Out of the Comfort Zone

I didn't get to the gym as early as I wanted but it's New Year's Eve. I cut my cardio down five minutes to 15, hoping to leave enough in the tank so I could complete my workout the way I wrote it. I see most people just do 5 min on the elliptical, but I can't cut down so quickly after months of doing 4-5 miles a day. At the front desk, I ask for all their magnetic discs only to discover that they really have a lot more than just four 2.5 lb discs. I grab six because that's 15 lbs. After a quick warm up with just an Olympic bar, I grab the 110 lb BB, the last on the rack, and knock out my sets. At 125 lbs, the heaviest I've ever done, I can get 12 reps but they do feel heavy. Thankgoodness for VGs! Two more sets, and then a few drop sets. I feel okay but not really good because I miss warming up until I'm sweaty. The gym is moderately crowded. Latin Baseball and his friends are all over the free weights. When I claim a bench for One-Arm DB Rows, I notice The Mayor, Jude, M and the Slav.

I don't want to waste energy on lighter weighs so I start with the 55 lb DB to warm up. The 60 is heavy! I can only get 10 reps for the first two sets but somehow manage 12 reps for the third set. Very odd. I drop down to 55 again just for another 12-rep set. It's only 5 sets but they've got me bent over my bench panting hard. I return the magnets and wrestle myself into the Lower Back Extension machine. I'm going for reps. Only four sets. And only only four sets on the Neutral (Close) Grip Pull Downs, but at least I'm getting almost three full sets at my max weight of 120 lbs. Yay! Some abs (the things I didn't do yesterday) and then I climb back up to the cardio area to do 20 minutes of LISS. When I feel myself picking up speed (moving from 80 SPMs to 100) I peddle backwards which slows me down. My husband texts me a few times because he's getting new tires and was just told that the car's suspension should've been replaced at 100,000. Oops. He also wants to go hiking, and we plan to go to the $5 movies today. 47 Ronin is playing. We love special effects and mythical warrior stories. Plus, we haven't really hated anything Keanu Reeves has been in.

Again, I start perspiring as I'm mouthing songs while trotting along at 79 SPM. Very odd. Today I want to do a Mat Stretch but suddenly there are a lot of unfamiliar faces everywhere. And especially on the Mats. So no Mat Stretch. I do a quick Cage Stretch and head to locker room. The gym scale reads 115.0 lbs. Glad it's going down and not up! Tomorrow, if I manage to get out of the house, I'm planning to do 10 minutes of HIIT and maybe some arms. And a Mat Stretch. A good way to start the New Year.

Back Workout:
15 min cardio Hill #2 = 1.54 miles 

Reverse Grip BB Rows: 12 @ 45 lbs / 12 @ 110 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 125 lbs PR Yay! / 12 @ 115 lbs / 12 @ 110 lbs

One-Arm DB Rows: 12 @ 55 lbs / 10, 10, 12 @ 60 lbs / 12 @ 55 lbs

Lower Back Extension Machine: 15 @ 172.5 lbs / 2 x 12 @ 187.5 lbs / 15 @ 180 lbs

Neutral (Close) Grip Pull Downs: 12 @ 75 lbs / 12, 12, 11 @ 120 lbs 

Cage Stretch with BW heel dips, calf raises & side kicks

20 min cardio Hill #1 LISS = 1.28 miles