Flying Solo

Sometimes I think of myself as the solitary monk in those old cheesy kung fu flicks, toiling endlessly for years with the same mind-numbing routine, only to emerge a kick-ass fighter. Yeah, right. In my dreams, I hear you snicker. Hey, whatever it takes to get you through the routine, right? My routines are dull, dull, dull and there's not a lot of variety, but I seem to get a good response from it so I only change things when necessary, and that's usually due to injury. This morning I remembered how much I hate cardio as I struggled to keep a reasonable pace on the elliptical. For the first 10 minutes I kept wishing the session was already over because my right knee was throbbing, my quads were burning and my hamstrings felt stiff. I got lost in the music and the next thing I know, 15 minutes have passed and I'm able to kick up into a faster pace. When I get off the Precor, my knee no longer hurts and I feel pretty damn good. It's the routine.

B is chatting with Loud Mouth at one of the cable stations and I walk completely around them to get to the Seated Cable Rows. I already feel as if I spend way too much time at the gym as it is with my limited routine and if I were to actually chat with everyone, I'd be there until well into the afternoon. As it is, I feel guilty about only performing 2-3 different exercises per body part. Major muscle groups like chest and back constitute the bulk of my workout, so I don't see the need to overstress the smaller, weaker muscles like biceps and triceps. I only bench press for chest, front delts and arms. That's only one exercise but it's a compound exercise, utilizing a good portion of the body. When I bench, my body goes rigid which involves the body core (abs) and stabilizers such as legs, side abdominals, and even lats (back).

Back is a different story. Since I can't do pull ups lately without seriously compromising my elbows and forearms, I've resorted to doing an assortment of rowing exercises such as Seated Cable Row, Reverse Grip BB Row, and Pendlay BB Row. Today is Back and Biceps Day which means a lot of rowing and a few painful sets of curls at the end.

Today's Back and Biceps Workout:
35 min hill#6 cardio = 4.02 miles Yay!
Seated Cable Rows: 15 @ 60 lbs / 12 @ 90 / 10 @ 105 / 8 @ 120 / 3 x 6 @ 127.5 lbs / 12 @ 112.5 / 15 @ 97.5 lbs
Cage Stretch & Kicks
Reverse Grip BB Rows: 15 @ 100 lbs / 6 x 12 @ 105 lbs
My hands feel okay today so I figure if I can sets of 15 then I'll up the weight to the last BB in the rack (110 lbs)...
Pendlay BB Rows: 6 x 12 @ 65 lbs
Again, these don't feel awfully heavy while I'm doing them, but damn it feels good to stand up straight after each set and I discover that I'm actually breathing hard. I read an article that suggests going heavier with fewer reps such as 5 x 5. It's a thought, but again, I'm stuck with not being able to lift the 70 lb barbell off the top of the rack.
Lower Back Extensions: 2 x 25 @ 97.5 lbs
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
BB Curls: 6 x 12-15 @ 50 lbs
I know I said I was going to drop the weight back to 45 but I couldn't resist doing a set at 50, and since it didn't hurt that bad, I figured I'd just do the rest of my sets at 50. I'm so stubborn. I stretch my forearms between every set but that doesn't offer much relief, as if I've stretched as far as I can go.
Reverse Grip BB Curls: 4 x 20 @ 40 lbs
Mat Stretch: I added a back leg flex to the vertical splits today. Didn't feel too bad although the horizontal splits are still inches away from perfectly flat against the mat. Getting there though.

I see Ranger Rick and Skinny Blonde as well as M, The Mayor, PJ Pants, Ollie, Skinny Mustache and even R is here early. I wonder if Amazing Stretch and his pal Curly Cap will come back or if they've joined the CrossFit box down the street in the basement of Doc's Nutrition, a supplement specialty shop. People seem to cycle through dependent on their work schedules. It's only the seniors and Stay At Home moms (like me) who make it to the gym consistently.

I have the Mats mostly to myself so I'm happy. I don't mean to take up so much room, but that's hard to do with splits. There are a lot of college and high school kids here now. M, B and R are gone. R and others have said that there's no reason to spend more than an hour or so in the gym lifting weights, unless you're doing something else. Like cardio. How about cardio AND stretching. When people discuss their routines, they seem to reserve separate days for cardio, stretching and lifting, but I can't because I think it's detrimental to the exercise process and leads to extreme soreness, stiffness and injury. I see that most people don't even stretch, and if/when they do, it's very limited. Some people might be embarrassed, but really, most people aren't that interesting to watch, so no one really watches. Or wants to be caught watching. Except perhaps for creepy PJ Pants.

The scale reads 111.0 lbs which is better than yesterday. Dropping two pounds overnight is consistent with excess water from the high-sodium weekend. But I'm slowly getting myself back to a sensible weight. There's several reasons I fly solo, the predominant being that I don't have the time or patience to wait for someone else to take their turn, and I haven't met anyone with the same sense of endurance, someone who can come 5 days a week and knock out cardio and weights. People have different priorities and exercise is not high on a lot of lists. It's a treat for when they can get away, or a drudgery they impose on themselves because they know they should.

July 2012 (kinda scrawny)                                                          June 2013 (not scrawny)

I realize that most people not only don't have the time to perform a routine like mine, but also don't seem to have the focus or stamina either. There's a constant need for novelty and/or feedback. Women meet for classes so they can socialize while feeling as if they've accomplished something. But they need the guise of a class in order to achieve this. We're in the Age of Instant Gratification and exercise routines are anything but instantly gratifying, unless you count self-imposed quotas for mileage and poundage. But I'm in it for the long haul. Heck, I just spent a year trying to put muscle on my back and when I compare photos from 2012 to recent ones, I can actually see the changes. Now that's gratifying!