Prez Day

There's no school today and a lot of people are off from work. Including my hubs. But he's not quite ready to hit the gym at 9 am so I drive off without him. He's actually got some work to sort out before he can make it, and I'm worried about getting done in time to take our son to his dental checkup. Eventually my hubs makes it to the gym. It's packed and I'm lucky enough to slip into my favorite cross-trainer while the entire row of treadmills is occupied. There are signs posted everywhere alerting cardio enthusiasts that brand new state-of-the-art treadmills will be installed soon! I'm not quite sure what's going to be different about them though...

Although I'm fairly certain that my shoulder is healing, it bothers me a lot in my daily routines. Today I skip push ups altogether. Pull ups seem a bit hard on my shoulder and elbow as well, but at least I'm not truly regressing. I even skip crunches. Instead, I race over to the Smith to secure my spot. Since I did two Push Days last week, I figure I'd start this week with a Pull Day. Smith RDLs and RG BB Rows go fine. I finally see my hubs dressed in his hoodie, cap and cushiony headphones. We rarely speak to each other when we're at the gym simultaneously because we have different routines. When I sit down at the Seated Cable Station for One-Arm Rows, guys materialize at all the peripheral stations. I know it's crowded today, but this is ridiculous.

I have the U8 earbuds on today. They sound really good, and today my ears don't bother me too much. Even though the A8s are smaller and slightly more comfortable, they still tend to sound hissy on certain songs. It's a tradeoff: comfort due to the tiny components vs. lesser sound quality and difficulty recharging (due to the tiny micro-USB port). My hubs wears actual headphones over his cap, but my head is too sensitive and tender to wear any sort of band or bar like that. Yes, I'll admit it: I'm a princess.

I can see a stocky middle-age guy wailing on the kickboxing machine all the way across the gym. I guess it's starting to get popular! The battle ropes are now a semi-permanent fixture on the gym floor. I suspect that P, the gym owner who has unexpectedly started training a lone older dude, decided that this was his next new gym toy. Normally JF would train guys, but he quit over the winter and all the daytime trainers are women here. Mostly they teach classes like Spin, BodyPump, Zumba or provide customized programs that involve a mix of machines and isometric movements.

In the locker room I hear a very short but busty woman tell V, the lady who teaches BodyPump, that she wants more muscle. V dissuades the woman from taking two classes in the same day, and instead advises her to use slightly heavier weights to get better definition. All I keep thinking is "Do you want bigger muscles, or just want to see the muscles you already have?" It's two different goals, but that question isn't asked, and I keep my mouth shut because I'm not going to undermine the staff here.

I haven't upped any of my weights except for the One-Arm Seated Cable rows, and reps for pull ups. Otherwise, I'm stagnant but I have faith that consistency is making a difference. I have big arms and a wide back, and decent pecs and biceps. I just need to drop some body fat, and that's the hard part. It's a fine balance between pushing enough weight and doing enough reps to maintain muscles, and maybe even foster some growth without damaging tendons and joints. Especially since I'm not a kid anymore. I heal a lot slower, but at least I heal. 

Monday
6.14 miles

30 min x-trainer
Calories 139
Miles 3.63
Average Speed 7.25
Average Pace 8:16

Knee-Ins 50
HGPU 35

Smith RDLs
Bar x 12
12 x 80, 100, 120, 130

Smith RG BB Rows
25 x 80, 100, 120, 130

Seated OneArm Cable Rows
52.5 lbs x 12 x 3

30 min elliptical
Program 3
Calories 282
Miles 2.51

HGPU 36