Learning How to Rest

I'm getting to this late today because Halloween and Christmas are probably the two most socially-hectic holidays of the year. And Halloween is next week. Not that this is an excuse. I still went to the gym this morning. I still put in my 35 minutes of cardio, and still wished it was over when I peered at the display and it read 15 minutes. I still got my quota. And I still did my stretches. I ran into B as I paced between stations because everything I wanted to use was occupied. Someone on the Decline Bench. Creepy Hannibal Baggy Knees on the Olympic bench and he's not even benching. He's just sitting there with a 20 lb bar, doing waist twists. The Cage is occupied by a bandy-legged old man that I feel sorry for because he doesn't walk very well. The Smith has someone doing Overhead Presses. I didn't let B say anything as I ranted about the gym being too crowded at this time, and besides, I wasn't interested in hearing about her nail or hair appointment.

I find an unused Olympic bench and resign myself to doing bench presses when I really want to do Decline Presses.The Dip Station is too wide for my arms and puts a lot of stress on my elbows. Today is Arm Day and I always start my workout, after cardio warm up, with a big movement. After a quick two sets to warm up, I load the 25 lb plates onto the bar. It's then that the gal on the Decline strips her bar and moves to another bench. Yippee! I start all over as if I'd never even set up on the flat bench.

The incline feels different and I realize that someone's placed a 6" foam block under the foot of the Decline Bench. I'm too lazy to remove it and I've never benched at this angle before. Hmmm. I'm guessing this is closer to 45° than 30° now. I bench the bar just to get used to the feel as I press. I think I actually like it better now. Methodically, I up my weight and drop my reps until I get 6 reps at 115 lbs. Because I don't like to end with so few reps, I drop back to 95 lbs and knock out a quick 15 reps. It feels good. Between sets I notice The Mayor, Jude and Tall Pace taking turns at the Squat Rack. But only Jude is squatting. I count 3 big plates (45s), a 25, and a 5 on each side and he gets 6 reps but barely parallel. Still, pretty impressive.

The gal who was on the Decline Bench is now doing presses with an EZ Curl bar and maybe 7.5 lbs each side. I'm a bit perplexed since she was using a full Olympic bar with15 lbs each side for the Decline. She's loads taller, bigger than I am so perhaps I take it for granted that bigger people should push bigger weights. I'm starting to become reliant on this Jefit app and check my cell to see what I've scheduled to do next. Ah, dumbbell curls. I do standing Alternate curls with 20 lb DBs to warm up and then remember to grab magnetic discs from the front desk. "Two?" the girl asks. I hold up four fingers, knowing that I'll be using the 25 lb DBs because they're smaller than the 30s.

When I grab the 25s, I also grab a bench because I prefer to do them seated to keep my body from swaying. By the time I've stuck all my magnets on the DBs, R has glided in and is planted on the bench next to me. He's deep in conversation with RR, occasionally spotting RR during his OHPs. R never seems to need anyone to spot him. He rolls the 125 lb DBs to his bench and looks up as I nod at him. "Hey, what are you going to do when you run out of weights?" There are no heavier DBs. He smiles amused, as if he's never thought of that possibility. "I don't need to go heavier. I do my 8 to 10 reps. I'm as strong now as I was when I weighed 70 lbs more." I can't imagine him bigger, he's imposing even as slender as he is, at 6'4 (seems taller) and 220 lbs.

He tells me that he doesn't listen to what everyone says, he's had the advantage of working with pros for 4 seasons. I laugh and tell him it's okay to hear people out, that it doesn't mean you abide by it. "Besides, I can always put magnets on them," he says. "Bigger than these?" I ask, motioning to the 2.5 lb discs I already have. "Oh yeah." "They got 'em here?" "Naw," he shrugs. I'm done with alternating DB curls and Skull Crushers, so I wander away. I have to check my cell to see what's next and am chagrined to find that I still need that 40 lb BB so I retrieve it and plant myself in front of the mirrored wall. BB curls of course. I pace between sets, knowing that I'm not resting enough but I'm impatient to be done already.

The 40s are easy. I slap on a pair of magnets and do a set at 45 lbs. It's still okay and instead of reracking the 40 lb BB because I'll be needing it for Reverse Grip BB Curls, I just slap another pair of magnets on. Now they're 50 lbs and I brace myself because last time I did this weight, my elbows screamed at me. Today they're okay. Go figure. I finish with 3 sets of RGBB Curls and even these don't feel all that painful. By the time I get to the Mat, I'm bouncing to my tunes. Again, I only do 20 seconds holding the plank because it's awful to lie still when the music makes ever fiber in your body want to twitch. The gym scale reads 109.2 lbs. Go figure. Tomorrow's a Double Cardio Day, and whacking the Nexersys. Yay!

Arm Day Workout:
35 min Interval 7 = 4.57 miles Yay!

Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 100 I usually do these later in my workout but this was the only station available and I didn't want to cool down too much from cardio

Flat Bench Press: 12 @ bar (45 lbs) / 12 @ 75 lbs
Decline Bench Press 45°: 12 @ bar / 10 @ 75 lbs / 8 @ 95 lbs / 6 @ 105 lbs / 6 @ 115 lbs / 15 @ 95 lbs

Cage Stretch with BW heel dips & calf raises and Side Kicks

Alternating DB Curls: 12 @ 20 lbs / 10 @ 25 lbs / 8 @27.5 lbs / 3 x 6 @ 30 lbs
last four sets superset with 
Skull Crushers: 12 @ 40 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 45 lbs 
Again, the last two reps for each set are really hard but I'm too stubborn to give in

BB Curl: 12 @ 40 lbs / 12 @ 45 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 50 lbs
RGBB Curl: 3 x 20 @ 40 lbs

Mat Stretch with 12 DBPUs, 3 rolling, 20 second plank, 12 regular stance DBPUs, splits, lower back and hamstring stretches including 5 hip bridges, etc.