This is my second week of focusing on basic weightlifting moves- the Squat, Deadlift, and Bench Press.  To be perfectly frank, I’m kind of getting bored with just doing the same 3 exercises each time.  Plus, I found some old notebooks, and I’m no where near my old PR’s.  I probably just guessed too low when picking my weights for the exercises this time around!

Here’s my workout plan for the rest of February.  I’m close to maxing out on my deadlifts, and I can already feel my grip strength failing.  I’ll continue increasing the weight for that exercise by 5 lbs each time I lift, but using the same weight throughout each single session.  Last Friday, I deadlifted 135lbs, so tomorrow my DL set will be 3 x 5 at 140lbs.

I’m no where near my old PR’s for Squat and Bench Press, however.  So for both of those, for my next session, I’ll do as many reps as possible for those exercises, starting with 5 lbs heavier than what I did on Friday.  So I’ll start off of 140 lbs for Squat and 85 lbs for Bench.  I’ll increase the weight by 5 lbs for each set, but still doing as many reps as possible for those.  I’ll continue with the 3-set format (not counting warm-up sets), and if I’m still doing more than 5 reps for the 3rd set, I’ll use that as my starting weight for next time, and keep repeating this format.

I’m just worried that because I guessed wrong, I’ll be stuck with too-low weights for bench and squat moving forward.  I do want to find out what my 5-rep max is!

I think I’ll also add in some metabolic work at the end of each workout.  Probably involved KB’s — like swings, snatches, cleans. etc.  I’m missing my Kettlebell routine!  Once I’ve reached my max weights for Squats and Bench, I think I’ll go back to Lean & Lovely Phase 3, but substitute in Barbell work for the squats and deadlifts.  It’ll be good to work on sheer strength, but I don’t want that to be the only thing I’m doing!

Reflections of Gratitude

I’m grateful for being able to continue to find ways to keep things interesting while also improving myself.  While I’ve decided I’m not all that interested in strength for its own sake (I really don’t care how much I can bench!), I do like to see where my limits are and playing with them.