Inching Along

Took this photo
last Nov. Hope the
dress still fits!

The school bus was horribly late this morning because the substitute driver didn't really know the route. My son complained that he should go back to the house and call it a day since school will have already started by the time the bus actually delivered them. I hope he had a better remainder of the day. My husband got home earlier than I expected yesterday, but in no mood for Cub Scouts so I took our son to the Den meeting which was more chaotic than usual. Our current Pack Leader is moving on to Boy Scouts with her son, which means we have a new, and inexperienced Pack Leader. She needs to learn to project a voice of authority. I think the Cubs Scouts actually brought her to tears last night. Then my husband tells me that he has to go back to Boston on Saturday but should be home Monday night. "Well, as long as you're home next Saturday," I tell him because that's the Cub Scouts Blue and Gold Banquet, being held at West Point this year. The Bear Mountain parkway gives me vertigo so if he's not driving, we're not going. But I'd like to go. It's an excuse to get dressed up!

I'm tired and this accounts for my lack of enthusiasm going to the gym today. Still, I do 20 minutes on the Precor, and then a few high-rep sets on the flat bench before facing BB Rows. I have to steal a bar off one of the benches because nothing is where it should be. There's an abandoned EZ bar loaded with plates and a single spring clip on one end. The Mayor is back, wearing a big white long sleeve shirt and thick red gloves which look more like oven mitts than lifting gloves. I can't deal with this chaos and do my first three sets in the DB area. But this isn't optimal since the bar is really too big for the area. The Mayor and his posse of regulars move off to another station and I drag my stripped bar to the mirrored wall. Today I'm actually going to use the big plates. Yep, I put a 45 lb plate on each side. That's 135 lbs and I know I can lift that!

Me and 170 lbs!

The bar sits just below mid-shin now. It's easier to move because there's more room for my hands and the VGs. When the bar was lower, I could barely fit my hands under the bar because my feet were in the way! I add another 10, then a 5. When I feel braver, I put the tiny 2.5 lb plates on, totaling 170 lbs. In the mirrored wall, I see B peering over from the Step Mill, high on the cardio platform. I've purposely skipped over 165 lbs, moving directly from 155 to 170. Next week I'll try 175.

I can pick up 170 lbs without too much difficulty. The rowing motion itself is harder, and feels a tad like a shrug. Actually, I feel it everywhere, my upper and middle back, my arms, my shoulders. But I'm not going to worry about it. I don't do anything special for traps anyway. When I'm done, I strip the bar down to just the 45s and do 20 reps. Just for fun. What's a workout is trying to get that 45 lb plate off the Olympic bar. I'm not comfortable unless I've put all my plates back, but grappling with the last 45 lb plate makes me a bit frustrated until I realize I can upend the bar and have the plate slide to the mat. It's a Homer Simpson Doh! moment.

I don't have access to the  EZ bars today because idiots have left them loaded with plates and spring clips, which I can't remove. I haven't done the Cable Tricep Press Down (with the angled bar) in quite a long time. So long that I don't even remember what setting to use. 50s probably good. I have to reach up on tiptoe to grab the handle properly and then I remember that 50 was probably my max weight. Still, I'm quite pleased to get three hard 12-rep sets. The DB Area is finally less congested so I head there to do some DB Curls, but I have to rotate my forearm as they come up to take stress off my elbows, so they're not actually straight DB Curls. I could lessen the weight, but then I'd be there all day. I don't want to do 20 reppers for biceps. But because I'm a masochist, I do a few sets of Rip Crushers as well, but I can't go as heavy as last week because my arms are already tired. I've decided I'm going to stop doing BB Curls as well. My elbows get too stressed at 50 lbs, and I've had to modify the movement so that it's less a curl and more a rowing motion. The biceps do get worked -- proof's in the mirror, but I'm ambivalent about how much I've bastardized the exercise.

Three sets of Reverse Grip BB Curls and I'm done with the weights. A quick Cage Stretch and then a jaunt on the Step Mill for 20 minutes. The gym feels really warm and humid today so I start to sweat almost immediately. Afterwards, I can't resist a stretch on the Mat, foregoing only the plank. I did do a turn at the Torso Twist machine, but I just don't feel like abs today. The gym scale reads 112.8 lbs and I've sucked down just about all my water.

Friday Workout

20 min Precor elliptical = 1.91 miles

BB Flat Bench
12x45 lbs (bar)
3x20x95 lbs

BB Row (overhand grip - -these are all warm up sets)
12x45 lbs (bar)
12x95 lbs
6x115 lbs (lost my grip with just gloves)

Reverse Grip BB Rows (underhand grip with VGs)
12x135 lbs
12x155 lbs
12x170 lbs Yay! +5 lbs PR!
20x135 lbs (for fun)

Cable Tricep Press Downs
3x12x50 lbs

DB Alternate Standing Bicep Curl
12x20 lbs
2x12x25 lbs

Rip Crusher
12x40 lbs
2x12x45 lbs

BB Curl
12x45 lbs
12x50 lbs
12x55 lbs
12, 12, 10 x 60 lbs

Reverse Grip BB Curl
3x20x45 lbs

Torso Twist Machine
2x25x50 lbs

Cage Stretch

20 min Matrix Step Mill = 1138 Steps

Mat Stretch with 2x12 DBPUs, splits, upper and lower back stretches