Born Again Gym Rat: Push Ups First, Then Pull Ups

Friday, August 29, 2014

Push Ups First, Then Pull Ups

The log below is completely out of sequence because I can't figure out the Jefit App properly. However, I did do my standard Abbreviated Full Body workout today. The hip is still a bit wonky but not as bad as yesterday. I started with 3+ miles on the LifeFitness Cross-trainer, then a light Cage Stretch, foregoing the side kicks and stretch because of the hip issue. On Wednesday I suffered from a nearly unbearable soft palate throbbing akin to a brain freeze when I did pull ups and then push ups. I didn't have that problem on Monday, but Monday I had started with push ups first.

Today I do push ups first and knock out 50, pausing at rep 40 for 2 breaths, then at rep 45 for two breaths. I can feel a slight throbbing in my head but it's tolerable. Then I do close grip, neutral palm pull ups at the Cage. In the Jefit App, I find an exercise called Hammer Grip Pull Ups which sounds like what I'm doing except that Hammer probably refers to the brand name of a machine and not the hand position (unlike a hammer curl). I'm pulling only bodyweight (BW) so I punch in 112 because that's what it was yesterday. (Today, it actually reads 110.4 lbs but I don't know that until after my workout.)

On the way to the Smith machine to do Inverted Rows, I stop at the Cybex Torso Twist machine and do a set there. The Jefit App doesn't have this machine either so I plug in Weighted Torso Twist instead and edit it later. The Smith is free but the last doofus left the bench dripping wet where he put his head. So gross! I move the bench and curse under my breath. Since I'm plugged in, I have no idea how loud I'm muttering but there's not a lot of people around anyway. It takes me a while to get the proper feel for the movement even though this is the third time this week. It's hard on elbows too, but I figure between this and the pull ups, I haven't totally neglected my back or arms.

22 minutes on the Precor gets me enough mileage to push me over 5 miles so I'm happy. I knock out crunches and pulse-ups on the Mat before doing an abbreviated Mat Stretch. I'm short on time so I skip the Dive Bomber Push Ups and the plank. But I toss in a few Pistol Squats just for quads even though I think 5+ miles is plenty of exercise for legs. Haven't decided whether I'll go to the gym this Monday or not. My husband is home for the long weekend but off to Boston for the rest of the week. Oh well... Tomorrow we're going to an all-day seminar on fire-making skills. Should be fun!

Day Five Abbreviated Workout