Entry #480

I was dancing around and hitting the bag at the gym today when a bunch of little kids ran in the room and started yelling "ROCKY!" behind me. I was going to scold them, but then I thought that they might actually be calling me Rocky Marciano instead of Sylvester Stallone Rocky (they weren't, but I'll give them the meak benefit of the doubt so they look good). One of them, who couldn't have been more than three years old, ran up and started hitting it when I was taking a breather. I showed him how to punch it properly, and to keep his free hand up when he hits. I even did the Ali shuffle for him, which is normally top-secret. He's a lucky boy. When I was his age, I was punching at air in a karate class.

That was the warm-up.

Bench press:
2 X 15   45 lbs.
4 X 3     135, 185, 225, 255 lbs.
1 X 2     265 lbs.
> Still short of the mark, but a substantial improvement over last week - 20 lbs., to be precise (and technically, more, when considering the extra set). I'm going to blast through this.

Overhead dumbbell press:
1 X 15   15 lb. dumbbells
1 X 8     80 lb. dumbbells
1 X 5     80 lb. dumbbells
> I slipped in the set-up on the last set. I keep the dumbbells on my knees and then kick up to raise them above me, but I wasn't paying attention and didn't use the momentum properly, so I had to practically curl the thing up. Affected performance.

Bent-over rows:
2 X 10   165, 165 lbs.
1 X 5     165 lbs.
1 X 8     135 lbs.
> Completely burned out on this. I'll just start at 155 next time.

Front raises:
3 X 16   25 lb. plates
> Killed the forearms.

Abdominal circuit

It was a little frustrating being challenged by weights I've conquered before, especially on bench press, but moreso than that, I like the challenge and the meaning of redemption. I remember a more drastic rut I was in when I had dropped from 185 lbs. to 170 a few years back and lost a significant amount of strength. In retrospect, these circumstances are worth it. For what I lost then, I gained patience and an ironclad mind. The body does what the mind tells it, not vice-versa.

Final note: started loading on creatine today.