There's No Hump When It's Leg Day

It's warmer compared to the past few days and the song birds are all confused, especially since I tossed a bag of dried meal worms into the feeder just for fun. Well actually, it was something new I'd seen at the local supermarket and the packaging promised that it would attract new birds. The dog keeps shedding though, and we wonder why he's not bald yet. I get to the gym just as Zumba class is about to begin and standing amid the flurry of women scrambling for the door is akin to being a gate post during a cattle stampede.

There's few people in the cardio area and I'm happy to get on Precor #1. Today is Leg Day and even though I'm feeling a bit tired, I punch in my standard 30 minutes and the Interval 7 program. The bruise at the base of my left finger has seeped into my hand, but it doesn't hurt unless I press into it. Gripping the handles of the elliptical is the most uncomfortable part of doing cardio today. I'm happy to make over four miles and blithely punch in another 30 minutes for Hill 5. This is so much harder. Both my hands are achy and I can't find a good position to rest my palms, my thumbs chafe against the bar no matter where I place my fingers, the toes in my right foot are going numb. Finally I'm done and a tad disappointed that I couldn't make four miles this time. But overall, the total is good.

The Smith Machine is occupied so I head directly to the Cage to stretch out. I've read various caveats about stretching before heavy lifting, how stretching weakens muscle strength. I'm not totally convinced, although I don't normally stretch until after my heaviest movements. I see the Manchurian leave the gym, neatly attired in button-down shirt and suit pants and for some reason I think he's in the medical profession. The free weight area is fairly empty now, just the way I like it.

I always start with Smith Squats because I don't think I'd be able to squat if I did Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts first. First a high-rep set of Speed Squats with just the bar, then I add a few pounds and do a regular 12-rep set, again Butt-to-Heel. As I add weight, my knees start to complain and eventually so does my lower back. By the time I've got my max weight on the bar, I'm only barely able to go parallel. Drop sets follow. In the interim, a broken man in a wheelchair is maneuvered into the tight space between the Smith machine and another bench, leaving me no way to re-rack my plates. The man is given a 25 lb DB by his male health aide and manages to do a few curls. His head lolls to one side, his face distorted, mouth slightly agape. I'm not sure if it was a stroke or some other catastrophic injury, but the health aide unnerves me because I saw him staring while I stretched out at the Cage. There is no way that I'm asking him to move his charge, so I plop my plates on the floor and re-rack when they've moved on to another station.

I strip the bar and do a set of Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts. ZZ is busy with DBs so at least he's not hovering about the Smith like he was last week. Actually, he's been keeping his distance since he saw me and my family walking across the parking lot at a local store. [I noticed him because he drives a black WRX -- the hood scoop's a dead giveaway on a Subaru -- and who else wears a pompadour? My husband's a fairly formidable guy for someone who should work out more often.] I'm trying to get better at SLDLs so I do as many reps and sets as I can handle. I don't throw up. But after each set, I feel a little light-headed and I'm breathing hard. There's a sign I just noticed in the BB area that says "Do Not Dead Lift while Yoga Class in in Session. Please consult Class Schedule." I don't think that applies to me, especially since the Smith is in the opposite corner, sandwiched between DBs and the raised cardio platform area.

Only two more exercises to go but I feel like I've been here all day. I need to find a new seated Leg Curl because this Cybex machine has been fixed and adjusted so much that the motion feels odd, as if the cables have been pulled too tight. I only do a few sets. My hammies are tired anyway. But I make it up at the seated Leg Extension machine and push out three sets of 12 reps at my new max weight. Done! Well, not quite. Again, there's a bit of abs to do first, and then the Mat stretch. Then I'm done! Yay! The gym scale reads 109.2 lbs and I'm more than good with that.

Tomorrow I have to bring my son to school an hour early because I signed him up for the PTO's extra gym class, figuring little boys need all the running around they can get while at school. So I'll be at the gym early. I hope it won't be crowded... there's usually a new bevy of faces during the holidays because there's a sudden awareness of how people want to look, and reality. Yes, I'd like to look like a Super Hero please. Cape and boots with that bodysuit? Sorry, no magic pill, no radioactive spider bite. Just lots and lots of consistently hard work. No hump here on Wednesday. It's Leg Day.

Leg Day Workout:
35 min Interval 7 = 4.51 miles + 35 min Hill 5 = 3.92 miles  Grand Total = 8.43 miles Yay!
Cage Stretch

Smith Machine Squats: 25 @ bar (30 lbs) Butt to Heels as fast as I can go / 12 @ 60 lbs Butt to Heels / 12 @ 80 lbs Not quite as Low / 12 @ 100 lbs Just under parallel / 12 @ 120 lbs  Just under parallel / 12 @ 140 lbs Parallel as lower back and knees not really happy / 12 @ 100 lbs Below parallel / 25 @ 50 lbs Butt to Heels as fast as I can go

Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts: 12 @ bar (30 lbs) / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 100 lbs / 3 x 10 @ 110 lbs

Seated Leg Curls: 12 @ 105 lbs / 10 @ 120 lbs / 8 @ 127.5 lbs

Seated Leg Extensions: 12 @ 90 lbs / 12 @ 105 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 135 lbs

Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Ab Crunch Station: 100

Mat Stretch