Went to the weight room at the normal time today and changed up a few things to see how they worked, plus I wanted to stop myself from “cheating” my lifts. I focused on my lower body and core today, though I did do my beloved pullups/dips and bicep curls.
One of the things I tried was doing pec flys with dumbbells rather than the machine. When using the machine, I feel like I’m using my arms more than my pecs– it’s hard for me to keep the form and keep my arms perfectly straight (the machine doesn’t fit me well). So, I laid on a bench and did flys that way. On the machine I do 75 pounds; on the bench I did 12.5lb in each hand. Gravity is a bitch. :) But it was easier to keep my form, plus having to maintain control of the dumbbells really worked the muscles around my rotator cuff.
The other thing I tried was situps on the floor. The gym has a machine for weighted crunches, which is challenging and isolating for the abs, but it doesn’t fit well either: the distance between the elbow pad and the handle is longer than my forearm so my elbows wind up floating and it’s weird and I think I wind up cheating and using my arms. Meanwhile, at home I’ve been doing the laziest situps ever: in bed! It’s comfy (and gets me tuckered and ready for sleep) but the squishiness removes some of the range of motion, plus there’s the kinetic energy of the bounce to help. In bed I can do 50; on the floor I can do 25. Plus, it’s easier to isolate the parts of the situp on the floor. We’ll see how my back is doing tomorrow.
I should bring up modifications to the Fit Fatties weightlifting group– I bet they’ve had to deal with ill-fitting weight machines before too.
Running While Fat 