The Mostly Cardio Workout

I dabbed my knuckles and elbows with dit da jow last night. My hands are a bit achy, and because my joints sometimes seem to catch, I'm concerned about losing mobility. Yesterday, as I was opening a bottle, the fingers to my left hand seemed to spasm with the digits almost locking criss-cross. That was scary and I immediately shook out my hand and flexed my fingers. I'm constantly flexing my fingers at the gym. My grandmother, who was shorter than me, had larger hands with knotty arthritic knuckles, ostensibly from years of sewing, knitting and other hand work. She was employed for a time in a factory making thick flannel children's pajamas. My mom had bony hands and fingers and she developed arthritis too, in spite of not doing anything at all with herself.

Because my right shoulder was particularly troublesome last night, I decide not to whack the machine today. Instead, I'll make it a Cardio Day. And then I'll have time to do some core work as well. And finally do those much neglected band pull exercises. The cross-trainer I like is vacant so I'm happy. Most of the gym is empty because it's actually fairly nice outside. As in, it's not raining. I forgot how long 30 minutes is because I've adapted so quickly to the shorter 15 minute warm up. Oh well...

The fat Indonesian man who always wears a lifting belt no matter what he's doing is in the Stretch Cage. I've never actually seen him there before. But he's not stretching. Instead he's sort of pulling on rubber tubing that have handles affixed to both ends. People like to drape the tubing over all sorts of equipment, and then walk away. This guy never actually lifts so I suspect he wears the belt to help his back support the overflowing gut. He's been at the gym for a few years but he never seems to be any thinner. Or any stronger. Maybe if he actually busted a sweat? But I guess that he at least walks on the treadmill is a big step for him.

I'm always worried that I won't be able to do as many hammer grip pull ups as the previous day, but then I do. I'm always so relieved when that happens! Before I leave the Stretch Cage, I pull out the green silicone band I got from physical therapy and wrap it around the center bar to do mid-level band pulls. Those feel okay. But when I raise the band to near face level, then my right shoulder starts to complain. And it's only my right shoulder, not my left. Once that's finally done, I retreat to the Mats to do push ups, crunches and planks. I hear The Mayor intermittently. He's actually across the gym giving instruction to a young man. Of course. And of course I can hear him.

There are a few young women here today. I know they're looking at me, but I can't read their expressions because I'm not looking directly at them. One girl has tattoos all the way down her left arm, and I wonder if that's Animé Hair Girl. Except she's taller and thinner and her brown hair is tied up in a bun. I feel like she wants to talk to me, but she doesn't and I've got my own agenda. After Animé Hair Girl's blue hair faded and lost it's luster, she got discouraged and stopped coming to the gym. But I remember she was amazingly strong, doing Alternating Seated Curls with 30 lb DBs.

I strip off my hoodie and drape it over a flat bench so I can do my T, Y and I raises with the tiny 3 lb and 5 lb DBs. The 5 lb ones are actually a lot harder than one would think. At physical therapy, they only use 1 lb DBs, and those felt silly. I'm dressed in a clingy tank and fairly comfortable sports bra that unfortunately does nothing for my figure. I don't care. It's comfortable. But the tank tucked into my sports pants makes me look really straight. I'm shooting for lean, but I'm not a lean person, so perhaps straight is the best I can hope for.

Yesterday I saw a girl on the Step Mill in a peculiarly unique stance. Some people can't bear to hold themselves upright while they step, or pedal. I see them drape themselves over the handles or the front monitor panel. This girl had her arms at right angles to the machine handles so that she literally looked like a spider straddling the upper bars. I'm not sure why you would do even do that. 

I try to talk myself out of doing Intervals. Then I try to talk myself out of doing 30 minutes of Intervals, mostly by giving myself an out: I can always just do 45 seconds or 30 seconds of All Out if I'm too tired to do the full 60. But I do the full 60 seconds of over 200 Strides Per Minute for each 4 minute section, followed by 60 seconds at 160-175, followed by 2 minutes at 120. Repeat until 30 minutes have passed. Well, it didn't kill me so that's good!

Of course, now new literature suggests that too much exercise, or too much intensity will also kill you faster than not doing exercise. Too much oppositional information. You need to move at least 30 minutes a day. Walking is good. Walking isn't good enough and you need to move 7.5 miles a day. Intense Intervals is good and cuts your exercise need down to 2 hours a week. Intense exercise is bad and will destroy your heart muscle. Lack of sleep destroys your memory and ability to recover. Too much sleep suggests you are in the beginning stages of dementia. Intermittent fasting prolongs your cells' longevity. Late night eating wrecks your metabolism. Eat lots of small meals to keep your blood sugar steady. Fasting increases insulin sensitivity. Makes me want to put my fingers in my ears and scream La La La...

I do a set of Wide Hammer Grip Pull Ups at the Stretch Cage and then attach my band to the bar to do another set of mid and high band pulls. The right shoulder is still not happy with the latter movement. A quick stretch on the Mat and I'm done. Tomorrow afternoon is my son's Boy Scout Troop Court of Honor at a nearby park. I'm thinking I might want to whack the machine in the morning after all... Because Saturday, my son and I will be at the library for my photo show reception. And I still don't know how much food and beverages to provide. Sigh.

Thursday
Cardio Day
6.59 total miles

30 min x-trainer
Calories 143
Miles 3.87
Average Heart Rate 118?

Knee-Ins 50
HGPU 30
Mid-Band Pulls 15
High-Band Pulls 15 Rt shoulder
Push Ups 50
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s

T, Y & I Raises
3lbs x 15 reps
5lbs x 15 reps

Mid-Band Pulls 15
High-Band Pulls 15

30 min elliptical
Intervals
Calories 312
Miles 2.72
Average Heart Rate 143

WHGPU 20