Born Again Gym Rat: The Difference Between Mental and Physical Fatigue

Friday, February 6, 2015

The Difference Between Mental and Physical Fatigue

I was quite unhappy that the thermometer read -2°F this morning when I took the dog for a walk. The dog wasn't too happy either. And the birds are decimating the suet block and sunflower seeds in record time. They arrive at sunup, which is about 7 am, and seem quite disappointed until I manage to refill everything. I do manage to make and eat my oatmeal and egg breakfast because I didn't want to be hungry all day. Hunger is distracting and I have too many things to do.

I keep a cooler in my car with two water bottles in it. I don't even need to put ice packs in the cooler with my protein shake because the water bottles are frozen rock solid. The protein shake is brain-freeze cold by the time I get to it, but it tastes better than at room temperature. I'm tired, and not happy about having to get up early for the Cub Scout Klondike event tomorrow morning at 9 am. Through a chain of emails, we parents discover that our identifying banner is missing so I volunteer to make another one for the Junior Webelos sled. Which meant that I was up late, painting and snipping and gluing felt together. I'm tired this morning. But today is Leg Day. I have to do some cardio. And then I'll see about whatever else.

I have my pick of cross-trainers so I grab the one closest to the front door. I've got my hoodie on and use the overly-long sleeves to hold the metal handles until I get warmed up. I also have shorts on, but my legs don't really get cold. My toes, on the other hand, like my fingers, turn numb and blue in an instant. I get myself nice and sweaty and log 3.75 miles. Better than yesterday even though I feel, or I think I feel tired. Maybe it's all the thoughts I have floating around in my head, like the commuter train wreck, and the fiasco MindCraft meetup this past Tuesday. I wrote the librarian a letter comparing the setup to an online Lord of the Flies with overtones of Animal Farm. She responded by promising to resolve the issues. I've told one of my son's friend's parent that "yes, I'm the pushy parent." Because when there's a problem, I will tell you to your face.

I'm happy that the Smith is free although someone left the 25 lb plates on the bar. But there's absolutely no one in the area. Mine. I do Smith Squats because those seem like a good basic way to warm up. Okay, yeah, cardio is warming up, but it's not quite the same. Afterwards, I do a few sets of Smith SLDLs. I've decided to cut sets and weight on these because I'm not feeling it where I want as much as I thrust my hips into the bar as I pull the weight up.

The Smith Split-Leg Squat is another matter. I start off with just the bar (30 lbs). Then gingerly add 10 lbs to each side. The added weight makes the movement harder on my knees. Then I add another 10 lbs per side but I'm only doing 3 sets. At least for now. I suspect my hamstrings are toast so I delay GHRs by doing 30 minutes on the elliptical, Performance Program #2, half of which is done pedaling backwards. When I finally get around to the GHRs at the Lat Pull Down machine, my hamstrings are still a little shaky and I grimace under my hoodie to get my sets done. I'm not so tired anymore. Cardio does that for me, but I'm not sure why.

I'm babying my shoulders today because they feel odd, so no push-ups although I do a good long leg and upper body stretch on the mat. I even toss in a few pistol squats for fun. I'm hoping I don't have to shovel this weekend, but weather's so unpredictable.

Friday Cardio and Leg Workout
(total mileage today: 6.31; mileage for the week = 25 miles; weights moved = 16,365 lbs)