A Good Pull Day

Driving home from the gym and the car thermometer says 75F. It's February and we're 60 miles north of NYC. Tomorrow will be rainy, with temps dropping to the 40s. Still unseasonably warm. I have no doubt that we're not done with snow storms yet although the birds are courting and ignoring the seed feeder. Very odd. Woodpeckers are still visiting the suet cage though. I like to stock it with the "nutty" variety because I don't understand the point of artificially-flavored orange and blueberry suet. Do you really think you're fooling the birds? Do you think their suet palate is bored? Good grief. At least there's peanut pieces in the "nutty" flavor suet, which I figure gives the birds some added nutrition.

I wear leggings to the gym instead of shorts even though I know it's going to be really warm inside. Too early in the season to turn on the A/C. I don't like shorts when there's a chance I'll be stretching out on the Mat afterwards. Bare skin does not glide along vinyl mats with any ease. Bare skin sticks to plastic, and gets scratched from dirt and gravel from everyone's filthy gym shoes trodding all over the place. After my 30-minute-plus warm up, I'm ready! My pull ups aren't as good as yesterday, but that's to be expected. At least I got my minimum!

The Smith is empty and I'm excited! The RDLs are a little harder than I remember, and I'm stunned for a second. But only a second. My lower back is a tiny bit achy so I adjust my stance. The knees seem okay today. My inside right heel was stressed during cardio warm up so I hope I don't have Achilles tendon problems, and I've self-diagnosed Morton's neuroma in my right foot even though I don't have all the pain associated with it. It could be something else. I'm sure the hammer toes don't help. Or maybe I'm just overly sensitive? (Click here for more info on this ailment.)

I'm actually confident enough to add weight to the bar, a little at a time, just to see what I can pull. I stop at 150, and not because it leaves me breathless. Because it doesn't. I've pulled heavier but I was younger then. Not a lot younger, but there seems to be a big difference between 53 and 58, not just in recovery time, but in strength. Of course, I was always injuring my elbows or wrists or shoulders or something. Now that I'm older, I'm more cautious. Next week, if 150 feels okay, I'll see what 160 is like. But I'm perfectly happy to stay at 6 reps at 150 for a while. Maybe do a few sets and build up gradually. After all, it's only been a few weeks since 120 felt okay again.

I knock out Smith RG BB Rows, and Seated One-Arm Cable Rows for back, and to finish off biceps. It's my forearms that complain the most, my weak link. My hands start to cramp just as I finish the 3rd set. Ugh. Lately, I've noticed that my hands get painfully cold if I sit for too long, let's say, in front of my computer. It's not just my hands though. It feels as if the cold is creeping up my forearms as well, like I've been touched by a zombie White Walker. Online sources state that Raynaud's does not progress unless there are underlying health issues. Uh oh... I feel fairly healthy in spite of the seasonal vertigo, the occasional sciatica and an inability to eat fatty foods. I'm hoping that my daily dose of raw garlic not only keeps me safe from the flu this year, but also lowers my cholesterol levels.

I get more pistol squats in today, but my quads sting a little when I first start. Because they're not high on my priority list, I do them last, when I've cooled off. If I did them right after cardio, they'd be easier, and I might actually get more done. But, like I've said, they're mostly an after-thought.

My hubs has stuck with his low/no carb diet and is now concerned with getting enough fat in his diet without overloading on protein. That's actually hard to do on a no/low carb diet unless you want to eat sticks of butter. Avocados and olives help though. As do macadamia nuts. And Spam. He lost 7 lbs the first week, but gained a pound the 2nd week. I think it's because he decided he could drink white wine, but alcohol in quantities will negate the process. He doesn't even like wine. At least he's not drinking beer anymore. He literally gained 20 lbs drinking beer in the past 2 years. Needless to say, he's unable to stop with just one or two. And he knows better, because he'd been sober since we first met. But with the death of both his parents, he's loosened his grip on sobriety. Ultimatums don't work with people like him. He's already got enough resentment festering inside. I don't think he's ever forgiven his birth parents for giving him up for adoption. We sent our saliva out to Ancestry DNA a few weeks ago, but it's taking a long time for them to get back to us. I'd like him to find some actual blood relatives and hope they're not a bunch of fall-down drunks. I'm not concerned about me — being Chinese, I'm fairly certain I'm related to half a billion people.

Top: can fronts
Bottom: tops aligned

This morning my hubs asked me to pick up some Spam for him. Spam is big in Hawaii as part of the "plate lunch special." My grandmother used to fry up slices of it every now and then, so I'm familiar with the product. I buy 3 cans because they're on sale: buy 3 cans at $2.99 each and get a $1 off. That's cheaper than the CVS which wants $3.99 per can. Once I get home, I wonder why the pull tabs atop the cans don't line up. It's my OCD making me crazy because the Spam cans seem to have been haphazardly placed on the can-sealing line. Ugh!


Wednesday

30 elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Calories 334
Miles 2.96
Average Heart Rate 150

HGPU 26

Smith RDLs
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12
130 x 10
140 x 8
150 x 6

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

Seated 1-Arm Cable Rows
45lbs x 12 x 1 (right elbow achy)
2nd set (forearms tired)
3rd set (grip cramps)

Pistol Squats
8 = 4 ea leg