Day Three is Leg Day

I debated whether to do a double cardio session today since it was Leg Day, even though I'd started on a New Plan to increase my cardio workouts by cutting back on Leg Day. The day looked promising: we saw a young red fox crossing the road, and a small wild bunny on someone's lawn this morning as I took my son to camp. Yesterday, a red tailed hawk flew low across a main thoroughfare. This morning, a large lone mushroom sprouted overnight in the weedy grass, luminous and lunar pale. The mosquito bites are leaving only finger-size welts instead of the usual egg-shaped ones.

3Jul2013 cardio sessions

Precor #1 was available so I jumped on and punched in my standard hill #5. After 35 sweaty minutes, I punched in interval #7 and I was very happy to record decent mileage for both sessions. I had to wait for the Smith machine. A burly, heavily tattooed man was alternating between shrugs, rack shrugs and crunches. I asked him how many sets and he motioned two. I could wait. Normally I'd wander off to the Cage Stretch but today I didn't want to miss my opportunity to use the Smith. I've learned from experience that I can't do normal squats without my elbows hurting. He's done in a few minutes and moves on to other equipment, leaving me free to monopolize the Smith.

Day Three Leg Workout:
35 min hill #5 =  4.02 + 35 min intervals #7 = 4.45  Grand Total = 8.47 miles Wahoo!
Smith Machine Squats: 12 @ bar (butt to the ground) / 12 @ 95 lbs (thighs parallel) / 12 @ 115 lbs / 12 @ 135 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 155 lbs
Today's different and I feel the weight on my quads right above my knees today
Smith Machine SLDL: 12 @ bar / 12 @ 95 lbs / 5 x 12 @ 115 lbs
This is still kicking my butt but at least I'm able to do each 12 rep set continuously without pause which is a definite improvement
Cage Stretch with Body Weight Heel Dips and Side Kicks
Alternating Pistol Squats: 16 each leg
Seated Leg Curl: 3 x 12 @ 105 lbs
I'd like to do more sets but suddenly I feel tired. The tall obese kid who was using the Seated Leg Curl before me has a dismayed look, probably because I hadn't actually moved the weight down from where he'd left it, although I did remove the 7.5 lb brick from the stack. 
Torso Twist: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Ab Crunch Station: 120
I wasn't actually going to do abs today but I can't let myself cool down too much. The Seated Leg Extension is occupied so I need to keep warm doing something and the ab stations are available.
Seated Leg Extension: 6 x 12 @ 75 lbs
These are my weakest and most painful exercise of the entire session.
Mat Stretch: usually my stretch inexplicably sucks on Leg Day but today I'm pleasantly surprised. The verticals are good and again, I'm able to roll forward onto my face to get my legs to lay flat against the mat. It's still a tad hard on the knees but improving. 

I'm completely drenched by the time I get back to the locker room. The gym scale reads 109.6 lbs. I know I'm heavier than I used to be. My home scale reads 108 lbs with muscle registering at 39.3 % and body fat at 19.1%. Pretty nice if it's true. I can't take these measurements too seriously. After all, this is the device that periodically tells me that my bones are either 4.6 lbs or 4.8 lbs. I don't think I'm gaining and losing bone mass like that.

Tomorrow is July 4th, Independence Day and the gym is open. I'm taking the opportunity to do a bit of cardio and then work the neglected arms. If I can figure out how to armor my knuckles, I may have another go at the Nexersys this Friday. It's very exciting! I can't wait.