Back Day Blues

It was warmer today but I still couldn't get my car door locks to work. Neither could my husband with his slightly younger car. The locks finally kicked in this afternoon when temps reached a balmy 23°F. Meanwhile, it was Back Day and those tend to really take a lot out of me. I did my 15 min warm up at a moderate 200 Strides Per Minute pace and then got half a dozen magnets. There weren't any stray Olympic bars for me to use as a warm up so I grab a 60 lb solid BB and knocked out an easy dozen reps. Then I lugged the 110 lb BB to the mirrored wall for Reverse Grip BB Rows. Except my first two sets were regular grip rows but I don't like the way they feel. Plus my hands and fingers were feeling a bit off.

I fish the VGs out of my bag and put those on for the remainder sets. I remember how heavy 125 lbs feels so I'm satisfied just to get 4 full sets at that weight before dropping back to 110. In the interim, a guy plops himself next to me in the Seated OHP station and does a few reps with just the bar. I drag my gear out of the way so that it's not all in front of his station. Wasted effort. I'm not really interested in other people so I don't make eye contact or chat, and the guy leaves. Now I'm just annoyed that I had to drag my gear out of his way for nothing. People are annoying.

One-Arm DB Rows are next, and they literally just drain everything I have out of me. I check last week's log just to remind myself what I want to accomplish. First set at 55 lbs. Next three sets at 60 lbs. And they are heavy. I want three full sets. Almost make it. Not quite. I do Left Arm first because it's the weaker side. But after a dozen rows, I'm panting hard and need to take a few seconds before I can set up to do the Right Arm. What's worse is that my lower back and inner right hip (front, so maybe some sort of abdominal muscle) seems a bit sore. I lay down on the bench between sets and my back feels better. Well, that's new, but not good. I finish with a set at 55 again and look towards the Lower Back Extension machine as a way to loosen up tight muscles.

After three sets of 15 reps, I still feel tight so I knock out some twisting sit ups and knee-ins. That makes me feel a little looser. Finally there's the Neutral (close) Grip Pull Downs. Miss Piggy and one of the lady trainers is sprawled on the floor between the two cable stations and I almost trip over her. I apologize for actually catching my foot on the cable. B waves at me, tells me that my longer hair looks good and then realizes she's forgotten where she put her coat. I keep pushing my hair out of my face. It annoys me but everyone seems to like it. I guess it's okay as long as it's cold out. Back to the Pull Downs. Again, I try to get three full sets at the max weight of 120 lbs but I'm too tired to make the last rep. Oh well. Time for LISS.

Today I've saved reading my email and forum posts for this... doing low, slow pedaling on the elliptical. It works in that my pace is a snail-racing 46 SPM. Once I finish reading, my pace automatically quickens to keep pace with my iPod and I have to pedal backwards to slow down. Because my front right hip and lower back feel off, I decide not to try the Ab Wheel again. Maybe tomorrow. But the Mat is free and I do my full stretch routine there.

Camera distortion makes my
hands and forearms look huge!

The gym scale again reads 115.0 lbs. That's really oddly consistent because it's never before read the same weight three days in a row. My chest is really sore from Monday's workout. I've only done this for three weeks, once a week but I can definitely see changes in my chest. I'm a small-busted woman so having cleavage is something I notice. Well, at least something's working. I snap a few photos with my cell but the lighting's not optimal and it's hard to see anything definitive. Except I know I'm bigger. The tape verifies that but not where. At least it's not just my back.

When I get home, the Rogue® Proloc collars are waiting on the front steps. Nice! Something else to stuff into my gear sack, and even though they're mostly plastic, they do have a bit of weight on them. Now there's no excuse should I happen to need to use an Olympic or EZ bar.

Wednesday Back Workout:
15 min warm up elliptical = 1.64 miles 

RGBB Rows: 12 @ 60 lbs / 12 @ 110 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 4 x 12 @ 125 Yay! / 15 @ 110 lbs

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

Lower Back Extension Machine: 3 x 15 @ 180 lbs

Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Lower Ab Knee-In Kick-Outs: 100

Neutral (Close) Grip Pull Downs: 12 @ 90 lbs / 12, 12, 11 @ 120 lbs

20 min LISS = 1.04 miles

Mat Stretch with 2 x 12 DBPUs, 60-second plank (still hate this), splits, upper & lower back stretches

Photo's a little distorted, but not a lot. I wonder if the pecs will lose mass when I finally get over the DOMS from Monday's workout.