Flexible Times

I got home from the gym and the car read 50°F. It was -7 just a few days ago. Welcome to January in the variable Northeast. The gym wasn't horribly crowded, but all the ellipticals were in use when I wanted to do my 10 minute warm up. My favorite cross-trainer had a water bottle on it as a place holder for a guy who likes to use it daily. Ugh. I get on the cross-trainer next to it. It's got a big monitor that I can't see past, and at the lowest resistance, it's still rough on my joints. But I figure it's only 10 minutes. I just want to get warm before I smack the kickboxing machine.

I'm never quite sure if I'll do all 15 rounds until I complete each set. I'm flexible like that. Nothing is set in stone and if some part of my body hurts or is feeling iffy, I'm okay with adjusting the workout. Today I feel okay with everything and I go the entire 15 rounds. My knuckles are a bit sore by the end, but that's to be expected in spite of all the precautions. My right thumb is also sore, but I'm beginning to suspect that my new sheepskin steering wheel cover might be the culprit! Oh no! The wheel cover is lush and thick, and I have tiny hands which tend to grip the wheel tightly because I don't have the luxury of long fingers.

My accuracy has been better, but I can blame the machine for ignoring several of my kicks and digs. It tells me for all three sessions that I am "over power" and to add sets. Uh, no. I don't know what the evening crew does, but I suspect I'm the only person who goes more than 3 rounds per set. That's just my personal observation. When I'm done, I get on one of the three available ellipticals. One is down for repairs. Sigh. 20 minutes at Program 1 leaves me sweaty and feeling fairly limber. After a good stretch, I reach up and knock out 34 pull ups. Yaaaay me!

I just read a post online from a fellow who was doing pull ups and managed to rip his pectoral muscle at the bicep insert. Ugh! He'd made the mistake of relaxing into a full stretch. It's going to take him 8-12 weeks to repair the muscle so now he has to devise ways to work around the injury. Personally, I think relaxing your muscles while in the middle of an exercise set is courting trouble. Keeping your body tight and aligned is much easier in the long run. No matter how hard, you should fight the impulse to drop into a total relaxed and vulnerable position!

I look over my work out notes and am amused by the fact that 10 minutes on the cross-trainer tracks 1.15 miles, while 20 minutes on the elliptical only tracks 1.89. Yes, the elliptical is much easier on my joints as well. In total though, it's just a skosh over 3 miles so I'm pleased. The gym scale reads 110.8 lbs while I'm totally drenched (long wet hair holds weight) and have totally finished my 1.5 liter water bottle. I know 1.5 liters equals 3.3 lbs, but I won't get any accurate data until I step onto my home scale while bone-dry. And who knows when that'll happen!

Meanwhile, I splurged and bought, against my better judgement, a pair of blue paisley corduroy pants because I haven't worn cords since I was a wee fat child and hated the noise of my thighs rubbing together. I don't normally like paisley, but these look cool. They remind me of a pair of blue pants I inherited from my brother when I was in HS. They were very soft, high-waisted with deep front pockets. And when they inevitably got worn, I patched them and embroidered the patches with colored threads. These pants look nothing like those, but they give me the same feeling. Of course, these new pants are really for taller women with skinny legs. And I don't have skinny legs. So the pants need to be rolled up 3", and although the hips and waist fit, there are stress creases all along the back of my knees and thighs. Probably not the way they were designed to look. Oh well...

Wednesday Workout
(3.04 miles total)

10 min
X-trainer
Miles 1.15

Nexersys
5r Beginner
5r Intermediate
5r Advance

20 min elliptical
Program 1
Calories 167
Miles 1.89

HGPU 34

Photos for actual stats: