Nothing Says Old like AARP

I had a great workout today, but then again, it's Leg Day and I love love love doing an hour of cardio followed by weights and stretching. I was feeling great until I got home and picked up the mail. Without an identifiable return address label, I skeptically opened the envelope marked New Card Inside -- Do Not Bend. I'm thinking, "Which one of my credit cards has expired?" because I'm usually fairly vigilant about stuff like that. Instead, it was an invitation to join AARP so I could reap all their "benefits" for just a $16 annual fee.

Pistol Squat

Sorry but nothing says old like AARP. My dad used to revel in flashing his Senior Citizen discount cards while middle-aged women gawked at his youthful appearance. But my dad had more than great genetics on his side, he'd lied on his working papers when he was a teenager, adding ten years to his actual age. No wonder he looked so young! I don't have any such dark secrets. I freely admit that I'm 52 years old and about the height and size of a 10 year old, a genetic throwback to my grandmother's generation (she was only 4' 8" and the youngest of four children, including her twin sister). I've got a few strands of gray hair, and I can see where my skin is starting to age so it's not as if I'm unnaturally youthful. But I do work out like a fiend, and I think I've got a better body than a lot of the people at my gym. It's a lot of hard work, but it's something I enjoy.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min hill #6 = 4.05 miles + 35 min intervals #7 = 4.33 miles  Grand Total = 8.38 miles Wahoo!
Smith Machine Squats: 12 @ bar (45 lbs) / 6 x 12 @ 95 lbs
I decide to do Dead Lifts to work my hamstrings and glutes and this time I can actually feel the correct muscles in this movement.
Smith Dead Lifts: 12 @ bar / 6 x 12 @ 95 lbs (this time I don't raise the bar up to my chest in order to spare my forearms and elbows)
Cage Stretch and 3 Pistol Squats per leg (I'm probably cheating by holding my extended leg with my hand as I drop down and flex my foot before I power back up, but it's still hard and I only do 3 before deciding to do Leg Curls )
Seated Leg Curls: 3 x 12 @ 90 lbs (I could probably do more sets but I'm so damn lazy)

Your butt should drop to heels

Seated Leg Extensions: 3 x 12 @ 60 lbs / 3 x 15 @ 60 lbs (I don't even know why I only did sets of 12 for the first 3 sets before realizing I could be doing sets of 15 reps)
Torso Twist Station (yay! it's fixed!): 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Smith Machine Thrusters: 12 @ bar (45 lbs) / 2 x 12 @ 55 lbs (I only add 10 lbs to the bar this time because I couldn't complete a set of 12 last time at 65 lbs. It's still exhausting though and my knees always feel a bit odd afterwards so I want to start slow and easy with this new exercise)
Mat Stretch

The scale reads 109 lbs and I relax in the sauna for a few minutes after showering.  The gym clears out around noon and is virtually empty by the time I leave. At home, my scale reads 106.2 but the other readings are all over the place by a skosh so I don't pay them any mind. I not sure how much better I can make my physique, especially at my "advanced age". I'm definitely stronger, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to see any changes.

Tomorrow's a Push Day and I haven't done Decline Presses in a long time, so if that bench (there's only one) is free that's what I'm going to do. I also just realize that there are weighted bars in the corner that I can probably use for the French Press (triceps)... Hmmm, I'm all excited to check out the equipment now. Old is just a state of mind, and as long as you're willing to try new things, and try with a vengeance, well, who says a middle-aged woman can't have a better physique than a twenty-year old?