Slacking on My Birthday

Today's my 54th birthday but I'd completely forgotten until I checked my email and got a promotional 25% off any purchase at the Gap. Nice. I'm feeling a little burnt already and I've only been lifting heavy for a few weeks now. It's a bit disappointing to say the least, so I give myself permission to be lazy today. I still 20 minutes of cardio, but not HIIT. Instead, it's Steady-State that starts at 175 Strides Per Minute and ends a bit over 200 SPMs, logging in a tad over two miles. So much for slacking.

Two out of three flat benches are occupied with the Regulars. Fridays I bench for reps and today I get my three sets of 20 at 95 lbs. It makes me feel good. BB Rows are next. I warm up with just the bar, and then 95 lbs, using a regular overhand grip to preserve my wrists. Once I get to 115 lbs, I don VGs and use an underhand grip. K emerges from a class and walks by, eying the barbell. "You're not curling that, are you?" "What?" I have to pull an earpiece out. "Uh no. I'm doing back." Then she lists all sorts of back exercises but not the one I'm doing. Finally she says "Dead lifts?" "Uh, no. Barbell Rows actually. But it might as well be a dead lift with this start position." She laughs and walks away. I'm lazy so I just plop on a pair of 10s. That's a set at 135 lbs. And then, because I just don't feel like looking all over the gym for the 5s, I plop on another pair of 10s. That's 155 lbs. Hhmmm. I got three sets of 12 at 145 on Tuesday. And then I pick up the bar and get 8 reps. It didn't even feel that bad. And for fun, I drop down to 115 lbs and knock out 20 reps. Yay!

There are too many guys chatting in the DB area. It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't hanging over three benches since only one of them is actually doing any work. I do three quick, painful sets of DB shoulder presses. I can hear the shoulder clicks through my tunes. Today there's no one using the EZ bar so I grab that for the Rip Crushers. 15 lbs is easy. I pull out the ProLoc® collars I've been carrying in my gear bag for the past few months. They're so easy to use! Much better than wrestling with those bent-up spring collars. But I'm careful to add their weight to my total: I weighed them and they're 1.25 lbs apiece and 2.5 lbs for the pair. I actually up my weight a tad on this movement. And by more for the subsequent BB Curls, and Reverse Grip Curls.

55 lbs plus 2.5 lbs equals 57.5 lbs

K is using the Hack Squat and we determine that it's an Icarian Super Squat 640 machine, but neither of us knows how much weight to log. (When I get home I do some research and a gal on another site states that specs with that info are sometimes on the label affixed to the machine so I'll have to go check more closely next week.) I tell K that today is my birthday and she grins, then asks me "How old are ya'?" I'm always hesitant to answer because I never know how someone will react. It's not always been positive. "You can tell me. I'm 54," she says. "And today is my older sister's birthday as well." So I tell her. And she's so surprised that she bursts out laughing. "You mean 34. Not 54. Hell, just tell everyone you're 34," is what she finally says.

She's getting ready to leave and meet her step-son to go skiing. She asks me what I have planned special for today and I tell her that I'll probably go shopping for new sportswear. She says she and her sisters and friends plan to celebrate being 60 down in South Florida. Why I ask her. "Because it's warm," she says. I tell her I prefer Hawaii, recounting all the times I've been there. Ooooh, she's got 5 years to plan and save. Hawaii looks good.

Birthday Selfie

20 minutes on the Step Mill makes me hot and sweaty, but I can only check email since either Tapatalk or the online forum is taking 30 minutes for routine maintenance. Instead, I sing along with my tunes. Then I knock out crunches on the Mat, do some Dive Bomber Push Ups, a 60-second plank and a full Mat Stretch. I actually feel really energetic. The gym scale reads 111.8 lbs, probably some water, a result of the salty soy and mustard I used to marinate the pork rib ends for dinner last night. I get a free Muscle Milk beverage since it's the only one that's lactose-free, but it's 32 grams of protein and banana-flavored, and a few bucks off on a new pair of neoprene grips.

Then off to Marshalls to get some new workout clothes. I'm busting out of my sports bras, and I'd like a new pair of workout shorts that aren't butt-ugly. I grab a dozen items and try them all on in the fitting room. What's weird is how I can wear a size Small workout tank by Avia, but need the Large sports bra (also by Avia) because I literally can't breathe in the Medium sizes. The size Small gray-on-gray, lined running shorts fit fine, but I take a Medium in the leggings because I have enormous thighs. Luckily, I still fit my jeans and bright khaki pants. Whew!

Slacker Birthday Workout

20 min cardio Precor elliptical = 2.09 miles

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

Barbell Row (warm up)
12x45 lbs (bar)
12x95 lbs
Reverse Grip BB Row (put on VGs)
12x115 lbs
12x135 lbs
8x155 lbs +10 PR Yay!
20x115 lbs

DB Shoulder Press
3x12x20 lbs (each arm)

Rip Crusher
12x15 lbs (EZ bar)
12x27.5 lbs
2x12x37.5 lbs
12x42.5 lbs

EZ BB Curl
12x42.5 lbs
12x47.5 lbs
3x12x57.5 lbs +7.5 lbs PR Yay!

EZ RG BB Curl
3x20x47.5 lbs +7.5lbs PR Yay!

20 min Matrix Step Mill = 1045 steps

50 Crunches
50 Knee to Elbow Crunches
80 Crunches
50 Knee to Elbow Crunches

Torso Twist Machine
2x25x50 lbs

Mat Stretch with 2 x 12 DBPUs, 60-second plank, upper and lower back stretch, splits