Leg Workout and Other Dark Thoughts

Top: 20 min HIIT cardio
Bottom: 21 min LISS cardio

Wednesday can be Hump Day, or Prince Spaghetti Day or just plain ol' Leg Day. It's Leg Day, and I consult the Jefit app on my phone to see how much weight I should tax myself with, based on my logs from early January. Before I took a de-load week, and then another three weeks to play with a high rep program. It's very reassuring to discover that one doesn't really lose much strength if any when taking time off from lifting heavy. I know everyone's different so I'm just speaking for myself. Of course, it can be said that perhaps I wasn't lifting all that heavy to begin with, so of course I didn't lose any strength. Perhaps. But I took a de-load the following week because I felt worn out. I feel much better now, having tested my cardio endurance and explored a few exercises I'd never considered before, i.e., DB lunges, DB shoulder presses and mat crunches.

Pair of 25s and a 10 per side

I do 20 minutes of HIIT cardio, 45 seconds "run" and 75 seconds "walk". It's certainly a lot easier than the 1 minute run and 1 minute walk. When I first started working out, I had borderline high blood pressure. It'd always been very low but my mom's BP shot up once she hit menopause and mine was starting to creep up as well. At last year's physical, my BP had dropped back down to 110/70 and I attribute that to doing a lot of cardio. I like to think that cardio also benefits my eye pressure because I have an aggressive form of glaucoma for which I use drops. The only alternative is surgery and no one wants that. Besides the perceived benefits of doing a lot of cardio, I find that it makes me feel good. Or at least happier.

Globally, the news is abysmal from Syria to Kiev to Thailand. Our winter has been harsh, although sunny days like today make me think Spring will be here before I can get my son's Easter basket set up. Locally, the news is just as dark as I read the town paper about the 19-year old who just smashed his car into the high school. The impact was so intense that there is structural damage to the building. He died, and no one can say what or why. He seemed loved by everyone. Those of us with children always worry about the monsters that can't be kept at bay. The next page reports the hit-and-run death of an elderly lady who worked at the animal feed store. I know who she is. Or was. The perpetrators, natives of El Salvador. were eventually arrested days later at a traffic stop, with bits of the victim's clothes still wedged in their broken headlight. The world has gone to hell in a hand basket and all I can think of is the famous William Butler Yeats poem, The Second Coming.

I'm glad the snow came, dusted our cars and then the sun came out.

Leg Day Workout
20 min elliptical HIIT 45 sec Run / 75 sec Walk = 1.70 miles

Smith Machine Squats
12x30 lbs (bar)
12x80 lb
12x120 lbs
12x140 lbs
3x8x150 lbs (I hate that crunchy feeling in my back at this weight)

Smith Machine SLDLs
12x30 lbs (bar)
12x80 lbs
12x120 lbs (put on VGs so no excuses!)
8x140 lbs
8, 8, 6 x 150 lbs (dang this is heavy! I wanted 3x8 but that didn't happen)
12x120 lbs (got so annoyed I couldn't finish the last set at 150 so I did this last set)

Cage Stretch

Seated Leg Extension
12x75 lbs
12x90 lbs
12x105 lbs
12x120 lbs
12x135 lbs

Seated Leg Curl
12x75 lbs
3x12x90 lbs
12x75 lbs

21 min cardio LISS = 1.52 miles (lost track of time)
3x50 crunches