Slacking Leads to Injury

I don't think that shoveling snow really counts as cardio or weight training exercise, no matter how breathless and sore and achy it makes you. My husband and I shoveled our walkway, driveway, and our cars out of Nor'easter Nemo, but we apparently had it good compared to those further east. We only got about a foot of snow, a lovely combo of small sandy grains and wet fluffy flakes.

But there was no school on Friday and I kick myself for not getting to the gym that morning, before the snow started falling. Truthfully, the roads weren't bad until much later in the day. But I slacked. And we didn't do anything on Sunday either other than take my son to his swim class and join some friends for an hour of sledding in the brilliant warm afternoon sun.

So today, I'm stiff and sore, from sleeping late (school on a 2-hr delay due to the icy roads this morning) and inactivity. All the Precors are fixed so I'm happy, but my 35 minutes only gets me 3.95 miles. I feel tired when I should be refreshed. I debate whether I should Push or Pull today because my last workout was a Push so I should be doing Back and Biceps. However, I'm lazy and I have a Monday routine. So Bench Pressing it is! There's a guy sitting at the station, with no weight on the bar. He's chatting on the phone so I motion to him to ask if he's done? "One more set" he says but continues to chat. Then, he does kick outs. I sneer to myself, No wonder he doesn't look like anything. Really, he's taking up the Smith station just to do ab kick outs? Loser. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but I didn't actually say it, I just thought it.

The benching went well, but I notice halfway through that my right calf feels really tight. Benching heavy requires you to brace your body, back against the bench with feet flat on the floor. Some people arch their backs but that's not good form. B tends to pull her head up like a turtle trying to right itself, also bad form. If anything, it means you should lessen the weight. But I don't have those issues. I'm thinking it's the cardio warm up I did earlier. Sometimes I'm not moving balanced and it shows up later with soreness and stiffness. I'm doing everything I can to convince myself to go back to doing 45 minute cardio warm ups. I miss the sweaty breathlessness. I don't like feeling tired and achy. Plus, I think I got my period over the weekend, but these days, it's hard to tell because they were never much to begin with. Now they're even less.

I guess I don't understand what other people consider a normal exercise routine. The gym folk seem to concentrate on just one or two exercises, benching for instance. If they're doing more full-body routines, then they only seem to do a few sets. I don't see a lot of effort. And I don't see any results.There are exceptions of course. Like Amazing Stretch and his pal Curly Cap. But those guys seem to have a plan. Perhaps that's why CrossFit is so popular -- because there's a plan.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min cardio = 3.95 miles
Smith Bench Press: 12 @ bar (45 lbs) / 25 @ 95 lbs / 12 @ 115 lbs / 12 @ 135 lbs / 3 x 10 @ 145 lbs / 12 @ 125 lbs / 25 @ 105 lbs
Cage Stretch & Kicks (I stretch out my right calf as gently but thoroughly as I can)
Front & Lateral Raises with Rear Bent-Over Raises: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs (Rears @ 22.5 lbs)
Lateral  & Rear Raises: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs (Rear 3 x 15 @ 22.5 lbs)
One Arm DB Tricep Extensions: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs (these are starting to get too easy)
Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Lower Ab Kick Outs: 100
Tricep Press Downs: 12/10/9 @ 50 lbs
Mat Stretch

I saw B and R's cars in the lot when I got here this morning but I don't say Hi. B always seems to be chatting with someone. R is at the opposite end of the gym. Mo waves her fingers in front of my face to say Hi when I'm doing Tricep Press Downs because she knows I'm so focused that she can walk right by me and I'm oblivious. I refocus momentarily, smile and wave back. Someone waves to me from across the gym and I have to look twice because I don't know who it is right away. It's HJ, the father of one of my son's former classmates from daycare several years ago. I wave back and wonder how his daughter is doing. I recall him frantically trying to get to work while bringing her to daycare, still wrapped in her blanket and jammies, and a bag of Skittles for breakfast. I'm hoping she's grown into a somewhat more pleasant child but I don't ask.

During my Mat Stretch I notice my left hamstring seems unusually tight, perhaps compensating for the tight right calf. I'm usually more limber, even after a weekend. I'm not at all happy, so I'm reconsidering upping my cardio back to 45 minutes. Of course, I've also noticed that my hip measurements are a tad bigger (33-26-33.5). I'm hoping that's from the squats and dead lifts. Not that my butt seems any less saggy. The gym scale reads 111.6 lbs and I'm not surprised, not with the double helping of turkey meatballs and pasta yesterday. Tonight I'm making cod with garlic and butter, over rice with sauteed spinach. And of course, I'm having dessert.