When Your Head Gets the Best of You

XS clothes
seem billowy

I think I'm still tired from Saturday's play date. Actually, it's probably the combination of missing Friday's cardio/leg day workout, and having company on Saturday. I'm as sociable as the next person, but sometimes I find social interplay to be more exhausting than actual physical exercise. I don't talk to a lot of people on a regular basis so perhaps I'm just out of practice?

I'm also re-thinking the 10 minute warm up because it's not enough. Perhaps it's because I'm 55, but I need at least 15 min or more to feel warmed up. Today I do 10 min, a brief stretch and then discover that B and her friend are doing Smith Squats. They spend a lot of time between sets just chatting. I see B chatting up Tattoo Tank. I almost didn't recognize him because his hair is so short. After they're done, someone else hops into the Smith rack. I decide to bite the bullet and do my benching on the breaker bench. I hate this bench. It's too wide, and too tall. There are three of them and most of them stick when you pull the bar forward, necessitating a quick push back with your loaded bar to get the stays out of the way.

I grab two yoga blocks to put on the floor so I can position my feet flat. But it's not the same as having your feet flat on the ground. I do sets of 12. Until I get to 110 lbs. It's really not that heavy. But I get nervous and only do 4 reps. And then another 2 reps. I feel like I'm getting weaker! I drop the bar down to 90 lbs and knock out 15 reps. Then another 12 reps. I used to be able to knock out 20 reps after going heavy. My right shoulder feels a bit funky, but it doesn't really hurt. Yet. I'm disappointed in myself. It wasn't that long ago that I could get a few reps at 135 lbs. But of course, my right shoulder always hurt after that. I'll try again next week. Maybe going back to 15 min cardio warm up, and less sets before hitting the heavier weights. Like I used to do. We'll see if it's in my head, or if maybe age is really catching up to me.

I don't see age when I move to DB Lateral Raises superset with DB Revere Inclined Flyes. Or with the Rip Skullcrushers. Or the CGBP I do for reps. Maybe I'm warmed up now? I do confess to feeling fatigue and some anxiety when I go back to the cardio platform. Today I take it easy and break my HIIT into two segments, interspersed with 5 min of LISS. For the last minute, I'm amused to watch the mileage tick away in pace with the calorie counter. Yes, I'm easily amused.

I've been thinking a lot about aging lately, looking in the mirror and wondering how upset I'm going to be when I actually start to look saggy and old. I can already see it in my face. Sometimes I find my dad's face staring back at me from the bathroom mirror. That's a bit unnerving! My son and I watched the original 1950, B&W Sunset Boulevard on DVD yesterday, and I empathized with Norma Desmond wanting to look forever 25, and not 50. Although, I thought she looked dang good for 50!

Worse, I've been wondering about aging and health. I know I'm doing everything I can to stay healthy and live a long active life. And then I see my in-laws, both ensconced in different care facilities in Florida, the state geriatric bureaucracy sucking away all their funds. My sister-in-law with her own family medical issues, watching helplessly while trying to intercede on her parents' behalf. It's depressing. But is it inevitable? Yesterday I read about a study purported to show that preventing inflammation was critical to precluding age-related ailments. Not muscle soreness inflammation, but the more subtle inflammation that occurs when you don't eat properly, suffer from too much stress, don't exercise enough. I take fish oil daily just for its anti-inflammatory effects.

Tomorrow I'll probably feel better because it's Core and Cardio Day. And Cardio always cheers me up and makes me feel like a human being again. Plus, we're going to see Shaun the Sheep! Sheep make everyone happy!

Monday Workout
(3.5 miles cardio; 20, 950 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Warm Up

Calorie :   47 CAL
Distance: 1.31 mile
Speed :    7.79 mph
Duration : 00:10:06

Barbell Bench Press

Set 1 : 45x20
Set 2 : 65x12
Set 3 : 85x12
Set 4 : 95x12
Set 5 : 115x4
Set 6 : 115x2 Booo!
Set 7 : 95x15
Set 8 : 95x12

Barbell Incline Bench Press

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 70x12
Set 3 : 90x8
Set 4 : 90x8
Set 5 : 90x8

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 25x8
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 20x15 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

Set 1 : 20x15
Set 2 : 20x15
Set 3 : 25x12
Set 4 : 25x15
Set 5 : 25x15
Set 6 : 25x15

Barbell Reverse Grip Skullcrusher

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 40x12
Set 3 : 40x12
Set 4 : 40x12

Barbell Close Grip Bench Press

Set 1 : 45x25
Set 2 : 65x25
Set 3 : 45x50

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   219 CAL
Distance: 2.19 mile
5 min HIIT, 5 min LISS
5 min HIIT, 15 min LISS
Duration : 00:30:00