"Your love for what you do and willingness to push yourself where others aren't prepared to go is what will make you great." - Laurence Shahlaei
Back in the gym! Feeling pretty good so I went a bit on the heavier side today. Thinking I'll go even heavier with longer rests next cycle. Strength is up... :)
Body weight: 256.2lbs (+0.4lbs)
Calories burned: 2427
Calories eaten: 1959 (131g protein, 143g carb, 94g fat)
Steps taken: 1894
Workout duration: 35 min
Weight lifted: 10,604lbs
Chest
Decline Bench Press: 135x15, 185x6/5, 135x8
Incline DB Press: 90x9, 100x6, 90x5
Cable crossover: 88x4, 66x7, 55x8
Shoulders
Upright row: 50x15, 80x10/10
I was a bit worried that I'd have lost all my gainz after so few workouts the last two weeks, but my strength actually seems to have increased, so perhaps I just needed some extra time to get to full recovery after the previous 4 weeks' sessions. Regardless, I was pumped today - and got a great pump too!
Despite my shoulder complaining a little bit, I was able to push some good pounds on the decline. It's definitely a better exercise for my shoulders than traditional bench - and I'm able to go heavier more easily. Granted, the ROM is a bit less than flat bench, but pec activation is increased, so I figure it's a fair tradeoff.
Incline DB presses went well too - the weights actually seemed pretty light (at first) and I was able to get some great mind-muscle connection when squeezing my pecs during the presses. Same for the cable crossovers.
I was going to call it a session after chest and hit the hydromassage, but the table wasn't working so I decided to finish with a couple sets of upright rows. I went heavier than usual there too, and was surprised that I was rowing 80 pound barbells with little difficulty. The nice thing about the uprows is that they don't strain my shoulder impingement at all, but boy do they burrrnnn! :)
My diet has been crappo the past two weeks - time to refocus on getting that protein in. Did someone say moar chicken?!?
Leg Day tomorrow - LFG!
Feel free to read my original post about the why and how I'm doing this challenge: GymSamurai: One Year Birthday Fitness Challenge Begins, view all my GymSamurai posts from the last week at https://steemit.com/created/gymsamurai, or view my feed at @imagin8orr for my other posts. Thanks!