Greg's Running Blog

I haven’t been to the gym in almost a week. Since I use the facility at work I only go on workdays. And since I’ve been home with the family for the past week I haven’t seen the gym in a while. But today I did go. I took my father-in-law to the sporting goods store to browse and shop and while he was there I went to the gym and worked out. I did both chest and back on the same day as I knew I wouldn’t hit them otherwise. I have received a comment on one of my posts that was asking about why my bench press numbers are so low. It made me think and wonder about my workout and I have attempted to bench press at 130 lbs instead of my usual 100 lbs. The first set of 10 went fine. Then on the second set I managed to get 3 in the air. I have asked my co-worker if he thinks my chest lifts are lacking and if they do why. He wasw surprised that I have even attempted to do two sets within such a short amount of time. He said he rests 8-10 minutes between sets and I probably have rested 30-45 seconds, if that. He was not surprised at all that my lifts were so weak on consecutive sets. And since I have been setting my weights based on weights I can manage for 3 sets I have been setting them lower.

I just don’t have 8-10 minutes to rest between sets when you’re trying to crank out cardio and strength training over lunch. But I certainly have more than 30 seconds. So I have clocked myself and rested 2 minutes between sets. I could manage 3 sets of 10 at 130 lbs which is more than ever for bench presses. I have also upped my lat pull and my fly weights and the rest made all the difference. So the lesson I have leared today was to give enough rest between sets otherwise you’re just wasting your time. Since my primary goal right now is muscle retention not gain I think I’ll be fine with the 2 minute rests. But once I’m down to my target weight and want to put a bit of muscle on my frame I will have to increase my rest periods if I want to be able to build more muscle.