Just do it!

I did my 45 min of cardio and didn't quite make 5 miles today. I've been a bit tired lately since I've hit my goal weight. But I've decided to just "go for it". So I've changed my MWF routine slightly to accommodate some slight repetitive stress concerns. For the last few months I've warmed up on a flat bench (right after cardio) with a pyramid set of reps: 15 reps with just the bar (45 lbs); 15 reps with a pair of 10 lb plates (65 lbs); 15 reps with another pair of 10s (85 lbs); then 50 reps with just the bar (45 lbs). I'm looking for endurance and stamina as well as strength.

But after a while, the shoulder and elbow gets sore. Tendinitis can flare up. Especially when I hit the shoulder machine right after for 3 hard sets of 12 reps at 50 lbs. Then I go to the stretch cage and toss some "side kicks" in various combinations (high, middle, low, low-middle, middle-low) at the cage bars. I heel dip and flex and end this by climbing up the cage and trying to get 10 neutral-grip chins before heading back toward the machines and free weights. For the real workout. This has all been "the preamble". But this week I change things up just a tad and flat bench a straight pyramid: 15 reps bar; 20 reps pair of 10s; 25 reps pair of 20s (85 lbs).

Monday I got 3 sets of 10 reps at 135 lbs (that's a bar with a 45 lb plate each side) on the Smith machine. I've been stronger. My weakness are my tiny hands with equally tiny wrists and fingers. Seriously. I wear a size 3.25 ring (that's equivalent to the hand size of a 9 yr old). These are my weak links and there's nothing I can do to make them bigger and stronger. Today I do decline benches because as a small woman with a small bust, the last thing I need are incline benches which make the upper pectorals loom over "the girls" -- a peculiar and disconcerting profile. Declines will at least work to fill out the lower pectorals, as well as stress the delts. Delts, triceps and abs are also on the agenda today.