I Saw My Tricep

This morning I headed off to the gym to start Week 3 of my Weight Training Program. I'm really enjoying it so far. This week introduced some new exercises, so I wanted to start on the weekend so that I would have more time to try out the new exercises.

This is what I did:

Lat Pulldown (triangle bar): 1 set of 15 @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 12 @ 70 lbs
Tricep Pushdowns: 1 set of 12 @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 15 @ 30 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 15 @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 15 @ 65 lbs
Leg Curls: 1 set of 15 @ 20 lbs / 1 set of 15 @ 25 lbs
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 1 set of 15 @ 12.5 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 @ 12.5 lbs
Ab Bench Crunches: 2 sets of 15

The lat pulldowns that I was doing before were the traditional wide grip pulldowns and this one used the triangle bar. Not too different, although I guess this just must work a different part of my back (Drew says the middle). This week I am supposed to try to do shorter reps of more challenging weight for the two exercises I've done before: lat pulldowns and shoulder presses, which I tried to do.

The tricep pushdowns did not go well. I wanted to use the lat pulldown machine because that's what is illustrated in my book and I'm comfortable with it and Drew showed me a different machine to use. We did the first set using Drew's machine and I had a hard time keeping the correct form. I also didn't really understand the weights because I apparenly was lifting 35 pounds, but the weight plates said I was lifting 70 pounds. I am trying to be more comfortable in the boy area, but my discomfort with the unknown of this new machine and all of its complicated parts made me a little frustrated. We ended up doing the second set on the lat pulldown machine with a regular bar and that was a lot easier for me. Drew even showed me how my tricep looked in the mirror, which was pretty cool!

The rest of the workout was good. We used the single leg curl machine instead of the double leg curl machine, so the weight listed above is the weight for one leg only. Drew and I both like the single leg machine better, but I can see that if I was rushing, I'd want to do fewer sets and would probably use the double leg machine.

The ab bench crunches are done on the decline bench. I really concentrated on keeping my abs scooped like I learned from pilates while I was doing the crunches. When Drew got on the bench, I accused him of cheating because ususally core work is a little easier for me and he whipped right through those crunches!

I ended up not doing any cardio at the gym. I was originally thinking of going to the Terrier swim, but when the time rolled around, I wasn't in the mood to (a) wake up from my nap, (b) go outside in the rain, and (c) have the potential to have no coach again like last week. I forgot to wear my heart-rate monitor to the gym, so I don't have any fancy stats for the day, so it was just a bit of an old school day at the gymnasium.