Born Again Gym Rat: Feels Like Coming Home

Friday, May 8, 2015

Feels Like Coming Home

Friday is Leg Day. And I use it as an excuse to do cardio as well. Not that HIIT/LISS isn't cardio. But I'm not a fan of the 10-15 minute warm up before I lift on those days. I figure I'd conserve a little energy and put it towards my lifting but I'm not sure I see any advantages to this strategy yet. I know that I'm limited by the amount of weight and stress my joints can handle, not what my muscles can push or pull. I can't make my joints stronger, only the surrounding muscles. I can't make my ligaments and tendons stronger either, just take care not to injure them. But, I still think I'm making slow steady progress towards my goals of being stronger and leaner. I'm going to give this program another couple of weeks before I decide whether to keep it or up my cardio again. I miss the 30 minute cardio warm up! It feels like "coming home" on days I incorporate it. Like today.

Leg Day is always a good excuse for 30 minutes of steady state cardio on the Cross-trainer. I alternate every 5 minutes between the stationery handles and the moving ones. Sometimes I find my arms driving the pace, forcing my legs to move quicker. Odd. I stretch a bit and see that the Smith is occupied by a woman doing squats. I decide to do more cardio. I'm the type of person who believes that human nature, for the most part, is lazy. In our current society, there is a large population who don't understand manners or common courtesy. Like the person who left gum stuck to the side of the elliptical today. Really? It was relatively fresh so I could remove it easily with a paper towel. I'm guessing it was one of the chatty young women who show up I tell the front desk about their disgusting clientele and they tell me that I haven't seen the half of it. I'm glad I don't own a gym.

I ask my husband if he thinks our society is doomed to fall like Rome because we've grown so complacent as a society that bad behavior is tolerated as amusement? Gladiatorial fight to the death anyone? But, I'm really speaking of reality TV shows, which I loathe. Everything is geared towards ratings. Sell, sell, sell. I can see why we're ripe for a fall. People have no discipline anymore, no ability to ignore the lure of instant gratification. Everyone wants to be famous. Even if it's only for 10 minutes. No one wants to put in any work. Sometimes it feels like that at my gym. But I'm gratified to see solo regulars who spend their time working out. I can see improvements in their form and especially in their muscle tone, but I don't say anything to them because they might become self-conscious or embarrassed.

The Smith is free and I do most of my workout there. I see a milky-white, tall, skinny girl with curly carrot-red hair. I've see her almost every day for some months now. Today she's in the Squat Rack doing light squats, getting her form down. Her arms are starting to develop some shape, the curve of a bicep here, the shadow of a tricep there. The solo lifters are the serious ones. Most of the women come in pairs or with their boyfriends, as if they need backup in order to step foot in the free weight area. The problem with relying on a buddy is that you rely on them, and if they can't make it, well, you don't either. I haven't seen Venus in over a week although I do see The Mayor, Tattoo Tank, LoudMouth, Hannibal Baggy Knees, Soccer Boy, Maroon and Latin Baseball.

The Mayor is doing standing OHP in the new Max Rack. He's got a 10 lb plate on each side of the bar. Between sets of 5-6 reps, he does a few reps on the new chest press machine or runs off the chat with a few guys by the cable station. On the other side of the Smith are two fat young newbies. I guess they're each others moral support. They lift weights but mostly they chat. And stare. It's not nice of me to say it, but I hope they get bored and stop coming to the gym.

Smith Squats are just a warm up for Smith Split Leg Squats. For some reason I'm having trouble with my right knee today. Squatting with my right is fine. I used just the step platform to raise my back foot a little. But squatting with my left leg is causing some issues with my right knee. It's not until nearly the end of my sets that I realize it's how I'm dropping on my left side that's causing the discomfort in the opposing knee. Ugh. I've got to remember this for next week! I move the platform forward until it's under the bar and do some Smith SLDLs, pulling out my VGs for the last three sets.

There's a middle age man casually trying not to stare as he does BB presses in the breaker bench behind me. I'm not the only woman here. Not quite sure what the issue is. I re-rack everything and move to the lat pull down station with a bosu ball just for Glute Ham Raises. I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall on my face at some point. Because I don't want to hurt my lower back, I'm satisfied to do drop sets. I scrunch up my face during the last set, unsure if I'm actually going to make 8 reps without my form totally disintegrating. Then I dust myself off and plop all my stuff onto the big Mat for a full Mat Stretch routine. It's been ages since I did this and I wonder how Dive Bomber Push Ups will feel. They're actually not bad, but they do make the 60-second plank that follows immediately after kind of difficult.

from gymflow100.com

As I drop into my splits, I'm busting a sweat all over again. I'm usually so focused that I don't really see anyone unless they're in my way. I look up for a moment and that middle aged man seems utterly and completely crestfallen. Not sure why he's suddenly so defeated, but I can guess. I am a crusher of dreams. Yep, I've gone and said it. But what really thrills me for the moment is the newly pronounced brachioradialis in my forearms. I have very small forearms, but the RG BB Curls seem to be actually doing something. Yaaaay!

Friday Workout
(6.78 miles cardio; 14,825 lbs moved)