Callused Hands is Not Your Goal

I'm continuing my efforts to transform my exercises which were useful for home training into exercises that take advantage of the gym setting, with the theme on increasing strength rather than metabolic/fat loss (small reps). So today I did my day 2 of lifts, trying to find the right weights for new exercises. I am changing my previous combo of single leg deadlifts, reverse lunges, prone plank holds and bicep curls to barbell deadlifts/Romanian deadlifts, reverse lunges (with much higher weight) and one-hand prone plank holds (this is to prepare myself to perform one-hand pushups in the distant future).

As usual, finding the right weights are a continuing problem transitioning to new exercises. Here's what I tried, using a deadlift to get the weight up, followed by (4) Romanian deadlifts:

Empty bar (15 kg) x 5 - warm-up

40 kg x 5 - too light

60 kg x 5 - too light

70 kg x 5 - a bit heavy, but definitely doable. Definitely could have tried a few more sets.

I stopped there, as the time spent (maybe 2 min rest between sets wasn't needed) was pretty excessive). Maybe I'll try to get 2 sets at 70 followed by a set at 80 next week.

But my hands were damned hurt from that exercise. Either I improve my grip technique, or I'll end up with thickened + new calluses, ripped skin, or both. Maybe I'll have to bring my gloves with me, even though that's just a symptomatic approach to solving the problem.

Next up was the reverse lunges. I took 2 20 kg dumbbells. Did 3 sets of 5 for both legs, with 2 minute rest. The weight was probably heavy enough as I had to work hard to maintain stability, but the 2 minute rest was probably too much. Maybe 1 minute/90 sec will do.

I spent too much time, and the gym was closing. I sneaked in 1 set of one handed prone plank holds, 20 sec on each hand. Damn, they're much, much harder than I thought. Next time, 3 sets of 20-20 sec holds will probably do well, with progression of 1 minute rest - 10 sec every week.

Looks like the transition is good so far, so next week there shouldn't be too much effort in experimenting any further. The program so far until final year starts (and thus back to home training unless I decide to enter a gym in Kuantan):

Day 1 (Tue):

Chinups - 5 sets of 2 (or 10 total). I still suck very much at this, unless I can magically get my body weight down to 70.

DB bench press - 3 sets of 5 at 22 kg. This is still too light, I'll try to see if 25 kg is better, considering that my push-up weight (pushup position on a scale) is 60 kg. But if dumbbells can't do I'll go to barbells then to reach the required weight.

Single leg squats with full ROM - 3 sets of 4. I'm pretty happy with this. A nice change from 3 sets of 10 with ROM down to bench (1 foot high). Much harder, but doable if focused.

Day 2 (Thu):

Romanian deadlifts - 3 sets of 5 at 70 kg. To push to 80.

DB reverse lunges - 3 sets of 5 at 40 kg. Pretty happy with this.

1-handed prone plank holds - 20-20 sec. Probably will experiment with the rest intervals first before pushing the work period.

Day 3 (Sat):

Bent-over DB rows - 3 sets of 5. Unknown weight, will start at 15 - 15 kg.

DB snatches - 3 sets of 7. Unknown weight, will start at 12.5 kg each hand.

Side plank holds - 3 sets of 30 sec hold each side. Not going to change this exercise to a new one, just going to focus on improving my technique (squeezing my butt harder to maintain a straight body when viewed from above, as I know I have anterior pelvic tilt, but much improved compared to my past).

As usual, cardio (+ corrective exercises) if I'm rested enough in between days, Mon is full rest day. Hoping to make full use of money spent by my dad to allow me to get into the gym (2 month only memberships are damn expensive I tell you) and avoid the excruciating heat of the current climate worsened by the El Nino phenomenon.