There goes the hands...

So yesterday I got all amped up to get back in some heavy lifting.  In the morning I got a bunch of sets of dealifts, getting up to a 1RM of 435lbs, waaaay below my PR of 485, but it's been a while since I did it, and I was happy with the workout.  My posture broke a bit on the last two sets, but it was never enough to cause any unnecessary tightness; and, today, hamstrings and glutes a little sore, but nothing too bad at all.

At night I went back in the gym and did a workout called "Angie"  This one is a bodyweight workout of 100 reps each of pull ups, push up, squat and sit ups.  I focused on keeping full proper form on everything, especially the sit ups.  The pull ups were a breeze, getting 35 straight off the bat, then finishing off the rest in 5 more quick sets.  The only issue, my hands got completely torn to pieces.  They are in majorly rough shape right now...  The push ups were my hardest of the exercises.  I was only able to get 10 straight, then just broke them up into quick sets of 5 through the end.  I really need to focus a bit more on this exercise, I used to be able to bang out 80+ on a daily basis, now I struggle with 30+.  I'll probably start to add more push ups during down time at the gym over the next few months, that is always a great way to build on your total reps.  The squats were nothing.  I took three breaks during the work and those breaks literally were a step back, a breath and then back into it.  The site ups were the most time consuming as I forced myself to keep the butterfly position with my legs (bottoms of feet together, knees splayed out to the sides) forcing my lower half out of the picture for the movement.  This made the exercise a little tougher because I wasn't able to use momentum, so I just moved a good deal slower than I am used to with the sit up.  When all was said and done, I finished in 16:13, which I was pretty happy with.  I really wanted to to break 15, and I think that that is totally possible for the next time I attempt it.

Today, I have strict overhead press work, then doing a tabata row and squat routine with Ori.  Getting very excited to the second Trans-Continental workout with Blair this coming Friday.  He'll actually be doing the workout tonight because he'll be traveling all day Friday, but it'll still be cool to have both our views from different countries.  To add to the excitement, I have recruited some 7-9 more people to join the workout.  Should be a blast!!

Never Stop, GET FIT.

Josh Courage