Last Saturday's workout.

This was a long way off the best workout. I lacked the energy or motivation to push myself really hard, so the numbers are pretty disappointing. I didn't even dare the last set of chins/dips, as my arms felt like they were about to give way. In retrospect, the lack of energy may have been an early sign of the illness that has laid me out for most of this week.

Also; the triceps press-up is from a youtube workout vid that Andy forwarded me. I can't find any other references to it though, so the image is pretty inaccurate.

Exercise	Warmup	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
Sled Seated Leg Press Sled Seated Calf Press	15×88kg 15×88kg	12×106kg 12×106kg	10×124kg 10×124kg	8×142kg 8×142kg
Close Grip Chin-up Triceps Dip	15×-20kg 15×-20kg	12×-15kg 12×-15kg	10×-10kg 10×-10kg
Dumbell Curls(21s)		21×6kg	21×7kg	21×7.5kg
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	15×7kg	12×8kg	10×9kg	8×10kg
Dumbbell One Arm Triceps Extension	15×6kg	12×7kg	10×8kg	8×9kg
Stability Push-up †		12	7
Tricep Push-up ‡		8	8

†: Starting with both hands on a medicine ball; doing one push up, placing right hand two feet to the right, doing another, placing right hand back on the ball, doing another, placing left nad two feet to the left, doing another, and so on.
‡: Withg knees down, fists together under the body, palms facing each other, knuckles facing forwards. Push up from there.

Supersets 3: Pecs, triceps, back and legs.

Pretty happy with these numbers, and the fact that I don't hurt much today.
Never tried weighted dips or push-ups before. The latter are tough, but still easier than I expected. The former are brutal; simply balancing a 4kg dumbbell between your feet makes the exercise much more difficult.

Exercise	Warmup	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
Triceps Dip Chin-up	15×-20kg 15×-25kg	12×0kg 12×-20kg	10×0kg 10×-15kg	8×4kg 8×-10kg
Sled Seated Leg Press Sled Seated Calf Press	15×70kg 15×70kg	12×88kg 12×88kg	10×97kg 10×97kg
Cable High Push Pull Cable Pulldown†	15×56kg 15×56kg	12×70kg 12×70kg	10×77kg 10×91kg‡	8×82kg 8×82kg
Weighted Swiss Ball Crunch	50	50×5kg	50×5kg
Twisting Crunch	50	100	100
Weighted Push-up		13×20kg	13×20kg	7×10kg
Kneeling Push-up		11

†: Using a nautilus machine with one cable attachment in each hand, kneeling on a swiss ball.
‡: Andy put up the weight without me noticing.

Back and biceps

It was far too sunny and pleasant a day on Saturday to spend two hours of mid-afternoon in the gym, so I missed this week's Wu Shu Kwan class. I made up for it on Sunday, though, by really hammering the weights:

Exercise	Warmup	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
EZ Barbell Curl	12×10kg	12×20kg	10×25kg	8×30kg
Barbell Bent-over Row	12×25kg	12×35kg	10×40kg	8×45kg
Cable Straight Backed Seated Row	12×40kg	12×70kg	10×90kg	8×102.5kg
Cable Underhand Pulldown	12×28kg	12×42kg	10×49kg	8×56kg(+33%)
Dumbbell Hammer Curl	12×6kg	12×9kg	10×10kg	8×12kg
Sled Seated Calf Press	12×79kg	12×106kg	10×115kg	8×124kg(+27%)

I'm particularly pleased with being able to pull the entire stack, plus a 7.5kg topper on the seated cable row. It does mean I should drop that exercise, though, and go back to dumbbell rows. No pain, no gain.

I also had another go at caning my calves. I reckon they can cope with being trained twice a week; it's been a while since I've ended up hobbling around for three days after overtraining them.

Legs

Not the best session ever. I forgot to pack my shorts, so had to race round Victoria trying to get new ones. I was sufficiently late that Andy had disappeared off to Boot Camp by the time I'd arrived, so I worked out alone, and pressed for time. The results aren't great:

Exercise	Warmup	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
Dumbell Squat†	12×12kg	12×16kg	10×18kg	8×20kg
Cable Standing Calf Raise	12×56kg	12×84kg	10×91kg	8×98kg (+11%)
Barbell Deadlift	12×12kg	12×32kg	10×37kg	8×39.5kg

†: Standing on a Bosu Ball.

I'm particularly concerned about my deadlift technique. My upper back hurts a lot more than it should, which makes me wonder if I'm hunching during the lift without realising it at the time. I also have a pain just below my lowest right rib, which is bizarre. It may be necessary to drop the weights even further 'till I get the technique right.

Also, the Bosu ball dumbbell squat. I was taught this was a great core stability exercise, but Charles Poliquin would appear to disagree:

The BOSU ball is a Swiss ball for morons! Again, when you stand on it you're always bowlegged. Why do you want to get into a position that's not good for your knees and ankles?

Quite happy with Andy's suggestion to use a cable machine for calf raises - it seems to work a treat.