Week 1: Shoulders

Part of the rigor of this program, as I am quickly finding out, is the deceptive way the set counts creep up on you. )n shoulder day, just as with legs and chest before that, I was gung-ho in my early "serious" sets of 4 heavy reps each.. assuming that was the bread and butter of the workout. What is closer to the truth, is that those lifts are meant to fatigue the muscle group, in preparation for the rest of the day.

I come from the ascending philosophy of gradually increasing weight for slightly fewer reps (think 3 sets of 10, 10, 8).  So when I am piling on a bunch of weight early on, my body expends a good amount of energy early on, and then gets burned with the following 12 or more sets. I could literally feel the burn for the last 20 minutes or so, and I am excited for more. Here's the breakdown for today:

Standing barbell shoulder press:

• 95 x 8
• 115 x 8
• 155 x 8 (really bad form, had to thrust with my legs. I should have stuck with lighter weight)

Wide grip barbell upright rows

• 95 x 8
• 115 x 8
• 135 x 8

Dumbell upright rows

• 45 x 8
• 40 x 8
• 40 x 8

Dumbell laterals

• 35 x 12 (big mistake, my shoulders were in serious pain the remaining THREE sets)
• 30 x 12
• 30 x 12
• 30 x 12

Machine seated reverse deltoids

• 135 x 12
• 150 x 12
• 165 x 12
• 180 x 12