2013 Brought Winter With It

from homegymcentral.com

It was 6°F when I took the dog out this morning. Good thing I refilled the bird feeder last night. I like seeing the chickadees, titmouse, nuthatch, cardinals and other assorted songbirds flitting from between the privet hedges. The rhododendron's not looking so good though, its leaves all uncharacteristically shriveled against the snowy backdrop.

Again, I warm up the car and drive my son to the bus stop and then off to the gym. I'm happy to see that my favorite Precor has been fixed and I hop on for 45 minutes of me debating with myself whether I should've done 35 instead because there's a slight chance we'll be going to kickboxing later tonight. Damn! I'm tired already and I haven't even finished warming up!

My husband actually got up at 5:30 this morning and went out to our unheated garage to work out. He likes the elliptical, and just bought himself an Olympic bar (45 lbs). I'm not sure what he's doing with it since we don't have an Olympic bench (just a Bowflex) but we do have assorted cast iron plates, and I know he's been eying a great adjustable lifting cage (see above). It doesn't have the tract of a Smith machine but adjustable stays for benching or squatting or whatever. I think he's determined to get into better shape. I'm really glad, but I can't show too much enthusiasm, because men always want to think it was their idea, not the wife's.

Today's Total Workout:
45 min hill #6 = 5.04 miles
Smith Bench Press (reps): 12 @ bar / 4 x 25 @ 95 lbs (I know I should up the weight but I'm lazy)
Cage Strech & Kicks
Lateral DB Raises superset with Seated Inclinded DB Presses (front shoulder): 4 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Lateral DB Raises superset with Front DB Raises (these seem easy now!): 2 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Rear Seated Inclined DB Raises: 6 x 15 @ 20 lbs
One-Arm Tricep DB Extension: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Torso Twist: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Ab Curl Machine: 2 x 50 (upper) / 2 x 50 (lower)
Tricep EZ Bar French Press: 4 x 25 @ 15 lbs (because I don't want to go heavy today and I don't trust my dizzy spells not to really mess with my head if I do Decline Presses)
Mat Stretch

French Press

I see B briefly as she runs out the door because she has a contractor installing closet organizers. Other regulars greet each other with Happy New Year. I even see R but he appears to be grimacing so I just wave at him and move on. I'm still feeling vaguely dizzy in the mornings, most noticeable when I'm doing sit ups. I still think it's sinuses but my son's pediatrician scared me into making an appt with my own doctor next week.

I do have a genetic disposition towards high blood pressure (gee, thanks mom and grandma!) and even though I exercise and eat fairly healthy, I've had intermittent borderline high blood pressure. My second cousin (on my mom's side) died from a brain aneurysm exacerbated by uncontrolled high blood pressure and she was only 48 years old. My grandmother's oldest sister also died of the same thing (as far as I can tell) so better safe than dead!

The scale reads 107.6 lbs and I'm pleasantly surprised. By the time I get home from all my errands, I just have time to bring out my home scale and get a reading. It tells me 104.8 lbs and I compare the readings with those I took exactly 2 weeks ago (Dec. 20). They're virtually identical. I feel relieved. The only way I've dropped 4 lbs in 4 days is because it's water weight!

Web surfing, I did find an interesting article from a few months ago entitled Why Women Can't Do Pull Ups. I've attached a link to it (I haven't figured out how to embed the article to save you the trouble of logging into the NYT online). Or try pasting this into your browser: http://nyti.ms/TOkQh9 

I CAN do pull ups. Finally! (I wasn't always able to do them. I have distinct childhood memories of failing miserably at push ups, sit ups and pull ups.) But the article did mention that shorter people with lower body fat are better able to accomplish this task. Apparently shorter people are stronger! Finally, an advantage to being child-size!