Born Again Gym Rat: Sometimes the Order Really Doesn't Matter

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Sometimes the Order Really Doesn't Matter

It's hot today but the gym is air-conditioned so I'm not concerned. After 15 minutes on the LifeFitness cross-trainer I do a quick stretch. It's more abbreviated than usual because Heckel, a short beefy bearded dude who comes armpit high to his lifting pal, Jeckel, a big bald behemoth, is hanging off the cable machine. He's looking at his phone but he's positioned in such a way that there's no way for me to do a good stretch without my butt in his face. Or his phone. And this makes me uncomfortable enough to just walk away.

Split Squats showing results!

As I approach the free weight area, I see that both the Smith and the Max Rack are occupied. It's awfully crowded with dudes in that part of the floor so I plant myself at the Seated Cable station. I try to do big, compound movements first but it's not always possible. It's not good that the Cable Rows feel heavy so early in my workout. But as I warm up, the movements get easier. I even up the weight on the last set of the One-Arm Seated Row. Then onto the Lower Back Extension machine. It's not quite sitting where it was last week and it takes me a moment to realize that the Stretch Cage has been rescued, repainted, and is sitting along that aisle of equipment. Oooh, I'll have to play with that a bit later! The fact that I can move 2/3 the stack of the Back Extension machine makes a few guys pause. I'm amused even if I don't let on.

I look over at the Max Rack and all the guys hanging around it aren't actually using it. That annoys me. Heckel is standing inside the Max Rack cage, talking on his phone. Okay, enough is enough. I drop all my gear inside the cage and he slinks off to a corner of the hallway.The Cable Rows have been good for the biceps, and the BB Row is more for the back proper. For me, the initial movement is akin to a dead lift. My elbows have been sporadically achy (especially the left one) so I'm not touching DB Rows, or even attempting Pull Ups. The latter always screw up my elbows, even the neutral hammer-grip variety.

I strip the bar and do a set of partial Drag Curls with it, trying to assess whether it really is 55 lbs or not. I can't really tell, and other people probably want to use the Max Rack so I grab a solid 50 lb BB and stick 2.5 lb magnets to the ends for the rest of my sets. I wish I could take a photo of my biceps when I do this movement: they look so cool. RG BB Curls has me grimacing, as always. But I can knock out 25 reps so does that mean I should up the weight again? Hhhmmmm...

I do my 10 min of HIIT cardio, again reaching 290 SPMs for a few seconds. I'm 5 minutes into the LISS portion when all the lights go out. I'm still trotting along and the display panel on my machine stays lit. But everyone else (treadmills, cross-trainers, recumbent bikes) has come to a standstill. I'm not sure why, but I figure maybe I'm generating enough power to keep the machine on until everything normalizes? Perhaps it's because all the TVs went blank? I turn mine off when I'm pedaling because it's too distracting. After another minute, the power comes back on but it takes 10 minutes before the lights are fully functional. Afterwards I check out the Stretch Cage. It feels a little weird, probably because of the matte rust-proofing finish on it. Whatever.

I do my Mat Stretch, minus Dive Bomber Push Ups and Pistol Squats. I see a young woman doing a few pistol squats atop the seat of the Seated Calf Raise. It's because she can't raise her extended leg up high enough, so when she squats down her leg descends below her foot. That's all in the quads. I don't have that issue but I don't do pistol squats until Leg Day, which is Friday. Done! Yaaaay!

Back, Biceps and Cardio Day
(4.33 miles total; 37,740 lbs moved)