Great Chest and Back Routine

I'm a little sore from yesterday's workout. I haven't lifted heavy weights in a few days and that will happen. I've been just doing dumbbells the past few weeks to give my joints a break. That is one thing everyone should keep in mind; it is not just your muscles that are out of shape but your other infrastructure as well, meaning your bones and joints. Sometimes they catch up more slowly so that is another reason to not try and increase weight and or difficulty of the exercises to quickly . It is also a great excuse to execute as perfect form as possible. If you don't know what good form is ASK! If not you can injure yourself. A good litmus test of bad form is, if the exercise hurts, you're doing something wrong. You should feel uncomfortable at most, not be in pain. That goes for running too. If it hurts, slow down. Remember exercise should feel good!

here's a brief breakdown of my workout yesterday:

Ran 1.5 miles in the morning
In the evening I lifted weights, opposing muscle groups (chest and back)
Bench Press (excluding two warm up sets 8 reps each with 135lbs each set)
1st set 13 reps with 185lbs
2nd set 12 reps with 225
3rd set 10 reps with 245
4th set 8 reps with 275

Incline Smith Machine Press (I would recommend using free weights as much as possible but the smith machine can be great for barbell presses. I think the 45 degree angle of the incline bench to be too high, i prefer to keep it 30 degrees by placing an adjustable dumbbell bench beneath the smith!) One other quick note, the Smith Machine weights have not been adjusted. I have never gotten a straight answer to the question of "how much does the bar weigh?" from anyone. So for simplicity's sake i assume it's 45lbs but i know it has to be lighter, you can feel that is counter weighted on a pulley system.

1st 13 reps with 185
2nd 12 reps with 205
3rd 10 reps with 225
4th 10 reps with 245

Flat Dumbbell Flyes

1st 12 reps with 35lb Dumbbell's in each hand
2nd 12 reps with 35's
3rd 10 reps with 40's
4th 10 reps with 50's

Back

Lat Pull Down Wide Grip
(excluding two warm up sets with 100lbs 8 reps each set)
1st set 14 reps with 110lbs
2nd set 12 reps with 120
3rd set 12 reps with 130
4th set 10 reps with 130

Seated Cable Row Narrow Grip
You should be careful with this one and I don't care what anyone says, Rocking back and forth and muscling up the weight with momentum is unacceptable! I see guys loading the weight up and going nuts but if they slowed it down a bit and didn't rock back and forth they wouldn't be able lift half the weight. My advice here is to stay as close to erect as possible and when lowering the weights lean forward slightly, between 5 and 10 degrees, pull back keeping the cable low maintaining the natural arches in your back throughout the lift as you should with all lifts!
1st set 15 reps with 110lbs
2nd set 13 reps with 130lbs
3rd set 10 reps with 140lbs
4th set 8 reps with 150lbs

Lat Pull Down Narrow Grip (with palms facing each other using same attachment commonly found on Seated Cable Row)
1st set 12 reps 120lbs
2nd set 12 reps 130lbs
3rd set 10 reps 140lbs
4th set 9 reps 140lbs

This was really a great workout that helped me feel terrific at night and was ready for a good night's sleep. I'm a firm believer that America as a whole does not exercise enough. Human's spent a good portion of our existence literally fighting for our lives all day everyday. You can't go from that to living a sedentary lifestyle on the couch without ramifications, both mental and physical. So let's change our habits a little everyday and we will have healthier minds and bodies.