Born Again Gym Rat: The Rock and a Hard Place

Monday, March 23, 2015

The Rock and a Hard Place

My son is bouncing around as if he'd never been sick a day in his life. That's the magic of antibiotics. I'll still be dosing him twice daily until next Sunday, but he feels and acts like himself now, giggly, chatty and silly. The sun has melted a lot of the snow but there are still fields of the white stuff everywhere. I feel tired and once again contemplate staying home in bed. I've added a multi-B complex vitamin to my fish oil and D. My OB-GYN scolds me for not taking calcium supplements as my primary doctor has recommended. "You're a prime candidate for osteoporosis," he tells me, referring to my Asian ethnicity, small bones and relative slenderness. If I was heavier, I'd be a less likely candidate for bone loss. But then my BMI would red flag me for all sorts of other ailments, like diabetes and high blood pressure. Asians are notoriously susceptible to diabetes, even when not overweight. The white rice diet is suspect.

Well, at least my blood pressure is good today: 120/70. My doc tells me to call my primary regarding the calcium supplements, suggesting that the benefits probably outweigh the risks in my case. I guess I'm skeptical. No one in my family has ever broken a bone. Ever. Not my super-frail mother, nor my tiny grandmother who lived to be 93. They did, however, suffer from high blood pressure and other ailments. Still, I'll probably revisit the calcium issue and look into taking supplements again. Sigh.

I'm not happy with the trainers I have on this morning. Although they're size 6.5 W Asics, they don't feel quite big enough. These ones are the newest and are the only ones with leather uppers. My other two pairs are older, and have mesh uppers. The original pair is imperceptibly deteriorating, looking okay from the outside, but not feeling supportive inside. The second pair isn't as comfortable as the first due to a slight narrowing of the footbed. I can tell that this shoe isn't as wide, so my little toe overhangs ever so slightly. Eventually the minor irritation becomes a major annoyance, and perhaps a blister. And the newest leather Asics also have shorter laces, which makes tying double knots challenging. But no double knot means I'm constantly retying my shoe laces throughout my workout.

I have a new pair of trainers on order and they seem promising. I've given up on Asics and gone back to Saucony. Zappos.com showed me a pair of black ProGrid Integrity walking shoes in a double wide 6.5. Since I don't actually run on the equipment, I'm fine with not having a running shoe. And they come in black. Bonus! None of those jazzy day-glo neons for me.

My mileage is decent today but not spectacular. My first two sets on the Smith Bench are horrid because I'm stuck with the over-sized adjustable inclined bench with the hump in the middle. Until the fellow on the small flat bench is done and walks away. I wrestle the big bench off to the side and relish being able to lay flat under the Smith bar. My left side feels odd today. Maybe from shoveling the heavy wet snow on Saturday? Usually my right front delt is bothered by benching so this is really odd. 130 lbs isn't as hard as last week. Next week, if I can get the small flat bench, I'll try and do a few sets at this weight. Today I finish with 25 reps at 90 lbs. Then I wrestle the big adjustable bench back and do some Inclined Presses. When I'm done, I look down the row of DBs to see if any of the smaller adjustables are free. I feel guilty doing DB Reverse Flyes in the Smith but everyone is spaced so there's not really any room to move my bench either.

Venus has been doing leg presses and chatting with Chatty Guy. Hmmm. Maybe they are a couple? I don't think so. I think they're both just chatty. She comes over and asks how many sets do I have left? I tell her that I'd gladly get out of the way if I could get use of the adjustable. She flags one of the trainers who's chatting between sets and not actually on duty. He's more than happy to help her move the over-sized adjustable out of the Smith and other benches out of the way. She tells me she didn't want me to be mad, and I tell her that I'm not mad... I was feeling guilty anyway. She looks much smaller in a long sleeve sweatshirt and leggings. But we all look much smaller and lighter in our clothes, surprising people when they finally see what's under all the layers.

DB Lateral Raises are okay, but there's something about Reverse Flyes today that cause my left trap to seize up and knot. I muscle through the workout anyway, but it puts a literal kink in my stretching. I'm hoping that a little heat and some rolling with loosen things up enough for tomorrow's Back Workout. Otherwise, it's just going to be a grind.

Monday Workout
(6.37 miles cardio;14,510 lbs moved)