Average Dave's Upgrades - Weight Bench

I've mentioned my first weight bench here before.  A couple years after I got that bench, I had outgrown it.  The weight I was lifting plus my body weight was approaching the weight limit for the bench.  I went on the eBay and found a dude selling a weight bench in my area.  For $125, I bought a torn up piece of crap weight bench; but it came with approximately 400lbs of Olympic size weights and a bar.  At $0.03/lbs, the weight alone was an awesome deal.  This bench took me to a whole new level of weight lifting, now I was using equipment like the stuff in a real gym.

Since the Misses and I doing Body for Life together, this bench proved to be a real drawback.  First of all, it was bulky and hard to move around.  Average Dave's is in a small room in my basement with the furnace.  We do a variety of exercises, and the bench needs to get out of the way if we do squats or any standing exercises.  Also, the incline on the bench wasn't that sturdy and wasn't easy to set up.  You have to hold up the bench while trying to get a pin through a little hole in the bench.  So, I asked the finance committee (The Misses, and only the Misses) if I could buy a new bench.

I got a Bowflex SelectTech 5.1 Series bench a couple weeks ago.  First of all, it looks bad ass.  The black and red leather is a real upgrade from the ripped plastic like material.  Second, it has wheels and a handle. Compared to my old bench, it is super easy to pick up and move to a new second.  Third, it has 6 positions from 90 degrees to decline, and it is really easy to move between positions.  You just pick the bench up and let the arm fall into the slot you want it.  It feels much more secure than my old bench.  I love it.

One drawback I think this bench has is that it is pretty long, so it takes up a lot of room.  It is hard to transition from a exercise on the bench to another standing exercise because it is so big.  Really, this is more a drawback of Average Dave's limited square footage than the bench.  Also, I now use my squat rack to hold the bar when I am doing bench press.  It's taking me a little while to get used to racking the bar and not hitting the pins when exercising, but I'll get there.

Oh, and according to Play to Again Sports, my old weight bench was worth $12, $15 in store credit.

Body for Life Challenge Four Week Update

Monday was Day 29 of 85, which meant that is was time for my four week check.  I retook pictures and measurements.  The results were decidedly mixed.

First, the good news.  I dropped four pounds and I now weight 168 pounds.  I also lost an inch and a quarter off my waist.  After four weeks, this is a promising indicator of hitting my goal of a 30" waist.  Also, my pants are fitting a bit looser.  This is a real confidence builder, and makes me feel better at work.

The disappointing thing was my body fat results.  I only lost 0.4% of body fat, which is far from my goal of losing 6.5% body fat during the challenge.  I'll keep at it, and hopefully this accelerates over the next eight weeks.  I also have not made a lot of progress on the bench press.  I'm still only benching 155 six times on a good day, and usually I can only hit 155 four times.  I'm thinking that this is because doing pyramids is taxing my muscles before I get to the 155 rep, but I'm a long way from my goal of 185 six times.

I think the hard part of the challenge is still in front of me.  In the beginning, it was new and exciting.  Now I've kind of gotten into the groove, but the results are coming slower, and the end is not in sight.  I think these next four weeks will be the hardest of the challenge.

My Get Rich Quick Scheme: Fad Diets

With all those fad diets out there, I've always told the Misses I wanted to write a book called "Eat Less, Dumbass."  That's kind of what we're doing with BFL.  Eating less.  So far, it really hasn't been that bad. During the week, we're eating the same meals we ate before BFL, just not an over sized portion.  And since we're eating less, it means we have leftovers to bring in to work rather than a boring sandwich.  I'm pretty sure it's even saving us money.

The hard part comes during the weekend. In the old days, the weekend meant three days of gorge fest.  A typical meal was three servings worth of dinner, two sides of bread and a bottle of wine.  Three nights in a row.  No matter how good you are during the week, those weekend's will kill ya (or at least expand your waistband).  Now that we're on BFL, we get one "free" day rather than three.  Is it hard to cut back?  Sure it is.  We both miss the big pasta dishes on Friday, pizza on Saturday, and steak on Sunday with a dessert every night.  On the other hand, when we avoid gorge fest, we feel so good when we wake up Saturday morning, and Monday's seem a little more manageable.  No restless night from too much eating or drinking.  No staying up way too late to make more time for eating.  Don't get me wrong, I spend all week thinking about how I'm going to indulge on my free day, but I'm starting to get into the eating less, dumbass.