April Fool's Today Is Back Day

It's a beautiful sunny day. It's also April 1st so I'm sure there's going to be snow somewhere in the forecast. I'm fairly certain that if I sit outdoors long enough, some biting insect will find me. Last night I was surprised to find a feathery white moth fluttering hopelessly in our livingroom. My son and I decided that "catch and release" was the best option. I'm hoping it wasn't a gypsy moth. Maybe a white plume moth. But that's a bit exotic for our neck of the weeds.

I always start with 20 minutes of cardio, varying only by intensity and equipment. I get on a Precor and jog along at 160-180 Strides Per Minute, feeling warm and sweaty by the time I'm done. There's a barbell on the floor by the mirrored wall, just laying there, beckoning for someone to pick it up. Yep, that'd be me. It's Back Day and Barbell Rows are always first on the list. I warm up with a regular overhand grip, and then switch to an underhand reverse grip when I don the VGs. I notice that I'm developing monster callouses on the palm side of my knuckles in spite of wearing gloves, wraps and other protective gear.

I prop my phone up against my gear sack and water bottle in order to take a video of the 170 lb row. It looks a lot like shrugs to me because it's so heavy. Maybe I'll drop the weight down. I can get 20 reps at 135 lbs so perhaps 155 is the happy median. I don't need my back to be any bigger than it is cause I'm busting out of some of my clothes already. All the literature I read about doing BB Rows directs people to bend over until their back is nearly parallel to the ground, but that's not how the movement looks in any of the videos or photos. Everyone's much more upright, anywhere from 45 to 30 degrees. Bending over more feels like a lower back injury waiting to happen. At the heavier weight, I'm also feeling some weirdness at the top of my hips. It's not lower back though. Maybe I'll just do sets at 155 after today. Again, the hardest movement of all is stripping the 45 lb plate off the bar. The ends are a little rusty so the plate squeaks unpleasantly as I wrestle it off.

Everything else is fairly routine: One Arm DB Rows, Lower Back Extension machine, Close (Neutral) Grip Lat Pull Downs, Cage Stretch, Torso Twist machine, and some mindless pedaling on the recumbent bike. The gym scale reads 113.4 lbs. I don't care. My clothes still mostly fit although I'm finding my festively-colored GAP khakis to be a bit snug. I don't like my clothes feeling as if I had to pour myself into them. Of course, my husband doesn't seem to mind that one bit. Not at all.

Back Day Workout

20 min Precor elliptical = 1.88 miles

BB Row (overhand grip)
12x45 lbs (bar)
12x95 lbs
RG BB Row
12x115 lbs (put on VGs)
12x135 lbs (swapped 25s for 45s -- that was a chore in itself!)
12x155 lbs
2x12x170 lbs +1 set Yay! (these feel so much like shrugs that I drop the weight down)
12x165 lbs (a tad better, but I'll probably drop down to sets at 155 next week)
20x135 lbs (for fun!)

One-Arm DB Rows
10x60 lbs
8, 8, 10 x 65 lbs +2 reps Yay!

Lower Back Extension Machine
3x16x180 lbs +1 rep each set

Close (Neutral) Grip Lat Pull Downs
12x105 lbs
10x120 lbs
3x8x135 lbs (elbows were not happy with these at all today!)

Cage Stretch

Torso Twist Machine: 2x25x50 lbs

20 min LifeFitness Recumbent Bike (LISS) = 2.98 miles

Here's the video of today's 170 lbs RG BB Row: