I feel fairly energetic although I think the majority of morning drivers in my town are either smitten with allergies or antihistamines, judging from the way they drive. No one can stay in their own dang lane and they're constantly braking for no apparent reason. Oh wait. They're probably all on their stupid phones. I arrive to a locker room full of chatty women who are screeching about muffins and cookies of some sort. The first thing I do is grab my headphones and stuff them into my ears just to muffle the noise before I even get my jacket off, or my gear into a locker.
I'm feeling good enough that I get over 3 miles on the Cross-trainer. A quick Cage Stretch and then I wander back to the free weight area where the Smith machine is. One of the trainers, J, is coaching a new client on Smith Squats. She's a very large woman but the trainer has a bench behind her so she knows just how far to drop. He's probably the only good weight trainer at my gym since he actually lifts here on his off days. Most of the women trainers lead the Spin or Zumba classes, and one actually does use dumbbells, medicine balls and light barbells for her client's routines. But J is the only one I've actually seen put real plates on the bar — of course, his clients are mostly very big women. Because I don't want to rush J, I stand back and chat with B for a few minutes.
We commiserate on how hard it is for small women to use the equipment here. She says her doctor told her that most of these machines aren't made for people of our size. She's got an inch or two on me, but she's older, and battling arthritis and chronic tendonitis. J is finally done and moves his client to the Seated Cable Row. I drag an adjustable Inclined Bench to the Smith. I can get my feet flat on the floor doing Inclined Benches here, but not in a Flat Bench position. Benching feels pretty good although as I up my weight, I have to dig my wrist wraps out and put them on. Luckily I haven't had the need to dig my elbow braces (for golfer's elbow) out yet. With a 25 lb plate, a 10 and a 5 on each side, the bar feels kind of heavy and I only get six reps for that. Okay, bar is 30 lbs because it's a Smith. So that's... hey, that's 110 lbs. Cool! I can bench my own weight on the Incline Bench! Yay!
Today I have trouble with the RG BB Row because at the heavier weight my hands tend to rotate away from me which causes the bar to catch on the safety hooks. Ugh. I should've just stayed with 20-reppers at 80 lbs. Maybe I should try it facing the other way next time. I get to 110 lbs which isn't all that heavy, except I'm trying to keep parallel to the ground. My back feels tired. Still I move on to the next exercise: Smith SLDLs. I start with 80 lbs (bar + 25 lb plate both sides) which might've been a mistake. I figured I was warmed up enough from the Rows. The first set of 12 feels okay. But when I up the weight to 100 lbs, I get a bizarre sensation from my middle back down my glutes and back of legs. It's not painful but it's definitely not right, and feels vaguely electrical. It's worrisome enough for me to shut it down for SLDLs because I don't want lower back or sciatic nerve problems.
But I'm stubborn and I want to know if my other movements have been compromised. I move gingerly into position for GHRs at the Lat Pull Down machine, but it's not an issue. Lower Back Extensions aren't a problem either. I still feel a weird residual tingle down the back of my right leg into my toe so I don't think it's imaginary either. My right leg has been having odd issues lately with odd calf cramping as well. Maybe it's being 54 years old and working out like a 20 year old? Naw...
I still feel pretty good in spite of the lower back/leg weirdness and I get 2 miles on the Precor. It makes me happy. I've been listening to the new (free) U2 album on my iPod and find it a decent workout album, favoring The Miracle for cardio. I've been toying with the idea of one-arm push ups but I'm worried about falling on my face. So I wimp out and do three sets of Dive Bomber Push Ups. And a plank. And my regular Mat Stretch routine of splits and stretches. I'm still fat from pigging out this past weekend, but because my endurance is up, I'm still fairly happy with my workout.
Tuesday Workout
140
Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 70x12
Set 3 : 80x12
Set 4 : 100x12
Set 5 : 110x6
Set 6 : 100x12
Set 2 : 70x12
Set 3 : 80x12
Set 4 : 100x12
Set 5 : 110x6
Set 6 : 100x12
154
Set 1 : 30x20
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 80x15
Set 4 : 90x12
Set 5 : 100x12
Set 6 : 110x12
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 80x15
Set 4 : 90x12
Set 5 : 100x12
Set 6 : 110x12
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