Chest/Back: Suggestions?
Last Thursday, I made a template of my schedule for the rest of the term and showed it to my friend Dan. He agreed to commit to going to the gym from 800-1000pm 4 days a week. We live in the same place, so it’s easier. I usually eat at around 615-700, rest for an hour and leave at 8pm sharp and arrive at the gym (Gold’s Gym) at around 815 or so (depending on the snow). We stretch and warm up for about 5 minutes, then we are on to the work out. My warm ups are mostly concentrated on midsection exercises as it’s my most problematic area. We decided to go together on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. I swim on Wednesdays and Sundays and have a total rest day on Saturdays. I will probably (though it will entirely depend on my mood) start going to the steam room at the Aquatic Center everyday except Saturdays from 1000-1100pm to cleanse my skin and sweat. The sauna is just a great way to transition from heavy workout to sleeping hour. I love the build up of certain habits. When they become sedimented, they become part of a lifestyle and as natural as the air we breathe. I think this is precisely when results happen. As Erasmus says, UNA HIRUNDO NON FACIT VER (one swallow does not make a spring) Do. Repeat. Do. Repeat. That’s how you reach excellence. That’s my motto in everything I do. Do one thing a hundred times over in various forms and you reach a calibre of work that will surprise you.
We pushed each other well today, but I have to admit my wrists and forearms were very stiff towards the end of our back circuit. We did 3 exercises for both back and chest, but we both think this was not the optimal thing to do. I was certainly losing it towards the last exercise (incline chest press) and needed Dan to support me all the time. It sucks when you lose energy in these workouts. But then again, we just started working out intensely last week so I anticipate it would get better tomorrow and the days to come. Honestly though, I’ve never seen better gains in terms of muscle mass in my upper body EVER since we started entering this intense zone.
Any suggestions on how to handle this?
January 13, 2009 at 3:07 am
Maybe doing chest and back on the same day is overkill? If you’re doing 4 sessions a week there is plenty room to do back and chest on separate days.
If your wrists and forearms are killing you, try to use straps on a couple of the back exercises. It’s unfortunate to not get in proper backwork just because your forearms are shot and not able to hold on to the weight any longer.