I returned tot he gym after missing my first day at the gym last Friday. I was sick, and I didn’t want to stay away, but recovery and not wanting to spread the crud I had acquired won the day. I lowered the bar and made sure I did some productive work.
I added abs to my workout a few months ago. The volume is pretty low, but I am still building the mini-habit for this body part. I have been using the Roman chair, crunches and a weighted ab machine. I did three or four sets of crunches
I am still adjusting my program as I focus on reducing my waistline. My chest consists of three core exercises, incline dumbbell press, machine dips, and pec deck. I am considering adding dumbbell pullovers to expand my rib cage and stimulate my intercostals (straight arm pulldowns is the analog for back work.)
Technique and form were the focal point of my dips this morning. Arnold says stretch and contraction are the two components of a good rep and exercise. So I got a good stretch with every rep, followed by a good contraction of the lower pecs. At least I tried. I tend to have a jerky rhythm to my sets, and so I worked on what Arnold called a pace like deliberate pistons. Four sets was good.
I gathered up 30 pound dumbbells for incline chest press at a 45-degree angle. Again, I wanted to practice the right pace and rhythm for three sets.
I completed chest with pec deck. I adjusted the machine to have my elbows about parallel to the deck to hit and stretch the whole peck. I adjusted the machine for maximum stretch and did four good sets.
Barbell curls with no weight, incline dumbbell curls with 12.5 pounds and a set of hammer curls was my volume for biceps for today.
Total volume was three sets crunches, 11 sets for chest, and seven sets for biceps. Good workout!
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