Good Ol’ May
Well, it’s the end of the month. Like any month, there’s been a couple of minor problems, namely shoulder issues – which I now believe I’m on top of – and a slight twinge in my upper back from Fridays’ session, but all in all, this month has been pretty good to me.
My strength continues to improve, and my bodyweight is now higher than it’s ever been, and I made good gains on my arms. I haven’t measured them in a few weeks, even though it’s damn tempting; hell, it’s almost an obsession… but I’m going to refrain from doing so until the end of June, and I hope I aren’t disappointed.
This month, the main thing I’ve learnt is the importance in keeping your muscles supple, and improving the range of motion in the joints.
I continue to stretch before performing my exercises, and afterwards. My right shoulder – touch wood – seems to be coming on leaps and bounds. Since my injury several years ago, I’ve had a slightly limited range of motion, and many times would experience pain and stiffness in the joint. It would appear that by stretching, my shoulder is now improving and the pain is lessening, which is great.
Now it’s the end of the month, I now feel it’s important I think about what I want to get out of June. I don’t want to jinx myself, so I won’t blurt out lift poundage’s or body measurements; all I can do is give it 100% effort and the chips will fall where they may, but other than that, a rough idea of what I want to do in June is:
- Improve flexibility: particularly in the shoulders, lower back, hamstrings, groin and thighs.
- Begin working the calf muscles more.
- Begin working the neck muscles more.
- Vary/Swap one or two exercises, just to keep things fresh and prevent boredom.
- Look into getting a new setup. (I could do with getting a squat rack, and a bench which has the ability to lock bolt-upright to provide a back rest for seated Military Presses, etc.)
I don’t want to look too far ahead, but after June I think I may like to have a bit of a change. I was thinking it would be nice to enjoy what poultry summer we get ‘rationed’ here in the UK by getting out more and taking the opportunity to do some cycling, etc, and lose some fat while I’m at it – before the darkness that is UK autumn/winter consumes us once more… but we’ll see.
If June is as good as this month, I can’t complain at all. And with any luck, it will be.
