I feel like Jean-Luc Picard there… “captain’s log, supplemental”. 🙂

I wanted to fill in some blanks about my gym sessions that happens every time but doesn’t get covered in the logs because it’s minutia.

I go to the gym in the morning. It works best for my schedule. I’m a morning person, so it works.

It’s about an hour between when I rise and when I start lifting. I found that I need about an hour, at least, for everything to wake up and be firing well enough to lift.

I don’t eat before I go to the gym. Just drink some water. I have tried pre-workout supps, but I think it’s just wasted money. Still, I have some (bought in bulk, still going through it) and am consuming it because I paid for it, might as well. Once it’s gone, I might switch to just taking a 200mg caffeine capsule and like 20-25g of whey isolate.

I walk to the gym. I live close enough that driving would really be silly, since the whole point of this is for my good health. That said, I will drive on occasion of the weather is bad or time is tight. But if I do, I do a little more warm up since the walk is technically part of my warm up and cool down. I just walk. No power walking, no fast walking or anything. Just walk. It’s also a time when on the way there I think about my day ahead and get anything off my brain I need to (so it doesn’t distract me in the gym); on the way home I use it to review the training session.

When I get to the gym, I start my warm up by just loosening up. I move through all my joints, rolling my wrists, some deep-knee bends, twisting, turning. Just get everything moving. I’ll hang from the pull-up bar for a little stretch. I don’t do any static stretching because that actually can make you weaker (go read Thomas Kurz’s books); if I really need it, I’ll dynamic stretch. Recently I picked up doing some rotator cuff work from Clint Smith:

It’s really simple, just 3 movements, 5# plate in each hand, 10 reps each movement. But I can say this has done a lot to help my shoulders. I do this every session, not just pressing days.

After that, I’ll start lifting. Since first thing is always a main lift, I start out doing 2 sets with the empty bar. The first set is never too serious, but mostly helps me get into the groove, so I take it as needed. For example, if I’m going to squat, I might find that first rep doesn’t get me down all the way, so I’ll keep working on getting deeper, maybe staying in the hole for a bit and letting things loosen up. I’ll generally do 5 reps, but if I need more I’ll take it. That first empty-bar set is just to get me prepped. The second empty-bar set is as strict as one can with an empty bar, really getting to work. Then into the lifts.

When I’m doing the main lift, the first few sets are warm ups. I’ll lift, then change weight, and lift again. I work through my warm up sets with only as much rest time as it takes to change plates. When I’m doing the work sets, I’ll take about 5 minutes between sets, but I’ll vary this depending how I feel.

The first assistance work tends to push me too, but there I’ll only rest about 90 seconds between sets.

Any additional assistance work gets about 60 seconds of rest, and these days I’m trying to remember to lift this stuff like a bodybuilder. Work the muscle, feel the muscle, this isn’t about moving the weight but rather working the muscle. Squeeze at the top, don’t slack on the negative. All that good stuff.

Yes, I use a timer to watch my rest periods. It keeps me honest and keeps things consistent and measurable between sessions. I also have to stay on track because I do have to get to work eventually. Plus, it’s one less thing to think about… let the timer on my phone do the work, while I think about other things.

Afterwards, I try to foam roll. Some days more than others, but at least a few back and forths on my spine because it feels good.

Then walk home, shower, eat, and off to work. I don’t necessarily worry about a post-workout shake or anything. I just eat a good breakfast with a lot of protein and the other things I need.

I only consume water during the gym time. No peri-workout nutrition.

These days I try to avoid using the belt, save for the last (heaviest) set. I don’t use any other supportive equipment, like knee or elbow sleeves or wraps. I did use wrist wraps when benching, but I stopped. I used them since I had some wrist pain, but that’s long gone and I don’t use them. Sometimes I pull them out on like the 5/3/1 week heaviest set, but meh.

My stance and form strives to replicate what Mark Rippetoe describes in Starting Strength. I’m not out to be a competitive powerlifter looking to maximize my leverages and squeeze every ounce out. I just want to be generally stronger, bigger, and have better health. I have to remember this is all about improving my health. About making sure that my body is strong and capable as I’m getting older. So my decisions tend to be conservative and not always push myself to death because… why? Injury is not what I need, wearing myself out is not what I need. I will err on improving my health, not destroying it.

So, that’s what fills in the gaps of my gym time. Tends to be this way every session, and plays into the greater picture.

And now you know.