Off to See the Wizard...

It actually took me over an hour to make an appt with my primary today. The weather (Tropical Storm Joaquin upgraded to Hurricane category 1) seems to have really messed up a lot of travel in the region.

My symptoms are better and worse at the same time. Might just be an unlucky confluence of atmospheric pressure wreaking havoc with my sinuses and ears (dizziness) and stomach issues which can also simulate chest and back discomfort. My stomach feels unnaturally full. Maybe it's gas? But my skin feels tight around my throat and on my chest. Not a good thing. Appointment in 45 minutes. Luckily the rain's not been too bad.

Got an interesting scam call today. The Caller ID shows the caller using my own home phone number. Now that's a new one! More later...

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

My doc suspects inflammation of the stomach/digestive tract and recommends a two-week course of omeprazole magnesium 20 mg, a proton-pump inhibitor (like Prilosec or Zegerid). I think I would've preferred the histamine H2-blocker like Zantec, but it's hard to make the decision standing there in the drugstore aisle when your chest is on fire. Inflammation of the digestive tract would explain the mild queasiness, and even throat itchiness. But she also suspects un-diagnosed allergens that are affecting my throat skin.

I also decide to more proactively treat myself with marshmallow root capsules. Bananas are another food item beneficial to the stomach lining, but I'm not sure if I can stomach eating them right now. Just eating yogurt with maple syrup and raisin toast with coconut oil has given me massive heartburn. Bleah! Maybe it was the coconut oil?

There's no apparent reason not to work out tomorrow, so I'll do cardio and some core. And probably push ups. And maybe see how those pull ups feel. My right pinkie knuckle is a bit sore today. I probably am punching too hard. Jeeze.

Sifting Wheat from Chaff

I took yesterday off because 1) my hubs had parked in front of my car in our narrow, single-lane driveway; 2) he was leaving for another week-long business trip later that afternoon and 3) we rarely get to spend time together alone.

Today I feel really exhausted, probably because my body's not used to having 3 days off. It's not good to rest too much! My ribs feel better but I'm plagued by an assortment of mild ailments that might or might not add up to something serious. Because my IOP was high (for me) I worry that my blood pressure might be high too. I seem to be mildly dizzy and/or nauseous whenever I eat. For months now, the skin on my throat has been itchy. Last year it was the skin on my belly. I have perennially dry, flaky skin and aging makes it worse.

But the skin on my throat isn't dry. I've scratched it until I worry the redness might become permanent, that the skin will roughen in retaliation for rough handling. Then I worry that this is a sign of something more serious, and more sinister. We're at that age when anything can happen. At that age where we expect to live happily for another 20, 30 years until something happens. Then it happens to our friends and acquaintances. It happens to famous people in the news. It happens to people at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tomorrow I'm going to call up my primary care doc, just as soon as I review my health insurance. I'm not sure how much they're going to cover for the last two laser surgeries. And I worry that this discomfort in my upper abdomen is more than just a strained diaphragm muscle. My husband is out of the country and it's my job to make sure I'm there for my child. I don't want to die suddenly like my cousin who ignored her high blood pressure and her obesity, and then suffered a fatal cerebral aneurysm. My son's not big enough, not old enough to handle life on his own. He's only a child. And yet, as he walks beside me, I'm startled by the realization that he's my size, that he's growing into adulthood. I'm watching him mature and I can hardly believe it.

Under the gloves: cotton wraps, white tape, moleskin patches

I get to the gym a bit later than usual just to avoid the cackling in the locker room. After 10 minutes on the elliptical, which seemed hard today, I tape and wrap my hands. This time I'm careful to wrap both hands the same, around the wrist, then the palm, then the wrist and between the fingers. My right hand still stings even with moleskin, tape, cotton wraps and padded gloves. I manage to stop the machine twice and the screen goes blank during the three Beginner rounds. Without the warning buzzer, I can see my right cross registers a whopping 220% score for power. Nice!

Mom clothes Selfie

There are one or two rounds in the Intermediate Level that are off kilter, moving much faster than even the Advance Level, with confusing combinations that don't make sense. I try my best to smack the right pad but it's futile. I'd like to be able to skip these glitchy rounds but there's no way to do that. Exiting the program without finishing it causes all data to be lost for that session.

I am breathless halfway through the Intermediate session and I wonder if I should go back to 3 rounds Beginner and 11 rounds Intermediate since I've shut off the warning buzzer. The rounds are much harder when you're not stopping to reset the screen all the time. However, after three rounds of Advance, I get a nice message from the machine that states I'm "maximizing my workouts". I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it sounds good. I always get "you are overpower" for the other two levels. I guess Advance is where I need to be, but I'll have to work up to five rounds. The machine always wants to add rounds. Five is its magic number.

After I unwrap, I put my hoodie back on and climb the Step Mill for 15 minutes. Then a good Mat Stretch to get all the kinks out. I worry about the history of cerebral aneurysms in my matrilineal heritage. I don't feel right. My neck and head feel like there's a net inside my skin that's too tight. Yet I'm eager to go to the gym tomorrow and find some relief in a good cardio session. Maybe do some push ups. Or not.

Tuesday Workout

Elliptical Training

Warm Up

Calorie :   93 CAL
Distance: 0.83 mile
Duration : 00:10:03

KickBoxing

3r Bgnr

8r Intmd
3r Adv
Lap/Rep :  14 Lap/Rep
Duration : 00:56:00

Step Machine

Calorie :   103 CAL
Lap/Rep :  43 Lap/Rep
Duration : 00:15:00

Cybex Torso Twist

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

One Leg Bodyweight Squat

130.67

Set 1 : 112x4
Set 2 : 112x5

Photos posted for actual stats:

3 rounds Beginner

8 rounds Intermediate

3 rounds Advance

New Workout Tunes? Here's One...

Been listening to new tunes to put into my iPod. Need good music to fuel my workouts. This one caught my ear as I was reading the NYTimes review of the DeNiro and Hathaway flick The Intern. It was in a commercial for some fashion house, and sounds a lot like something I've heard associated with an imported brew. I hate to say it, but sometimes I listen to the commercials just to find out what's a good tune as I can't rely on the radio... hate most of the stuff I hear there.

Anyway, here's a link and hopefully an embed to Elle King's Ex's and Oh's:

Your Body Knows When You're Slacking

I wasn't really apprehensive about today's procedure on my left eye until the technician took preliminary IOP (intra ocular pressure) readings. 14/28. What? The right eye registered 28? It's the eye that's already been treated! That's the highest reading I can remember for my eyes, and that was before my sight started to degrade. The doc assures me that pressure fluctuations are normal. When she retakes the pressure, my left reads 22, up 8 points in a matter of minutes. After the procedure, it reads 18. She tells me that some glaucoma patients have a different type of glaucoma because their sight deteriorates even though they have normal or very low pressure. She says it's due to restricted blood flow damaging the optic nerve. I've never heard of this before, but she's a specialist. Now I'm even more worried.

The SLT procedure itself only took a few minutes, but I can always feel some vague pain in my eye when she's firing the laser. She also had to switch lenses halfway through because my left eye appears to have a narrower angle, making access to the trabecular meshwork more difficult. I go back for a pressure check in 6 weeks. My eye feels a little sore but I've already decided to go to the gym. I don't get there until well past noon. There's only half a dozen people in it, but that's normal for a Friday. No one wants to go work out on a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon.

from epainassist.com

Online, I discovered epainassist.com and find information on Substernal Chest Pain, and this fits my symptoms better. Uh oh. This could actually be serious. Now I really have to have it checked out. Bummer. The web site lists a slew of serious ailments from cardio problems to anxiety attacks. It could be caused by costochondritis, or an aortic dissection. Oh jeeze. I can rule out cardio stuff just from the subsequent list they provide: "Some of the associated symptoms which can determine that the chest pain is less likely due to a cardiac cause are:

• Presence of a sour taste in the mouth or a sensation of regurgitation where that the swallowed food reenters the mouth
• Individual having problems with swallowing
• If the pain changes in character with changing positions, be it better or worse
• Worsening Substernal Chest Pain with breathing or coughing
• Presence of chest tenderness with deep palpation
• Individual having symptoms of heartburn with a burning sensation behind the breastbone"

Yes, there's been a bit of reflux, and some heartburn last night. Changing positions definitely changes the discomfort. And if I press, it definitely hurts. Okay, this is a major bummer. But it's not like it's my liver, right?

30 minutes on the cross-trainer is followed by push ups and planks. No pull ups today until those sore tendons, ligaments and/or muscles heal up. Because I normally pre-exhaust myself doing pull ups, I'm curious to see how many regular push ups I can crank out for my first set. It turns out to be quite a lot. One hundred to be exact. I do admit that I had to pause a moment at rep 90, slow down, and pause again at rep 95 before finishing. I wonder if I'll be sore. I'm pretty happy now.

I feel my sore abs when I drop down for planks: 30 seconds elbow; 30 seconds straight arm, 30 seconds elbow, finish last 30 seconds straight arm. The next set of push ups are standard Diamond push ups. 30 is all I can do without worrying too much about the click on my left elbow. I try doing straight arm and leg Bird Dog. The support arm is shaking like crazy. After 30 seconds, I have to drop down to elbow and knee Bird Dog. Another 30 seconds, and I switch sides none too gracefully. My last set of push ups are 30 Dand (or Hindu) push ups. Some web sites mistakenly call them Dive Bomber Push Ups, but those are harder on the shoulders. This isn't really hard, but I do them slowly to experience the upper back stretch and Downward Dog position for each rep.

My last set of planks is hilarious. I start off with Elbow Side Planks for 30 seconds, then try lifting the top leg upward. Okay, now straighten the supporting arm. Soooo hard to stay balanced! Now switch sides, starting with Elbow Side Plank again. While I'm focused on not falling on my face, a bunch of guys show up on the Mat to toss medicine balls at each other. I'm not sure if they're HS seniors because while they're all out of shape, one of them sports a full beard. My cue to head back to the cardio platform for 30 minutes on the elliptical!

A quick lower back stretch and then I'm done. I need to pick up some groceries and get home before the school bus arrives. I'm actually really surprised when the gym scale reads 109.0 lbs even. I'm not even trying to lose weight at this point so I've been eating whatever. Whatever probably just happens to be fairly healthy, i.e., I had a cup of plain Greek yogurt with a tsp of molasses in it for breakfast. Of course, I was absolutely starving by the time I got to the gym, but I only drank half my water bottle. I'm not sure how long to wait until I attempt pull ups again. I guess I'll play it by ear. But my body knows when I'm slacking.

Friday Cardio and Core Workout
(6.29 miles total)

Elliptical Training

Steady State

Calorie :   128 CAL
Distance: 3.71 mile
Speed :    7.4 mph
Duration : 00:30:07

Regular Push Up

100

Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep

Straight Arm / Elbow Plank

Set 1 : 00:02:00

Diamond Push Up

Set 1 : 30 Lap/Rep

Bird Dog Plank

Set 1 : 00:02:01

Dand Push Up

Set 1 : 30 Lap/Rep

Side Plank

Set 1 : 00:02:00

Elliptical Training

Perf Prgm #3

Calorie :   292 CAL
Distance: 2.57 mile
Duration : 00:30:04

What is Costochondritis and Do I Have It?

I'm very persistent, like a bad cold or a bulldog. I've been called worse. Today I searched my symptoms with slightly different words and got something that actually made sense: costochondritis. No, I've never heard of it before either. But the LiveStrong website description fit much better than any liver ailment. I'm not jaundiced or running a fever. I do have issues with my joint and ligaments, and the sharp pains interspersed with dull aches matches. Here is the link: http://www.livestrong.com/article/406236-chest-pain-after-pullups/ 

In case you don't want to click on it, here it is:  
Costochondritis
Two different conditions, costochondritis and Tietze syndrome, can cause chest pain after pullups, according to Columbia University. Costochondritis involves inflammation in the cartilage that connects your rib cage to your sternum. It causes a dull ache, along with sharp pains that can occur with sudden movements or even a minor shift in position. Tietze syndrome involves swelling in the same area. You can treat these conditions yourself by slowing down your exercise routine for a few days to allow the inflammation to subside. Over-the-counter pain relievers can alleviate the discomfort.

I'm not sure I can slow down my routine. I just need to eliminate the pull ups for a while, and I can't think of a suitable replacement for them that is just a body weight exercise. I'm not one to take OTC pain meds unless it's for fever reduction. I won't touch acetominophen at all, even though it's what hospitals routinely overcharge you for. I guess between the 1982 cyanide-Tylenol murders, and it's adverse effect on the liver (when taken with alcohol), I like ibuprofen better. Ibuprofen actually does something besides relieve pain: it's an anti-inflammatory, which acetominophen is not. Of course, there's a lot of literature suggesting that NSAIDs in general inhibit muscle growth as well.

The more I read about people with this syndrome, the less convinced I am that I have it. So now I'm back to wondering why there's pain under and between my rib cage. Meanwhile, I did have a kickass workout with the Nexersys kickboxing machine today. I did my 10 min warm up on the elliptical and then taped and wrapped my hands. I realized too late that while I had carefully wrapped my palm and wrist between wrapping each finger for the left hand, I had mostly just wrapped my wrist and fingers for the right hand. And half way through the 8 Intermediate rounds, my right front knuckle began to sting. Not from chafing as I had moleskin and tape under the cotton wraps, but I suspect, from a laxity in the wrapping. Next time I know better and will wrap the palm as much as the wrist.

Now that the machine has my weight and age, it's truly not cutting me any slack. I look at all my numbers and can see where I got distracted, or befuddled. Especially during the 2nd Advanced Level round when the Words (directing you to which panel to hit) didn't seem to match the area lit up on the Avatar, and I was momentarily flummoxed enough trying to determine which directive to believe. All it takes is a moment to lose the strike, or in my case, the entire combination. I'm not sure if I'm imagining things, but some of the Intermediate rounds moved a lot quicker today, almost as fast as the Advance rounds. It's a computer, and programs can be glitchy. The Cross / Lead Hook / Cross / Lead Knee completely throws me. I need to actually practice this combination so that my body retains some semblance of muscle memory for the movement.

I see regulars like Shaggy, Soccer Boy, Hannibal Baggy Knees, Vest Girl and The Mayor. Luckily, most of the time I can't hear them. Because I don't want to be late for the dreaded mammogram I have scheduled for this afternoon, I only do a quick lower back stretch before showering. (The radiology company now offers 3D mammograms, but of course, they warn you that your insurance might not cover such brand new technology so they'll charge you the $60 up front and reimburse you if it actually is covered. I decline. Just like I decline the ultrasound.) When I leave, I glance around and catch a glimpse of R's chiseled profile in the free weight area. He's wearing a snug, black long-sleeve shirt, and his usual baseball cap. Yep, there's something magnetic about him and I'm glad I have to leave.

Tomorrow I get to have a laser shoot holes in my left iris. Oh boy, what fun!

Thursday Workout

10 min elliptical warm up = 0.84 miles

Nexersys Follow Me Avatar Program
3 rounds Beginner
8 rounds Intermediate
3 rounds Advance

Photos posted for actual stats: 

Beginner Level: got distracted during round 3 and pulled my punches a bit due to people at the adjacent Mtn Bike Simulator

Intermediate Level: round 2, I missed a few combinations, but overall I'm fairly consistent

Advance Level: I really messed up on round 2, missing a complete 4-blow combination sequence. Made up for it in round 3, but that round didn't have any complicated combinations.

Below are the breakdown of the 3 rounds. Lotsa zeros. I still haven't figured this system out yet.

Active Hypochondria

I'm getting to this blog late because we've been out of the house all day. Literally. I'm glad my dog is old and patient, sleeping most of the day when he's not barking at the UPS man. I let my son sleep in a bit but then off to the gym! I do a 10 minute warm up on the cross-trainer and then my body weight routine. My hip is soooo much better today although my left quad is peculiarly sore. I don't normally only have one sore limb if I've exerted myself. There's still the lingering "ghost" of discomfort in the left hip, almost like a warning sensation not to step a certain way. But no actual pain. Cool!

What's bothering me now is the tenderness under my rib cage. Right side. Which is where the liver resides. I'm not sure why I only started feeling pain there while doing pull ups, but it's not getting better. Now the area just under the right rib is tender to the touch. Unless I flex my abs and press hard. In which case, nothing actually hurts. So, to my medically untrained mind, that suggests not the muscle but the underlying organ. Uh oh. Liver. Gallbladder. Hmmmm. I look up symptoms online and find jaundice, nausea, death. Uh oh. I've been mildly queasy for the past few weeks, but I had attributed that to the seasonal changes screwing up my sinuses and inner ear and giving me mild vertigo. It happens every year. Maybe it's not my ears after all? I've been taking milk thistle to aid liver function. Could it be having an adverse effect? I haven't read anything that supports that notion about this particular herbal. Dang. I do love drinking sangria, hard cider and peach moscato. And I'm a flyweight.

Pain doesn't actually deter me from doing pull ups. Yeah, I'm stupid that way. Just like having a wonky hip didn't stop me from doing cardio, or whacking the kickboxing machine. I do have an appt to see my primary care physician for a routine physical but I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't wait 4 weeks to get this checked out? Maybe I'll just cut out alcohol, milk thistle and anything else even vaguely suspect? Or maybe I'll just call the doc tomorrow and ask them whether they think this is serious or not. Because I have no idea. I don't want to die young because of something stupid.

Because I have serious time constraints, I don't do a full Mat stretch. I also change the last set of push ups to Leg Lift Push Ups, doing 25 push ups with one leg raised, then another 25 with the other leg raised. Of course I'm doing it wrong. The YouTube videos say that do it with one leg raised, then again with the other leg and call that one push up. Uh, no. Your arms and chest worked that twice. It's two. I also add another full minute to one of the plank sets. I did the Bird Dog from the Straight Arm position for 30 seconds each side. That's really hard and I had trouble balancing. Then I dropped down to Knee and Elbow for anther 30 seconds each side. That's soooo much easier. Side Elbow planks are easier than Side Straight Arm Planks, and pulling the top leg up into the air is crazy hard. It's also fun and looks really silly.

I try to mitigate the pain in my abdomen by pulling my knees up to my chest. But that doesn't change anything. I also try positioning my hands on different bars but I smack into the side of the Cage. I'm really quite annoyed by all this because I'm just starting to feel like I've accomplished something by doing sets of pull ups and not wrecking my elbows. Two steps forward, one step back. At least I get to whack the kickboxing machine tomorrow. Yaaaay! And then I have to rush off for the annual mammogram that I didn't do last year, and be back in time to get my son from school to take him to kung fu, rush home to feed and walk the pup and ourselves before rushing off to a Cub Scout Pack meeting. Bleah! Friday I get to have SLT done on my left eye so I'm not even sure if I'll make it to the gym. Maybe I'll come in just to do cardio. Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Fall Equinox Humpday Workout
(3.9 miles cardio)

Cross Trainer

Warm Up

Calorie :   44 CAL
Distance: 1.19 mile
Speed :    7.09 mph
Duration : 00:10:06

Hammer Grip Pull Up

168

Set 1 : 112x15

Regular Push Up

Lost track!

Set 1 : 70 Lap/Rep

Straight Arm & Elbow Plank

Set 1 : 00:02:01

Diamond Push Up

30

Set 1 : 30 Lap/Rep

Bird Dog Plank

Set 1 : 00:02:01

Dand Push Up

30

Set 1 : 30 Lap/Rep

Side Elbow & Straight Arm Plank

Set 1 : 00:03:00

Leg Raise Push Up

30

Set 1 : 30 Lap/Rep

Cybex Torso Twist

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

Hammer Grip Pull Up

168

Set 1 : 112x15

Elliptical Training

Intervals

Calorie :   312 CAL
Distance: 2.71 mile
Duration : 00:30:03

Hammer Grip Pull Up

168

Set 1 : 112x15
Set 2 : 112x15

Slowly but Surely

I wish my hip would pop back into place and be fixed already. It's better today but not 100%. Oddly, the more strenuous the activity, the less it hurts. When I'm pussyfooting gingerly, stepping around the dog, well, that's when it twinges. The temps have dropped into the low 50s so I'd say Autumn is here, even though technically it's not until tomorrow. I'm not quite sure why the date of the Equinox keeps changing either, except it's got something to do with the inexact nature of our time-keeping.

My hip's none too happy with 10 minutes on the Precor elliptical doing warm ups. But it doesn't hurt when I stretch out in front of the Nexersys kickboxing machine afterwards. I immediately log in, go to settings and click on the boxes that disable the warning panels for Tilt and Buzzer. I also see that I have the option of training 10% harder, or 10% easier. Nice! I've already clicked on the Opt Out of Training in the Opposite Stance. You would think that these, by default, would be clicked OFF. It seems counter-intuitive to make Users go into settings just to turn these features off, especially training SouthPaw.

Going rounds without interruption is a whole lot tougher. I like it better. Three rounds of Beginner doesn't do much but warm me up a little. Intermediate is better although my hair clip pops loose during one round and instead of hitting Pause, I lose three blows while I secure the errant barrette. I even do a round at Advance, and enjoy it although I'm at odds with how the machine is scoring my blows. It shows me a big fat Zero for the Jab/Cross/Lead Kick/Lead Kick combination even though total strikes equal number of strikes requested. That doesn't mean the strikes rendered are the exact strikes requested, just that the numbers match up. But I know I hit this combination several times. Hmmm.

I think I'll attempt to do 3 rounds Beginner, 8 rounds Intermediate and 3 rounds Advanced next time. I haven't seen all the different combinations in the Advance Level so I'm a bit worried that there will be strikes I can't do. Like a spinning back kick. Kidding.

Two of the gym staff are on the mountain bike simulators right next to me. I don't think anyone's keeping count because no one's booted me off for going over 7 rounds. Of course, there's rarely a line here anyway. Shaggy is a few yards away, on the cable machine that faces the CF equipment. Meanwhile, two squat burly men disassemble and replace a few of the Matrix Breaker Benches in the free weight area. I never go there anymore since I started doing body weight exercises. I don't miss it either, but I'm not bored with my routine yet. Once my hip reverts to normal, I might add GHRs once a week, or do a different variation for the last set of push ups.

My bulk order of white sports tape is en route. What I should order in bulk is moleskin because I use patches on my bunion and all my knuckles before whacking the machine. I also ordered a big jug of Vanilla Ice Cream 100% Whey Protein (Optimum Nutrition). It's truly a really good tasting vanilla that I can mix in almost anything. I should start eating breakfast again now that it's getting cooler. This morning I had a cup of plain Greek yogurt with a spoonful of maple syrup. And instant espresso. That doesn't explain why I seem to be dropping weight though. Today I'm 110.0 lbs after sucking down most of my water bottle, and not sweating all that much. My abs are flatter and my pants aren't tight anymore. Yaaaay!

Tuesday Workout

10 min Precor warm up = 0.85 miles

Nexersys Follow Me Program
3 rounds Beginner
10 rounds Intermediate
1 round Advance

Photos posted for actual stats:

3 rounds Beginner

10 rounds Intermediate

1 round Advance

Give and Take

My left hip, which normally never causes me any concern, has been sporadically painful for the past two days. I can't quite figure out what the problem is, either because it's not any one particular movement. Most likely, I've managed to trap a nerve or tendon awkwardly in the front hip joint where the hip flexor attaches to the front quad. It only bothers me when I angle sharply around a corner, or make a slight twist in my gait. But then it really hurts!

Sleeping helped a little, but since I was mostly inactive yesterday and it's still an issue today, well, I was going to the gym anyway. Sometimes exercise is the cure. I suspect my flexibility at the Cage might've exacerbated an unknown joint condition so today I do rudimentary stretches. At first the hip complained about the cross-trainer, but I settled into a pace that was comfortable. Today my mileage is well under 7, but over 5. I'm happy enough with that. I'm lighter than I expect, as well, especially in light of eating pizza, cold cuts and drinking peach moscato wine over the weekend. The gym scale reads 110.6 lbs. I was expecting over 112. Hmmm. Wine has less calories than beer although I usually drink apple ale or hard cider. And I'm sure moscato has a ton of sugar in it.

Abs are apparently being worked hard!

My body seems able to adapt to this in stride and surprises me when I'm able to knock out 80 reps for my last set of regular push ups! Didn't see that coming. Seriously. I"m moving really fast thought, so I"m sure Drill Sergeants would call me out on my form and make me do them over. Just saying. I'm also able to add 3 reps to each set of hammer grip pull ups. That's like adding a whole 'nother set of pull ups! What bothers me still during pull ups aren't my elbows or hands, but my abs! There's an unpleasant sharp pain from just under my rib cage, just right of center that lingers long afterwards. As a matter of fact, it's the only sore part of me as I'm typing this. I even curled my knees into my chest during the last set of pull ups to see if that would make it easier, but it didn't. Oh well.

I"m sure planks aren't helping any. I do my 3 sets of 2 minute plus planks, ending with side planks. I do them with both my arms fully extended because elbow planks really bother my shoulders. I'm having trouble with placing my feet. It's harder to balance when your feet are stacked atop each other, so I just place one foot in front of the other on the ground. In scanning the web for images of planks, I see variations that call for the top leg extended. I think I might try that for 15 to 30 seconds on each side of a 2-minute plank. Not only does it look goofy, it could be fun.

This could be fun to try!

I've heard back from the Nexersys people on FB about how to deactivate the Punching Too Hard warning. It's another option listed under Settings in the User Profile. Excellent! I'm hoping the hip will be better tomorrow. Because I'm still going to whack that machine, and give the Advanced Level a go. It'll probably whoop my butt, but that's just another challenge. Wednesday I'll have my son in tow so it'll be an abbreviated workout. And I haven't decided whether I'll attempt working out after having SLT performed on my left eye. I'm just gonna wing it.

Monday Workout
(5.77 miles total cardio)

Elliptical Training

Steady State

Calorie :   125 CAL
Distance: 3.29 mile
Speed :    6.55 mph
Duration : 00:30:10

CybexTorsoTwist

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

Hammer Grip Pull Up

168

Set 1 : 112x15 +3 Yaaay!

Regular Push Up

60

Set 1 : 60 Lap/Rep

Bird Dog Plank

N/A

Set 1 : 00:02:01

Diamond Push Up

30

Set 1 : 30 Lap/Rep

Straight/Elbow Plank

N/A

Set 1 : 00:02:00

Dand Push Up

30

Set 1 : 30 Lap/Rep

Plank

Side Plank

Set 1 : 00:02:15

Regular Push Up

80

Set 1 : 80 Lap/Rep

Hammer Grip Pull Up

168

Set 1 : 112x15+3 Yaaay!

Elliptical Training

PerfPrgm#1

Calorie :   277 CAL
Distance: 2.48 mile
Duration : 00:30:03

Hammer Grip Pull Up

168

Set 1 : 112x15+3 Yaaay!
Set 2 : 112x15+3 Yaaay!