Where Are The Dumbbells?

Tonight after work I was determined to do some weight lifting. I've been slacking off so much in general recently and I'm really thinking that although I was originally planning on being able to be done with this workout book by Christmas, I can still be done by the New Year and that still seems like a good thing! I had to finish up the last workout of Week 10 (Pyramid Up). Today's workout focused on back, biceps and abs. So, after work, I headed home, changed clothes and went to the gym to do some weight lifting. Here is today's workout:

Dumbbell Pullovers: 1 set of 14 reps @ 25 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 35 lbs
Lat Pulldown (Triangle Bar): 1 set of 12 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 70 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 80 lbs
Dumbbell Curls: 1 set of 12 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 10 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 6 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm)
Barbell Curls: 1 set of 12 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 6 reps @ 40 lbs
Reverse Crunches: 1 set of 12 reps / 1 set of 10 reps / 1 set of 8 reps

When I got to the gym, it was pretty busy in the weight area. No big surprise there. At our gym, there are three main weight lifting areas - one area with most of the free weight machines - one area with dumbbells - and then a good number of the plate-loaded machines are in another location. I was in the area with the dumbbells and there are about 4 weight lifting benches there, all in use. Well, that's not exactly true. Two were in use and two had towels laid over them with no one in sight. That sort of behavior is just so aggravating to me! Especially since one person had a towel laid out and then a backpack on top. I waited for a minute or two for a bench to clear out and still no one had started using that bench with the backpack on it.

Anyway, I started doing my dumbbell pullovers. There are also two types of dumbbells at our gym. The lighter ones (from 5-25 lbs) have rubber ends and they're mainly the ones that I use. The heavier ones have metal ends and are stored on different stands. So, when I went looking for the 30 lb dumbbell that I needed, I couldn't find it anywhere. I looked up and down the row twice and finally found it on the bench with the backpack. I looked around and a guy started walking toward me. I asked if I could use one of the two 30 lb dumbbells that he had 'saved' on his bench and he sort-of gave me a hard time about it, but since I didn't see him doing anything, I didn't feel too bad about taking it for the next 45 seconds while I did my one set (which I did explain that I'd be really quick).

I can understand at 6 AM that it might be okay to leave your stuff lying around on a weight bench when it's not that busy. But it's really just not okay to reserve weights or benches when you're not doing anything and there are people waiting for benches. The gym just seems like one place where people ought to be able to clean up after themselves and put their weights back where they found them and put their dirty towels in the bins, but that just doesn't seem to be the case! (Okay, I'm done ranting now...)

The rest of the workout was pretty good. I definitely think that when Drew is with me he pushes me a little bit harder than I can do on my own. On the dumbbell curls, the last set with the 25 lb dumbbells, I did cheat a little bit. I only did one arm at a time and set the other dumbbell on the floor. I think I managed to do 2 or three with each arm unassisted and then I had to use my other arm to just assist a little tiny bit. I'm not sure if that counts or not. Drew would most likely say it did since it wasn't that much of a difference. I just needed help pushing it from a 45 to a 50 degree angle and then I could get the rest of it up with one arm.

All in all, I'm glad to be one week closer to completion of this weight lifting program. I've really tried to stick with it and I know I haven't been as good the last couple of weeks, but I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now! I'm going to say here that I'd like to keep weight lifting when this program is done, but maybe not quite so regimented. Or it'll probably be more like the last two weeks where it has taken me 10 days or so to do 7 days worth of workouts, I'll just spread it out more.

Weight Lifting
Time: 41:35
Calories: 199
Maximum HR: 154
Average HR: 109