Well, today didn't start well at all. I got up early and thought I had everything packed and ready to go since it's our first day back to school after a luxurious week and a half off. I drive my son to the school bus stop because it's 19°F out and snowing tiny wet flakes that make the air sting. So far so good. The roads look good although the parking lot at the gym needs to be salted and plowed. In the locker room I discover that I've packed everything EXCEPT my trainers. Sigh. Not again! I toss everything into my locker and head back out to retrieve my Asics because I'm wearing boots and I can't work out in those.
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I daydream about longer cardio
sessions. That's truly disturbing! |
Once I'm back at the gym, I swap footwear and hop onto the elliptical to do my warm up. I keep it at 15 minutes (10 min plus 5 min cool down although I do the same speed for the entire session) with a leisurely 150-160 Stride Per Minute pace, sorta like jogging. Then my cell buzzes. My husband's just made it to Boston for a meeting and hopefully he'll be able to drive home this evening, probably during the height of the storm. The cell buzzes again. WTF? Our school district has decided to close early due to deteriorating weather conditions. My son's school will be closing at 11:45 am so that gives me an hour and a half to get my workout done, shower and change and head back home. Sigh.
I figure that I can get my usual sets of Smith Squats and some Deads in and time for 20 minutes of LISS, but the assistance work like Leg Curls and Leg Extensions will be sacrificed. During my warm up, I find myself really missing my old cardio workouts. Going slow is soooo boring. The only thing I enjoy about it is getting to sing (to myself) along with my iPod. Going fast is exciting (still sing along to my iPod when I go really fast). I use to end the last two minutes of each session going full throttle, getting the gauge to read anywhere from 250 to as fast as 295 SPM. Once I hit 300 for a second. I miss how I felt afterwards, lighter than air and completely "aerated". I wouldn't say I'm addicted to that feeling but I find myself daydreaming about how I can sneak a double cardio session back into my routine. What does that say about me? I'm also stubborn and tend to embrace the things I hate (because I suck at it), so I know I'm going to stick with the HIIT and LISS for the next several months.
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25 + 3 (10) + 5 = 60 per side
plus 30 lb bar... 150 lbs! |
The Smith is free and I see a lot of regulars in the gym like Latin Baseball (and his two friends), The Mayor, Jude, Hoodie Tattoo, M, MacGyver (he looks like Harry Dean Anderson), Ollie... I get sets of 12 reps for all my sets here even though my right knee is feeling a little odd. But not bad. What's odd is how my back starts to feel a little crunchy as I begin drop sets. Ten sets and I'm done. I drop the bar to the bottom position which isn't quite the floor on a Smith.
Today I feel like trying something different so I don't put the Step Platform under the bar which means I'll be grabbing it from halfway up my shin instead of down by my ankles. I do all my sets this way but I don't really like it. I feel the Smith SLDL more in my back and glutes today and not at all in my hamstrings. That doesn't mean they aren't involved, just that I need the bigger stretch of grabbing the bar lower. I play with keeping my wrist wraps on while using the VGs. Not so good for the left wrist, so the next set I just use the VGs. I'm worried about not having the 20 minutes for LISS so I cut my sets short and only do six although I do get a full 12 reps at 150. Yay!
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| LISS is sooo boring! |
Latin Baseball and his friends are trying not to stare. There's another skinny dude doing preacher curls and he's also trying not to stare. Maybe next time I should just use the 45s instead of piling three 10s and a 5 on after the 25 lb plate? But having lots of smaller plates makes it easier to add and drop weight quickly. I don't like getting cold so I put my hoodie back on (took it off for the deads) to climb back up to the cardio area. Then a quick abbreviated stretch at the Cage (no kicks or overhead leg stretches) and off to shower. The gym scale reads 112.8 lbs and I'm a bit surprised considering I'm not sweating much and I've sucked down 2/3 of my bottle (about 1 liter water). I get home with 10 minutes to spare before I have to meet the school bus. It's 15 minutes late anyway. The school bus driver wishes me a good weekend because she's skeptical that there'll be school tomorrow. Sigh. I wonder if I can still get my HIIT in tomorrow. I hope there's school because whacking the Nexersys for 12 rounds is the next best thing to a double cardio session. Or at least that's how it feels to me.
Super-Abbreviated Leg Day Workout:
15 min cardio = 1.57 miles
Smith Squats: 25 @ bar (30 lbs)
as fast as I can go heels to butt / 12 @ 60 lbs / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 100 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 12 @ 140 lbs /
12 @ 150 lbs PR reps Yay! / 12 @ 130 lbs / 12 @ 110 lbs / 12 @ 80 lbs
Smith SLDLs: 12 @ bar (30 lbs) / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 100 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 12 @ 140 lbs /
12 @ 150 lbs PR reps Yay!
20 min cardio LISS = 1.3 miles
quick Cage Stretch for hamstrings, calves, lower back
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