Mo sneaks up behind me as I'm stepping into the Squat rack. "I was looking for you. Where were you?" I motion to the cardio area as I pull out one earpiece. She nearly steps on the back of my heels. "Oh good. Do some cardio for me," she says. "Oh I have. Double cardio today," I tell her. She's given up doing cardio because of her arthritis. She's only 4 years older than me but at least a full head taller if not a whole foot taller, and a good 50-60 lbs heavier. With long white hair and green eyes, she can be intimidating. I'm guessing that the Hello Kitty T-shirts and polka dotted fingernails are her way of minimizing herself. She's genuinely a nice person. I just don't have the time or energy to chat while I'm working out. I think she understands because she calls me "Gym Rat" and calls herself "Gym Mouse working up to be a Gym Rat".
I do a set of squats with just the bar and it feels okay. As I add weight, I assess how my back, knees and hips feel. When I get to 135 lbs, I note a peculiar sensation in my back, like jelly vibrating in the middle of my spine, which alarms me. I debate whether to up the weight (I usually do 3 sets at 155 lbs) or to ease up. I do another set at 135 lbs with my feet positioned slightly closer together and I don't feel the jelly wiggling. But I am worried enough to initiate drop sets, something I don't usually do during squats either. I know I can't go heavy with the SLDL today, figuring I'll just concentrate on my glutes and hamstrings. I pyramid up in tiny increments, hit 95 lbs and drop down. I definitely feel the movement in the back of my thighs and that's all that matters.
The Cage Stretch with heel dips and side kicks are fine although I'm still moving cautiously. I'm really bummed about having to replace Seated Cable Rows on Back Day. I guess I'm just not able to pull 135 lbs without damage. And I'm bloody well not doing Pistol Squats today after the excruciating pain during last week's attempt. And yet, during Mat Stretch, I can squat down on one leg with the other leg extended and push back onto the Mat without any problem. This "injury" is improbably much more complicated than it looks.
ZZ is on the Seated Leg Curls but the Leg Extension Station is free. I knock out 6 sets of 12 reps and look around at all the Cybex equipment. Nixon is two rows up on the Pec Dec. He's certainly developing some nice arms and shoulders although I don't have the nerve to actually tell him. At the Leg Curl Station, I debate how heavy to go and start off with 90 lbs, then move up to 105 and do sets of 8. The next plate up is 120 which is probably too heavy, even to do 5x5s, so next week I might just add a 7.5 lb brick to the stack instead.
The Mats are occupied with long-legged girls in teeny tiny shorts so I knock out sets of sit ups and crunches to kill time. Abs are good for that. Mat Stretches seem okay although my middle back does feel a bit sore when I roll forward to place my forehead on the mat while sitting cross-legged. I'm going to give my lower back a few weeks of rest by deleting all the potentially hazardous movements. I'm not sure what that leaves but as long as I'm still able to do cardio and the basic exercises, I should be fine. I'm looking at Double Cardio tomorrow, and arms -- yep, biceps and triceps. Should be fun!
Basic Leg Day Workout:
35 min Interval 7 = 4.48 + 35 min Hill 6 = 3.89 Grand Total = 8.37 miles Wahoo!
Smith Squats: 12 @ bar / @ 95 / @ 115 / 2 x12 @ 135 / @ 115 / @ 95 / 15 @ bar
Smith SLDL: 12 @ bar / @ 65 / @ 85 / 2 x 12 @ 95 / 12 @ 85 / 12 @ 65 / 12 @ bar
Cage Stretch with BW heel dips and side kicks
Seated Leg Extensions: 6 x 12 @ 75 lbs
Seated Leg Curl: 12 @ 90 lbs / 5 x 8 @ 105 lbs
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 150
Mat Stretch
The gym scale reads 109.6 lbs which is better than yesterday, but not much. I can see and pinch the layer of fat under the skin of my quads and wonder how much weight I'd have to drop to lose it. I don't have fat legs anymore, the pocket of fat behind my knees has been gone for over a year, but I wonder how much effort it would take. Not that I'm itching to torture myself. But losing the ability to gain strength due to physiological weaknesses (joints, tendons, discs etc) is a bit disheartening. I know I'll just wind up redirecting my energy until something happens and I'll have to do something else instead. That's how it goes... there's always something, you just have to learn to adjust and adapt.
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