Cardio Tuesday

I'm happier already knowing that I'm cutting back on the weight I'm pushing. I'm at the point where nagging joint injuries are harder to recover from. Plus my doc called to tell me the bad news that yes, the bone mass DEXA showed I have osteopenia in my hips. My spine is good but I need to take Vitamin D and additional calcium to keep the bone loss at bay. I tell my doc that both my brother and sister were diagnosed with it years ago and they're both younger than I am, so I'm not surprised. It's a loss of bone mass but not severe enough to be osteoporosis. Yet.

It's not like I can exercise any more than I do now but weight-bearing exercises are good. Like running. Which would destroy my knees and ankles. I'm glad my crunchy spine isn't an issue so far. I'll stick to lifting weights and doing my low-impact cardio. But, now in addition to fish oil, I take fish oil with D3 (just 1,000 IU daily), and apparently I need to consume 4 servings of dairy a day instead of just 2. Unless I want to take calcium tablets, which have all sorts of nasty side effects, like stomach upset and constipation. I eat a lot of kale and broccoli, both considered high in calcium for vegetables, but honestly, it's really hard to eat enough leafy greens to come close to a cup of fat-free milk. I could eat soft tofu or vitamin-fortified cereals instead. Of course, I'm trying to lose a bit of fluff so not sure how I'm going to fulfill all my nutritional requirements with mostly real food, and keep my fat and calories low.

It isn't at all helpful that the RDA info on food doesn't give you actual mgs. Instead they give you a percentage of what the government says you should be ingesting, based on a 2000 calorie diet. Which doesn't really give you any real information when your doc tells you to consume 1,000-1,200 mg of calcium a day (based on your age), but no one can tell you how much calcium is in 8 oz of milk unless you go to the web. It's 300 mg per 8 oz. If the label stated 300 mg per 8 oz, that would be useful information. But apparently the government has discovered that people don't know what to do with that information. So telling them they're good for 40% of their RDA is good enough. Never mind that this requirement varies by age group. And a cup of milk is not 40% of my RDA, it's 25%.

Photos and stats don't always agree
as I tend to keep moving while I'm
trying to enter the data into my cell.

HIIT cardio was bloody awful hard today. But I got it done. And after a quick stretch at the Cage, I see a guy at my favorite Nexersys machine. I plop myself in front of the other machine and wrap my hands, stuff them into my gloves and tap the screen. It's on but not responsive. Eventually I find the gym owner who tells me, when I ask him if he can re-boot the system, that the screen isn't working and that he's got someone coming to repair it. Now I'm really annoyed. If it's broken, then turn it off and don't get my hopes up. I'm frustrated and mutter to myself that I might as well go home. The gym owner repeats loudly that the machine is down, whereupon the guy next to me says, "Do you need a machine?" "Uh, I don't want to interrupt your workout," I tell him because there's nothing worse than hovering, waiting for someone to be done. "Naw, I'm finished," he says pointing to the screen. It reads 3/3 which means 3 rounds completed out of 3 rounds started. "Cool, thanks!" Yay for me!

I've cooled down considerably so it takes me a while to get up to speed. I punch in my usual 5 rounds Beginner, followed by 9 rounds Intermediate. Next week I might change it up and start with 3 rounds Beginner, followed by 12 rounds Intermediate, especially since at the end of my session, the machine's assessment includes, "You are outpacing and outpowering. Add rounds." Well, if you insist. My accuracy and power are a tiny bit better today than last week. I plan to do this again in two days. Tomorrow's a Pull Day which means Back and Biceps. Friday will be Legs. I'm not even sore from yesterday's Chest and Tricep rep workout. Just a little tired.

I've wrapped my hands better today so my knuckles aren't too red when I pull off my gloves. I pull my hoodie back on to do crunches and elbow-to-knee crunches which are a lower ab exercise. I'm pretty sure I'm grimacing when I do them so it's good I have my arms over my face and my hoodie pulled down. Then back to the elliptical for another 20+ minutes or whenever I hit 2 miles. I feel loose and limber, sweaty and fluid, loping along at 170 Strides Per Minute until the last 5 minutes. Then, with the tempo of the music, I gradually increase my pace until I'm moving at 185-190 SPM. I feel really good, light and effortless, like air.

Tuesday Cardio Workout

20 min HIIT Precor elliptical (30 sec On / 90 sec Off) = 2.0 miles 

Cage Stretch

Nexersys 5 rounds Beginner Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 94% / Strikes 99% / Average Power 141% 

Nexersys 9 rounds Intermediate Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 84% / Strikes 102% / Average Power 116%

50 Crunches / 50 Knee-to-Elbow Crunches / 50 Crunches / 50 Knee-to-Elbow Crunches

21 min Precor elliptical = 2.01 miles

Photos posted for actual stats: