A puny night in the gym

[Gearloose]

Last night was a dismal upper body workout. I seemed to have no strength for anything and ended up cutting the workout short without even doing my lat pulldowns and shoulder shrugs. Nothing was hurt or injured, I just could not move the iron.

My bench press: I only managed 2 sets of 4x and one set of 4x at 185 lb. (spotter on the last set) That's down one rep total from the last time on 9/17. What's bad is the 9/17 numbers are down from the 9/13 workout where I did 5x, 4x & 4x at 185 lb. I had no spotter on either of those nights.

I switched my rows from the Cybex selectorized seated machine to the Olympic plate loaded leverage row machine last night. The leverage machine is different enough that I could only pull 200 lb for 10x, 8x, 8x with it. I've been pulling 250 lb on the Cybex. The leverage rowing machine really fatigued me.

I did my usual back hyperextensions: 3 sets of 12x at 260 lb, but it took a lot more effort than normal and the last set really pooped me out.

The last exercise I tried was the leverage seated chest press. I've been seeing steady progress on this since I started using it. On 9/17 I did three sets at 220 lb: 7x, 5x & 4x. Last night I barely got out five reps on the first set. On the second set I could not budge the weight at all. That's when I called it a night.

Could the change to the different rowing machine have contributed to my failure on the leverage chest press? I do my bench press sets first thing in the gym after a good warmup with lighter weights, so I don't know what's contributed to my declining numbers there. Too much weight added too soon, maybe? I've been pushing myself toward the goal to bench 225 before the end of the year.

What's ironic is that I've been going like gangbusters on my lower body routine and am increasing the weights rapidly there.

[.V.]

We all have days like that. Is your upper body possibly getting overtrained? Do you need a few days off?

I've recently learned that if I keep pushing longer than I could because I want to keep trying for results and only take a break when forced to do so - I end up going backwards.

I'm giving taking 4 days off every 8 weeks a shot for a while. That way by not waiting until totally whomped, I can take a shorter rest and hopefully not lose the gains I made before the break.

You may be due for a rest. Or perhaps just a bad day in the gym - we all have them. They stink, but then make us appreciate a good day when we have one of them.

[threenorns]

i've had days like that, where nothing at all seems to go right. just chalk it up to a sucky day and don't let it psych you out.

[Shamrock]

Gear is that a six pack I see developing in that avatar!?!?

[.V.]

Originally Posted by Shamrock

Gear is that a six pack I see developing in that avatar!?!?

It sure ain't a keg.

[Gearloose]

Originally Posted by Shamrock

Gear is that a six pack I see developing in that avatar!?!?

Almost!

The obliques are coming in nicely, but there's still some stubborn fat and a lot of loose skin over the abs. I'm still trying to build muscle, so am not anywhere near being on a cutting diet--maybe next year.

[Gearloose]

Well, Yesterday was my first upper body workout since Tuesday when everything was so bleah..

It went pretty darned good! I dropped the weight on the bench press to 175 lb. That was much better. I think I had just pushed my weight too high too fast on the bench. At 175 lb, I can only do about 6 reps on the first set, but can still do 5 reps on the next two sets. When I can do 8 reps on the first two sets, I'll add weight again.

I completed the entire workout yesterday and felt great at the end. Tired, but great.

The Flex Equipment leverage row machine is certainly different than the Cybex cable seated row machine. I can only use 200 lb on the Flex machine where I was using all 250 lb of plates on the Cybex. The difference seems to be that the seating position on the leverage machine does not allow one to brace their feet against anything when pulling. You sit leaned forward with your chest resting against a pad and your feet tucked back.

Here's a picture of the Flex machine:

[.V.]

Good to see that the upper body work went well for you again. Those bad days really stink but are still better than a day sitting around doing nothing.

'Nother topic, the difference you've made without being on a cutting diet is simply amazing. What you are doing is definitely working - keep it up. Way better results than me - and you are quite a few years older - impressive.:

[Merrida]

Originally Posted by Gearloose

Almost!

The obliques are coming in nicely, but there's still some stubborn fat and a lot of loose skin over the abs. I'm still trying to build muscle, so am not anywhere near being on a cutting diet--maybe next year.

You are looking great! Nice improvement. If these are the results you're getting without cutting, I can't wait to see those pics when you do. Nice job, keep up the great work.

As for your blah days,....as redundant as this is, you may just need a break, perhaps you're over training, but you do bring up a good point about switching workout tactics/machines. When you change leverage and angles, you can't expect the weights to remain consistent,...go by how it feels, not the numbers.....so don't try to duplicate "the numbers" (weight) when you switch angles/variations. Wont' work.

And again, you look great!

Gearloose took a time off after an injury and retired from this stuff I believe. He did check in once with us after we sent him a PM wishing him a happy birthday. He posted and asked someone to give him a kick to motivate him.

We haven't heard from him since.

I'd sure like some more middle-age man company here at the "young" Discuss Fitness, and Gearloose could be just that.

[EliteLift]

my last legs day was like that! even though I set a new PR on SLDL I just didn't have any mental drive that makes me love the intensity. I have been going really hard though, so my CNS is probably needing some time to recover.

Sometimes if I go really hard for a few weeks I will start peaking in weights and all I need is a week off trainning completly, and when i'm back I generally am much stronger than before my weeks rest.

I don't know how hard you have been going, but perhaps all you need is some good food, some time to sleep, and a week off trainning.

Good luck!

[.V.]

Originally Posted by pierini

I'd sure like some more middle-age man company here at the "young" Discuss Fitness.

Hey, you've got some middle age company here. A couple of us in this thread in fact. We aren't quite as middle aged as you...but not too far behind.

Some of us just happen to be head banging, hard rocking, black dressing, hard core middle aged folks.

[Hulkeye]

is CNS your Central Nervous System?

[Todd]

Originally Posted by Hulkeye

is CNS your Central Nervous System?

Yep!

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by pierini

I'd sure like some more middle-age man company here at the "young" Discuss Fitness, and Gearloose could be just that.

Why cant you stop trying to be different and age gracefully.

Some packs of chips some beer and a sofa watching the game. Exercise is reaching for the remote or having to get up yourself to go to the fridge because the wife is out . Dont get me started on having to climb the stairs at night.