Week #2 chest day is done. It was a good workout, but to be fair I did an extra 2 sets of flat bench after I was done the entire "day". Why, you might ask? Because this guy and his kid were being total morons - jumping in on machines whenever they felt like it, cutting people off and working out far too close to the dumbell shelves, you name it.
This is the joy of working out at a military installation. I'm pretty sure that the guy was Canadian Forces, or ex-CF, but he was also fairly dense for his age and appearance. For instance, he was totally wasting his time with standing dumbell tricep extensions by not extending his arms fully (and thus reaching his PCP for his tris). I nicely pointed out after one of his sets that he was pretty much getting half the workout that he could get otherwise and then explained how. He then told me that he thought he was extending all the way already. Sorry, but if you can't feel what your arms are doing and if your elbows are bent, you're either not working right physically / neurologically or you're just dense. I went with the second option.
Then, he was off, just pushing his way onto different machines and stations and generally making a nuisance of himself. I could see when I met the eyes of others he was offending that he was indeed having the same effect on others.
It's one of those sticky situations where you're not sure if it's worth your time to mention it to him, or others, as it might cause you more grief than the initial issue. As it was, he messed up my chest / tris day badly and I had to waste a good deal of time in the gym working around him and his kid.
Hopefully he's not there Wednesday.
I hate gym idiots. God knows there are a lot of them out there.
ReplyDeleteQuick question, I always only try to add 1kg no more no less after I've reached the max rep range. As Mark says that otherwise you will plateau. Problem is that next weight available is sometimes 2kg heavier or more. For example I did 10 reps of wrist curls with 12kg dumbbells but the next available weight is 14kg i.e a 2kg increase instead of 1kg. I've been thinking of maybe finding two small 1kg chains and wrap them around the 12kg dumbbells, but maybe there is a better way. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Here's what I would do in your case. Do a set of curls for as many as you can do (hopefully at least 6 reps) with the 14kg dumbells. Then, rest for at least as long as recommended and then go to the 12kg dumbells. Try for a set of 8 reps. If that doesn't work, follow up with a quick set of 10kg curls right after to really work the forearms. The next time (if you failed at the above), do a set of 14kgs for as much as you can followed by a set of 10kgs. One of those two actions should spur along enough growth to keep you going.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you could increase the intensity some by lengthening the time it takes you to perform one rep, both positive and negative actions. Stick with the 12kgs and effectively double the time it takes you to do one rep. By the 9th or 10th rep, you'll really feel it.
So you've got three avenues here: 14kg and then 12kg as an experiment, 14kg and 10kg as what I would call the sure-fire way to move up, or double the time of a rep with 12kg and 10kg dumbells to increase intensity and promote more growth.
Good luck!
thats great advice! Thanks bro!
ReplyDelete