Thanks for the input Chip. I appreciate the advice and support. A little rest sounds just great :) I'll take a little breather and see how things shake out!

Stopping by to wish you a wonderful RESTFUL weekend! Take care of yourself! Relax and take a break for a few days!

Back to it!
 

Had some time off, and feel much better. I also seem to be quite a bit weaker :( It's only been a week off!!!

Upper Back, Chest & Abs

Forward leaning dips: 10,10,10,10
Flyes: 35x10,8,6 30x10 (had been doing 40 lb sets)
Decline wide pushups 10,7,5,7
Flat wide grip bench press: 110x10,4 90x8,8

One Arm Dumbell Row: 90x8,8 80x10 (had been doing 100lb)
Shrugs: 160x10,10,10
T-Bar rows: 140x10 165x10,10
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown: 90x10,10,10

Abs (only did two sets)
Crunch: 20,20
Reverse crunch w/ankle weights: 30,30
cross-over crunches: 20,20
Side bridges 75secx2
Ab roller extensions: 15,15

Didn't feel (and wasn't!) very strong at all, which kinda sucks. Still, it wasn't a bad workout. I didn't dread it, so that's an improvement! We'll see how things look next time I work these muscle groups - and I'll make it a point to have excellent nutrition beforehand, unlike today.

I am glad to hear that you are feeling a little better... Have a great week!

Rained out last night! Right here in Central CA, we had rain!!! But it soaked my workout area :( And today all my weights were getting rust on me, hahaha.

Tonight Low Back and Legs:
Squats: 210x10 180x10,10
Wide Stance Squats: 210x10 180x10,10
Lunges: 100x8,6,4
Leg Extensions: 120x10,10,10

Barbell Calf Raise: 160x12,12,12

Pelvic Lift knees together w/80 lb plates: 15,15 15
Pelvic Lift knees apart w/80 lb plates: 15,15 15
Straight Leg Deadlifts: 210x10,10,10
Side leg lifts with ankle weights: 10,10,10
Hamstring Curls: 70x10,10,10

Good Mornings 160x10, 170x10,10

Still feeling weak and shaky during exercise... and weights are down. Whats up with that?

Maybe next time after a week off you could try only doing about 50-60% of your 1 rep max and do sets of 15 for the first week. That's about what I do and it helps.

Thanks for the advice!!!!
 

Hiya Chip,

Thanks for the advice on getting back into it. I had *no idea* that taking a week off would set things back so much...

Well, yes, it does. But only very shortly. Maybe you could go to the HST website or just search "strategic decondtioning" and see what happens in this time off. It's really good, I'm sure you've read about how you have to keep on adding higher weight to get the benefit of weight lifting. Supposedly, if you take this time off, you "decondition" the muscle and therefore you can use lighter weight and still build muscle.

Anyway, just search HST and read up and maybe apply part of what they do to your situation (like the lower weight / higher rep) after this "deconditioning". LIke I said, works for me! So don't be scared to take time off when you need to again, just learn how to use it to your advantage :)

Heya chip, I did check out 'strategic deconditioning'. Sounds like just what was needed. Thanks!

Shoulders and Arms:

Lateral Raises: 20x10 10x14,10
Front DB Raises: 20x10 10x10,10
Bent over Lateral Raises: 20x10,10,10
Barbell Upright Rows: 90x10,10,10
Arnold Presses: 20x10,10,10

Preacher Curls: 50x10 40x10,10
Hammer Curls: 20x10,10,10
Reverse Curls: 40x10,10,10
Concentration Curls: 10x10,10,10
Set of 15s at 40 lb

Wrist curl: 60x10,10,6 (fail)
Reverse Wrist Curl: 40x10,10,9 (fail)

Cross-face extension: 20x10,10 15x6 (fail)
Skull Crushers: 40x10,10,10
Flat medium grip bench press: 130x10 110x10,10
Kickbacks: 20x10,10,10

Skipped ab work. tomorrow...

OK I did the abs I mentioned in the previous post...

Crunches: 20,20,20
Oblique Sit Ups: 20,20,20
Bicycle Crunches: 20,20,20
Ab roller extensions: 15,15,15

Hiya Sweetcake - thanks for the H'ween wishes! :)

Upper Back, Chest (did this on 11/1)

Forward leaning dips: 10,10,10
Flyes: 35x10,10, 8
Decline wide pushups 10,10,8
Flat wide grip bench press: 110x10,10 90x8

One Arm Dumbell Row: 90x10,10,8
Shrugs: 160x10,10,10
T-Bar rows: 140x10 165x10,10
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown: 90x10,10,10

Abs
Crunch: 20,20,20
Reverse crunch w/ankle weights: 30,30,30
cross-over crunches: 20,20,20
Side bridges 90secx3
Ab roller extensions: 15,15,15

11/2 and 11/3 was asked to do some overtime for outage at the plant. Turned a lot of big stubborn valves, climbed the boilers several times, was on my feet walking all day, and was utterly exhausted at the end of both days. So... no workouts.

Just a drive by to wish you a wonderful weekend!