I saw B in the parking lot this morning and had a chance to chat with her. I don't mind chatting if I'm not actually working out. I haven't seen Mo in a while and wonder if I've missed her since I'm usually at the gym around 9 and it's already after 10 am. The gym is really empty and I relish having equipment and benches all to myself. I consider Decline Presses but opt to do reps on the Smith as a tricep warm up. I place my hands fairly close to my chest and knock out sets of 25. I feel good so I move on to the Cage to test my stretches. So far my back and legs haven't complained. Only my right pinky toe seems a bit numb as if it's been chafed all night, an inflamed nerve ending no doubt.
The stretches and kicks seem perfectly normal today although I take great pains to move slowly and deliberately with any bending motions. When I head back to the free weight area, I see a big guy (picture an ex-football player) and his not-quite-as-big-as-him girlfriend. She's on crutches. It's not often you see that at the gym. They're sharing a bench, him hoisting large heavy dumbbells and her, gingerly moving little plastic beauty bells. Eventually though, she winds up with real iron dumbbells.
R passes in front of me and we wave cautiously at each other. He doesn't have his headphones plugged in so I ask him how he's been. "Okay," he tells me although the humidity always makes him feel crappy. Well yeah, I know that. I do sets of DB bicep curls alternating with One-Arm Tricep Extensions. Then Tricep Kickbacks. I'm about to move to the barbell area so I stop by R's bench and ask him about the odd cable exercise I see everyone doing.
As I describe it, R tells me it's called The Woodchop and I can sort of see that, although, having chopped wood, it's a completely inaccurate description of the movement. "It's a core exercise but it works arms and shoulders too." I tell him about the guy who almost smacked me with his swing and how he actually hit his girl in the head. R laughs. He agrees with me that core, or what I call plain ol' abs, should be worked every day since it's so integral to most major exercises. It's very old school, but I'm very old school. After a few minutes R starts to hoist a pair of 110 lb DB to press. "I'm gonna go now 'cuz I don't wanna distract you... those weigh more than I do," I tell him and he laughs again. It must've been his last set because in a moment he's gone. I still have sets of bicep curls to do, and abs, and mat stretch.
Cautiously Optimistic Workout:
35 min Interval 8 = 4.57 miles + 35 min Hill 5 = 3.86 miles Grand Total = 8.43 miles Wahoo!
Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Press: 25 @ bar / 3 x 25 @ 95 lbs
Cage Stretch with BW Heel Dips and Side Kicks
DB Curls alternating with One-Arm Tricep Extensions: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs
DB Tricep Kickbacks: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs
BB 21s: 3 x 21 @ 40 lbs
BB Curls: 3 x 15 @ 40 lbs
RGBBCurls: 3 x 20 @ 40 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Mat Stretch: I'm able to do most of my stretches slowly and cautiously. I don't push the horizontal split (no rolling forward) because that can put a lot of stress on the lower back, nor do I finish with the hamstring stretch (sit with leg straight out in front, pull other knee close to chest and extend leg to ceiling while flexing foot, using arms to hold leg in position).
I suck down the last of my water bottle and head off to a nice hot shower. The gym scale reads 109.4 lbs which is a bit surprising but I feel good and think I look okay as well. I'm cautiously optimistic that this bout of sciatica will pass as quickly as it came on. Now to head to the doc's office to get that 24-hr pee container for the weekend. I'm still planning on coming to the gym tomorrow. Perhaps I'll actually get in a few rounds at the Nexersys boxing station. Again, cautious optimism!
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