The Plan

Today at the gym I am going to concentrate on setting starting points for all my lifting points. In order to track progress I want to see an improvement in the amount of weight I can do, but instead of doing a maximum one time, which is a debatable measure of progress but requires a spotter for sure, I’m going to concentrating on slowly increasing the amount of each repetition. (rep) If done correctly I should be able to finish my planned amount of sets, but the last few should be very difficult, perhaps loosing form or not being able to quite finish. 

Pulldown 10 x 3
On a machine, 3 set of 10. 

Curls 10 each arm x 3
Free-weight barbells for each arm or x2lbs on a fixed bar

Butterflies 10 x 3
I think the machine allows for better form for this so I’m going to stick to that. 

Bench Press 7 x 3
I’m going to have to use the safety benches for this as I will be going without a spotter. Still a free-weight, but I have the ability to click the bar into place at multiple heights. I hate this one. 

Triceps extensions 10 x 3
I will have to pick between a machine and a straight bar on this one. I prefer the bar I think, but it may depend on the curls I end up doing. 

Power Crunches 15 x 3
On a machine with weight added. 

Power Trunk Rotations 15 x 3
Yeah you look stupid, but oh well

Straight Arm Pulls 10 x 1, 7 x 1, 5 x 1
These are done after the butterflies and tri-extensions and curls with progressively harder weight just in case my muscles didn't hate me before. 

Squats?
This is where I’m a little leery. Squats are where I almost injured myself severely with a personal trainer. I will be working on my legs but more on the cardio side of things than the weight side I think. At least for now. 

Wish me luck. First day of a new program always sucks. This looks like a ton, but go big or go home I suppose. See you At The Gym!