Adding More "Randomness" to my Weight Routine

My average/normal upper body routine is around 5 sets for everything, and it usually looks something like this:

- 30 push-ups / 20 dumbbell back rows x5
- 8 pull-ups x3
- 8 mins of old physical therapy back exercises
- 8 pull-ups x2
- 12 shoulder dumbbell flies x3
- 30 bicep dumbbell curls / 30 body-weight tricep dips x5
- 12 shoulder dumbbell flies x2

= around 50-55 mins

That's all done at home in my living room. Pre-Covid, it was quite similar: bench instead of push-ups, cable tri pulldowns instead of tri dips, and lat pull-downs instead of pull-ups. And what I was doing at the gym was a bit shorter: I would maybe average 3-4 sets in 2018/2019, and now I'm averaging around 5-6 sets.

My routine above looks more complicated than it is - it's just basically chest and back, then pull-ups and shoulder exercises, and finally biceps and triceps. I've just found myself breaking it up like this over the years.

I've been looking to mix it up lately. So this fall after my "A race" which was the cancelled TC 10 Mile and then the Fall Classic Duathlon the following weekend to test my fitness, I figured it was time - I had no races on the horizon (I'd end up throwing in a last minute 8K cross country meet), so I felt "safe" in trying newer things. I mean, my old way of doing things over the last few years has been treating me well, so even thinking about a subtle shift made me a bit nervous.

So starting October 12th, I told myself I'd add some extra sets to my upper body workout for random muscle groups if I had time. So for example, on October 12th I did 6 sets of everything much like above (totaling about 58 mins), but then I threw in another 3 sets for shoulders and lats at the end. That MAY have been the first time I did 9 sets of pull-ups in a workout! (The first 8 sets were 8 reps, and then 9th set was only 7 as I was DONE! 71 pull-ups!)

Oct 17th was again 6 sets of everything, but I did 2 extra sets of rows for my back. This hardly felt like "extra."

I had a break from anything "new" in later Oct as we spent a few days in Chicago. But on Oct 26th, I did a short workout, but used slightly heavier weight or more reps than normal throughout that one.

Oct 31st was 6x everything with extra 2 sets "circuit-style" at the end for back, bi, and tri. And this kicked off a good stretch of adding a few sets to a muscle group each week (not every workout, but shooting for one workout/week). And I posted a selfie at the end of this workout in this post last month.

Nov 9th was 6x everything with an extra 3x lats at the end and an extra 4x shoudler flies at the end.

Nov 21st was (AGAIN) 6x everything, and I THOUGHT I'd do 2 more sets for bi, tri, and lats at the end, but I ended up doing 3 more!

Nov 28th was 7x everything, and then an extra 2 "burn out" sets of tri presses followed by elbows-in chest burn-outs. Ouch.

Dec 5th I mixed it up in a way that I did once a few years ago. I did a normal 4 set version of what you see at the very top of this post (skipping my physical therapy back exercises). THEN I did my PT back exercises after those 4 sets. And then I started all over again and did 3 more sets of everything. So it feels like 2 "shorter" days stacked on top of each other. It leads to a different burn because when I finish the first half with bi/tri (which is where I normally finish), I then have to start all over again which my body isn't used to.

And then on Dec 12th, I did 6x everything and 3 extra "burn out" sets of tri presses followed by elbows-in chest burn-outs. (So like Nov 28th, but with an extra set of each at the end).

After all of those slight "extras," I don't know if I'm doing it right. I was only a little bit extra sore after the Oct 31st workout. None of the other workouts made me sore after. I think I need to mix it up even more. But it's been fun working in some extra upper body lately!