Good Start

John was on time after being late Monday. He is always after me to swim more days and get to the pool earlier. But he is almost always late when he shows up. If I let him dictate to me when I get there, I will get very little sleep while he gets plenty. Not fair. I did a straight swim of 2,000 yards in 38:15 for an average pace per 100 yards of 1:54. That indicates that I am recovered from Chicot. 

When I got home from work, Simon was in my yard. Hot dog! He came to start on the shelves in the outbuilding. This is a big deal. We need this done so I can move my books and clean out the storage room at the Hideout so Penny can move some stuff into it. This will help us finish moving. Don't make a negative comment about how long it has taken us. You have not moved a single box. So there.

After resting a bit, I went to Plate City for my push workout. On the bench, I pressed

12 X 100

12 X 125

10 X 125

9 X 125 

For the past two weeks I have been doing one of my press days in the rep/goal method. In that method, you take a weight and you somewhat arbitrarily decide to work towards a certain number of reps within a predetermined number of sets. When you meet your goal, you increase your weight. I started with a goal of thirty reps in three sets with 120 pounds. I did that the first week, so I set the goal as thirty-one reps at 125 pounds. I made it. Next week, I will increase the weight to 130 pounds and stick with that until I get thirty-one reps. 

On the second press day of the week, I have been doing 80% of one rep max for several low rep sets. Before I learned about percentages, I came to intuitively believe that my bench started getting stronger when I began to push 140 pounds. Later I learned that powerlifters develop strength using the 80% weight and upwards. When I did the math, cha ching! One hundred and forty pounds is 80% of my one rep max. 

Research has shown that training at 85% and above is only effective only for three straight weeks. Apparently that range produces too much central nervous fatigue. So I have been holding at 80% and increasing the total reps at that weight by one per week. I am feeling stronger and moving that weight easier. Eventually, I will up the percentages for a few weeks and then test my one-rep max. The goal and expectation is to hit a new personal record in the bench press.

After lifting, I went out for road work. I went out east of town into the fields and gravel and shuffled for 6.17 miles. After doing 7.12 the day before, that was a pretty good run, giving me 13.29 miles in the first two days of the week.

So by the grace of God, I have a good week started. Thank you, Jesus.