Maybe It Was Just PMS Without the M

Today I felt a lot better so I suspect that my blue feeling might've been a bit of PMS, without the messy menses. Hormones will cycle for years after the last period but now I have no way of knowing unless I want to subject myself to rigorous blood work. Nah! It's also bright and sunny albeit bitterly cold. I drove my son to the bus stop we normally walk to because the thermometer said -0. It was 5°F by the time I got to the gym and luckily I had all my gear with me. Yay!

The HIIT program as I read it isn't doing much for me so today I change it a tad, inspired by a few other logs I track. Since 10 minutes is the minimum time I can punch into the Precor, with an automatic 5 min cool down, I use the first 5 minutes as a warm up, pacing myself at roughly 200 Strides Per Minute. Then I do a full minute as fast as I can go (250-276 SPM), followed by a minute of panting-hard trotting (79-86 SPM). By the 5th minute, I'm having trouble keeping my speed up after 45 seconds. For the last 5 minutes, I change to 30 second intervals. Now this whole program feels much better. I'm going to try and work my way up to a full 10 minutes of 1 minute on, 1 minute off. I'm warm and feel like a human being now.

I could go home but I figure I'll do a body part that's been neglected lately: shoulders. DB Laterals, Barbell Upright Rows, DB Bent Over Flyes, and maybe a go at that Ab Wheel. I'm glad I have my old routine logs in my cell because I don't remember where I'm suppose to be. DB Laterals feel fine and I manage to muscle my way up in reps to full sets at my max weight. Yay! Then I decide to see how painful BB Upright Rows are. I move cautiously from 30 lbs to 50 lbs. It's my wrist and fingers that start to feel weird and crunchy during the last set. I have my elbows and wrists wrapped by I don't know how to alleviate the pressure on my wrists from this movement. I may substitute a different movement next time, although I'm not sure what.

The Bent Over DB Flys are last. I warm up with the 25s and these feel hard but previous logs states I can do more. So I add a 2.5 lb magnet to each DB and do another set. Then I add another magnet to make them 30s and do three more sets. There are two sets of DBs from 5s to 25s, but there are only single pairs for the rest of the weights. Without the stack of magnets, I'd be waiting around for the 30s, and getting cold. The Mat area (where the Ab Wheel is located) is full of people so I kill time at the Cage and stretch out my hamstrings. Then I wander back. This Ab Wheel has padded handles to grip, and peddles with straps so you can use your feet with it as well. I pick an area of floor situated between all three Mats so that there is a natural stop for the wheel as I roll forward. I should've looked at a few instructional videos before I started this so I don't know if I'm doing it correctly or not. I feel a stretch down the center of my abdominals but nothing else otherwise. Perhaps I'm not doing them right. Later I find a good video online that gives excellent pointers on form (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl_Hp1Wf52k).

Because my workout is short today, the locker room is a complete zoo when I go in to shower and change. The gym scale reads 115.0 lbs again but I'm not surprised. Not only have I not been able to access the rest rooms, but I've drunk more than 3/4 of my 1.5 liter water bottle. Tomorrow is Back Day and I'm starting to feel excited again. Yay! That HIIT is just what I needed today.

Tuesday Abbreviated Workout:

Precor elliptical: 5 min warm up, 5 minutes of 1 min on / 1 min off; 5 minutes of 30 sec on / 30 sec off  = 1.56 miles

DB Lateral Raises: 15 @ 20 lbs / 12 @ 25 lbs / 10, 12, 12 @ 30 lbs PB Yay! / 12 @ 25 lbs

BB Upright Rows: 12 @ 30 lbs / 12 @ 35 lbs / 12 @ 40 lbs / 12 @ 45 lbs / 12 @ 50 lbs

DB Bent-Over Reverse Flys: 15 @ 25 lbs / 12 @ 27.5 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 30 lbs / 12 @ 25 lbs

Cage Stretch with BW heel dips, calf raises and side kicks
Ab Wheel: 3 x 12 but I don't know if I'm doing them correctly (try again tomorrow)