Going for real scap retraction
50 hyperextensions.
Finish.
Oh and I’m happy to report the rowing challenge is now over and my 1000m stands with 4:03.7 (the nearest was 4:12 from an instructor 11 years my junior). Yeah, I’m proud.
Work’s manic at the moment - I’m doing what I can but I can’t really give the gym my full energy right now, what with that and my mum. I’m sticking to my evil diet though. Hopefully I’ll be able to weigh in on Saturday.
^ That may be a “shortish” workout, but it looks like a damn effective one. 
Kudos to you for getting it in, even with everything else you’ve got on your plate at the moment.
I didn’t realize you were a rower! My dad was very seriously into the rowing when he was in high school & college, and he passed on a great appreciation of it to me. Do you currently row much?
No, not at all! My gym’s just started having these unofficial contests and the last one was Concept II rowing times. I hardly ever use the rower but I seem to be able to generate a fair amount of power, and I’m not afraid of pushing myself until my lungs try to exit via my trachea. At least, that was how it felt.
congrats on the rowing, Cal. that’s GOT to feel great!
50 hypers…puuuuleease!<<<<that means awesome work.
[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
No, not at all! My gym’s just started having these unofficial contests and the last one was Concept II rowing times. I hardly ever use the rower but I seem to be able to generate a fair amount of power, and I’m not afraid of pushing myself until my lungs try to exit via my trachea. At least, that was how it felt.[/quote]
Ah, I see! The rower is a great piece of equipment, and that contest sounds like fun!
[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
For CBear’s benefit, we had sunny intervals turning to drizzle late afternoon.[/quote]
jesus h christ im just now seeing this! and you’ve earned your “lol.”
Sorry to hear you have a full plate at the moment. You’re still going to have to stay at the table until you finish every.last.bite. 
Oooookay. Saturday…gym day. It went a little differently than I expected.
I promised a straight leg rack pull video and so here you go.
I did 12 x bar
10 x 40kg
5 x 60kg (above).
Added a measly 5kg and tweaked my back. Dropped down to 60 again but damage was done. Guess I will have to back off these for a while (no pun intended). Bugger.
Changed to bench press.
1 x 20 x bar
1 x 10 x 30kg (66lbs)
1 x 10 x 40kg (88lbs)
1 x 10 x 50kg (110bs)
1 x 5 x 55kg (121lbs)
1 x 3 x 60kg (132lbs)
1 x 2 x 65kg (143lbs) (with spotter - there was a third rep but not convinced it was mine)
1 x 1 x 70kg (154lbs) with spot.
I actually had to do this twice. My spotter (one of the gym instructors) helped far too much so I told him off and made him do a second set, heh.
Back was aching and I was hungry so I called it a day there.
Today’s weigh in reveals another pound down - to 149lbs/10 stone 9/67.7kg. So yeah, can bench more than I weigh now.
Damn Cal, you’re looking good!
Nice benching. Looks like you get a little butt-lifting on some of the sets, but that last set at 70kg looked great to me. That’s some heavy weight, awesome work! Bench>BW=awesome!
Wow! What a pleasant surprise. Get to see Ms. Cal Jones in action!
That’s some serious benching. Good stuff!
Also well done on the rowing - you should be damn proud.
lookin good Cal- body weight bench is fab and that gym looks ghetto in a good way.
Heh, it’s part of a health centre - there’s a pool (which I don’t venture near - I have a phobia of swimming amongst kiddy urine and corn plasters), squash courts, exercise studios and two gyms. The big gym has two stories, lots of treamills, bikes and weight machines (also some dumbells). I go in there to do my straight arm pulldowns and my stretching. The free weights room is much smaller, un-airconditioned and always plays a particularly ghastly radio station (so sorry for the music on the vids). But it does have that nice bench and power rack, plus it’s about two minutes from my front door which makes up for pretty much everything.
[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
plus it’s about two minutes from my front door which makes up for pretty much everything.[/quote]
amen to that.