Born Again Gym Rat: Working Through Disinterest

Monday, June 22, 2015

Working Through Disinterest

I'm tired before I even get out of bed. I can laugh about Saturday. Now. It wasn't funny then. I had a flatbed scheduled to pick up my old Subie Saturday morning between 8 and 10 am. I got up to walk the dog and then stayed up even though I desperately wanted to sleep in. He never showed up. I had planned to take my son to his summer camp's Meet & Greet at 10, then dash off to his pediatric dentist appt at 11. At 10, I was on the phone with the tow truck company who nonchalantly informed me that they hadn't sent a driver out yet. One might arrive between 11 and 1. Which would've been fine if my hubs were going to be home. But he had a dentist appt too, at 11:45 am with a different dentist. "Do you want to reschedule?" the dispatcher aske me. "Is he really going to show up this time?" I ask in return.

At 10:10 I tried to move my husband's car out of the driveway because it was blocking mine. What I didn't realize is that the seat is now permanently stuck in its current position. He's 5'11. I'm 4'11.5. Our driveway slopes down and back. Which means I had no hope of ever reaching the pedals. Hubs had just worked out and was sitting upstairs, meditating. And I needed him to move his car so I could get out. So I am fuming and agitated. We finally get to summer camp and have to wait a ridiculously long time because the family in front of us are newbies and need everything explained at least thrice. My son sees two of his friends and wants to play. We have exactly 5 minutes before we have to leave in order to make our appt on time. Luckily one of the friends has to leave as well. We walk in to the dentist at 10:59. He has a perfect checkup: no cavities, bite looks good, all his adult teeth are in. We go home but I have to leave in an hour to take my car for its NYS Safety Inspection. Now it's pouring. Uh oh. Cub Scouts Rocket Night is in 2 hours, rain or shine. Our friends will be there. It'll be fun, and it is. But by 9 pm, we're all sitting on the sofa in front of the TV, feeling totally exhausted.

I'm a little tired of hearing people complain about being tired and overweight, but not making time for exercise. For them it's so much easier to diet. But it's not really working because they're not increasing their metabolism so their bodie are just adapting to less food. What I'm really tired of is learned helplesslness that manifests itself as a series of excuses. You can't fix people or make them do what you think is right, only show them information and hope they can utilize it productively.

The gym is relatively empty. I see B as she exits. Not too many regulars. Too nice a day and people want to get things done before the heat sets in. Because I don't allow myself the chance to talk myself out of working out, because I'm already here, dressed with my gear, there's nothing to do but work out in spite of how disinterested I feel at the moment.

My right shoulder and arm feel odd and achey today, but not DOMS. More a neurological ache. Smith Benching and Inclined Benching are okay but I don't push too hard. I find that I seem to run out of breath during Inclined Benching because I can't inhale deep enough with weight in that position. It's like being crucified. Arms held higher than the shoulders don't allow the diaphragm to extend and contract properly.

I get a little creative with DB Laterals and Reverse Inclined Flyes because 25 lbs is heavy. Since I still have the 20 lb DBs at my bench, I use them for reps for the last set of DB Lateral Raises, and then pick up the 25s for the subsequent DB Reverse Inclined Flyes. I up the weight just a tiny bit on Lying One-Arm DB Lateral Raises. What a miserable movement. My right shoulder clicks uncomfortably. It's my excuse for failing at the 3rd set of Close Grip Bench Presses, only getting 12 reps instead of 15. Rip Skulls are okay, mostly because I chat with D for a few minutes. My sunburned left shoulder is peeling, no matter how much cream and oil I apply to it. Tiny flakes of skin pepper my black tank top and pants. It's a good thing I lay a clay-green towel down on the bench before I do anything.

Nothing like HIIT cardio when you're already wiped. Surpassing my own expectations on performance though, managing to hit 290 Strides Per Minute (SPMs) for a few seconds for a few cycles. LISS is extremely tolerable after HIIT. Stretching feels good if I can do it a few times a week AFTER my workout. But I don't say anything to the fools who insist on stretching before their workouts. Today I see a new female trainer with an elderly client. Okay, he's not elderly. Maybe he's in his 50s? She's showing him physical therapy moves and seems a bit surprised when I bench press at the Smith.

I'm an anxious person. I'm not sure if I was born that way or it was just the circustances of my childhood. Perhaps I've watched too many X-Files episodes but I always suspect overwhelming anxiety when people commit atrocities against themselves and their families. There's lots of medicating against anxiety. Celebrities are the most notorious for this type of bad behavior. Exercise is my medicine.

Monday Cardio and Push Day Workout
(3.98 miles total; 19,140 lbs moved)