I suppose it’s worth discussing A) why I do any of this B) why I do what I do specifically and C) why anyone would care.
A) Weight lifting is an extremely simple empowering activity. There is little or no complexity. I know when I’m done.
As a physicist/engineer by education and trade, most of my problems are complicated. There’s not a whole lot of simplicity, and you can’t think harder when confronted by difficult math. The usual way to overcome difficult math is think easier, think from different angles, run down a hundred possible solutions and do so lightly so frustration doesn’t set in. There’s none of that in weight lifting. You just pick the bar up, run the miles, do the stretch. You know when you’re done because you’ve finished the schedule or you can’t lift/move/bend anymore. It’s over. It’s done. The task is completed, and there is nothing left but resting and recharging.
B) No particular reason. I used to run a lot, and I’ve gotten out of that. Now I like hiking and even aggressive hiking like the Incline is simpler than old running. But the weights are just complicated enough to do a little math and a little planning. They’re also close. Getting up to the hills, even from Denver, takes a little time, planning, good weather, and gas. The gym’s a few miles from my apartment.
I suppose there’s a physical sense of accomplishment and pleasant fatigue. I don’t notice that much, but I do like being able to carry boxes from my apartment to car easily.
C) These posts are more writing exercise than anything else. If you’re interested in what I spend my time on, this struck me as more interesting than counting uses of ‘said’ and chasing down dialogue tags. Do I always hyphenate this phrase like so? I cannot imagine anyone would like to read about that. I don’t want to do it, but it’s important.
Week reset for Bench Day!
Warmups: See before. I threw in some side lunges where I squat, stick a leg sideways, slide over, and stand up from there, going back and forth ten/twenty times. Those help the soreness from real squatting. As always, the purpose is just an elevated heartrate, so I’m not too picky.
Bench:
3×70%
10 Jump squats with 18# medicine ball
3×80%
10 Jump squats with 18# medicine ball
3+x90%
10 Jump squats with 18# medicine ball
Heavy weight:
1×95%
Pullups
1×95%
PU
1×95%
PU
Assistance: I didn’t do any math on these numbers. I just put round numbers of plates on bars. DL was with a hex bar.
5×65%
5x DL 40%
5×65%
5x DL 40%
5×65%
5x DL 40%
5×65%
5x DL 40%
5×65%
5x DL 40%
Hit a wall on the last set of bench and my spotter basically pulled the bar off me at rep 4 or 5. I was done. Closer to acclimatization, but not there yet.