Born Again Gym Rat: Better But Not Cured

Monday, June 9, 2014

Better But Not Cured

I've still got a touch of vertigo but it's definitely not as bad anymore. It does tend to catch me off-guard though, and thus, a tad off-balance. The weather's definitely not helping. I don't like to medicate before I work out so no ibuprofen, no pseudoephedrine this morning. Just my standard eggy oatmeal and instant espresso. But instead of heading straight to the gym after getting my son on his school bus, I go home to wait 30 minutes before heading to the school myself, along with other 3rd grade parents. Today is the 3rd grade recorder concert in the cafeteria. I bring my long lens camera because I know that my cell isn't good enough to find him on stage. I record their best song, We Will Rock You, to text to my husband in Boston. The concert only lasts 30 minutes but all the children are beaming. I drive back home to drop off my camera, grab my gear and finally head to the gym.

It's a bit after 10:30 am by the time I get in. There's still remnants of the morning crowd. I peddle my 2 miles steady-state but barely feel warm. I'm much happier when I'm really warmed up but I'm saving the 4 minutes of Tabata for the 2nd cardio session, after I lift. Benching makes me a bit leery. I need to hold onto the bar overhead to steady myself as I adjust to the change in head position. At least the room's not actually spinning this time. 95 lbs feel good. So I put on a pair of 10s.

The set at 115 feels pretty good too. I take my time between sets. I get my three sets of 8 reps and that makes me happy. I only do one 20-repper though because I don't want to get too tired. And my head still feels weird. I do a few Inclined Presses. Each time I lean back on the bench, I have to take a moment while my head settles. Eventually it passes and my sets feel a tiny bit easier. But I'm taking it easy today since I'm still not quite 100%.

Six sets of 12 reps with 20 lb DBs feels pretty good. I like the way my shoulders and arms look in the mirror. Meanwhile, I hear a grunting Push! Push! Push! from behind me. It's Big Glasses Dude benching three plates per side. He's very happy with his 3 reps and no spotter. I'm glad this isn't a PF gym. He's been losing some of his girth too. But I doubt he'll ever be svelte. Most people at my gym are much bigger than I am, but it's not readily apparent to me until I'm standing next to them and look in the mirror. Then I see that maybe I come up to their shoulder. Maybe. Sometimes not even.

I'm a tad more cautious with the Bent Over Rear Delt movement. The 20s are way too easy. The 30s are harder. I only do 3 sets because my head doesn't really like this position. Like last week, I decide to do Biceps instead of Triceps. So that's curls with the EZ bar, and then twisting DB curls. I skip the Reverse Grip BB Curls. My arms are so pumped that I have to loosen my elbow and wrist wraps in order to get decent blood flow to my finger so I can grip the DBs. Then back to the Precor for about 30 or so minutes of cardio. After 5 min at the low heart rate of 116, I do the 4 minutes of Tabata to get the heart really racing. Then back to the steady state pace but keeping the heart rate anywhere between 120 and 140.

I should do abs. But what? It's hard to do abs without really exacerbating the vertigo. Sit ups and crunches are still out. I settle on the plank and knee to elbow plank because it's part of my Mat Stretch routine. As is Dive Bomber Push Ups. And splits, and lower back/glute hip bridges. I'm done. Going to the Robin Hood Faire in Guilford Ct yesterday was a lot of fun, but we ate a lot of salty fatty foods like ribs, mac & cheese laced with bacon & pulled pork, fried chicken, biscuits. And my hubs kept plying me with BeeStings, a beverage mix of honey mead and hard cider. So I'm not surprised when the gym scale reads 114.8 lbs. I know a lot of that is water. Tomorrow's cardio and boxing. Yay!

Monday Workout

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Lifting Logs