Born Again Gym Rat: Blue inspite of the sun

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Blue inspite of the sun

It's 11°F when I take the dog out this morning. There is a potential blizzard in the forecast for the weekend. I look at the stack of unsplit logs at the end of my driveway and wonder if I can split them myself. Not today, but maybe before the blizzard hits I'll be tempted to try whacking a few of the smaller logs. The snow may blow out to sea, which would be great since my son not only has a Cub Scout Pinewood Derby to attend, but a kung fu belt test to get his orange sash.

I get to the gym fairly early so I'm surprised when I leave nearly 4 hours later. Where does the time go? I spend an hour doing cardio, time stretching, pull ups, push ups, planks and then some weights. My elbows are twingey and the sciatic pain in my right leg is only slightly abated. Maybe it's because I'm also spending a bit of time doing stretches for what I assume is piriformis syndrome. When I get home, I'll try to remember to do some foam roller movements as well.

The JeFit app requires a body weight number for movements like pull ups and pistol squats. I've been eating terribly all weekend, mostly just snacking. I punch 112 lbs into the app because that's how I feel, but the gym scale tells me 110.2 lbs. Well, that's actually a pleasant surprise. I don't put much stock in apps or sites that have you rate your enthusiasm level. There doesn't seem to be any point to it. For me at least. Because I'll do the same workout regardless of how I feel. Unless I'm sick. No, that's not true. Even if I'm sick.

Because my elbows and other joints sound and feel a bit iffy, I cut back on my reps for T-push ups. I don't do Diamond push ups at all, and instead write Rip Skulls back into my program. It's been such a long time though, that I don't know what weight to start with, so I start light. 30 lbs. And I grab 4 small (1.25 lbs) magnetic discs from the front desk. By the time I get to 45 lbs, my arms are pretty tired. Perfect. Time to go for another set of pull ups. I see a bunch of regulars, and some new ancient faces. Those old guys just can't help but stare. I guess it's been decades since they were last in a gym, before they let women have the vote, and driver's licenses. They've probably never seen a small woman with muscles before. Welcome to the 21st century fellas.

My second cardio set in on the elliptical, and it makes my leg feel better. Oddly, the pull ups tend to exacerbate the sciatica just slightly, probably because of the angle I have to pull myself up to the edge of the roof of the stretch cage. I do a full Mat Stretch and none of that bothers my leg. I have a lot of errands to run so it's good that the sun is bright in spite of the polar vortex. Because I still feel sad and gray inside. Regardless, tomorrow I get to whack the machine. Yaaaay!