Born Again Gym Rat: A New Week

Monday, August 3, 2015

A New Week

I barely get down the road this morning before the tire pressure indicator light comes on. I haven't driven all weekend so this is perplexing. I must have a slow leak in one of my tires. I have an appt to get it checked out this afternoon. When I exit my car in the gym parking lot, I can see a shiny nail head sticking out of my tire. It's in a weird place, just on the edge between tire wall and flat tread. Well, at least that's not a mystery anymore.

Even though I didn't do anything strenuous this weekend, I feel lethargic. I cut my warm up to 10 minutes on the cross-trainer and completely skip doing any stretches. The Smith is free and that makes me happy. And nervous. I'm always nervous Monday morning because I truly don't feel confident of the weight I can move. Until I move it. My shoulder feels okay until the last heavy set, and that becomes the last heavy set at 130 lbs. I'm sure I can move 135 lbs for a few reps, but my shoulder will suffer, and it's just not worth it. I'd rather knock out reps. Reps give me a good pump, increases endurance, and for me, builds density and size. I'm no stringy cardio bunny by a long shot.

Today I add back a few Smith Inclined Presses, taking care not to stress the right shoulder too much. The DB area is crowded so I decide to do DB Lateral Raises super-set with Bent Over DB Reverse Flyes instead of DB Reverse Inclined Flyes. I grab pairs of 20s and 25s. 20s are for the two warm up sets. 25s are for the actual working sets. I can see my pecs ripple and flex when I bring my arms together at the bottom of the DB Lateral Raise movement. Way cool. I could probably've used the 25s for the last set of Laterals but I like to mix things up just a tad. Instead I drop back to 20s and higher reps just to confuse the delts.

There's only one EZ bar in the gym now and it's very popular. First a guy is using it for half-ass Rip Skulls. He's got too much weight on the bar and his form sucks. He's not getting the full stretch at the bottom of the movement. Then another guy takes the bar and uses it to do Bent Over BB Rows. Weird. I confirmed with one of the trainers that the other EZ bar is broken and being replaced. It's okay: I don't really need the EZ bar to do Rip Skulls. I just like the smaller bar diameter but I can use a solid BB instead. This actually gives me an incentive to up my weight just a tad.

My last workout movement is Close Grip Benching. I know that some of the guys are snickering because all I'm using is the 45 lb bar. Until I knock out 25 reps. Then I add 20 lbs and knock out another 25 reps. I pull the plates off and pump out 50 reps. That always shuts them up.

I seriously don't feel like HIIT cardio today so I break it down into bite-size chunks I can handle: 5 min of HIIT followed by 5 min of LISS, then another 5 min of HIIT and the final 15 min of LISS. I do some stretches at the Stretch Cage. Now that it's in the middle of the gym floor, it's a lot easier to be self-conscious. But as long as I'm plugged in to my tunes, I'm oblivious. I can hear The Mayor. He's gabbing away, which means he's not with his teenage son. Of course, for all that gabbing, I don't actually see him move any weight. Creepy PJ Pants is back, as is Big Glasses Dude, PonyTail and Maroon. The only gal I recognize is Hollywood, but I don't have anything to say to her.

I have a few errands to do, and stop in at the local Kmart to see if there are any sneakers that will fit my son. School starts next month and he'll be needing a new pair or two. Instead, I see discounted workout clothes so I try on a few. I'm a peculiar size, wearing XS or S petite for my clothes but an XL for sports bras. And not because I have a huge bust. Instead, I have tiny girls and I'd be comfortable in the Junior section with Joe Boxer bralettes if only they 1) came in my back width and 2) had modesty pads that prevented nipple-peek-through. I'm a 36AAA but with the sort of boobs that show through everything. I've long ago learned that XL sports bras fit comfortably (without the compression that makes me feel as if my undergarments were trying to suffocate me), and are much easier to wash than all those ridiculously expensive lace and underwire torture devices. I don't buy the cute Everlast shorts and workout bra-tank because they're both too small (size S). I can't breathe much less work out in these clothes! But I do buy the last two Everlast XL sports bras at a steep discount. Yaaaay for summer sales.

If I'm lucky, the plug on my tire will last until I need to replace all four. These tires seem to be the originals and even though the car only has 28K plus miles on it, the treads are showing a lot of wear. I used to think that tires should last 50K miles, but perhaps that's when tires were better made? The car shop tells me there's signs of dry rot and since the car is 5 years old, I ought to think about replacing all the tires next summer. Oh boy... at least tomorrow we'll be going to see Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

Monday Push Day Workout
(3.34 miles cardio; 21,355 lbs moved)