Abbreviated Back Tuesday

Today is Early Dismissal due to Parent-Teacher conferences this afternoon. My appointment is for 2:15 pm. I get home with a few minutes to spare so laundry's in the washer, and I started making myself a protein shake with the last of the ON 100% Natural Strawberry-flavored Whey, lactose-free skim milk, a banana and 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries. Not sure what my next protein powder purchase will be, but I hope it has better flavor.

I tend to play things by feel so I didn't really have a plan as to what I was cutting out of my workout today. I got my 20 minutes of Steady-State cardio in and then followed my Back Routine: BB Rows to warm up and Reverse Grip BB Rows for work and fun; One-Arm DB Rows; Neutral Grip Lat Pull Downs, and finally Lower Back Extensions. The BB Rows go as expected. I'm getting better at loading and unloading the plates off the Olympic bar. I can't resist doing a set at 175 lbs just because I'm worried about losing my strength gains. But I only do one set of those odd shrug-rows, and then I drop the weight back down to 155 lbs for two more sets. The 20-repper takes more out of me that I expect because the One-Arm DB Rows that follow are really hard today. Still, I do manage to add reps to the last two sets. But I pay for this in the Neutral Grip Lat Pull Downs later, and I lose a rep  on the last two sets of those. Bummer. My back is actually tired.

The gym seems back to its normal density of regulars. The Mayor, Tall and Short Pace and M are kibbitzing by the benches. The sport stripe pants look familiar and I realize that R is here as well. I hardly ever see him anymore because he tends not to linger. I did see him doing an odd squat form last week where he holds the end of an Olympic bar upright with a big plate on it, and the other end is wedged into a corner. Then he squats while alternately holding the end of the bar with one hand and then the other. While I'm doing reps on the Lower Back Extension, he waves Hi from the Cable Push Down station. When I'm done, I wander over and ask how his baby is. He virtually gushes and I realize that I have time for this if I don't stretch. I'm still amazed that he can work out while talking. I can't do that. He'd show me recent photos of his kid but his phone's in the car because the last phone shattered from the force of a 120 lb weight. Yep, that's a good reason to keep your phone in the car.

We talk about family, babies and school districts, things friends would discuss. It's as if we're friends. Like we are in my dreams. Very odd. I glance at the clock and realize that I have enough time to shower and change before rushing back to meet the school bus. The gym scale reads 114.6 lbs. Whoa, that's much heavier than I want to be right now. But I'm patient. By next month I'm going to up my reps and start to cut my calories. And I'm going to up my cardio as well. I miss that feeling.

Abbreviated Tuesday Back Workout

175 lbs today

20 min Precor elliptical = 1.95 miles

BB Rows (overhand grip)
12x45 lbs (bar)
12x95 lbs
RG BB Rows (with VGs)
12x135 lbs
12x155 lbs
12x175 lbs (I'm debating attempting 180 lbs on Friday)
2x12x155 lbs
20x135 lbs (for fun)

One-Arm DB Rows (left hand first, then righ)
12x60 lbs
8, 10, 12 x 65 lbs +2, +2 reps Yay!

Neutral Grip Lat Pull Down
12x105 lbs
10x120 lbs
7, 6, 6 x 130 lbs -1, -2, -2 reps Boo!

Lower Back Extension Machine
15, 20, 20 x 180 lbs +5, +5 reps Yay!