Monday: Deadlift

Every year around the holidays, I find myself trying to get back into a regular workout schedule after a layoff. This past holiday season is no different. I was ill with a severe cold and flu for a couple of weeks, which derailed my workout. Happens every year. So here it is the middle of January and I'm still slowly working back up to where I was back in October and early November.

The good news is, I'm getting back into the swing of things early and am really not far from where I was.

Today is Monday, so that meant my back routine starting with one of the staples of my workout: the deadlift. It wasn't that long ago that I found myself trying to find ways to add weight to the bar. I had even resorted to looping ankle weights over the end of the bar because I'd run out of plates. Today, 315 felt really heavy. I did two sets of three reps, and those third reps came hard, especially in the second set. My goal for minimum reps in a set is 4, but I felt okay doing just 3 this time around.

After the deadlifts, I did a couple of sets of weighted chin-ups. I feel pretty weak on the pull-up, and with the addition of a 10-lb. dumbbell I was able to do 4 reps in each set. Not bad, but not good either. In the next workout, I'll up that to a 15-lb. dumbbell.

I then performed two sets of seated row at 140. I've done as much as 200 before, but 140 was pretty heavy. I managed 6 reps in each set. I'll need to do 160 the next time around.

After that I did three sets of bent over row at 135 for 6-8 reps and finished up with two sets of upright row.

Not bad for easing back into things, but I've still got a ways to go.