An Older, Better Joe?

Today was my lifting day at the gym and if you recall, I was going to try to move up in weight. The gym was unusually crowded, though I arrived a little later than normal. The gym only has two bench press setups and both were occupied by people doing multiple sets. So I did my curls, some oblique exercises, my tricep exercise and then finally one of the benches freed up.

Even though my exercises were out of order, I thought I'd still try to up my bench press. After a warm up set and then a middle weight set, I sat down underneath the bar with more weight on it than I've ever attempted to bench and, coincidentally, is the weight I'm trying to get down to from a....weight perspective. Did that make sense? Anyway, as I got ready to bench the weight, I thought, if I can do ten pounds less eight times, then I should be able to do this weight at least once right? Even if I really struggle with it and can't push it up all the way, there's a place to rest the bar half way up. As it turns out, no problem! I did five reps and was jacked! After my max weight, I do another set at a lower weight and this time I added 10 pounds to that as well. Good stuff.

Since I'm stronger than I've ever been (at least from a bench press and curling standpoint) and I'm running three miles twice a week regularly, which I've never really done for any length of time, am I a stronger, if not older, Joe? Seems so. Am I better though? Well my right shoulder is better than ever, or at least since my 20's. My left shoulder is ok, but I do have that pinched nerve in my neck on that side. My weight is higher than I'd like, so that's a negative. All things considered, I'm in some of the best shape of my life. Gotta feel good about that!

Not sure if you know about King Cakes or not, but LL was sent one for her birthday from a friend in New Orleans. Boy is it tasty! It's not too dissimilar from the Christmas wreath dessert my mom makes. Inside this "cake" (it really is more like a braided wreath isn't it?), is a little plastic baby. If you get the piece of cake with the baby in it, you're "king" for the day and you're supposed to host the next party. Cool. Here are some pics:

No baby found yet. I've included a picture of the box in case you want to get one because these things are delicious.....and 'tis the season!