Today the gym was more crowded than usual, or at least it seemed that way because people who usually leave after taking a class or two were hanging about to sample new products being hawked by some fitness guru (sigh). It's not as if he were handing out gold bars for free either. These products are really pricey! I'm not really sure what they're suppose to do besides promise eternal youth and beauty. At a cost. I'm just annoyed because he set up his display in the stretch out area.
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| Calf hearts! |
Today I ate a packet of instant oatmeal and half a cup of coffee because I'm just too full to eat or drink any more than that at 7:30 am. It's Leg Day Wednesday so I'm very happy to be able to justify doing an hour of cardio which I break up into a 45 min and a 20 min session. I decided to listen to Billy Idol for the entire session and I get 7.19 miles out of it. Now I'm really happy. My hoodie is soaked and I feel great. Kicks and stretches in the cage, then a quick 3 sets of seated leg curls. Because I dip my heels in my stretches, I don't feel the need to work my calves.
Oooh, even though the gym is crowded, the Smith is free so I set up to do squats. I do 6 sets of 15 reps of 95 lbs (bar + 25 lb plate each side). My knees aren't happy, but they don't actually hurt. They just feel "tired". I decide to modify the deadlift by standing on a raised platform and also by keeping my elbows ever so slightly bent (in deference to my elbow problems). This allows me to drop the bar lower and it feels more productive. Remember, I'm pretty flexible but with a long torso and short legs so standing on a box gives my hamstrings more of a stretch. I do 6 sets of 15 reps at a mere 85 lbs. Then I feel guilty about monopolizing the Smith (it's the only one in the gym) so I move on to abs.
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| They've been called Bulldog Legs |
Standard twisting situps, lower ab kickouts, toros rotations and then the 4 sets of weighted inclined situps. The last 4 reps of the last set of 25 actually take my breath away. I'm such a glutton for punishment. I stopped using the adductor and abductor machines when I discovered that they were making my hips so tight, I couldn't properly stretch out. Sometimes you have to give things up in order to gain other things. I'm also not sure if I'll return to the leg extension machine, purportedly to strengthen the muscles stabilizing the knee. I've not found them to be helpful to me and I stopped doing them when I stopped doing the other leg machines.
Even though I'll never have long legs (who am I kidding at 4'11.5"?), I'd like at least the illusion of longer legs. I think the cardio helps me with that by making my thighs thinner. With the typical SE Asian body type (long torso, long thighs but short calves), I'm limited by my genetics. The trick is understanding the limitations and taking advantage where they exist!
The scale reads 106.0 and I'm good with my number for the day. The gym is still crowded with ladies milling about the product display table as I leave. It's a bright sunny day and I have a ton of things to do so the last thing I want is to be caught up in sales talk. I'll be back tomorrow!
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