After my typical warm-up, I started with barbell bench presses followed by dumbbell bench presses:
(Barbell bench press) empty (20 kg) x 10 reps
40kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 2 sets x 5 reps
(Dumbbell bench press) 20 kg x 3 sets x 10 sets
In between the final 6 sets of the two above, I mixed in single leg squats:
3 sets x 4 reps for each leg.
I mixed them by alternating after every 90 sec rest.
After this I did a similar combination of chinups + 1 hand plank hold/sleeper stretch (for my right shoulder) in a similar alternating pattern after 90 sec rest:
(Chinups) 5 sets of 2
(1 hand plank hold) 20 sec on one hand, then switch to other hand)
(Sleeper stretch) stretch until 3 minute mark in between each chinup set
I noticed that after the session I had some soreness in the front of both shoulders. I asked my brother to watch me perform an imaginary bench press on the floor, from which he noticed that my press wasn't perfectly perpendicular at the end of the concentric phase; the "bar" was oriented towards my head instead of perfectly above my shoulders. This is something I'll have to look into next week.
It's also pretty hard to go for strength without a partner. Even though I was sure that I could lift heavier (at least 65/70 kg for that bench press), I chose not to because of fear. I want a partner to just bail me out if I fail. Without a partner, it's better to lift lighter than getting yourself injured.
2 comments:
Wow dude, it really looks like you're serious about your exercise regime. I commend you on that, indeed. But always be mindful of your limitations, and I'm sure you don't need to be reminded of doing everything in moderation, and especially during gym workouts, to maintain some variety. I haven't worked out at a gym in ages, but I try to compensate :)
Anyway, regarding bench presses, perhaps you can just try the non-free-weight version? You know, the machine with the variable weights? It's a good way to build strength and confidence for the real thing.
Yeah, I'm very careful about limitations of working alone in the gym, as you might kill yourself (literally) if you're overconfident, especially with the bench press. On non-lifting days I even go and just practice with the empty bar, just to make sure my technique is sound. Poor technique can really just mess up your "strength".
I do try the chest press machine, but I don't like how it has that predetermined arc; it feels unnatural. I'd rather do pushups with elevated feet/explosive pushups if I want to go hard without bench pressing.
Btw, don't worry about moderation. Bench presses are one of the exercises that give the most common injuries to gym-goers (chronic shoulder problems), and I do them only once a week to keep it safe. :) I really like "it's hard to injure yourself" exercises like pushups (and it's varieties), 1-leg squats/deadlifts, and chinups.
Huh, times flies, huh? You finally look older than me. :p
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