Back on Schedule!

Tuesday is another scorcher and I must be nuts to be wearing a hoodie but I am. I pounce on an unattended Precor elliptical and do my 45 minutes and push myself to get 5.05 miles. It's good to have a goal to egg you on! Sweat is still raining down my face as I amble over to the cable rows. I put my elbow braces on and use my hoodie to mop my head.

I like how my last Back Day felt so I'm doing it again: 3 sets of 12 reps at 90 lbs; 3 sets of 8-12 reps at 105 lbs; 3 more sets of 12 reps at 90 lbs again. Time to move onto something else. Lower back extensions. Torso twists (50 total reps at 60 lbs). Cage stretch and kicks. I even do Inclined Sit Ups with the 10 lb plate on my chest for a total of 100 reps (1x50, 2x25).

I decide to mix up the order of my routine and opt to do 6 sets of Bent Over Reverse Grip Barbell Rows with the 50 lb bar. Again, the first 4 sets are good full sets of 15 reps, and the last 2 sets just take my breath away and it's all I can do to get 12 reps.

I'm procrastinating going over to the Pull Down station because Mr Pajama Pants is lurking there. He's probably harmless but the last time I wound up seated at a station next to him, he gave me this awful baby seal look. Made me want to grab something heavy and club him just to put him out of his misery. This is some overweight, graying, middle-age guy who does a half-ass workout: walks on the treadmill and has lousy lifting form.

Guys, if you've been going to the gym regularly for at least several months and you still look exactly the same, you're doing something wrong! Really! Get a trainer! Change your routine! And no, I'm not interested in talking to you. Really! I'm completely Machiavellian when it comes to conversation in the gym. I'll be nice and wave Hi to people I know but honestly, I don't want to engage in conversation. It detracts from my momentum. Unless you're someone who knows what the hell you're doing, and then maybe I might want to ask you about a form. On the other hand, women who ask me for help or advice usually ask me in the locker room. And I'm perfectly willing to chat when I'm not working out.

I do Pull Downs. 5 sets of 12 reps at 90 lbs. I pull the bar down to my chest each time. At the end of the set, I let the weights stretch my back because I can't quite let them down (even on tiptoe) without clambering atop the seat. Feeling brave, I go for Bicep Curls. 15 lbs feels okay but I feel my right thumb ping with something akin to nerve shock running down my forearm. The 20 lb dumbbell isn't making it better either. But if I turn my arm slighly and don't drop my arm completely straight, well, it doesn't ping and it doesn't hurt. So, I go for it.

I get 3 complete sets of curls left arm only with 20 lbs, alternating each a set with a set for the right arm (limited descent but still squeezing at the bicep contraction). I'm also using a thumbless grip — someone once told me it was called a "deadman's grip" because of the probability of dropping the weight. My arms look good in the mirror and I'm happy. And I've just about sucked down all my water. That's 1.5 liters. B tells me that if she drank that much, she'd be doing her workouts in the bathroom. But B doesn't sweat either, so go figure.

I never leave without stretching out. My clothes reek. I desperately need to shower. The scale reads 107.4 and that's normal for a Tuesday. I'm starving though and can't wait to get to the car to suck down my ice-cold 25 grams of vanilla protein. I have to laugh though at the company's recent new marketing ploy: their clear beverage has 3X the protein of fruit juice. Duh! Fruit juice has negligible amounts of protein. Do they all think we're as dumb as rocks? Like the breakfast drink that claims to have 2X the protein of an egg. And yet there's no protein in the mix. You have to add milk. So I could just drink milk, right? But my triceps and delts are a wee bit sore (the good kind) and I'm happy. Back tomorrow for Leg Day!