Newly Planted

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday’s exercises below. An ok week (improvements in a lot of areas) but I have to find some way to balance how much I feel like eating vs workouts. My simpler 3-day split with an optional full-body day may be more appropriate.

Having one ear blocked up is definitely affecting the workouts and I am pretty sure during Thursday’s incline bench press I twisted my neck a bit. Hopefully things will clear up soon.

Shoulders & Abs

1. Db Presses: 15x12, 20x12, 25x9/20x3, 25x3/20x3/15x4
2. Db Side Raises: 10x12, 12x12, 15x6/12x6, 12x12
3. Db Front Raises: 8x12, 10x12, 12x8/10x4, 12x6/10x6
4. Db Shrugs: 25x12, 30x12, 35x10, 40x10
5. Oblique Crunches: 20, 20
6. Hanging Leg Raise: 20, 20
7. Weighted Situps: 17, 13

Legs

1. Leg Extension: 75x12, 90x12, 120x12
2. Leg Press: 130x6/170x6, 200x12, 225x12
3. Leg Curl: 75x12, 90x12, 75x12
4. Stiff-Legged Deadlifts: 80x15, 90x15, 80x20
5. Seated Calf Raises: 50x12, 60x12
6. Standing Calf Raises: 80x12, 90x12
7. Calf Raises in Leg Press Machine: 130x15, 140x9/130x11

Chest & Triceps

1. Incline Db. Press: 30x12, 35x12, 35x4/30x8, 25x12
2. Flat Db. Flyes: 15x12, 20x12, 25x8/20x4, 20x12
3. Decline Bench Press: 50x12, 60x12, 70x4/40x8, 60x12
4. Dumbbell Pullovers: 15x12, 20x12, 25x10, 25x12
5. Tricep pushdowns: 40x12, 50x12, 60x12
6. Overheard rope extensions: 20x12, 40x12, 50x8/40x12
7. Bench Dips: 12, 10, 10

Today’s workout was ok at best, and after the first set leaning towards mediocre. I was pretty surprised at how little weight I could lift until I realised – I hadn’t really eaten much over the past 24/36 hours. My earlier workout was half the amount of exercises and I was eating more…no wonder I had no strength.

Will be making a more intelligent plan for next week :)

Back & Biceps

1. Lat pulldown: 70x12, 90x12, 100x9/90x3, 80x12
2. Counter-weighted chinups: 70x6, 80x6, 90x10, 90x10
3. Seated row: 60x12, 70x12, 80x6/70x3/60x3, 90x4/70x3/60x5
4. Back hyperextension: 12, 5x12, 10x1, 10x10
5. Db curls: 10x12, 15x12, 15x8/10x4
6. Hammer curl: 15x6/12x3, 12x12, 12x12
7. Preacher curl: 20x12, 20x12, 20x12

Well that was quick – the Kiva project I’m sponsoring has reached its goal and the cow will hopefully be soon on its way to the butcher shop :) Repayments start in January so will keep things updated here as well.

I’ve been toying with the idea about micro-lending through Kiva for a couple years now, and with Christmas on the way I decided to finally take the plunge. This is something I can support: a butcher in Uganda who wants a loan to buy a cow :)

Edit: Apparently the link to a given micro-loan applicant is not constant, so I've removed the banner. Again, a few things on the site that need some polish.

I spent a good hour or more looking through the requests and to be honest a lot of them just don’t seem noteworthy. I don’t really want to support someone who is running a store so they can buy more pop to resell. Nor do I necessarily think it’s good for someone to request $1000 for a saw when it seems like the money will go to something else. There is a lack of properly-written scenarios on a whole and not enough clarity on what exactly the money will be used for.

Regardless, I'm planning on following this for a few months and making a loan every paycheque or two provided I can find something that seems worthwhile. I’ll post updates here whenever they happen.

Chest & Triceps

1. Incline Db. Press: 30x12, 40x6/35x2/30x5, 35x10, 40x4/30x1/25x1
2. Flat Db. Flyes: 10x12, 15x12, 20x12, 25x8/20x4
3. Decline Bench Press: 60x12, 70x12, 90x6/70x6, 80x12
4. Dumbbell Pullovers: 20x12, 20x12, 20x10, 25x10
5. Tricep pushdowns: 40x12, 60x5/40x8, 60x12
6. Overheard rope extensions: 20x12, 30x12, 40x8/30x4
7. Bench Dips: 12, 10, 10

A good workout although I had some problems with the fourth and sixth exercises. I’m still a fan of big movements like bench press and dips so will concentrate on those. It was tough to not be able to even do 3 proper dips by the time I hit pushdowns.

The best thing today, by far, was seeing Kimmy pull off a 70-lb decline bench press :) Personal bests, especially with such a huge jump, are the most rewarding part of being in the gym. I think by next week I’ll be updating a few of my own.