How Much is Too Much?

It's Friday and although the gym parking lot was scary crowded (what rock star landed here and who forgot to tell me?), the gym itself wasn't. It's Friday and instead of slacking off because I'm tired and it's the "end of the week" (puleeeze, the week doesn't end for moms), I actually work out harder because damn, it's gonna be at least 2 days before I get back in here, so I'd better make this workout count! Sick, right?

I drop my son off in the Kid's Room (children must be 13 yrs old to use the facilities) with his iPad and DS games. He's fine as long as some teething toddler doesn't try to bite his arm, or drool on him. Then off I go to drop my stuff in a locker, plug in my iPod and I'm off to the races...

Cardio feels pretty good even though I've noticed some soreness, probably from those squats I did Wednesday. Sore hamstrings also threw me yesterday when I tried to bench heavy. Apparently my whole body contracts when I push hard, including my legs, and at the zenith of a heavy rep, my hamstring nearly cramped up. It was all I could do to force myself to relax that specific muscle and NOT drop the weighted bar on my chest!

30 minutes of cardio has no magic numbers for me anymore and I'm finding it hard to remember exactly how much mileage I've done even though the display is prominently lit. If I was really concerned, I'd be the guy who spends more time inputting numbers into his iPhone app during a workout than actually working out. (You know who you are!) But I'm warmed up and ready to rock'n roll. Or should I say, Row. Rowing is a great exercise. It builds up those amazingly useful back muscles the latissimus dorsi, usually known as lats. I'd like stronger, more impressive lats. I'd like to chin myself easily, and I'd like to have a nice athletic shape in and out of my clothes.

I want lovely V-shaped lats!

 I do 3 sets of 12 reps of cable rows at 90 lbs. Then I do another 3 sets of half the amount of reps for 105 lbs. The theory is that going heavier for fewer repetitions will build strength and size, whereas, going for repetition builds endurance (a different type of strength). I want the best of both worlds: tightly-packed muscles that can go the distance.

My sore elbow appears to be "golfer's elbow" (a type of tendonitis) and  the neutral grip seems to exacerbate the problem so no close grip pull downs today. Just regular plain ol' vanilla pull downs. And reverse grip barbell rows that seem heavier than the 50 lbs they are. I baby my elbow and skip the inclined bench dumbbell curls and go straight to 5 sets of regular dumbbell curls, followed by 3 sets of 21s. 21s were made popular by our original Conan the Barbarian, Arnold. Oddly, 21s don't bother my elbow either, but boy do they make your biceps look nice in the mirror! I'm finally getting rid of that dimply fat that sits between the bottom of the bicep and the inner elbow. That'd been really bothering me for a while!

I step on the scale and it wavers for a second before settling on 105 even. I do it twice just to make sure. So I'm a skosh heavier than yesterday, but lighter than I was last Friday. I think eating the extra protein meal is working but of course, it's probably too soon to tell. Today I get home and I feel hungry even though I've had my vanilla Ensure in the car. I blend up a small ripe banana, about 8 ounces of orange juice (yeah, I know — super high sugar content) and a scoop of strawberry flavored whey protein mix. I should probably substitute either water or fat-free milk for the OJ but I have OJ in the fridge and it's open so it's not going to keep, and what the heck, it's probably not going to make me fat. At least not today.

I joined an "over 40 online community" some weeks ago to see what information they might have on health, nutrition, working out, etc. When I mentioned my plan to increase my protein, a nice woman (retired nurse) started to caution me on all sorts of potential health hazards that too high a protein intake can cause — like kidney damage. I remember this well from the Atkins craze. I do drink a lot of water. And I try to eat a variety of foods, whole grains, leafy green veggies and fruit. But I'm not a saint, or a masochist. I eat ice cream. I love plain ol' blue corn tortilla chips. Hell, I had a fistful of cashews last night before I went to bed. And we're having lobster tonight, and maybe even clams with white wine and garlic sauce. So how much is too much?