Born Again Gym Rat: In Denial of the Numbers

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

In Denial of the Numbers

It's becoming routine now for me to warm up with 2 miles and finish with another 3 miles. I wish my body appreciated the effort I make to be consistent with this program. Even though my numbers look horrendous (at least to me) I feel pretty good. I'd like my belly to be tauter but at least I can't actually grab fistfuls of skin off of it. There's some things, like having a baby in your mid-forties, that your body just doesn't quite recover from, especially skin. When I bend over, I see the loose folds of skin hanging off my abdomen. When I was thinner, I had the same issue at the bottom of my glutes, reminding me of a saggy elephant butt. No amount of cardio or dieting is going to remedy these things either.

Today I get to whack the Nexersys. Doing 4 minutes of Tabata after a 5 minute warmup on the elliptical was ridiculously hard. Actually, a lot harder than I remember. I take the remaining 11 minutes at a leisurely pace and make my 2 miles in just a tad over 20 minutes. After a Cage Stretch, I plop myself in front of my usual Right machine (there are two Nexersys stations) but I quickly realize that it's not registering neither the Jab or Cross punches. Both are integral moves to the Follow Me Avatar program.

I ask the gym owner to reset the machine, and I move to the other machine. I suspect it's not as popular because the glare from the plate glass windows makes it a hard to see. But it seems to be a lot sturdier because I have to really whack it for my punches and kicks to register with some power. I only manage to stop the machine three times. I pull back from 9 rounds to 7 rounds on the Intermediate Level because I know it's going to be harder than I'm used to. And it is. I miss several blows and kicks because the machine is moving so fast that the indicators are but a blur that I can't quite follow. I'm also not a big fan of the Sweep move which puts a bit of stress on my knees that a straight forward kick doesn't. Then just because, even though I'm sopping wet and a bit tired, I decide to go for 3 more rounds in the Beginner Level.

Maybe Thursday I'll do 7 and 7. Tomorrow will be an abbreviated workout for Back and Biceps because I've schedule the dog for a bath at the groomers, and he's such a handful that I'll have to pick him up as soon as he's dry. Thursday he goes to the vet for his rabies shot, which thankfully, is only every three years. So I'll be hitting the Nexersys a bit late next time. But I want to get it all in this week because next week is a short week with the holiday, and then the very next day is the 3rd grade class trip to the American Museum of Natural History. Yes, I'm one of several parent chaperones going. Class trips tend to be without any agenda or structure so I'm not quite sure what exhibit we're suppose to see. Or if it matters.

The gym scale reads 113.8 lbs which is loads better than yesterday's 115.4 lbs. Water weight I'm sure. But I'd still like to drop a few pounds of BF. Not sure how it'll affect my performance, but it's not as if I'm competing against anyone, except me.

Workout Logs

Exercise Name

1 RM

Lifting Logs