Monday cardio is always dreadful. I mounted Precor #3 which glides like a dream and peddled furiously. It did take me 4-5 minutes to warm up enough to get to a half way decent speed. I don't make my quota but I wasn't expecting to. Ah, lowered expectations...I don't like crowds and being small probably has something to do with that. The bench I normally use is surrounded by college boys so I put my gear on a different one. I don't understand why people have to stand next to the barbell rack when they're doing curls. Why don't they just take their respective barbell to a clear spot in front of the mirrored wall instead of curling right next to the Olympic benches? Haul your equipment to a spot out of the way, and when you're done, haul it back. It smacks of laziness to me. I've forgotten my gloves. They're in my bag inside the locker but I'm too lazy to retrieve them. Besides, I still have my neoprene grip pads and all my wraps. Because benching the bar felt easy, I also did 12-rep sets of the next two weights. But I normally don't. And I shouldn't've. It was too much volume, which became apparent afterwards.
The Mayor is chatting with M way in the corner of the dumbbell area so I ask a burly tattooed guy to give me a spot. He was just leaning all over the barbell rack anyway so it's not like I was taking him away from something. I know I can get most of it myself. I'm just worried about my grip failing, especially since I'm using the Thumbless Grip to bench. I get 10 and try for one more but it's a struggle. He gives me an assist and puts the bar on the rack. I toss another 5 on each side. It's the same amount of weight I did last week. I should be able to get 6 reps, with help. The Mayor walks by and we give each other a quick wave. I'm not ready yet. When he returns from another chat with someone else, I ask him for one spot. He counts the weights and again asks me how much I weigh. "What are you? 97 lbs?" Why does everyone think I weight 97 lbs? It's not the first time someone has thought that. "One oh eight," I say.
I can get the lift off and press for a good 4 reps by myself but I need the assist for the last two. My right shoulder feels a little strained but I ignore it. "You should try positioning yourself more under the bar." I look at him puzzled. "You're grabbing the bar and having to pull it from overhead to over your chest. That takes a lot of energy. Try just pressing up instead." I thank him and he goes back to chatting while I pull a plate off and try to figure out whether I like this new position. I'm disappointed in how tired I am and I'm unable to complete my drop sets with as many reps as I'm used to. I don't like the new position either because having short arms means I'm wary of smacking the barbell into the uprights. It's unnerving and I don't like it at all.
When I get to the Cage, a bandy-legged middle-aged man is stretching in it so I wait by the Cables. I'm surprised at how easily I can drop my elbows between my legs and rest them on the floor while standing around. My lower back is really stiff today. The only thing that works to loosen it up is doing twisting sit ups. I can't quite remember how many sets or reps I do for delts so I just grab 4 magnetic discs and head to the dumbbell area, figuring I'll just start with 20s and up the weight until I can't do them anymore. It's a plan of some sort.
The Mayor is using one of the Inclined benches so I grab the other one that's sitting inside the Smith machine, but I don't bother moving it far. Just enough so I have clearance for Rear DB Flyes. These I know start with 25s and end with 30s, I just don't remember how many sets or reps. WTF, go for broke. 15 reps at 25. Another 15 reps at 27.5. Okay, sets of 12 at 30 lbs. I plan to only do 3 sets. Then maybe 4 because well, I'm not done yet. Then I do another two sets. What is that? Six sets? Done. I move over to a clear spot between flat benches and grab a pair of 20s just to warm up. 15 reps easy. Then the 25s. Okay, not quite as easy. Add discs. Still not horrible.
WTF, go for broke. I can manage sets of 8, the last two reps requiring a pause, a breath. Again, I start off thinking okay, 3 sets but when I get there, I think, hey, I can still manage another set. Or two. Again, it's six sets. Nine sets total. I think I'm tired. But I'm stiff and need to do some abs before hitting the barbell upright row. I see N, the tall thin girl who's competing in a few weeks. She's doing dead lifts again. I'm focused on getting my rows done without too much wrist pain. I know I've gone heavier but today I'm just doing 50 lbs. Maybe next week I'll up the weights here because six sets of 8 reps wasn't bad at all.
The Mats are crowded but I manage to complete my stretches. I've added a hip/lower back stretch at the very end. It's a bridge where you lay on the mat with feet flat on the floor and knees bent, then just push your hips up, stretching the front quads, keeping hands down on the floor. As I'm gathering my gear up in the locker room, N comes in and greets me. She's pulling out those lucite heels and I ask her if she can really walk in them. "Unfortunately I can, but this platform makes it harder. It'd be easier if they were just heels. I think I'm going to sand them down." "Are they slippery?" She shakes her head no, but she wishes they were because you're not walking in them. It's more of a gliding motion where you slide your hip forward along with your leg. And then we joke about the Victoria Secret runway walks with the exaggerated gait.
Before I step into the shower, I weigh myself: 111.8 lbs. I'll bet there's 3 lbs of water weight just from the clam, bacon and spinach pizza alone. I'm not worried.
Monday Workout:
35 min Hill 5 = 3.92 miles Bleah!
Bench Press: 25 @ bar (45 lbs) / 12 @ 75 lbs / 12 @ 95 lbs / 12 @ 105 lbs / 10+1 @ 115 / 6 @ 125 / 8, 9 @ 115 / 10 @ 95 lbs
Cage Stretch with BW heel dips & calf raises and side kicks
Inclined Rear DB Flyes: 15 @ 25 lbs / 15 @ @ 27.5 lbs / 6 x 12 @ 30 lbs
Standing Lateral DB Raises: 15 @ 20 lbs / 12 @ 25 lbs / 12 @ 27.5 lbs / 6 x 8 @ 30 lbs
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Barbell Upright Rows: 6 x 8 @ 50 lbs
Mat Stretch with DBPUs, splits, upper back & shoulder stretch, lower back & hamstring stretch
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