Monday, December 8, 2025
10-minute warmup on Octane Recumbent Elliptical
Leg Extension
120x12
160x12
195 x 11
Squat TM 300 week 2
Bar x 10, 135x5, 175x3
215 x 3
245 x 3
275 x 8 - decent set
Belt Squat - first time on this ride
90x12
180x10
270 x 6 - maybe a bit much too soon - I also used the middle notch for the chain attachment
Seated Leg Curl
115 x 12
165 x 12
BB SLDLs
135 x 5
205 x 5
255 x 8
Standing Calf
320 x 12, 12
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Warmup with Octane Recumbent Elliptical
Bench Press TM 285 Week 2
Barx15, 135x5, 165x5
195 x 3
225 x 3
255 x 1, 9
HS Incline (plate loaded)
160 x 10
250 x 7, 5
Hoist Chest Flye
Slot 9 x 12
Slot 13 x 9, 6
Freemotion Cable Preacher Curlz
45 x 12 ea
70 x 10, 7 ea
Seated Bayesian Curlz (on same machine)
50 x 12
EZ Bar Curlz
70# x 10, 7
Work done later in the evening, post-dinner
Friday, December 12, 2025
Warmup on Octane Recumbent Elliptical - 10 minutes
Cable Lat Pullover
45x12, 67.5x10
90 x 10
Lat Pulldown (wide overhand)
100x12, 130x10
160 x 8, 6
Hammer Strength Low Row (neutral)
90 x 10 per side
135 x 8, 5 per side
Chest Supported T-Bar Row
90 x 10
135 x 9, 6
Rack Pulls (7-inch off ground)
135x5, 225x5, 275x5
315 x 3
365 x 3
Rear Delt Flye - 3 sets
One new rack has safeties that go to the bottom. So one place in this humungous gym (55k sq ft or so) to do rack pulls when I’m lucky. I know I couldn’t have pulled 3 1/2 plates off the floor. Pathetic.
Saturday, December 13, 2025
3.35-mile walk/run in 49 minutes
Did 2 speed walk intervals at 10 and 16 minutes, then did quarter-mile runs at 22 and 29 minutes. One last speed walk at 40 which was ended at 43 with a big dog greeting. No kitty pet stops today.
So here is the HR readout from today’s walk. See if you can detect where I speed walked and ran.
Sunday, December 14, 2025
DB Rotator Cuff work
OH Press TM 185 week 2
Barx15, 85x7, 105x6
125 x 3
145 x 3
165 x 8
DB Lateral Raises
17.5s x 12ea
30s x 10 ea
Cable Lateral Raises
30 x 10, 8 ea
Cable V-Bar Pushdown
60 x 12
97.5 x 12, 10
EZ Bar Skullcrushers
90 x 8, 7
Hoist Triceps Dip Machine
180 x 12
260 x 6 - no belt made this pretty worthless.
Was up with nausea all night, and my wife said I didn’t look right, but I went anyway against her wishes. Kept it brief and simple and it went OK.
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Warmup with stretching and back mobility
10 minutes Octane Recumbent Elliptical
Leg Extension
100x12, 160x10
195 x 10, 8
Squats TM 300 week 3
Barx10, 135x5, 185x5
225 x 5
255 x 3
285 x 6 - pretty good
Belt Squat
70x10, 140x5, 210x5
280 x 1 - buried
260 x 3 - not much better, kind of a wasted effort
Leg Curlz
95x12, 125x10
155 x 8
140 x 9
BB SLDLs
135x5, 225x5
265 x 6 - I was pretty smoked by now
Calf Extensions - 3 sets
Thursday, December 18, 2025
warmup 10 minutes on Octane Recumbent Elliptical
Bench Press TM 285
Barx15, 135x5, 165x5, 185x3
205 x 5
235 x 3
265 x 7 - No spotter so I didn’t take a swing at #8
misload, should’ve been 270
Smith Machine Incline Press
115x6, 145x6, 185x6
215 x 6, 4
LF Chest Lever Flye
140 x 8
205 x 9, 6
Freemotion Preacher Curlz
45 x 8 ea
80 x 8, 7 ea
Bayesian Cable Curlz (on Freemotion Preacher machine)
50 x 10
EZ Bar Curlz
70 x 10, 8
The lift actually took an hour. I spent a few minutes figuring out the lack of incline options.
Sunday, December 21, 2025
Warmup on Octane Recumbent Elliptical - 10 minutes
Cable Lat Pullover
75 x 12, 10
Cybex Eagle Lat Pulldowns
130x12
190 x 8, 6
Chest Supported T-Bar Row
90x12
115 x 12, 9 - focused on higher elbow path
Seated Cable Rows (wide-ish neutral grip)
115 x 12
160 x 7, 5 - this setup is kind of trash, Hoist cable complex failed this movement.
Rack Pulls (7 inches)
135x10, 225x5, 275x5
315 x 5
365 x 5 - this was good hard work
Cardio - Incline Walk
Incline 8-to-8.5, 3mph, 30 minutes
Tuesday, December 23, 2025
Warmup Octane Recumbent Elliptical 10 minutes
OH Press TM 185 week 3
Barx15, 95x5. 115x5
135 x 5
155 x 3
175 x 6 (f)
Lateral Raise Machine
140 x 8, 6
Rear Delt Flyes - 2 sets
Triceps Pushdown (cable)
60x12, 80x10
100 x 8, 6
Triceps Cable Overhead Extension
70 x 7, 6
Triceps Dips (BW) x 8, 8 - dips are sure harder when you lean upright
Friday, December 26, 2025
Warmup on Octane Recumbent Elliptical - 10 minutes
Stretching and Foam Roller
Guns & Wheels 1 (Limbs)
EZ Bar Curlz
70 x 12
80 x 10, 8
Triceps V-Bar Pushdown
80 x 12
100 x 10, 7
DB Hammer Curlz
35s x 10, 8 each
Triceps Overhead Cable Extensions
80 x 9, 7
Leg Extensions
115x12, 160x10
205 x 10, 7
Squats TM 310 week 1
Barx10, 135x5, 175x5
205 x 5
235 x 5
265 x 9 - Should’ve made 10, but my lungs weren’t having it.
BB SLDLs
135x5, 185x5
235 x 10
Leverage Squat
90 x 5
180 x 5
230 x 8 - Lots of room for growth, first time on this new machine.
Standing Calf Raises - 360 x 12, 10
New experience with the Leverage Squat. Working on foot placement to ensure proper advancement. And reminding myself to fully brace when racking and unracking as the low back holla’d at me a couple of times in these vulnerable moments.
This workout took 110 minutes. Yeah, it was as busy as a Monday evening, but even accounting for the 10 minutes waiting this was too much.
After post-workout meal, took a post-meal walk.
2.04 miles in 36 minutes, but that includes a detour to the mailbox.
Sunday, December 28, 2025
Warmup on Octane Recumbent Elliptical - 10 minutes
Shield Day 1 (Chest, Back, Delts)
Bench Press TM 290 week 1
Barx15, 135x5, 165x5
190 x 5
215 x 5
245 x 11
DB Rows
105s x 12, 10 ea
Hammer Strength Incline Press (plate loaded)
180 x 5
270 x 7, 4
Cybex Eagle Lat Pulldowns
110x5, 150x5
190 x 8, 6
Rear Delt Flye - 2 sets
Lateral Raise machine - 140 x 8, 6
Followed with a late lunch and a 1.25-mile walk to catch the sun as it raced past the horizon.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Walk 0.7 miles to gym to warm up. I froze my ass off.
Octane Recumbent Elliptical - 10 minutes
Deadlift TM 330 week 1
135x10, 185x5
225 x 5
255 x 5
285 x 10 - ok, but my old back felt reps 9 & 10
Belt Squat
90x10, 180x5
230 x 10
250 x 7
Seated Leg Curlz
115 x 10
160 x 8, 6
Nautilus Glute Drive
180x10, 270x5,
390 x 8, 6
Standing Calf Raises
360 x 12, 10
Seated Triceps Dips machine (Hoist Roc-it)
160ish x 10
240ish x 8, 6 - Load depends on body weight, and I don’t care to research that
EZ Bar Preacher Curlz
65 x 8, 8 - I don’t care for the EZ Bar machine, but my favorite option was occupied by someone worthy of not hassling…
Did some ab work after, then walked home. Weather was the same dreary shit, but I was not cold.
Sunday was the last not-busy day in the gym for a while. Today was a madhouse.
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Treadmill Incline Walk: 30 minutes, Incline 8-9, 3.0mph. 1.5 miles
Rainy day walk: About 1.6 miles in 27 minutes. Skated on wet leaves a few times…
2025 Summary: 170 Strength workouts. 174 visits to commercial gym, plus dozens more to little apartment gym for some cardio, and some fluff pickup here and there.
Walked 3.42 million steps. This comes out to an average of about 9350 steps per day. September was the only month with a 10k plus step average, as it was pleasant both mornings and evenings, and tolerable for lunchtime strolls.
No PRs, but I’m not expecting any as I roll into my late 50s. I’m still holding on to a 3-plate bench as I had a strong single at 320 this summer. I’m just happy to still be able to squat, and occasionally deadlift. I don’t think I have a 2-plate overhead press anymore. I’d have to roll through my log to find my last crack at that, maybe last year.
Great stuff, my friend! I hope 2026 treats you as well as 2025 has.
Thursday, January 1, 2026
Warmup on Octane Recumbent Elliptical - 10 minutes
Shield #2 - Back, Shoulders, Chest
OH Press TM 185 Week 1
Barx15, 75x10, 95x5
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 9, 7
Hammer Strength Low Iso-Row
180x10
250 x 8, 6
Chest Flye Low-high (Freemotion Shoulder machine)
70 x 8, 6
Chest Supported T-Bar Row
90 x 10
115 x 10
140 x 6
Cable Lat Pullovers
60 x 10
82.5 x 10, 7
Cable Lateral Raises - 2 sets of 10 each
Walk after post-workout meal.
2.25 miles on a pleasant cloudy/sunny day. But the extra turn that added the quarter mile and 4 1/2 minutes caught me in a sudden downpour.
Friday, January 2, 2026
Octane Recumbent Elliptical - 10-minute warmup
Guns & Wheels A (Legs & Arms)
Squat TM 310 Week 2
Bar x 10, 135x5, 175x3
215 x 3
250 x 3
280 x 7
BB SLDLs
135x8, 225x3
255 x 8
Power Squat (Leverage-type)
90x5, 180x5
270 x 8 - went better than last time
Leg Extensions
130x10
200 x 9, 5
Standing Calves
370 x 12, 9
Triceps V-Bar Pushdown
60 x 10
90 x 8, 6, 5
EZ Bar Curlz
90# x 8, 7, 5 - a trio of turds were doing a circle jerk around the 80#, so I thank them for inspiring me to move up to the next step.
Ended the evening with a 2-mile walk
Saturday, January 3, 2026
30 minutes stationary bike
2.75-mile walk in 48 minutes
Sunday, January 4, 2025
Octane Recumbent Elliptical - 10-minute warmup
Shield A (Chest-Back-Shoulders)
Bench Press TM 290 Week 2
Barx15, 135x5, 175x5
205 x 3
235 x 3
260 x 8, 5
235 x 8
Lat Pulldowns (narrow underhand grip)
115x10, 145x5
175 x 8, 6
160 x 7
Lateral Raise Machine
140 x 8, 5
125 x 4
Hammer Strength Row (selectorized)
145 x 8, 7, 5
Rear Delt Flyes - 3 sets
Stepmill 30/90 intervals - 8 minutes - took too big of jumps and gassed out quickly
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Octane Recumbent Elliptical 10-minute warmup
Wheels & Guns B (Limbs)
Deadlift TM 330 week 2
135 x 10
225 x 3
265 x 3
295 x 8 - these are starting to smooth out
Hack Squat
Emptyx10, 90x5, 180x5
270 x 5, 5 - it’s been a while, and it felt like it.
Leg Curlz
110x12
155 x 7, 6
Nautilus Glute Drive
195x5, 335x5
425 x 6, 4
Calf Press
235 x 12, 12
Freemotion Cable Preacher Curlz
80 x 7, 5 each
Triceps Cable Overhead Extension
50 x 10
75 x 7, 5, 4
At lunch I took an extra turn to add a few minutes in the pleasant winter sunshine…
