Letting Go

My son and I are cut from the same cloth: we're both night owls, which means we're both going to have a terrible time adjusting to the new Middle School schedule. Classes start at 7:38!  Good grief! The local librarian tells me that this was set up so kids could get back in time to help their families with crop harvesting. Uh, news flash! Not many agro families around here that require the help of their school-age kids! I'd rather he sleep in later and get home later. Now I have to figure out a schedule for his afternoons. Busy kids are kids not getting into trouble.

Today I leave the house a bit late. It's 10:20 but my son is still asleep. I leave a note on the bathroom mirror telling him I'll be home around 1:30 pm. Yes, with time for travel, changing clothes and showering, it's about 3 hours.

I get on a totally different LifeFitness cross-trainer today. My right foot starts to tingle a little more than halfway through the 30 minute session. Before it's over, my left foot also starts to get numb. Ugh. I think I had a dream about buying those toe-spreading cushions just to see if they'll sort things out with my feet. My two pull up sets were bears. But I decided to add a few more push ups at the end. I didn't really have time for a full Mat Stretch, or to play with any iron. For now, doing enough cardio, core and body weight exercises are my priorities.

The Mat area is full and I keep on walking to the back of the gym where there's one large classroom. Luckily, it's empty and I can grab a small personal mat for crunches. I snap a few quick selfies in the mirrored room. The lighting is weird, and my image is distorted. I put on a few pounds this weekend, having drank too much at our lake association BBQ Saturday night, and subsequent foray to the awesome Big W's Roadside BBQ joint on Sunday. Followed by dessert at PeachWave. Yes, I'm pretty relieved that the scale only reads 111.6 lbs this afternoon! But I'd be happier if it was back at 108.

At some point I'll be strong enough to actually complete rep 41 on Hammer Grip Pull Ups. 31 reps is now my new minimum. I add a few push up variations that I suddenly remember: T-push ups, and Dand (Hindu) push ups. When I walk by the mirror, my triceps have a great pump. Guys are jealous. No, I'm kidding. Or not.

I see other middle-age women and I want to drag them off the machines where they're mindlessly flailing their limbs. I feel this way especially with women with such poor muscle tone that their arms are mere bones poking through flabby hanging flesh. And what would I do with them? I'd make them do push ups. Unless they had serious shoulder issues, I'd have them start with kneeling push ups. What's nice about push ups is that by changing the position of your hands, you can change the angle of the exercise, adjusting it to bypass shoulder, elbow and sometimes wrist issues.

Ladies don't seem to understand that shoulders and arms take work. Serious work, not just reps on a machine while staring into space. That's probably as effective as pushing a door close a few dozen times. Personally, I've been looking at a movement called the Cuban Press for shoulder work, but I haven't tried it out yet. Obviously, I'd have to use super-light DBs since I have a wonky right shoulder, but that's not a problem. Unless I'm forced to use those plastic pink Beauty Bells. Ugh.



Monday's Abbreviated Workout
6.1 miles total cardio

30 min X trainer
144 cal
3.55 miles
7.09 average speed

HGPU 36
Knee Ins 50
Push ups 100
Crunches 3 X 50
Bird Dog Planks 2 X 60 sec

30 min elliptical
Prgrm 1
288 cal
2.55 miles

Knee-ins 50
HGPU 40.5
T-push ups 25
Dand push ups 25