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Training blog - page 16
Day one hundred and two: Wednesday 17 May 2006
Rest day.
Day one hundred and three: Thursday 18 May 2006
Gym. The recent cold and sore throat seem to have disappeared. Having spent most of yesterday on the telephone phoning companies mainly in the USA, Spain and Italy, I returned to training today. However, I did find a little time to do the usual quantity of hand grips, reverse curls and ab crunches.
On today's visit, I started by warming up on the exercise bike whilst consuming my favourite pre-ride food; jaffa cakes. I spent 5 minutes turning the pedals on level 5 resistance.
Next, I calf raised three sets of 15 reps at 90kg followed by two sets of 15 on the upright rowing bar. Again, I was agonisingly close to doing 15 reps every set, but could only manage 13 reps in the final set. The upright rowing bar weight lifted was the bar weight plus a total of 5kg weight disks.
Better news came on leg extensions, where I easily managed three sets of 10 reps at 80kg, made easier probably due to me not using the leg press machine today.
I decided to further increase the resistance on inner thigh squeezes; the first set was performed at 160lbs, followed by the final 20 reps at 165lbs. I am not too far away from the maximum resistance available on the machine, so it's fair to say that the resistance being squeezed is hurting me. Ditto on outer thigh pushes, where the group of muscles being worked do tire very quickly compared to all other exercises I do at the gym.
Leg curls are no longer becoming problematic, as I have reverted back to 50kg and I managed the usual three sets of 10 reps.
In regards to tricep pulldowns, I tried again to pulldown 20kg weights. I managed two sets of 10 reps before my triceps and weakened elbow couldn't take any more without tweaking anything. I purposefully asked an instructor to come over to the machine so that she could observe by body, arm and shoulder movement.
Finally, I completed today's session on the 'Superman' ball, raising the usual two sets of 20 reps.
Day one hundred and four: Friday 19 May 2006
Rest day.
Day one hundred and five: Saturday 20 May 2006
Gym. Having had plenty of domestic issues to deal with over the last ten days, I was able to venture to the gym today, albeit for a 25 minute session. I arrived at Lakenham Sports and Leisure Centre at approximately 5.25pm, thinking that closing time was 9pm, like weekdays. Since weekend opening hours are 9am to 6pm, I was left with very little time to do much but decided it was worth it as I'd already arrived there in shorts, trainers and t-shirt, so very little time was needed to get changed etc.
During the limited time, I leg pressed three sets of 10 reps at 250kg, did three sets of 10 leg extensions and inner thigh squeezed two sets of 20 at 160lbs.
At this point, I had approximately 7 minutes remaining, so I focused on doing a couple of quick exercises. Firstly, I performed two sets of 20 'Superman' ball raises and then one set of 20 reps per side on the torso twist machine. I felt that it would benefit me more if I worked both sides rather than just the one, as by now, time was very much against me.
With the majority of domestic issues resolved, I will be returning to a full training programme next week.
Day one hundred and six: Sunday 21 May 2006
Rest day.
Day one hundred and seven: Monday 22 May 2006
Rest day.
Day one hundred and eight: Tuesday 23 May 2006
Gym. To start today's entry, I'd like to give an update on my right elbow, which was broken back in February. Yesterday, I went to the Norfolk and Norwich University hospital for a physiotherapy appointment and assessment on the progress my elbow is making. I'm pleased to say that the Senior Physiotherapist was pleased with the range of movement I now have. I still experience sharp throbbing pains if I jolt the tip of the elbow but apparently that is normal so soon after the operations I had. On the bike, intense focusing and adrenalin seems to be blocking most of the pain I otherwise experience. I was also assessed for biometric hand gripping strength. I had three readings taken on each hand and an average was taken. Somewhat surprisingly, the average for the right hand was approximately 52kg of force and about 49kg on the left arm. On reading the minimum requirements for entry to become a Police Officer, the candidate must produce at least an average of 36kg of force per hand, so clearly I would have comfortably passed the biometric strength test.
Plenty of good news at the gym. Calf raises were unchanged but for the first time, my calfs felt good raising 90kg using the correct technique, so I plan to increase the weight load to 100kg, with the same number of reps; 3 sets of 15. Doing these first is certainly working. Leg extensions were also unchanged at 80kg, with my quadriceps noticably warming up after 5 reps of each set. I feel ready to increase the resistance to 85kg.
Inner thigh squeezes were unchanged. However, I decided to increase outer thigh push resistance from 110lbs to 115lbs. The first set was completed with relative ease but naturally by the time I completed the second set, the muscles worked were absolutely fatigued. Next, leg curls, torso twists and 'Superman' ball raises were unchanged.
I am absolutely delighted to say that for the very first time, I lifted the full three sets of 15 reps on the upright rowing bar, at the usual bar weight plus a total of 5kg weight disks. Perseverence paid off at long last! Hip flexor raises were unchanged at 45.3kg, the same as total hip kickbacks at 73kg. I feel reading to increase the total hip kickback resistance to 80kg.
The positive news continued on tricep pulldowns where my arms, especially the weakened right elbow, seem to be getting used to pulling down 20kg. Today, I managed three sets of 10 reps at 20kg. I will be gradually building this up until I reach three sets of 20 reps at this weight load. To complete the session, I did three sets of 20 pulldowns at a dumbell weight of 15kg.
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