21-03-2013, 18:43
Update:
Yesterday during my Wednesday workout routine, I increased the weight on the Abductor Machine to 130lbs. I started off at my usual 125 and then realized that I was flying through the set... and that is my cue to increase the weight! My goal is to make sure that I am struggling by at least the third or fourth rep of each set—or, at least going slow. And I know that 5lbs doesn't seem like much, but trust me, on this isolation exercise and at these heavier weights, it most certainly is!
And I saw this one guy leg pressing over 1,000lbs yesterday, no joke. I felt weak all of a sudden
But it DID motivate me. The thing that usually holds me back in my exercises from pushing my hardest is the fright that I might push at the wrong angle and mess up my back, since I press relatively heavy weights. Well seeing him press over 1,000lbs... if any person's back can handle that weight, my back can certainly handle the weight I am pressing! I felt more confident to push forward 
I have to add here that I am currently going through a "I feel flat" phase, which I go through pretty often, despite all of my gains. Even despite after having been told by a trainer just last week that he had never seen me at the gym before... "'cause trust me, I would have remembered THAT!" he said as he gestured to my butt, not as a disrespectful thing, but an understood mutual respect among weight lifters. It was great at the moment, but for some reason I still feel incredibly... small...
Yesterday during my Wednesday workout routine, I increased the weight on the Abductor Machine to 130lbs. I started off at my usual 125 and then realized that I was flying through the set... and that is my cue to increase the weight! My goal is to make sure that I am struggling by at least the third or fourth rep of each set—or, at least going slow. And I know that 5lbs doesn't seem like much, but trust me, on this isolation exercise and at these heavier weights, it most certainly is!
And I saw this one guy leg pressing over 1,000lbs yesterday, no joke. I felt weak all of a sudden
But it DID motivate me. The thing that usually holds me back in my exercises from pushing my hardest is the fright that I might push at the wrong angle and mess up my back, since I press relatively heavy weights. Well seeing him press over 1,000lbs... if any person's back can handle that weight, my back can certainly handle the weight I am pressing! I felt more confident to push forward I have to add here that I am currently going through a "I feel flat" phase, which I go through pretty often, despite all of my gains. Even despite after having been told by a trainer just last week that he had never seen me at the gym before... "'cause trust me, I would have remembered THAT!" he said as he gestured to my butt, not as a disrespectful thing, but an understood mutual respect among weight lifters. It was great at the moment, but for some reason I still feel incredibly... small...