Feeling Good
Today, I accomplished something in my exercising that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do: I impressed my brother-in-law.
Theo is a big guy. He outweighs me by 70 pounds and most (OK, a lot) of that is in muscle. Since I started lifting weights, he and I’ve talked about what I’m doing, and how his work outs compare, etc. I don’t mind telling him the weights I’m working with because I know he’s stronger than I am. Its really not a big deal. I don’t feel like I’m competing against him–we’re just sharing common experiences.
Last weekend at our kids’ family birthday party, Theo and I were talking about lifting, and I mentioned the progress I’d made recently on dips–that I could do body weight+45 pounds. He was impressed and confided that he didn’t think he could do a single dip. We then worked out that he has 70 pounds on me, and I quickly figured there was no way I could do a single dip with 70 pounds strapped to my hips.
Today was a 4×4 day (four sets of four reps) so the weights tend to be the heaviest I lift. I looked at the dips apparatus and thought “do I dare even try one dip with 70 pounds?” The preivous time I had done 4×4 on dips, I had completed 4 sets at +45, failing to make the last rep in the last set (so I did only 15 total reps at +45). Twenty five pounds sounded like a big jump, but I convinced myself that I would try to complete just one.
I stepped up, strapped the weight around my hips and got into position, elbows locked. Much to my amazement, I was able to complete 4! I was astonished. The next set I backed the weight down to +50 and got through it without too much difficulty. I decided to really push myself on the final two sets and completed them both at +60. So, thats 4 at +70, 4 at +50 and 8 at +60. Wow.
I sent Theo a text message to brag a little: “4 dips @ BW+70!”
His reply: daaaaamn hercules
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