You Know You're a Gym Rat When...

I'm cured I think as I walk back up the hill from the school bus stop without coughing. Ruefully, I discover that I was a bit premature in my assessment as I start coughing once I finish my coffee before I head to the gym. Oh well. But I am better! It doesn't sound that way in the locker room, but I know I'm better. So much so that I do 45 minutes of cardio on the Precor elliptical.

It feels good even though my calves are a bit sore from using the LifeFitness machine two days ago. I suspect it has to do with the amount I have to flex my ankles when I'm pedaling on that particular machine. 4.98 miles isn't quite the five I was hoping for, but it still felt really good. And I haven't had to swallow too much snot doing it! Yaaay!

The Smith is busy so I decide to do reps on the free weight bench. There are 3 of them and two are being used by big sweaty guys who never remember to wipe down the bench. Yuck. I make a slow, deliberate show of wiping my bench down before and after with the bleach spray and paper towels. I've kept my hoodie on so I'm not dripping all over everything, and because I hate feeling the fans blowing on me while I work out. It's too damn distracting.

I go for a gentle pyramid of sets up and back down. For my last set, which is just the bar (45 lbs), I figure, Oh what the hell. Go for it! And I knock out 50 reps. It's actually not hard. B's not here today, but my workout routine makes her question everything she's been taught for the past several years. This past Monday, she wondered how I could have such nice "cuts" under my collar bones when the only thing I do for chest is bench. No dumbbell or cable flyes. No inclined presses.

In the right light, I have "cleavage" with those lovely muscle striations that radiate out from the center line. I keep telling B, "I can't do a lot of exercises due to my joints, etc but what I can do, I do well." "Well" might mean different things to different people. I'm old-fashion and I use heavy weights interspersed with high reps, but I mean really high reps. Why? It's probably the memory of old kung fu B-movies, you know, the ones where everyone trains repetitively for hours, months, years to build up stamina and power. Sometimes they even develop showy muscles. Of course, these are just Shaw Brother movies from the 50s and 60s, but they're part of my psyche now.

Today's Total Workout:
45 min cardio #6 hill = 4.98 miles
Flat bench: 25 @ bar / 25 @ 65 / 25 @ 85 / 25 @ 75 / 25 @ 65 / 50 @ bar (45 lbs)
Cage stretch & kicks
Front & lateral dumbbell raises: 12 @ 15 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs (supersets)
Lateral dumbbell raises: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Seated rear inclined dumbbell raises: 6 x 15 @ 20 lbs
One Arm Tricep Extension (just to warm up): 12 @ 20 lbs
Twisting Sit Ups: about 100
Lower Ab Kick Outs: about 100
Tricep Pressdowns (burn out): 3 x 12 @ 40 / 15 @ 30 / 25 @ 20 lbs
Mat stretch

Again, the gym is pretty quiet except for the coming and going of the new Fitness Class. Then the din threatens to overwhelm even my cranked up iPod. (B often complains that those people are pigs. I have to agree. The locker room is a complete pigsty of used tissues discarded haphazardly all over the floor. Bleah.) Neither B nor R are here today. I know B's taken today off. R is another matter. I'm hoping he's getting some pain relief. I see the Creepy Broken Guy with his friend who reminds me of an army vet, but not in a good way. They're working out together, and no one is bothering me. V's not here either. Whew! I think he's gotten the message that I'm really not interested in chatting with him at the gym.

The scale reads 108.0 lbs. I'd be happier if it was 107 but my clothes fit just fine, and I think my arms look really good, so what am I complaining about? I'll be back tomorrow to do Back and Bi's. I'm such a gym rat that I'm thinking I could come after the ultrasound Monday morning and maybe just get some cardio in. Good grief.