Getting stronger!!!

This is one of my favorite exercises only because I can do it really well and it shows how much stronger I'm getting.

This is a type of arm curl that my trainer, Flaminia ("Fla"), has me do sometimes.  Whenever we work arms, I want to do this exercise, but Fla says, "No!"  She's so mean!  She knows I like doing it so instead she'll come up with other stuff for me to do that I find difficult and usually hate.  She only let me do it this time to take photos for my blog.

In any case, this is how I do this exercise:  I start out laying on my back, knees bent, arms stretched out in front of me while holding the bar.  I pull myself up (the weights pull me up easily) until the position you see in the photos, I bring the bar to my chest, then I stretch out my arms out in front of me while holding the bar, I lower myself back to the floor momentarily, repeat.  I can do 3 sets of 15 before my hands hurt and my arms feel like jello.

The best part?   I can lift/pull 130 lbs.!!!  The first time Fla had me do this exercise a couple of months ago, she set the weights at 40 lbs. but I told her it was too light so she increased it to 60 lbs.  I told her it was too light still and moved it to 90 lbs. but I found it was still not very challenging.  I then moved it to 130 lbs. myself and Fla looked at me with complete disbelief (and dare I say a little irritation).  She said in a flat voice, "Really, Vilma?  Seriously!"  But then when I was able to finish the repetitions, she knew I wasn't kidding.  It's amazing to think I carried almost this much weight all over my body for many years!