I get to the gym late but at least my favorite elliptical is free. Yay! I punch in Interval 7 and hope for the best. My left hamstring and glute is sore but so is the right knee. Hmmm. I'm wondering how much is from the lower back extensions yesterday. But what really surprises me is that my pectorals are sore today. It has literally been ages since I've felt soreness there, and it's got to be the new Benching approach. Same weights, less reps, less sets. And better control of the bar for the heavy set. Which is resulting in soreness? I'm excited. Because it was so unexpected. Cool!
What's not cool is how hard the second cardio session is. You know you're in trouble when you peer at the display, hoping you're halfway done, and you find that you're only 6 minutes into it. My triceps are sore too. Arm Day isn't until tomorrow. Hmmm. My back is a little sore, but nothing compared to the pecs. Uh oh, maybe my back won't be sore until tomorrow? I look at the display. Only 3 more minutes to go but my fingers are going numb at the tips, as are the toes on my left foot. I know I'm not going to make 4 miles this time, but it'll be close. And enough to total 8 miles, which is all I want from this anyway. Yay!
The Smith machine is free and I'm on it like bubble gum because it's the only way I can squat. I've eyed the leg press and squat machines but I haven't actually attempted to see how well I fit or don't fit into them. I've noticed that my back is crunchy when I stretch at the Cage as well, so perhaps I'm being alarmist when I squat. Still, I'd rather be safe than really really sorry. Because the gym has replaced all the flooring in this area, I don't have my old markers where to place my feet under the rack and have to figure it out anew. First a set of heel to butt "speed squats" with just the bar. I've accepted that with the counter-weight, the bar probably weighs about 30 lbs, not 45. So all my log entries are based on a 30 lb bar for the Smith machine. My squats were better last week. This week I feel a tad lightheaded after each set but I recover quick enough. I punch my entries into the Jefit app but I haven't made use of the timer because I can't hear it anyway. I like my iPod blasting.
It takes me a millisecond to decide to do my SLDLs on the Smith. I feel as if my form is a lot better here so I grab a Step platform and position it just under the Smith bar. If I don't, then the bar comes to mid-shin instead of my ankles. It's very satisfying to feel the weight clunk slightly as it hits the ground at the bottom of each rep. I'm still feeling a bit lightheaded after each set, but at least I don't want to puke on my shoes! ZZ is hovering. He's probably waiting to use the Smith for those Australian pull ups. He seems to have a well-developed upper body (in spite of the ghastly tattoos of black lightning bolts down both his arms) so I'm not sure why he does them. Perhaps shoulder issues. Whatever. I'm not curious enough to ask him.
My hoodie looks like I fished it out of the lake as I strip it off and drape it on the railing. I don't need it now, and I'd like a chance to dry off a bit. After Cage Stretch, I put my towel on the back of the Seated Leg Curl machine. One of the things that the Jefit app is useful for is giving you something to do between sets. I enter the weight and reps and then promptly forget all my data. I've done 120 lbs for the last few weeks so I add a half-plate to the stack. It's only 7.5 lbs but it feels a lot heavier now. I probably should've done three sets but I only did two. I still don't have a good plan. I'm still doing this all by feel. Which explains why I got six total sets of Seated Leg Extensions and only four total sets of Seated Leg Curls.
Before I completely space about abs, I manage to plant myself on the sit up board (it has an ankle anchor) and count out 150 reps. I probably won't do any abs on Friday, not just because it's another Double Cardio Day, but because I've been signed up for a marathon workout with my husband, by my husband, at the tae kwon do school. For holiday fun, they're providing three classes, with three instructors, to each work a body part per hour. Sounds brutal. I remember Core, Legs, and what the heck was the last one? Dunno. I'm not at all game because it's the end of the week, but my husband who works all the time, barely gets to his TKD class more than once or twice a month, is all excited to do this. He'll probably get stuck at the office. Like the kickboxing classes he gave me for a birthday present, I like them, but I won't go if he's not going.
I see R as I'm doing sit ups. He's greeting RR and the big old guy with the huge mustache. I saw M, Hoodie Tattoo and a few other regulars much earlier. It's the type of day where everyone wants to be outside instead of stuck in a dark noisy gym. I'm resigned to adding the plank to my Mat Stretch but I still can't decide for how long. After 20 seconds (I'm counting one one-thousandth, two one-thousandth), I get bored and walk my hands back to my ankles and proceed with the rest of my stretch. I'd rather do push ups! I've deleted the back leg flex during vertical split because it seems to trigger a spasm in my right hamstring, which I'd rather avoid. The last movement is the lower back hip-bridge, which would actually be relaxing if the floor under the mats were at all flat and level. But they're not, with odd eruptions and bumps as if lumps of bedrock made up the under-flooring. Laying on the Mats for any length of time is bound to lead to a lopsided crick somewhere.
The gym scale reads 109 lbs. It wavers between 108.8 and 109 but I settle for the higher number. When I get home, I'm dismayed to see that the Jefit app has labeled my Leg Extensions as Leg Curls and there's no way to change the label. I try to fix the entries but wind up with double entries for Leg Curls and Leg Extensions. Sigh. Still haven't worked out all the kinks. In it or me.
Leg Day Workout:
35 min Interval 7 = 4.57 miles + 35 min Hill 5 = 3.96 miles Grand Total = 8.53 miles Yay!
Smith Machine Squat: 25 @ bar (30 lbs) butt to heel speed squats / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 100 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 12 @ 140 lbs / 12 @ 80 lbs / 25 @ bar (30 lbs) butt to heels as fast as I can go which at this point, isn't all that fast
Smith Machine SLDL: 12 @ bar (30 lbs) / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 100 lbs / 3 x 8 @ 110 lbs
at least I don't feel like vomiting
Cage Stretch with BW heel dips & calf raises and Side Kicks
Seated Leg Curls: 12 @ 90 lbs / 8 @ 120 lbs / 2 x 6 @ 127.5 lbs PR
Seated Leg Extensions: 12 @ 90 lbs / 12 @ 105 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 120 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 150
Mat Stretch with 12 wide-legged DBPUs, 3 rolling , 20-second plank, 12 regular-stance DBPUs, splits and upper back, neck and lower back stretches including hip bridges, etc.
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