Lately, I've been waking up with heartburn, but only from sleeping on my left side. If I lay on my back or my right side, I don't get it. Limbs get tingly in the night and that frequently wakes me up. But my fingers also go numb a lot, and that's a bit worrisome, especially in the morning when I'm trying to re-braid my hair to keep it out of my face and off my neck. Lately, I've also taken to smearing lotion all over myself before going to the gym. It's the only way I can prevent the tortuous prickly itchiness I get when I'm warming up, but not yet busted a sweat. It's probably because I have such painfully dry skin and the winter air isn't doing me any favors. But I do like the dearth of biting insects! Meanwhile, my heels have developed fissures and I slather them in petroleum jelly every night before bed. I remember my grandmother doing the same when I was a child. She was in her 60s then, and at 56, I'm not so far from that. At least I don't look like I'm nearing 60!
After 30 min on the cross-trainer, I go to the stretch cage. Hammer grip pull ups are so much easier to do if you don't fully extend your arms. I think it's more important to feel the movement in your back (lats) than to strain your elbows and forearms, but I'm not a purist. I'd certainly catch a lot of flack if I were in Boy Scouts, or the Army. I'm feeling a tad guilty about not doing full push ups so today I cut my reps and only get 30 T-push ups. I add back in planks, and do crunches anyway. Then do another set of regular push ups, but with stricter form than usual. I actually think I'm still sore from Wednesday's workout, but it's hard to say. (I didn't work out yesterday because I had to wait for a service guy to come to the house between 9-12, and of course, he showed up at 11:45.)
There are a few noticeable newbies. One is a father/daughter team. He's a mountainous black man, and she's a skinny track star. He has her doing squats and lunges. Then after she's gone, he takes off his sweatshirt, and he's moving weights. There are a lot of HS kids as well, mostly boys. I do Smith Inclined Bench Presses today because it's not flat benching. I can't go as heavy, but it doesn't hurt my shoulders either. I figure the movement works the arms, chest and shoulders differently so once a week is good. Then a light set of DB laterals super set with Reverse Flyes, just for reps. I can't find the 30 lb BB so I grab the 20 and a bunch of magnetic discs for BB Upright Rows. I can definitely feel this in the rear delts and I keep the movement slow and deliberate. My right forearm gets a bit sore but my left is okay. Which reminds me: I haven't done BB RG Curls in ages. Yikes!
Another set of pull ups and these are so much harder. Probably because I drop for full extensions for the last five reps. I can barely get my nose up to the bar for the last two. Off to do 30 more minutes of cardio on the elliptical. I like the Interval program because I can get some decent mileage, although it doesn't have the backwards pedaling that seems to ease my sciatica. Then the 3rd and final set of pull ups. I toy with the idea of a 4th set after the Mat Stretch, but I worry about pushing my luck and developing that nasty under-the-sternum pain. Because my sciatica is making itself known, I don't do some stretches that I know will aggravate it. I'd probably be fine with only stretching once a week or once every other week. I know: it's not what anyone wants to hear, especially in the fitness industry. But I'm not selling anything, only reporting things that happen to be true for me.
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| Lunch |
Friday Workout
(6.79 miles total cardio; 16,540 lbs moved)
112
Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12
Set 4 : 80x12
Set 5 : 80x12
Set 6 : 80x12
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12
Set 4 : 80x12
Set 5 : 80x12
Set 6 : 80x12
205.33
Set 1 : 112x25
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