The insects are biting me through my clothes and I have an angry, red, finger-spot just under my left arm as evidence. I also have an assortment of other bumps, welts and red spots all over my limbs. It depends on which insect. Fly bites are the worst as they're painful and leave bright red marks. But gnats and mosquitoes aren't painless either. I use a combination of hydrocortisone cream and an antihistamine cream (diphenhydramine) to keep me from scratching myself bloody. But sometimes that happens anyway. What I'd really like to find is a skin-softening alphahydroxy cream that contains tea tree oil because insects seems repelled by it. What I'm using lately is my standard Amlactin cream (which attracts biting insects like I put up a neon sign that screams Diner!) followed by a gob of "Paul Mitchell tea tree oil leave-in conditioner". Yes, a hair-care product that doesn't need to be rinsed out. I slather it all over my exposed skin and it seems to keep the bugs away for a good 20 minutes. Otherwise it's the backwood's strength DEET (27+%) because normal DEET (15-17%) apparently doesn't work very well. I have the angry red bite to prove it.I drop my son off at camp, go to the bank and then head to the gym. The weather reminds me of Hawaii: one minute it's blisteringly hot and sunny, and the next there's torrential rain. Followed by blazing sun again. I can't leave my car windows open so it's steamy by the time I get back to it. Today I follow my standard Back and Biceps Routine: 15 min warm up, then RG BB Rows at the Max Rack station. Like last week, I'm kind of tired by the time I get to Seated Cable Rows so I do pyramid sets. Shaggy suddenly appears adjacent to my station. I tend not to look at people who are working out next to me because 1) I think it's rude; 2) I'm not really interested in what they're doing or how much they're lifting; 3) I don't want to lose focus or momentum with my own workout.
Afterwards, I change handles to do One-Arm Seated Cable Rows. The Wraith King seems alarmed and pulls his hands off the station support beams on the other side of my station. I'm amused but don't let on. I suppose he's seen me whacking the kickboxing machine. At one point Shaggy leans with both hands on the station, as if he were resting. I'm sort of annoyed, but I tend to just walk away when I'm annoyed at the gym. Eventually he goes away. Yaaay. I hate passive-aggressive people. If you want to talk to me, talk to me. Don't expect me to look at you just because you think you're pushing a lot of weight. And if you talk to me, at least have something interesting to say.
I see an big old guy pushing the entire stack on the Lower Back Extension machine. That's where I'm headed next, but I'm only doing a tad over 2/3 the stack and I'm pretty sure he's more than twice my weight. And a whole lot taller than me. Finally, partial Drag Curls and then RG BB Rows. I'm happy now that I'm pulling more weight for biceps than for forearms. And it might just be my imagination, but I think my biceps are getting bigger. Of course, the true test would be to take a tape to them. But I'm not ready to do that just yet. So, it seems that even a partial movement (because my elbows can't deal with a full movement) means increased weight, means strength and size gains. Win Win!
Wednesday Workout
(3.95 miles cardio; 36,585 lbs moved)
Set 1 : 55x12
Set 2 : 105x15
Set 3 : 125x15
Set 4 : 145x15
Set 5 : 145x15
Set 6 : 145x15
Set 7 : 105x25
Set 2 : 105x15
Set 3 : 125x15
Set 4 : 145x15
Set 5 : 145x15
Set 6 : 145x15
Set 7 : 105x25
partial
Set 1 : 40x15
Set 2 : 45x12
Set 3 : 50x12
Set 4 : 55x12
Set 5 : 55x12
Set 6 : 55x12
Set 2 : 45x12
Set 3 : 50x12
Set 4 : 55x12
Set 5 : 55x12
Set 6 : 55x12
Distance: 2.18 mile
10 min HIIT
20 min LISS
Duration : 00:30:00
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