02/01/2007:
Warmup: 10 minutes @ ramp 20 @ resistance 8 @ c. 125 strides/minute on the elliptical machine
Deadlift: 135x14, 225x10, 225x8 (lost grip, hurriedly re-racked the bar), 225x2 (not the set of ten that I wanted, but x8 and x2 felt better than just giving up after 8)
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 155x8, 155x7 (concentrated on depth on last set, had the bar hitting the tops of my feet at the bottom)
Pullups: 5, 4
BB Bent-over row: 90x7, 90x7
High Pull: 90x8
Incline Twist Situps (@2): 22
High Pull: 90x7 (form getting dangerously sloppy at the end)
Incline Twist Situps (@2): 20
Total Lift time: 58 minutes
Cool down: 10 minutes of stretching (basic static stretches, haven't begun to figure out how to incorporate the massive link Smashius provided)
Bodyweight: 199
Notes:
My grip is starting to fail me on deadlift days. In a way, that's not a bad sign, as (I think) it means that the weakest point in my lifts has shifted away from the major muscles that I'm trying to work and off to the little muscles at the end of the chain. I know that a couple of folks out there use straps for the DL assistance lifts for this reason, but honor seems to demand that I at least try to increase my grip endurance before resorting to mechanical aids. I got a couple of
recomendations on that issue a while back, and I'm thinking that the easiest to insert into my current routine would be swapping my standard pullups for towel pullups and seeing how that goes.
I also have the sneaking suspicion that my high pulls will eventually hit a weight that is light enough for me to get going with a good deal of momentum, but heavy enough to make it hard to control at the top of the pull. I hope to identify that weight and adjust accordingly before I manage to break my own jaw.
Might be swapping the stiff-legged deadlifts for stiff-legged, straight backed DL's. I know that my lower back is already tired by the time I get to the SLDL's; but I'm not convinced that my hamstrings are getting the beating that they deserve.
OT, gym-related notes:
The elbow should not be the thickest part of the arm, and the knee should not be the thickest part of the leg. Not on anyone, of either gender. Whoever decided that any woman should strive to look like a Darfur refugee two days short of starvation needs to be gut-shot and left in a desert.
OT, MMA notes: I don't think I'm plunking down the cash to watch UFC 67 live tomorrow. Jackson and Filipovic's UFC debuts will doubtless have some historic significance, but the fights themselves look to be foregone conclusions. In the end, this one just isn't one of the cards that I
have to see as it happens. If Lutter or Marvin "Wrong End of the Highlight Reel" Eastman manage to make a war of their fights, I might pick this up on DVD a couple of months from now, but Zuffa is cranking out cards too fast for me to throw down $40 to watch each one once.
I'll still be checking Sherdog for the blow-by-blow and results first thing Sunday morning, though.