Putting a Bad Mood to Good Use

Today is Wednesday. A beautiful crisp sunny Wednesday. Leg Day. And the traffic is unbelievable! Where is everyone going? I hope they're giving something away for free because I can't believe how long the line is from the traffic light. Going in the other direction.Whew!

But everyone is driving crazy, distracted, or perhaps, because it's summer, now all the feeble and, "well, he's too old to drive but he won't give up his license" are out in full force. By the time I get to the gym, I'm in a mood. It's Leg Day and it's time to mix it up again so I do 35 minutes of uphill cardio for 4.05 miles and then an additional 30 minutes of intervals to get 3.68 miles. Grand total is 7.73 miles which is the most I've ever done in one session. I'm really happy now! I suck down half my water bottle and go stretch and kick at the cage while sweat rains down under my hoodie.

Belly button frown due to "baby belly" skin. Oh well.

Uh oh, Zumba class just let out and all the machine stations are busy so I have to put off doing Seated Leg Curls. Yes! the Smith is free and I've a mind to up the weights on my Squats. Just a teensy bit. The first set is just the bar (45 lbs) and I feel silly doing it. But I want to make sure that my knees feel okay with this movement. Then I add a pair of 25 lb plates (total weight 95 lbs) and do 3 sets of 12 reps.

This feels okay. I'm constantly assessing the movement and how my body is reacting to it. (I do this with cardio as well because you can "step" wrong and injure your knees or ankles.) I add a pair of 10 lb plates (total weight 115 lbs). It's a little heavy but I have the foam pad and my towel on the back of my neck for protection. I do 3 sets of 12 reps. I know I could go heavier but I want to take this slowly. I don't want bigger thighs or glutes. (My size 0 clothes fit just fine.) Just nice ones. And by that, I mean shapely.

I'm a station hog and immediately after I'm done with squats, I set up for Deadlifts. I'm not as sure about upping the weight on this so I stick to doing 6 sets of 12 reps at 95 lbs. I put my elbow braces on and make sure to keep my arms slightly bent to take the pressure off my forearms while pulling the bar straight up. By the last two sets, I have to release the bar at the 8th and 10th rep to readjust my grip before finishing. I make sure to keep my back straight, and squeeze my glutes and hamstrings as I pull up.

Bizarro abs or ribs?

There are so many exercises that I don't do because of my knees. Lunges for example. And nothing that involves jumping around or up and down. No no squat thrusts, or burpees, or jumping jacks. The Seated Leg Curl is free so I do 6 sets of 12-15 reps at 75 lbs. I realize that I'm slamming the weights as I contract my legs back under the seat. I guess I should up the weight but I'm too lazy right now. Torso twists, twisting situps, lower ab kickouts and then mat stretching finishes my workout.

I'm wondering if doing Inclined SitUps with the 10 lb plate is making my abs bloat out, but then I dismiss the thought because it's my lower abs that look funny to me, and the inclined situps seem to be all upper abs. Or at least that's where I feel it. The scale reads 106 even. I'm happy. The home scale this morning had read 104.8 (but it always lies). Once I get home I look at my abs again. I can never get the camera to see what I see. But I'm in a much better mood now.