Lunar Eclipse Fiasco

My son and I managed to stay up until well past midnight hoping to catch sight of the Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse. At midnight the sky was hazy but we could still see the full moon low in the sky over the neighbor's house. Nothing like watching morbidly obese people lose hundreds of pounds on TV to keep you awake with morbid fascination. At 1 am, we donned jackets and shoes and went outside but even though the sky was eerily lit, we couldn't find the moon to observe. Too much fog and mist. We were quite disappointed, and it was hard getting up this morning to the wet wind and rain. My son went to tae kwon do camp for the day and I went to the gym. I'm going to get him early from camp though so we can see Rio 2 which got good reviews in the local news blog. Because it's Spring Break, bad weather and $5 Tuesday, I expect the movie theater to be quite crowded so we'll have to get there early.

I did my 20 minutes on the Precor before wrestling with the Olympic bar by the mirrored wall. I hate people who leave their plates on the bar. This time it was just a pair of 10s, but still. My shoulders are unusually sore this morning, and considering I cut sets, reps and weight for everything except benching yesterday, I'm a bit surprised. This couldn't possibly be because I got a few extra reps at the bench, could it? I work my way up on RG BB Rows, doing a set at 155, then a set at 175, then back down to 155 for two more sets. I only do the 175 because I'm afraid of losing gains. I should do the 185 but lack of sleep makes me less ambitious. I don't want to risk screwing up my form and hurting my back either.

Again, I cut my reps and sets for the all my other exercises, except the Lower Back Extension machine. I start One-Arm DB Rows with the 55 lb DB instead of the 60, and realize how easy it feels. I swap it for the 60 just as R wanders by and grabs the pair of 65s. That's fine. I'm tired so I'm perfectly happy doing sets at 60 instead of 65. As it is, I can't even do full sets with the 60 so this is probably for the best. The DB area is crowded and R has situated himself inside the Smith rack to use the adjustable bench there. Before I move on to the Lower Back Extension and Neutral Grip Pull Down, I wave Hi at him and ask him how he is. He goes for pain shots in his back two or three times a year. It helps but it's never going to be great. Then he starts talking about how big his son is getting, how he's teething already, and we compare notes about babies. Even though my son is nine, I still remember how he was all those years ago. I think R really enjoys talking about his son, and like me, he's not comfortable talking to a lot of the people at the gym. I don't think guys at the gym talk a lot about their kids.

I feel bad cutting him off as he mentions how his wife is into scrap-booking all the baby photos, but he's able to work out while he talks. And I can't. I still have at least two other movements to do. I manage to up my reps for the Lower Back Extension machine, but have to cut back at the Lat station. I start off with a lower weight as well but still work my way up to 135 lbs. But I only do one set at that weight. A quick turn at the Torso Twist machine, and then I clamber up the Step Mill. Meanwhile I see the Flirty Girl flitting about. She's got great proportions and muscle tone, sweat glistening on her upper arms and shoulders. Later, when I look at myself in the locker room mirror, I realize I can see my lats even though I'm only turned three-quarters. And I'm big. My triceps are improbably sore, from Friday's Rip Crushers? More likely from yesterday's Chest and Delt workout. The gym scale reads 113.0 lbs again. Yay for consistency.

Tuesday Abbreviated Back Workout

20 min Precor = 1.85 miles

RG BB Row
12x45 lbs (bar)
12x135 lbs (with VGs)
12x155 lbs
12x175 lbs (-10 lbs)
2x12x155 lbs
23x135 lbs (AMAP for fun; maybe I should up the weight here?)

One-Arm DB Rows
12x55 lbs
10, 8, 8 x60 lbs (-5 lbs)

Lower Back Extension Machine
25, 25, 20 x 180 lbs (+10, +5 reps Yay!)

Neutral Grip Lat Pull Downs
12x75 lbs
12x90 lbs
10x105 lbs
8x120 lbs
8x135 lbs (-2 sets)

Torso Twist Machine
2x25x50 lbs

20 min Matrix Step Mill = 1153 steps

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

100 crunches