Failure?! Was ist das?

I started the one set to failure method today, as well as changing around some exercises. Things went pretty well, although I wasn’t able to really do a superset with the bench press and dips since the assisted dip machine is on the other end of the building. I didn’t start the squats today because I want another day or two to practice my form.

• Leg press: 14 @ 60 lb (+10 lb)
• Bench press: 12 @ 25 lb
• Erect dips (not leaning forward): 8 @ 110 lbs (since this is an assisted machine, it’s 173 lbs [bodyweight] – 110 lbs assistance = 63 lbs of resistance)
• Lat pulldown: 9 @ 168 lb
• Shoulder press: 14 @ 10 lb
• Anterior tibialis: 12/10 @ 10 lb

I’m keeping the weight fairly light on the shin exercise (and not going to failure), and I didn’t do the forward-leaning dips, so most of that worked my chest and shoulders (rather than the triceps), much like the bench press. I did the lat pulldown after the shoulder press due to some 6-set dudes using the machine for cable crosses.

I finally found the stretch I need for my hips–basically, it’s a yoga pidgeon pose (see about midway down this page). Feels wonderful.

I also mixed up my first whey shake in quite a while. Unfortunately, it’s 522 calories for a 12-ounce shake (made with soy milk, and includes banana and two scoops of whey powder [40 g protein]), which utterly kills dinner plans, but I’ll bump up the caloric intake on days I workout to something like 1900 calories instead of my usual 1500 or 1600.

Next time (Thursday), I start squatting, add the second set of dips, and wait more patiently for the lat pulldown machine.