Born Again Gym Rat: I'm Okay With Not Moving. Not.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

I'm Okay With Not Moving. Not.

Yesterday I tried a few home remedies for ear aches. First I dug up an old bottle of mullein oil and put a few drops of it into my ears. It's an herbal suspension with an olive oil base but I'm not sure if expires. My ear felt a bit greasy but no better or worse. Later, my right ear started to feel hot again so I put a bit of hydrogen peroxide in it and listened to the furious bubbling. My ear definitely felt better immediately afterward, but that didn't last. It was, however, squeaky clean as peroxide dissolves organics like ear wax and whatnot. I also started taking a half dose of psuedephedrine because it's an effective decongestant. This morning, I wake up and I still have vertigo. It seems to vary in intensity depending on what I happen to be doing.

In spite of this, I had a pretty kick-ass workout. I found a pretty useful article on cardio and heart rate online at Men'sHealth which is kind of the last place I expected to find something helpful. But in general, men's stuff tends to be better made, and online, the website's tend to have more useful information and less fluff. (Maybe that's why I was always jealous of my brother's clothes when I was a kid: his pants always had pockets and his shoes were comfortable and great for running around.)

I start off with my usual 20 minute warm up, but the first 5 minutes at a slower pace just to keep my heart rate around 116. Then I kick into the 4 minutes of Tabata with 20 seconds going as fast as I can and 10 seconds of dropping to a walk while I catch my breath. My heart rate never goes above 155 this entire time. The next 11 minutes is steady-state but I always increase my pace at the end while trying to maintain the "cardio zone". I'm not always successful. I do a quick Cage Stretch, careful not to bend my head all the way to my shin. I don't need the earth to move. I just want to stretch out my hamstrings.

Both Nexersys machines are available and I start at the Right Side one, the one with less glare from the windows behind me. It's everyone's favorite machine. Barely 20 seconds into the round and I realize that it's not registering my kicks. At all. I tell the gym owner but he just shrugs at me. I pick up all my gear and drop it under the Left machine. It's somehow different and not just because of the glare from the windows. The pads are slightly higher and the program runs a tad quicker.

I tap in 12 rounds Beginner. If I survive, I'll look at maybe 3 rounds Intermediate. But by round 11, I'm almost toast. Round 12 tosses out weird combinations that have me off balance as I struggle to Cross and then Lead Kick. Cross involves twisting forward which is not the optimal position for delivering a front kick. I have to remember to pull back but not too far in order to deliver the kick properly. It's easier for me to Jab and then Power Kick because my right leg is already positioned back. My accuracy plummets. But my power and strikes are good. I'm also drenched. As long as I don't tilt my head up or down, the vertigo doesn't bother me.

After I pull off my wraps and gloves, I go for an easy 3-mile jog on the elliptical. My heart rate is lower than I expect and I'm having trouble actually bringing it up into the proper zone (119-139). Suddenly it spikes to 188. But then it drops back down to 129. And it stays there most of the time. When I'm done, the Precor reports that my max heart rate was 159. Apparently the 188 was a glitch that didn't record. That's okay with me. The Mats are full of reclining people so I skip Mat Stretch. I just want to shower. My clothes are stinky like cat pee. Yuck. The gym scale reads 113.0 lbs. I'm good with that. I just wish my clothes were a tad looser. Tomorrow is Back & Triceps Day. I'm tempted to just do cardio and maybe BB Rows until I'm over the vertigo.

Vertigo Cardio Workout

Exercise Name

1 RM

Lifting Logs