When Did They Change the Rules?

I watched the Super Bowl with my son yesterday after the Puppy Bowl was over. For the most part I was able to follow most of the plays. And I wondered if the Patriots were going to do the unthinkable and lose? Or even more unlikely, score enough points in the second half of the game to actually win. The half-time show was awesome. I knew most of the songs, and of course, the show finale, Bad Romance is on my cardio playlist. After the Patriots score another touch down (TD), I see scramble for the 2-point conversion. And the ball never makes it into the End Zone. The player gets shoved out and a flag gets thrown. There is cheering and I'm confused, because apparently all the Patriots needed was for the ball to float over the goal line. But from where I'm sitting, the ball doesn't even do that, cradled in an elbow that's not directly over the white painted line. I have vivid memories of players making a big show of kneeling in the end zone and smacking the ball down onto the turf. I must be old. When did a touch down not actually require the ball to touch down?


I get to the gym feeling a bit out of sorts. Not enough sleep. Most of the cross-trainers are in use so I pedal 30 minutes on the elliptical. There's a guy looking at his phone while "stretching" in the Stretch Cage. He's there so long that I give up and just move on to knee-ins and push ups. I only do 80 push ups, and skip the crunches because honestly, I don't feel like taking the clip out of my hair. I do a set of Bird Dogs though. There's a flat bench in the Smith so that's good, but the weights have been reracked haphazardly. Ugh. I hate that. My shoulder is still iffy today. I don't push too hard.

Because I know my shoulder didn't like the Inclined BB Press last time I did it, I do a few light sets of DB presses with just 25 lb DBs. Then, I drop the DB laterals to 20 lbs, but keep the 25s for Reverse Inclined Flyes. The 20s are light, but the 25s cause pain in my shoulder and forearms lately. Next time I'll grab the magnetic discs to make the 20s into 22.5s, a happy median. The gym is crowded today and I recognize a few regulars like Maroon, Shaggy, Little R and BigMustache. But no Mayor today. Creepy Frankenstein lumbers through Machine City. I make a point of avoiding him.

Rip Skulls don't hurt too much so I'll keep them at 40 lbs for now. A girl does squats with the 20 lb BB a few feet away. I'm not quite sure why she takes her sweat shirt off to do them. If I were her, I'd leave the shirt on just for cushioning against the back of my neck. Personally, I don't like squats because they hurt my elbows. I can't seem to get my arms in the proper position to secure the bar properly on my shoulders which is why I've resorted to Smith Squats in the past. Less issues with my arms being at the proper angles to keep the bar in place. Plus, my knees complain a lot if I use more than a modicum of weight. Worst, I don't need bigger glutes. I have a hard enough time finding pants that fit as it is. But, at some point, when I drop a few pounds so I don't have to worry about having clothes that fit, I will do Smith Split Squats again. And probably Pistol Squats.

The cross-trainer that I favor is free so I pedal on it for 30 minutes. I glance at the timer to see "19:29 time elapsed" just as my right foot starts to tingle painfully. By the time I get off, the whole front of my foot is pins and needles numb. Ugh. I'm glad I can walk it off! The Stretch Cage is finally free so I stretch a bit before doing pull ups. I've found that doing a prolonged side-bend has been extremely helpful in alleviating the lower back discomfort I've felt from RDLs. Pull Ups are almost a head trip. The first 20 are easy. The next 10 are slightly harder. The last 9 are much harder. I'd like to make it to 10, but I can't. What is that? 39? It's only one set, but it'll do. The old guy who likes to put his feet on other people's mats when he does sit ups is sitting on equipment directly behind me. I'm not sure if he's waiting or resting. I'm sort of creeped out because he follows me to the Mats where I do an abbreviated stretch routine. I half expect him to drop onto the end of my Mat and do sit ups, but he just stands there and stares. Ugh. Creepy old guys.

The gym scale reads 111.0 lbs. Not horrible. Not great. I ate a lot of cheese and crackers watching the Super Bowl. I'll have to do better if I want to drop these 3-4 lbs! Ugh.

Monday
6.52 miles

30 min elliptical
Program 1
Miles 2.51
Calories 283

Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 80
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith Bench
Bar x 15
80 x 15
100 x 15
120 x 8
90 x 25

DB Inclined Press 30*
25 lbs x 12 x 1
@45*
25 x 12 x 2

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25 x 12/15 x 3

Rip Skulls
40 lbs x 12 x 3

30 min x-trainer
Calories 145
Miles 4.01
Average Speed 7.99
Average Pace 7:30

HGPU 39