Humping Along

It's been raining all week and the humidity is so bad that I have the a/c on just to keep the house reasonable. It's bad when mold starts to form on everything vaguely moist! The little cotton balls I've been dousing with ant poison (sugar and boric acid mixed into plain water) have gone from ant oases to black mold repositories. Yuck! The bread isn't lasting too long either, and I toast the ciabatta just to keep the little blue and black spots at bay. The grocery store doesn't always carry the plain ciabatta my old dog likes, but toasting the remaining loaf allows me to give him crunchy treats a few days longer.

The pup has been losing control of his bladder more frequently, mostly when eating so I've finally purchased a "male wrap" to keep the puddles to a minimum. It attaches with velcro at the top (spine) and wraps around his belly and leaking bits, At the end of several hours, there's a distressing indentation in his fur so I take it off for the night. I'll have to determine when the best time is to leave it on him, and for how long. There's also wee disposable pads (that look like miniature sanitary napkins) to stick to the inside of the wrap for extra absorption. Sigh.

It's only in the mid 70s temp-wise, but the rains make it tropical outside, and not in a good way. My son and I arrive at the gym a bit past noon and debate whether to bring umbrellas in with us. We opt to leave them in the car because it's not actually raining at the moment. We only do 30 minutes on the treadmill because I know I'm going to be pushing my son to do more and heavier weight today. At the Stretch Cage I ask him to get 10 pull ups. He's ready to walk away afterwards, but I tell him that I need to do my set too. He knows better than to say No. Then I ask him if he thinks he can get another 5. Then another 3. I tell him if he gets another 2, it'll give him 20 total pull ups.

I've caught him saying things like, "Well, I don't really have a choice, do I?" and "Why are you asking me?" He's right, of course. I tell him that I'm just trying to be nice about it. For each subsequent set I ask just a few reps, but less than the last time. I can barely keep up myself! Finally we can walk to the classroom and do some push ups and core. He doesn't complain. I think he's happy to have done 20, but doesn't really want to show it. After all, he's at the gym with his mom.

I decide that an abbreviated core will suffice today so that's just push ups, side planks and the bicycle and crunch sequence. Then we step into the weight area. It's not horribly crowded. I see a lot of guys but they're mostly clustered around the cable stations and the machines. I do a set of RDLs at the Smith with just the bar and have my son do the same. I'm actually impressed that he seems to remember what I told him earlier about keeping his back straight. We alternate sets, with me doing a heavier load because I want him comfortable with the form before I ask more of him. Besides, it's his arms that are tired.

Doing BB Rows at the Smith doesn't help, but he does them. I allow him to try different grips with each set. He's finally figured out how to do these movements without shrugging, but these are light weights. Since I hope he's going to get a bit taller, I'm not going to have him lift heavy weights and risk damaging his growth plates. But he will get stronger! And at least build up some endurance. He shows me his hands because callouses are forming just below his fingers. He says they're from doing pull ups. Yep, I can see how that'll happen. I guess I need to get him some gloves!

At the Lat Pull Down station, the close-grip handle is already attached so that's what we're using today. (I don't tell my son, but he's too loose in his form when the regular handle is affixed. It's not benefiting him to jerk the weight like a floppy-armed rag doll.) I tell him to look up towards the top of the cable as he pulls the handle to his chest, and to arch his back slightly as if puffing his chest out to meet it. It's a bit complicated but he gets it most of the time. As he tires, he's less likely to look up and I see his chest curve forward slightly. He's using the weight of his shoulders to bring the weight down. (I know what that is because I've done it myself when the weight was too heavy!) We're both pulling the same weight for reps. I ask him where he feels it, and again the answer is him running a hand from his shoulder down the length of his arm. After 3 sets, we do seated cable rows, again with the close-grip handle. I know he's tired so I set the pin at 60 lbs. I haven't done this movement in a long time because it aggravates my sciatica, so I move the pin up to 40. But with each set I drop the pin down until we're both pulling 60 lbs.

My son is ready to leave, but we do some necessary stretches first. He's trying to figure out how to do an extended leg without falling over. It's a staple in martial arts training. We start with just a shoulder's-width-stance and squat down, keeping heels on the ground. Then slowly extend one leg just a few inches out to the side. Eventually fully extend the leg. My son's bent knee is not aligned with his foot, which seems to have swiveled out on its own. Weird. He inches it back into place. Done. Tomorrow I'm coming to the gym by myself so I can whack the machine. I'll be at it for at least 30 to 40 minutes, and I told my son he can sleep in on the alternate days we don't work out. That's my concession to him and he doesn't complain. On Friday we'll do the Step Mill, walking lunges and play the Dragon game on the Expresso bikes. That'll be fun! Or at least I think it will be...

Wednesday Pull Day

30 min treadmill
Calories 263
Miles 1.49
Inclined 10% Speed 3
Average Heart Rate 111 (66%) / 128 max rate (76%)

HGPU 20, 15, 10, 8 (53)
M Pull Ups 10, 5, 3, 2 (20)

Push Ups 20 + 10
Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20
Side Planks 2 x 60s

Smith RDLs
Bar (30lbs) x 15
(M 12)
80 x 12
(M 50 x 12 x 3)
100 x 12 x 3

Smith RG BB Rows
80lbs x 25 x 3
(M BB Row 40 x 12, 50 x 12)

Lat pull down close grip
70 x 12 x 3

Seated Cable Rows
(M 60 x 12 x 3)
40, 50, 60 x 12

Stretch