Abbreviated Cardio Day

My husband finally made it home last night. He was suppose to come home Tuesday but found out, after he'd checked out of his hotel room, that he needed to be at a bunch of meetings on Wednesday. So he checked back in but got assigned to a Smoking Room. Luckily he could refuse and get a clean Non-Smoking room. (If it were me, I wouldn't make it past the elevator because I get a terrible reaction to even residual smoke on people in the locker room. I'm allergic. It gives me a horrible headache and my eyes and sinuses start to water and burn.) What I noticed about my husband though, is that the waistband to his pants are too big and bunched up under his belt. He's lost weight and looks great. He claims it's the HIIT cardio that I told him about.

Today I do HIIT cardio today on the Precor for a bit over 20 minutes. I always start off telling myself I'll just do 10 minutes of HIIT and 10 of Steady State, but once I get going, I decide I can stick it out for another 5 minutes. Oh, it's just another 5 more minutes. I can do this. And then it's 21 minutes later. I cover more mileage doing Steady State, but the cardiovascular benefits are greater for HIIT. A quick Cage Stretch because dang my hamstrings feel thick and heavy today. Those Smith SLDLs must be working. My back is painfully knotty from missing two days of stretching. I'm not usually sore but I usually stretch at the end of my workout. Today is another Early Dismissal School Day but I'm determined to get a full Mat Stretch in. I'll just have to sacrifice the LISS cardio.

I stick tiny pieces of moleskin on the knuckles of both my index fingers before wrapping them. They're still bruised from last week. Again, because I'm a creature of habit, I tap in 5 rounds Beginner followed by 9 rounds Intermediate. The Nexersys is mostly working, but my accuracy suffers when I punch too hard and the machine stops with the warning screen You Are Punching Too Hard, or when I punch or kick too hard, and the screen blips, causing other parts of the avatar to light up. I'm never quite sure whether I should punch those pads in response or not. I modify my kicks and punches in a way that feels almost lazy: I drag out my punch and pull-back. The machine seems to like that better than a rabbit-quick full-force punch. Somehow it registers that drawn-out blow as a lesser force and I don't get penalized. But I don't like it. It's not the way you should throw a punch.

I see a notice on the door that the gym will be offering a special kickboxing class at 5:30 pm on Fridays. People are quite excited by the news. Safety in numbers. I'd rather punch the Nexersys. Afterwards, I plop down on the Mat, unwrap my hands and put my lifting gloves back on in preparation for a full Mat Stretch. Two dozen Dive Bomber Push Ups, a 60-second plank, splits, lower and upper back and shoulder stretches. I feel much better now. The gym scale reads 113.8 lbs. Yep, it's got to be the Phantom Period. Tomorrow is a regular school day so I don't have to worry about time: it's Arm Day, and I'm going to give 180 a try at the RG BB Row.

Thursday Cardio Workout

20 min Precor HIIT: 30 sec "run" / 90 sec "jog" = 1.90 miles

Cage Stretch

Nexersys 5 rounds Beginner Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 93% / Strikes 101% / Average Power 140%

Nexersys 9 rounds Intermediate Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 84% / Strikes 101% / Average Power 119%

Mat Stretch with 2x12 DBPUs; 60-second plank; splits, shoulder, upper & lower back stretches

photos posted for actual stats: