T-MINUS 10 DAYS, AND COUNTING…
For the benefit of those who don’t follow me on Instagram (I imagine that is all of you), here are my most recent progress pics. They compare where I was when I started this contest prep to where I was on Sunday morning, 13 days before the show.
This is a training log, so I suppose I should log my recent training, even though that seems almost like an afterthought at this stage. Sunday’s training is barely worth mentioning.
Saturday 4/27/24: 9,669 steps, 4.3 miles, 13 floors climbed
Sunday 4/28/24: 4,942 steps, 2.0 miles, 8 floors climbed
Lower #3, Gold’s Gym
Here’s the summary: I did some calf raises and hyperextensions, and just as I was getting into the meat and potatoes of this session (starting with leg curls), our oldest daughter called us and informed us of a power outage in the neighborhood. I went online and reported the outage to our utility company. They said it was an estimated 2-3 hours before power was restored. Our children aren’t little (18, 13, 11) but they don’t have any experience with power outages or comparable challenges. So my wife and I aborted the gym mission and went home.
Monday 4/29/24: 7,334 steps, 2.8 miles, 9 floors climbed
I had a one on one virtual session with the posing coach who has been teaching the group classes I have attended. I think this investment is going to pay off. One of the mandatory poses is “abdominals and thighs” (with hands over your head). I could not figure out how to do it in a way that would keep either of my thighs flexed, and she helped me figure out a way to do it and make it look good. Two other poses are “front lat spread” and “rear lat spread” (both with hands on waist or hips). This whole time, I’ve been doing it with my hands too low. She had me position my hands just under my ribs - higher than I’ve been placing them - and all of a sudden, my lats got an inch or two wider. A few other things got fine tuned as well.
But she said something else that has been at the forefront of my mind, and it has increased both my confidence and anxiety. Unsolicited, she said I have a very good chance to win the masters 40+ (as if she expects me to win), and depending on who shows up, I have a legit chance at the open. Now I’m nervous. I didn’t have any expectations before. After hearing that, now I might be disappointed if I don’t win something. I guess I better put my best foot forward over the next week and a half.
Tuesday 4/30/24: 12,689 steps, 5.6 miles, 12 floors climbed
Upper #1, Planet Fitness
This was supposed to start with dips and chin-ups. But every dip and chin-up station was in use, so rather than wait, I improvised.
Cable Pulldown - short bar, underhand grip
70 lbs/15 reps
add set: 100/5 + 140/5 + 160/5
180/11 - I used Versa Gripps for these
Seated Triceps Press Machine - I did these leaning forward, barely sitting on the seat pad to mimic a dip
80 lbs/10 reps
add set: 125/6, 6 (shifted seat position after the first 6)+ 160/10
test set: 205/3 + 190/5 - I wasn’t sure what my work weight should be, so I figured I should test it before committing to it. Settled on 190.
190/18 - I probably should have gone with 195 or 200 lbs.
Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise - weights listed are per hand
10 lbs/15 reps
drop set: 20’s/10 + 15’s/8 + 10’s/10
Smith Machine Shrug
90 lbs + bar/12 reps
180+/10 - added Versa Gripps here
270+/12
Hammer Strength Ab Machine - crunch from top and bottom simultaneously
30 lbs/5 reps + 50/5 + 70/5 + 50/5, 5, 5 + 30/10
I don’t know what to call this set. I took 5 breaths each time I changed the pin, and between the clusters of 5 with 50 lbs.
10 days to go…
