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This is from last night’s workout. I have really been struggling with my shoulders for a while. They seem to either stay the same or get weaker.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 50 RP: 7+3+2 (for 12 total)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 45: 8, 7

Barbell Shoulder Press: 6

Supinating DB Curl: 40 RP: 8+4+3 (for 15 total)
Supinating DB Curl: 35: 8

Pinwheel Curl: 25: 20 per side

EZ-Bar Preacher Curl: 75: 10, 8

Dumbbell Preacher: 25: 11+4 per side

Last time I did DB shoulder presses, I got 16. This time, I only got 12! I don’t know what’s causing this weakness, and I don’t want to make excuses, but I wonder if it’s because of that pain I’ve been having in my left rotator cuff. Is there any injury preventing me from using all my strength? Whatever it is, it’s frustrating. Another theory is I have just been pushing it really hard for so long that my central nervous system might be overtaxed. It’s possible I just need to take some time off to properly recover. Anyway, after the rest-pause set with the 50’s, I rested 2 minutes and did a set with the 45’s for a couple regular sets of 8 and 7 (better than my 6 from last time.)

After trying out the seated military press on the Smith machine last time, and finding it really uncomfortable, I went back to the standing barbell press last night. I had a good rest first, then loaded it up to 95 lb. I was only able to get 6 reps, which was pretty hard to swallow. I didn’t even bother trying for a second set; it seemed pointless.

Onto biceps, I’m continuing to see small but steady gains. With supinating curls, I hit 15 reps on my rest-pause set again, and was really happy to get 8 with good form in the first part of that. Then after resting 2 minutes and grabbing the 35 pounders, I scored another 8 reps. This had me feeling really good after my poor shoulder performance.

Next I went for some forearm work with pinwheel curls. I wanted high reps with good form, so I only used the 25’s getting 20 reps on each arm.

Back to biceps on the preacher bench. Sticking with 75 lb, I got a set of 10 followed by a set of 8 (1 more rep than last time.) I then grabbed a 25 lb dumbbell for some single arm preacher curls, and did 11 reps on each arm (3 more than last time) followed by another 4 on each arm without resting. I finished up my biceps work by getting in a good 60 second extreme stretch.

Before heading home, I had an urge to get in a small amount of core/ab work. Just for fun, I tried a dragon flag. That’s right, just 1 They are still really hard for me. I had to bounce a bit to get up the first couple inches, but from there it was slow, controlled, and straight all the way up and even slower on the way down. Next time I do these, I think I won’t go as slow and will try for a few reps. I followed up the dragon flag with a set of 20 vertical leg-hip raises and called it a day.

This is from 2 nights ago, Wednesday, Feb 17.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 50 RP: 8+5+3 (for 16 total)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 45: 6

Smith Military Press: 25 per: 10, 8

Supinating Dumbbell Curl: 40 RP: 7+4+4 (for 15 total)
Supinating Dumbbell Curl: 35: 8

EZ-Bar Preacher Curl: 75: 10, 7

Dumbbell Preacher Curl: 25: 8+4+2+1

On my regular seated should presses with 50 lb dumbbells, I am surpassing my 15 rep goal across a rest-pause set now. I am, however, going to stick with this weight anyway instead of increasing. I’m going to need these to feel really easy before I attempt the 55s again. I don’t want to have a repeat of the last time I tried them (1 rep!) After the rest-pause set, I limited myself to a 2-minute rest, then went into a set with the 45s maxing out at 6 reps.

Normally after the dumbbell presses, I have been doing some standing barbell press, but I wanted to change it up this time and try some seated military press on the Smith machine. It ended up being a bad idea. I was very uncomfortable, and experienced distracting awkward strain in my joints. I’ll be going back to the barbell press next time.

For the supinating dumbbell curls, I hit my 15 reps again, but I still think my form could be a bit better. Also, I’d like to be able to get more than 7 reps on the first part of the set. So I’ll be using the 40s again next time instead of going up to 45s. Again, I limited myself to a 2-minute rest after this set, then did a regular set with the 35s maxing out at 8 reps.

Next came some preacher curls with the EZ-bar. I used the same weight as last time, but got more reps this time. I will probably use this weight one more time before going up to 80 lb. I followed these with standing single arm dumbbell preacher curls using the 25 pounders again. It wasn’t a rest-pause set, but I went back and forth without resting. 8 reps on the left arm, then 8 on the right, then 4 on the left, 4 right, 2 left, etc. until I couldn’t even do 1.

Wow. I really got put in my place by the 55 lb dumbbells on my shoulder presses. I was expecting (maybe “hoping for” is more suitable) maybe 5-6 reps, but I actually only got 1! They feel so much heavier than the 50s. I guess I am just not ready for them yet. Anyway, after changing my RP set to 50 lb, here are the numbers.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 50 RP: 7+4+3 (for 14 total)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 45: 10

Barbell Shoulder Press: 95: 7
Barbell Shoulder Press: 85: 8

Supinating Dumbbell Curl: 40 RP: 7+5+3 (for 15 total)
Supinating Dumbbell Curl: 35: 10

Preacher Curl: 75: 9, 8

This was a shorter workout than the one from last Thursday. I actually had a pain in my right upper arm from helping Jon move his futon frame earlier. I ended up moving it down the hall by myself, and I guess I wasn’t holding it properly because my arm was throbbing between my sets at the gym. It was a deep sharp pain that seemed to go below the muscle. Because of this, I was taking longer rests between sets, and didn’t have time to do more.

For my shoulder presses, it was time to try the 55 lb dumbbells since I had beaten the 50s previously. This time, I was only able to get 1 rep, so I dropped back down to the 50s for my main set. Then I ended up getting only 14 reps (1 less than last time,) so I guess I still have a lot of work to do here. After my rest-pause set, I did a regular set with the 45s and got 10 reps.

My barbell shoulder presses also didn’t go as well as last time. I only got 7 reps this time with 95 lb, then another 8 with 85 lb. I am going to have to let go of my ego on this one and start out at 85 lb next time. I am obviously not ready for 95 lb. Something I’ve been considering for my next shoulder workout is to take a break from both of these exercises, and instead maybe try doing some seated military press on the Smith machine just to change it up.

Onto biceps: For the dumbbell curls, I finally got all 15 reps across my rest-pause set. Form was pretty sloppy on the 7th reps of the 1st part though, so I’m going to repeat this weight next time to work on that. Once I can get all 15 reps with good form, I’ll increase to 45 lb. Still, it was nice and motivating to get this since I was feeling discouraged from the bad shoulder workout.

More improvements came with biceps on preacher curls. I stuck with the same weight of 75 lb, but this time I was able to get sets of 9 and 8 versus my sets of 8 and 7 last time. So I am seeing some minor gains there.

I normally do pinwheels on biceps day too, but time was limited, and I felt my biceps needed the attention more than my forearms.

Heading in after work later for another leg day full of box squats again.

I normally do pull-ups on back day, but felt like I could put in a bit of extra work on them last night, so I started with a set before getting to shoulders & biceps.

Wide Grip Pull-Up: RP: 11+5+4 (for 20 total)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 50 RP: 8+4+3 (for 15 total)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 45: 8

Barbell Shoulder Press: 95: 8
Barbell Shoulder Press: 85: 8

Supinating Dumbbell Curl: 40 RP: 7+4+3 (for 14 total)
Supinating Dumbbell Curl: 35: 9

Pinwheel Curl: 30: 20 per side

Preacher Curl: 75: 8, 7

Dumbbell Preacher: 25: 6+3+1+1
Dumbbell Preacher: 20: 6+3+1

Okay, so it looks like I finally hit a total of 20 pull-ups across a rest-pause set. I guess that means I have to hang some weight around my waist the next time I do them. I’m thinking I’ll start with 10 lb, and see how that goes.

Next was seated shoulder presses with dumbbells. I have been working with the 50’s for quite a few weeks, but kept coming up short by anywhere from 1-3 reps. Finally got all 15 last night, so I will be moving up to the 55’s next time. Followed the rest-pause set with a regular set using the 45’s. Then moved on for some more pressing with the barbell instead, which are done in a standing position instead of seated. These were just regular sets as well (no rest-pause.)

I don’t normally do a whole lot of bicep work, but they are lagging behind my shoulders and forearms, so I thought they could use a bit more than normal. I did some extra work on them last week, and they seemed to respond well.

Started with my regular rest-pause set of supinating curls on an incline bench (around 45-50 degrees.) Managed 14 this time (across a rest-pause set,) which is 2 more than the last time, so I am improving, but still want to get the full 15 before I attempt the 45 pounders. Did a regular set after that with lighter weight. After the curls, I did some pinwheels for forearms. The last few reps could have had better form, so I might use the 30’s on these one more time before moving up.

Went back to the biceps with some preacher curls next. I think the last time I used this weight I could only get 5 or 6, but this time I got out 8 and then another 7 after resting a bit, so there seems to be a bit of an improvement. Followed these by doing some single arm preachers with dumbbells instead. I didn’t have much strength left at this point, so even the 25’s were a challenge. In my notation you see the numbers for these separated by plus signs, but there is no “RP” by the weight. So it wasn’t a rest-pause set, but I wanted to show there was no resting between sets. For example: 25: 6+3+1+1 in this case means I did 6 reps on my left arm, then 6 on my right, then went back to my left right away and did 3, then 3 on my right, then 1 left, 1, right, and 1 more left, and 1 more right.

Please visit the Exercises page for more info on the exercises done (or click on their name in this post,) and visit the My Notation page for more detail on what the numbers mean.