Cardio and More

As much as I hate doing the high intensity Tabata, I still talked myself into 4 minutes of it during my 20 minute cardio warm up on the Precor today. First a leisurely 5 minutes at 150 Strides Per Minute while the elliptical registered crazy heart rates (88-200). The first 20 seconds is always the easiest because you're fresh. I manage to hit 270 SPM for a second or two. Of course the heart rate monitor registered nothing at all. The 10 second rest goes by far too quickly for my heart rate to drop down to a resting pace. Perhaps that's the point. Four minutes is awful hard. By the last 20 second phase, I was barely able to get up to 215 SPM. My resting pace was about 90 and who knows what my heart rate was during all of this. However, the next 11 minutes feels easy and I log in just under 2 miles.

My right calf feels a little tight, as if it could cramp so I make sure to hit the Cage Stretch before going rounds on the Nexersys. Again, I do 5 rounds Beginner Level, followed by 9 rounds Intermediate. Again, I'm punching and kicking too hard, and losing accuracy points. When I pull my punches, my power gauge also drops. I fair better, and worse with the Intermediate rounds because the program allows me to punch and kick harder. Most of the time. It's still finicky about my Lead (left side) Sweep and doesn't register several of them. But my Power (right side) Dig is too hard, as is my Power Elbow and Power Hook. The Power Hook stops the machine several times. I'm completely drenched when I'm finished.

I pull off my gloves and wraps, and head for the ellipticals for another 30 minutes. This time I'm just loping along, and oddly, the Precor is registering a normal heart range (135-150). Of course, there are 4 Precor ellipticals and who knows whether each machine is calibrated differently. The two machines flanking each end tend to clunk at high speeds so I prefer the inside machines, but I can't always get them. I figure 30 minutes is enough to bring me over 4 miles, and it does. Because I've been negligent with abs lately, I flop on the Mat and do a quick set of crunches. I only do one set of Knee-to-Elbow crunches and then another set of regular crunches. Done!

The gym scale reads 114.0 lbs. I feel pretty good even if I look big and puffy. When I get home, my scale tells me that I'm a fraction heavier (than last time), a fraction fatter, and yet, have put on muscle. None of this is accurate or makes sense. I'm not actually all that surprised that all this cardio hasn't turned me into a weedy wispy waif. My body tends to retain mass and muscle memory very well. Getting leaner is going to be much harder now. But I'm not ready to consider a serious change in eating habits yet. Unless I commit to taking supplements. Worries about developing kidney stones keep me from blithely popping calcium citrate unless I have to.

Tomorrow is Back and Biceps Day. Yay! I also have a doctor's appointment afterwards to check on my eye pressure. I've been taking two different eye drops for my glaucoma: Xalatan and Azopt. We'll see if my pressure is lower than it was in March. I haven't been able to get my health insurance company to cover my monthly eye meds until it's proven to them that the name brand Xalatan works better than the generic latanoprost. That will take several months. After this visit, I switch to the generic and Azopt and get another eye check in a few months.

Tuesday Cardio

20 min cardio with 4 min Tabata (20 sec On / 10 sec Off) = 1.95 miles

Cage Stretch

Nexersys 5 rounds Beginner Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 88% / Strikes 99% / Average Power 139%

Nexersys 9 rounds Intermediate Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 79% / Strikes 98% / Average Power 114%

30 min cardio =  2.78 miles

50 crunches / 50 Knee-to-Elbow crunches / 50 crunches

photos posted for stats: