Gym Rat Gone Wild

I was too slow to get a pix of the
20 min elliptical warm up; this is
the 20 min LISS on the Step Mill.

I've never quite seen weather like this... right now it's pouring and thundering but all I can see is the heavy fog blanketing vast fields of snow. I'm used to summer thunder, not winter. I knew I'd be late to the gym because I'd called the hardware store to ask if they had road salt. "Yes, we have some. Better get here quick though. Not sure how long it'll last." Ten minutes later I was in their parking lot, purchasing the maximum (3 bag limit per customer) amount of rock salt. The rock salt comes in 50 lb bags and it's cheaper than the potassium or calcium chloride which is pet-friendlier, and less damaging to cement work. My driveway is as old as the house and I've lived here 20 years. The dog regularly encounters rock salt on the road when we go for walks. Then he runs through the lawn and he's fine. Not sure how the walkway will fare though, but I'd rather lay down rock salt than risk a tumble on the pavers. Because I don't want to transport 150 lbs of rock salt clear across town and into the next, I stop off at home and unload it all before heading to the gym.

By the time I've stashed my stuff in a locker and put my trainers on, I'm hungry. And I'm surprised since I'd had my usual coffee and eggy oatmeal for breakfast. Surely I couldn't've run through it already? It's only 10 am. Ignoring my stomach and sipping water, I mount the Precor for a 20 minute warm up. I figure I'd do all the Chest and Back exercises I didn't get to do on Monday, and maybe an arm exercise or two. Oh yeah, and abs too.

I'd like to do Incline Benches but those two stations are in use. However, the flat bench is free so I do a few sets with just 95 lbs, figuring it's low enough for me to be able to concentrate on my form. I'm trying to feel my lats but all I feel is the wide bench against my back. I think it's wider than I am. Still, it helps me keep my elbows tucked. I'm not sure how many sets I should do, but I knock out 20 reps for the first two sets after the warm up set. The third set gives me some trouble because my right palm starts to go numb and I have to put the bar down at 18. Take a couple of breaths and then go for the last two reps. Actually those felt easy, so I go for two more and stop at 4. I probably should've just seen how many I could get. Next time.

I haven't done Seated Cable Rows since last August when my lower back started to bother me. I'm still leery of the movement so I opt to do Lat Pull Downs with a Close Grip (Neutral) handle. My left elbow doesn't like this movement too much. I only do 4 sets but at least they were full sets. I still can't get on the Inclined Bench so I wander over to the DB Area and do some DB Presses. As a glutton for punishment, I tend to gravitate towards things I suck at just so I can get better, as long as it doesn't cause an inordinate amount of joint pain. 12 reps is easy at 15 lbs, as I knew it would be since I'd been doing 20 reps for the Shred Program. I up the weights to 20 to see how hard they are. They're hard. I can just barely knock out 12 reps and my shoulders aren't very happy about it either. If I keep this movement, I'm not going to move up much in weight, and I might alternate with the BB Overhead Press just because it's a tad easier.

Okay, the Incline Bench is finally free. There are two and they're probably both free, but someone has left their plates on the bar and wandered away. I start off with just the bar while I figure out my body position. This press is much harder than the Flat or Decline. I add just a pair of 10 lb plates. That's fine. But the next pair of 10s is much harder. I work on a few sets at 85 lbs, failing at rep 11, racking the bar and then knocking out another 4 reps to make up for the last two sets. Again, I should've done as many as I could but I'm not mentally prepared to do that yet.

Today's selfies

The next three exercises I'm just testing the waters to see how much weight I should use: DB Reverse Flyes, DB Alternate Bicep Curls and DB Inclined Flyes. I head towards the Sit Up board but PJ Pants is on the adjacent machine, and this makes me veer abruptly towards the cardio area. Once you creep me out, I'll avoid you like the proverbial plague. Forever. Both Step Mills are vacant. I find that for the 20 minute LISS, I prefer climbing the steps because it's easy and yet really challenging. As slowly as I'm climbing, I'm still breathing hard and working up a sweat. I get to read all my email, and the online forums without much trouble, although I'm moving too much to be able to type any responses. When I'm done, I head back toward the Sit Up board and knock out a few sets. I don't even bother to stretch today because I'm a little freaked out by the clock. Dang, it's been over two hours and I still need to shower!


The gym scale reads 112.6 lbs and I'm happy to see the water weight gone. But I know that I've put on body fat. My hips and waist are bigger, and not in a good way. No one wants a bigger waist. The waistband of several pants are too tight. It's not my imagination as the tape confirms my suspicions. I'm thinking of taking my son to the gym with me on weekends because he can work out with me, although I'd have to carefully structure a program that he could actually do.


Friday's Hodge Podge Workout
20 min Precor elliptical = 1.75 miles
Flat BB Bench Press: 12 @ bar (45 lbs) / 20, 20, 18, 4 @ 95 lbs
Close Grip (Neutral) Pull Downs: 12 @ 75 lbs / 12 @ 90 lbs / 12 @ 105 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs
Seated DB Press: 12 @ 15 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Inclined BB Bench Press: 12 @ bar (45 lbs) / 12 @ 65 lbs / 12, 11, 11, 4 @ 85 lbs
DB Reverse Flyes: 12 @ 20 lbs / 14 @ 25 lbs (lost count and got carried away) / 12 @ 30 lbs
DB Alternate Bicep Curls: 14 @ 20 lbs / 2 x 12 @ 25 lbs (arms starting to tire)
DB Inclined Flyes: 12 @ 15 lbs / 12 @ 20 lbs / 12 @ 25 lbs (took this really light since wasn't sure how much I could actually do at this point; will probably do sets at 25 lbs next time)
20 min Matrix Step Mill =  873 steps
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Up: 125
Flat Bench Knee In-Kick Out: 100