Happy 4th!

It's the 4th of July and yes, I did go to the gym today. Me and several thousand others. Okay, it only seemed like thousands because damn, the gym was crowded! There were a lot of regulars, and there were new people who perhaps come at other times, or who were there at their spouse's behest, or figured, what the heck I'm gonna pig out this evening so a bit of exercise won't hurt. Regardless, it was crowded. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Wednesday is Leg Day and luckily there was a Precor available. Leg Day is my excuse to put in about 65 minutes for cardio, doing a hill and an interval program, varying only in the time on each. Today I did 45 min on a hill for 5.26 miles and an additional 20 min of intervals for 2.44 miles. Total 7.7 miles. That felt good.

I couldn't get to the cage stretch immediately afterwards so I did 3 sets of seated leg curls (15 reps at 75 lbs). Then torso twists (50 reps) at 60 lbs. I waited for the Smith machine to do Squats and Deadlifts. First I warmed up with just the bar (45 lbs) doing 12 reps of a full range of motion (butt down to the heels). Then a pair of 25 lb plates (95 lb total) and 3 sets of 15 reps. Even with a/c, sweat is streaming through my hair. I add a pair of 10 lb plates and do another 3 sets of 12 reps at 115 lbs. I feel a little winded and rest about 45 seconds between sets.

Deadlifts are next. I only use 95 lbs because I feel weaker at this but get 6 sets of 12-15 reps. Sweat is still streaming down my face. I'm done with the free weights and move back to the torso twists, abs (twisting situps and lower ab kickouts) and finally, another 3 sets of 15 reps of Seated Leg Curls at 90 lbs, and it's 90 lbs only because that's the weight it's already set at, not because I've consciously decided to up my weight. I'm slamming the weight stack as I contract my hamstrings. That's not nice so I slow down and try to make my movements softer.

I stretch out and head off to shower. The scale reads 107.0 or 107.2. The reading keeps bouncing back and forth. Whatever. I'm thinking that I've actually put on some size somewhere. My triceps are a tad sore, but when I think about it, so are my glutes and obliques. I guess the new routine's working!