Leg Days Are Always Good!

I won't beat around the bush: I'm a gym rat junkie, and as much as I've professed over the years to hate cardio exercises (no, you'll never catch me running unless it's a dire emergency), I absolutely love Leg Day. Or at least, my version of it. Of course, it really helps to have a mix you absolutely love to exercise to in your iPod. I don't think I'd be able to do any of this without tunes to help me keep my rhythm.

B complains to me that she can't understand how I can possibly do 70 minutes of cardio and THEN do weights. But I don't lift a lot, and only selectively. I'm not trying to build up massive thighs and calves (heck, I've been genetically blessed with "thunder thighs") so I'm not concerned with leg presses, lunges, calf raises, adductor and abductor machines. I keep stressing to her that I'm shaping my legs.

 I want endurance and strength without bulk. I want "functionality" but she doesn't listen to me. She's too wrapped up in her own tales of woe. When she's ready to leave, I notice that B flicks her hair incessantly as she chats with a gal on the Stair Climber, fussing with her jacket and smoothing out the spandex leggings they barely conceal. I can't help but think that subconsciously she just really misses being the center of attention of the entire gym.

For me, I need a good 30 minutes minimum to warm up. I also feel that it's a way for my body to burn whatever glucose reserves there are, and then tap into the fat deposits we're all so eager to deplete. Lifting weights calls on different muscles with their own reserves. Afterwards, I always stretch to minimize soreness, and to increase my flexibility. I've read that there is a correlation between flexibility and arterial health. And I'm so paranoid about my own genetic susceptibility to strokes and high blood pressure, that anything that helps me live to be 100 is worth it.

Very few people stretch after their workouts. Mostly, they use the mats for ab work with balls or kettle bells. Most of the women rely on the classes they flock to for instruction and incentive.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min hill #6 = 3.95 miles + 35 min intervals #7 = 4.24 miles  Grand Total = 8.19 miles  Wahoo!
Smith Machine Squats: 12 @ bar (butt to heels) / 6 x 12 @ 95 lbs
Smith Machine Thrusters (once I add weight, I swear, these are probably even harder than the Dead Lifts I was doing a few weeks ago): 12 @ bar (these are way too easy so I put a 10 lb plate on each side) / 10, 8, 8 @ 65 lbs (my right knee feels sore after I'm done and I wonder if this is going to be a problem)
Cage Stretch (mostly hamstrings and calves)
3 Pistol Squats each leg (it's all I can manage without falling over on my butt)
Seated Leg Curl: 3 x 12 @ 105 lbs
Seated Leg Extensions: 6 x 12-15 @ 60 lbs (these seem awfully hard today)
Torso Twist (its the only abs I'm doing today): 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Mat Stretch

The scale reads 109.0 lbs and I'm mildly disappointed. But my home scale reads 106 so I feel better. I have to drop my car off at the auto shop tomorrow to get a bearing (or two) replaced. Right now, it sounds like I'm driving a jet engine. At 16°F, it's too cold for me to even consider using the elliptical in our unheated garage but I might haul in firewood. I'm hoping to get my car back same day so that I can go to the gym on Friday. Because I'm such a gym rat junkie.