It took me forever to get myself in gear to get to the gym. I was having trouble with my phone so after 3 minutes on the cross-trainer, I put it into "pause" mode in order to hit the hard reboot. I think I need a hard reboot. My mileage was fairly mediocre today although I was able to notch it up toward the end of my workout. In reality, anything over 6 miles is good! I managed 6.12 today. Good enough!
You can't see it, but I'm always praying I can get at least 31 reps once I hit the Stretch Cage for pull ups. Success! Of course, even if I failed, no one would know. Except me. I have to pause at the 80th rep for push ups. These are quick and dirty push ups, more for the pump and as a warm up than for actual form or anything else. I add Elbow planks back into the mix because I like the way it engages the lower abs. I may add some of the variations to the Bird Dog planks that I viewed on the latest T-Nation newsletter. Because routine becomes complacent, becomes sloppy and ineffective.
The Smith is empty so I proceed with my Flat Bench and Inclined Bench sets. I don't go too heavy. There's that twinge in my right shoulder again that makes me not consider going past 120 lbs. I can probably get 6 reps at 130 lbs. Maybe I should see if I can get 6 reps at 125 lbs next week? (When my son was benching just the bar in the Smith on Saturday, he told me that there was no way the bar was 30 lbs. "No, mom, this is too light to be 30 lbs!" But adding a few pounds to the bar made a dramatic difference. He ended the set with 55 lbs and a sense of accomplishment.) I do a few sets of Inclined Benching as well. Then I check the class room to make sure it's empty before knocking out my 22 push ups. It's Day 5, and I just want to get it out of the way. Of course, it's a lot harder today because I've pre-exhausted my chest already. Arms take longer to tire. Then back to the DB area to do just 3 quick sets of DB Laterals superset with Reverse Inclined Flyes. I'm still doing the latter in two directions, out to the side and forward, almost like a Superman. I try hard to maintain balance between all the muscle groups.
I had planned to only do 3 sets of Rip Skulls with 35 lbs, but the 30 lbs bar disappears as soon as I return from the front desk with the 2.5 lb magnetic discs. A gal I call Agent99 has the BB and is intermittently using it to do a weird, awkward set of what I'm guessing are suppose to be dead lifts between sets of cable leg lifts (ankle tethered to the lower cable). Never mind that she's pulling the bar with her hands between her legs like a goblet squat, but it's not a squat, and the weight is too light. She's got 6-7 inches on me, and at least 30 lbs. I do two sets of Rip Skulls with the 40 lbs BB and then ask her if I can borrow the 30 lb BB for just one set. I'm quick because I know exactly what I'm doing. I needed to drop the weight down because my arms were tiring, and I could feel strain in my left elbow. There's no point in damaging your joints in the quest to be strong!
30 minutes on the elliptical and I'm done. Almost. I do a quick stretch and then tell myself that anything more than 31 is Awesome. I get to 36 reps, but I can barely get my nose to the bar. Okay, it's 35 1/2. Done. I don't even have time to stretch because my son now gets home from school an hour and a half earlier than he used to. And I have to take him to kung fu tonight.
Monday Workout
30 min X trainer
134 cal
3.58 miles
7.15 average speed
HGPU 31
Knee-ins 50
Push ups 100
Crunches 3 X 50
Bird Dogs 2 X 60 sec
Elbow Planks 2 X 30 secs
Smith flat bench
30 lbs bar X 15
80, 100, 120 X 12
90 X 25 reps
Smith inclined bench
30 lbs X 12
12 reos X 50, 70
80 lbs X 12 X 3
22 push ups Day 5: Note to self, don't do these after benching!
DB Lateral s/s w Rev Flyes
20 X 12/20 X 3
Rip Skulls
40 lbs X 12 X 2
35 X 13
30 min elliptical
Prg1
2.54 miles
287 cal
6.12 miles total
HGPU 35.5
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