Time Waits For No One, Not Even My Workouts!

Welcome back!

I barely made it to the gym on time today so my workout was only 30 minutes. It was a cool 90 degrees inside with no A/C and I was already sweating before even starting my workout. This worked in my favor because it made look like I'd been working my ass off when I really just came in to walk on the treadmill and read about Lindsey Lohan in US Magazine.

Before I dive right in, I want to go over something that I was thinking about today. I've already mentioned the importance of slow and controlled form for lifting weights but I'd like to also emphasize the importance of stretching after working out. The reason for this is that in most cases, unless it's very warm outside or in the gym, your muscles are cold to start with. Stretching them when they are cold will not have the same effect as stretching them when they are warm. I currently do static stretches after a workout when my muscles are warm where I simply hold a stretch in place for a fixed period of time. There is a debate on dynamic stretching vs. static stretching (read about it here: http://www.elitesoccerconditioning.com/Stretching-Flexibility/DynamicStretchingvsStaticStretching.htm). So far, I've been lucky and aside from a minor back injury, I haven't had anything major. For example, I used to have very tight hamstring muscles (the muscles on the back of leg) and was barely able to bend forward at the waist to touch my toes. Now I'm about 6 inches away from touching my toes without any pain.

I first did the bench press and started out with a warm up set. By warm up set I mean just lifting the 45 pound bar up and down 12 times to warm my muscles up, not that they needed it but it's become a force of habit now. Then I added two 45 pounds plates for the next 2 sets, and then finally added an additional 20 pounds for the last set. I'm just tired thinking about it! The bench press works your pectoralis major and minor muscles of your chest. Refer to the diagram below to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

The area highlighted in red comprises both your pectoralis major and minor muscles.

Next exercise I did was the incline dumbbell fly using free weights. I like using free weights more than the machine because free weights not only workout whatever muscle you are working on, but they also work on your stabilizer muscles as well. For this exercise, I simply adjusted a workout bench to a 45 degree angle, grabbed some weights and started lifting. The way you lift is you're supposed to enivision that you're hugging a tree so your arms are bent at a 90 degree when you start, and slightly bent when you bring the weights up. This works your inner chest muscles. Take a look at the picture below to get idea of what I'm talking about:

That's it. Can you believe it? Like I said, I barely had any time and had just enough time to stretch afterwards, shower and go. I'm also out of protein and need to order more, oh woe is me. :(

The moral of today's story is make sure that you have enough time to workout because otherwise you either won't get a good workout or won't have time to work on your ab muscles, stretch, etc.