After the first cardio session, the large bald man exits and I'm half tempted to mount that elliptical. But I stay put, stubbornly pedaling through the hill program. I'll be lucky to actually make eight miles. Sweat has soaked through my hoodie, my nose is running and my lips feel wind-burnt. I'm not panting but trying to control my breath with deep long inhalations, and quick short exhalations. If I don't do anything today, at least I got my cardio in.
Today is Leg Day but I'm unsure as to how much weight, how many sets or even how many reps to do today. I'm playing it by feel. The Smith machine is free which is great because I can't squat with a free standing bar. Short arms and weird elbows makes it extremely painful to hold the bar across the back of my shoulders unless I'm standing inside the Smith. First I do speed squats, butt to heels, as fast as I can go with just the bar. With the counter-weight, it's about 30 lbs. My knees feel odd and then I remember that I have to stand more forward and sit back, pressing up from my glutes instead of the front of my quads. I add weight after each set, but drop the reps, only doing 6 reps at my maximum weight (bar + 2x25 + 2x3x10) but I'm able to just about parallel without hearing or feeling any lower back crunchiness. So far so good. I drop the weights and add reps until I'm left with just the bar, and then another set of speed squats. These are so much harder now.
I'm determined to do real Stiff Legged Dead Lifts so I leave the security of the Smith (like a domestic bird tentatively exploring the world outside the cage). I know I can do at least a few SLDLs at 90 lbs based on my experience with Reverse Grip BB Rows. But I don't know if I can sustain it in an actual set. Instead of wrestling with the BBs, I find a stray Olympic bar and bravely, or foolishly (depending on your point of view) put a pair of plates on the bar. My hands are too small to utilize the spring clip collars and I'm not about to ask anyone to help me either. I hadn't noticed until I put the plates on that the edges weren't round but had flat edges to keep them from rolling. What I do notice is The Mayor and some of his chatting cronies periodically staring over at me.
I do three sets of six reps and after each set, I can honestly say that I felt a little like vomiting. Which is odd because half an hour ago on the elliptical, I was having hunger pangs. I'm pretty sure those were only 25 lb plates but now I have to go back and double check because again, I've never seen flat edged plates like a Susan B Anthony coin.
My Cage Stretch feels good and the music has picked up so my kicks are very energetic. I see D at the Nexersys and we chat briefly between rounds. She's scoring 100% for most of her hits but some of the kicks still aren't registering. I'll take a swing at it on Friday. Instead, I look to the Leg Curl station. There are two elderly women fussing over it. Sigh. But the Leg Extension is free, with a haphazard setting, as if the last user didn't quite know how to make the proper seat adjustments. I only do six sets total, with three sets at 120. I could probably go heavier. But mentally, I'm not prepared to move the weight up so it doesn't stick in my mind. The Leg Curl is still busy so I kill time by doing abs, first the Torso Twist, then Ab Crunches, and finally Twisting Sit Ups.
The Leg Curl is free and before another elderly woman can plop her boney butt in it, I've draped my towel over the seat and planted myself. It's only six sets but I don't like to rest too long. I tend to stay at the station I'm working instead of moving back and forth because there's always the chance that you'll lose your place to a slow-moving gym virgin who's most likely as brittle as spun sugar. 120 lbs is easy on the Leg Extension, but hard on the Leg Curl. The Mat Stretch is a relief and I thoroughly enjoy moving through my routine.
The locker room is blissfully empty when I go shower. The gym scale reads 109.2 lbs. My stomach is growling again but it's way past noon now. The funeral service should be over and traffic restored to the main road but I'm not leaving the area anytime soon. I have grocery shopping now.
Leg Day Workout:
35 min Interval 7 = 4.35 miles + 35 min Hill 6 = 3.83 miles Grand Total = 8.18 miles Yay!
Smith Squats: 25 @ bar (30 lbs) speed squats heel to butt / 12 @ bar + 50 lbs / 10 @ bar + 70 lbs / 8 @ bar + 90 lbs / 3 x 6 @ bar + 110 lbs / 12 @ bar + 70 lbs / 12 @ bar + 50 lbs / 25 @ bar speed squats butt to heels as fast as I can go
Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts: 3 x 95 lbs (Olympic bar + pair of 25? lb plates)
Cage Stretch with BW heel dips & calf raises and Side Kicks
Seated Leg Extensions: 12 @ 75 lbs / 10 @ 90 lbs / 8 @ 105 lbs / 3 x 6 @ 120 lbs
Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Seated Leg Curls: 12 @ 75 lbs / 10 @ 90 lbs / 8 @ 105 lbs / 3 x 6 @ 120 lbs
Mat Stretch with 12 wide legged DBPUs, 3 rolling, 12 regular stance DBPUs, splits, yoga stretches, lower back and hamstring stretches, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment