Bye Bye Old Friend

Last night I awoke to a fine filigree of pain encircling my torso, sharp and interlaced like I'd been caught in a razor-wire snare. It was reminiscent of when I'd injured my back years and years ago. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep through it since it'd already woken me up. It's probably from the Ab Wheel. I'm just not built for that. I toss back 600 mg (3 caplets) of ibuprofen with some water and go back to bed. In the morning I'm groggy and tired, but neither my back or stomach hurt anymore.

The new Precors are installed by the time I arrive at the gym. There are four working ellipticals that stand much higher than the old ones. It takes me a while to figure out what buttons to push and when to push them because even though the console is bigger, the buttons are smaller and crowded. There are nice amenities like a bottle holder and a shelf under the console to hold stuff, but the machine itself is not as intuitive as its older counterpart.

It takes me a while to figure out how to enter the time and program I want to use for the HIIT today. I also learn that if I'm tracking my Strides Per Minute, the console does not automatically end with "total distance achieved" so after 20 minutes, I have no idea what my mileage is. This sucks. I punch in another 5 minutes to figure out the rest of the options. At least it still gives you an automatic 5 minute cool down period. I start a 21-day Shred program next week that calls for 20 minutes of HIIT (one minute on, one minute off), a lot of nonstop exercises, and then 10 minute dose of HIIT. I still have to try the other 3 ellipticals because even though they're all the same make and model, I've found that each machine will have a different feel to it. Some glide easier than others. I want an easy glider because that's less stressful on my knees and ankles.

After a Cage Stretch, I walk over to the front desk and ask P, the gym owner, to show me what the Knee, Hook and Uppercut are on the Nexersys. Apparently I can just shove my knee under the center pad upward. Cool! The Hook I got because half my Cross punches are Hooks anyway. But the Uppercut continues to baffle me. I'm not quite sure how to score with this blow because coming up on the center pad seems to put my wrists at a bad position. Now if it was an Uppercut to one of the upper pads, that'd be easy.

I go 9 rounds at the Beginner Level on the Avatar Follow Me program. Then I go 3 rounds on the Intermediate Level. I'm a bit confused as to whether all the punches are "across" punches. Apparently they are. So a Power (right hand) Cross goes across your body and hits the Left top pad. As does a Power Hook, and Power Elbow. And the Lead (Left hand) Jab also crosses your body to hit the Right upper pad, as does the Lead Hook and Lead Elbow. But Uppercuts are directed to the Center pad, as are the Power and Lead Body. But whereas the Body blows are straight on (and literally the most powerful), the Uppercuts arc up in front of you into the Center Pad. I'm terrible at this particular blow. I discover that I can fake the Elbow blows and use a Hook instead. I'm so short that I'm literally climbing onto the machine to hit the top pads with my elbow and that takes valuable time away from proper stance and positioning. The actual Nexersys website is useless for information regarding the blows and kicks, but I find a link that allows me to download an owner's manual. This gives me actual descriptions of each blow and kick so I'm quite happy with this discovery.

The doors to the gym are open so I don't get quite as hot and sweaty by the time I'm done. I take some time to do a full Mat Stretch. The Dive Bomber Push Ups feel easy today. That's odd, although I still don't like the 60-second plank. I don't even think about doing abs. The gym scale reads 113.4 lbs which is annoying. But I don't really feel big so it doesn't bother me. I'm more worried about whether I can do this 21-day Shred program. I'm not so worried about the exercises as much as the actual diet program which is mostly protein, veggies, a bit of fruit, and a lot of supplements. And I'm not buying supplements. This is gonna be hard. Sigh.

Last Day Cardio Friday
20 min new Precor: 15 min 1 min On / 1 min Off; 5 min 30 sec On / 30 sec Off
Cage Stretch with BW heel dips, calf raises and side kicks

Nexersys
  9 rounds Beginner Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 91%  / Strikes 103%  / Avg Power 125%

 3 rounds Intermediate Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 51%  / Strikes 89%  / Avg Power 92%


Mat Stretch with 2 x 12 DBPUs, 60 sec plank, splits, shoulder, upper back, lower back stretches