Oatmeal as a PreWorkout Stim

I read a lot of posts about people's opinions on pre-workout stims like C4 and Psycho. I'm in the minority as one of the few who work out with maybe a paltry cup of instant coffee. Today I didn't finish the coffee, but ate my oatmeal, egg and blueberries for breakfast. I just didn't want to be hungry in the middle of my workout. Usually, I'm ready to eat my arm by the time I'm ready to change and shower. Not good. I keep a couple of Quest bars in my purse for dire emergencies. Wild Berry is hands-down my all-out favorite.

Maybe I need a vacation but I feel a bit apprehensive now when I get to the gym. I'm grudgingly trudging through 15 min on the LifeFitness cross-trainer, and I'm not making the mileage I'm used to seeing. Pushing the weights still feels okay, but again, maybe it's time to change things up. It's hard to know since I only do each movement but once a week. After a month, I've only done an exercise 4 times. Is that enough to warrant a change? Not that I'm unhappy with the results. Since I'm not competing, there's really no reason for me to get leaner, other than vanity. My home scale tells me I've been slacking because my BF measures 15.7%. I look at myself in the mirror just to make sure I'm not getting complacent. Complacency leads to waking up one day and being 20 lbs overweight with high blood pressure and a pre-diabetic condition. Yes, I worry about things like that.

I do my standard Back and Bicep routine, making minor adjustments to weight, reps and sets. I drop back in a few sets, making use of the half plates. Because I'm only doing partial reps for Drag Curls, I up my weight all the way to 55 lbs. It feels pretty good. But I'm not looking forward to the 10 min of HIIT cardio. Before I can slack off and take a 5 min LISS break between the 5th and 6th minute of HIIT, I stop thinking and just do the entire 10 minutes. That's better. It's almost like being consciously unconscious. Just do it already.

I see R talking to The Mayor when I wander back to the Mats to stretch out. Other regulars include Tattoo Tank, PonyTail, Loudmouth, M, Big Glasses Dude and Scruffy. I have Billy Idol blaring so I can focus on my splits and stretches. I catch a brief glimpse of The Mayor. His face looks desperate. Maybe that's how he looks when he's not talking? A quick shower and I'm happy but shocked that turning the knob to the far left finally results in icy cold water. Lately it's been lukewarm. Tomorrow is my favorite day: whack the machine day! Yaaaaay!

Back and Biceps Day with Cardio
(3.94 miles total; 35,700 lbs moved)

Cross-Trainer

Warm Up

Calorie :   72 CAL
Distance: 1.81 mile
Speed :    7.24 mph
Duration : 00:15:03

Barbell Reverse Grip Bent Over Row

Set 1 : 55x15
Set 2 : 105x15
Set 3 : 125x15
Set 4 : 145x15
Set 5 : 145x15
Set 6 : 145x15
Set 7 : 105x25

Cable Seated Row

Set 1 : 90x12
Set 2 : 105x10
Set 3 : 120x8
Set 4 : 112.5x10
Set 5 : 97.5x12

Cable One Arm Seated Row

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 45x10
Set 3 : 52.5x8
Set 4 : 52.5x8
Set 5 : 52.5x8

Back Extension Machine

Set 1 : 210x15
Set 2 : 210x15
Set 3 : 210x15

Barbell Drag Curl

partial curls

Set 1 : 40x15
Set 2 : 45x15
Set 3 : 50x12
Set 4 : 55x12 Yaaay!

Barbell Reverse Curl

Set 1 : 45x21
Set 2 : 45x21
Set 3 : 45x21 Oooh!

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   207 CAL
Distance: 2.13 mile
10 min HIIT
20 min LISS
Duration : 00:30:02