Surviving Day Five

I am totally guilty of dreading Day Five because it's program B which means Lower Body, and I'm still sore from Tuesday. It's been been three days although I did start getting sore right after the workout, which is kind of odd. Not that I ever let DOMS get in the way of anything! Since I've been driving my son to the bus stop in the mornings (because 7°F is still too cold to stand around), I've been getting to the gym early enough to claim one of the four new Precors. They're slightly harder to use as there is more resistance to the lowest setting than on the old models so I have to adjust my expectations. With the Shred Program, I'm just happy to actually finish.

I really hate it when people leave their old tissues or paper towels on the machines. I find a crumpled wad in the cell phone holder and fish it out with a pristine napkin between my fingers. People are so gross. Then I wrap the bottom of my phone in a napkin and plop it into the holder. 20 minutes of alternately running and walking is really hard. Today I feel even more inefficient in my pacing style than I have all week, and wonder if I'm just paying the price for having fun whacking the Nexersys. I log 1.89 miles. (It's not until I can compare my notes with the rest of the week that I realize I'm actually improving. Sure as hell doesn't feel like it.)

Again, the hardest thing about this program is being able to run from station to station without anyone getting in your way. The first two rounds of the circuit (Squats, DB Lunges, Standing DB Calf Raises, Crunches, Crunches Elbows to Knees) goes fairly smoothly. I up my weights on the Squat and the DB movements even though I'm sore because I don't have a good reason not to. Maybe I won't be as sore. Or maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment. Then I race back to the ellipticals for 5 boring minutes where I'm trying hard to slow my pace (95 SPM), and then a frantic 5 additional minutes where I'm having a really hard time keeping my pace above 200.

When I get to the Squat rack, there's a 25 lb plate on each side of the bar. I ask outloud if anyone's using this. All I see is a skinny middle-age guy with his back to me stretching. So I strip the bar, toss my plates on and start to position myself. Then the guy comes over all crabby about how he was using the bar. I tell him I asked out loud. He says he was standing right there. I look at him, don't say what I'm thinking which is Well, then you ought to be facing your station or keeping an eye on it. Instead, I tell him I just got this one set and I'll be done. It doesn't take me long to do 20 reps. Luckily, by the time I come back for the final round, he's somewhere else, making a mess. And I say this because he's racked his weights haphazardly, like someone who doesn't understand big weights on the bottom, little weights on top. Jeeze!

When I'm finally done with the last set of elbow to knee crunches, I lay on the mat with my hands on my face panting. After a minute I'm good and decide to do a brief Cage Stretch. While I'm there, I start to feel recovered so I clamber up inside the Cage to do Neutral Grip Pull Ups. Because I'm set a bit inside the Cage, my face won't really clear the top so I pull myself up arcing my back so that my chest touches the bars where my hands are and my legs are just dangling straight down. It feels kind of cool and badass so I'm happy. Then I wander back to the Mat to stretch out a bit more. I'm surprised to see B there. She tells me she's spent so much time talking that she doesn't know whether she's coming or going. Okaaaay.

The locker room is so crowded when I walk in, I almost turn around and walk out. Eventually the women stop gabbing, zip up their coats and gab outside. The gym scale reads 112.8 lbs. Not good but not bad. I've been making a point of drinking my water during my workouts, like between sets or during the Walk phases of the HIIT cardio. I'm planning on being a total slug this weekend. Except for my son's birthday party on Sunday. I still need to confirm with his swim school (swim party), compose the Goody Bags, and design and make Thank You cards to go inside.

Week One Day Five Program B (Lower)
20 min elliptical 1 min Run / 1 min Walk = 1.89 miles
The following circuit done twice without rest:
Smith Machine Squats: 20 reps @ 60 lbs (+10)
DB Lunges 15 reps (each leg) @ 20 lb DBs (+5)
DB Standing Calf Raises 30 reps @ 20 lb DBs (+5)
Crunches: 30
Crunches Elbows to Knees: 30
10 min elliptical 5 min LISS / 5 min Run = 0.81 miles
The following circuit done twice without rest:
Smith Machine Squats: 20 reps @ 60 lbs (+10)
DB Lunges 15 reps (each leg) @ 20 lb DBs (+5)
DB Standing Calf Raises 30 reps @ 20 lb DBs (+5)
Crunches: 30
Crunches Elbows to Knees: 30

Cage Stretch (partial) with 12 Neutral Close Grip Pull Ups (chest to bar)
Mat Stretch (partial) with 2 x 12 DBPUs, splits, upper & lower back stretches