Last winter, I took a weight training class for one of my PE credits at Tech. I spoke with my instructor about my goal and he gave me a few exercises to do. I told him that I am a cyclist and my weakness is upper body strength. I wanted to concentrate on my arms, shoulders, and back. I acted like I didn’t know anything because I wanted his opinion without having any direction from my comments. He gave me some exercises that I was familiar with, and some I wasn’t. He gave me the grand tour of the weight room and showed me variations of exercises using different equipment. I prefer hand weights because they’re all in one spot.

This year, since I am spending a couple more months weight training than I did last year, I’ve decided to find some additional exercises and work through them on a six-week cycle. Monday began the first six weeks.

The following is my current upper body workout routine. I have enlisted the help of Morrie (the Moron, as in Moronacity) to help me illustrate these exercises. You’ll have to excuse Morrie. He has a bit of a Buddha from a little too much time off and a little too much partying at the KBC.

The following numbers are “sets x reps, weight”:

Shoulder Front Raises; 3 x 8, 12

Military Presses; 3 x 10-12, 12

Bent-Over Rear Deltoid Raises; 3 x 12, 8

Dumbbell Curls; 2 x 10, 12

Triceps Kickback; 2 x 12, 8

Lat Pulldown; 2 x 12, setting 6 on the machine
(I don’t know how much weight this is)

Good Morning; 3 x 12, 15

Man, that Morrie looks like he can lift a lot of weight. Look at the size of those dumbbells!