Exerbabble for 2-4-6

So, ran the second half of my split today. I went really hard yesterday, and kept up the pace today. Before, the only exercise I’d do with three or more reps would be squats or deadlifts. Everything else would be two sets. I decided my body was ready for doing at least three sets. While I did manage 4 x 8 @ 95 lbs for squats yesterday, deadlifts today still drained me by the end of the third set. Keeping pace with my sudden rise in squat weight, I increased the weight to 105 for my deadlift today.

I remember reading how your greatest gains are in the first few months. I haven’t really felt any huge jumps in weight. But I do know that there’s no way in hell my body could handle this kind of volume a few months ago. Not a chance in hell. I’m not afraid of who I was, or thought I was. I don’t have to worry about proving I’m not some weakling. What started as something out of a whim has turned into something more and more refined.

The average person can’t walk into the gym and know exactly what they’re going to do each workout. You have no baseline, no benchmarking. You aren’t sure of what your body is capable of. It’s taken me a while to know A. what sets/reps/weight I can do and B. what sets/reps/weight I can aim for. There was only one way for me to figure it out: by doing.

Now whenever I’m about to do an exercise, I already know exactly how much weight I’m going to use, and exactly how many reps/set I’m going to aim for. If I feel I can do more, I don’t do more reps, I just add another set. I still have more or less the same rep range for more exercises. 8 – 12. For now, I like 3 x 8 for most of my stuff.

I’m not making any gains on my overhead press. I’ve been doing them with dumbbells, thinking it would help the stabilizer muscles. Two problems: those muscles may be relatively weak. In addition, for whatever reason, lately I’ve been doing my bench press first, which naturally kicks the shit out of your triceps. I may start doing them sitting down with a barbell. May. I would like to actually finish 20 reps with the empty 45 lb bar in weight training, as opposed to be stuck at 15.

I’ve been watching my heart rate and my breathing. Typically before starting my next set, I wait a moment for my heart to calm slightly. Doesn’t need to relax, as that would take forever, but just a little. I’ve also noticed that sometimes I will get out of breath despite having more energy in the tank. Just an observation, as I inhale on the eccentric motion and exhale on the concentric motion. Inhale on negative, exhale on exertion. For whatever reason, it makes a difference. If you start panting, you should pause immediately.

With the increased volume, I find myself sweating more. I used to hate sweating, did you know that? Maybe it’s the anticipation of a shower, but it just doesn’t phase me. I down some water from the fountain and power on.

I’m thinking about what I’ll do after weight training ends. I’m thinking it may be in my favor to do two full-body workouts, then run a split, much like I am now. It’s a thought. I’m obviously quite fond of the split, as it lets me really push hard without a necessarily high risk of overtraining. Other people may want a stripped down full-body workout to do three days a week, but I need more. I want more.

Monday should be interesting. I’ll be up to 50 lbs on the preacher curl. I did 3 x 8 reverse curls today. There’s an offchance I will finish 20 reps of the preacher curl, as I never focus the bicep like that. I think I’ll be up to 65 lb squats and bench presses, again going for 20 reps. I think he wanted us to add a second set of 10 reps. *shrugs* Okay, boss.

I don’t think I have anything else to say related to this topic.