Our Last Summer Cardio Day

Today is the first time in weeks that I've actually felt the need to wear a hoodie over my gym clothes. Temps dropped into the low 60s which made for fantastic sleeping weather. Clouds rolled in. It rained. Of course, temps are forecast to rise over the holiday weekend so that's kind of a bummer. I drag my son out of bed at noon. I've already been out of the house to run a few errands. But we both stayed up too late, marveling at the fact that the Kodi software finally works on our Xbox, allowing us to stream TV shows and movies. Previous attempts usually ended in frustration as the software would tell us that there were no streams available to view the requested programming. I'm sure it was a glitch and we just gave up. Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime all stream programming, but sometimes there's other stuff you want to watch. I'm not sure what's changed, but it seems that anything new always needs time to settle in. Weird, right?

So, we were up until 4 am watching the Avengers: Infinity War. My son told me we had to watch all the screen credits to catch that last little scene, the Easter Egg, that foretells events in the next film. Overall, as my son had warned me, the movie was exciting, but ultimately very depressing because everyone dies. Or gets to watch all their friends die. Ugh. My son picked up all his info from friends and YouTube discussions. Smart kid.

Today is Friday and that means it's a Cardio Day. It's our last Summer Cardio Day together and that makes us a bit sad. I tell my son that we are doing the cross-trainer, steps and then the Expresso Bike and he doesn't argue. He does complain that his arms are sore. Not from yesterday, but from Wednesday's Pull Day. Must've been those BB Curls! Still, he manages to do his pull ups. While we were on the Step Mill, I could see a male-female couple I've never seen before.

I'm not good with ages so I'll guess that they were both mid to late 40s or 50s. The man looks older, but he's wearing a cap so that makes his age even harder to discern. He's much taller than the woman. She's got decent arms, but a decidedly middle-age backside. I only notice them because she's dragged a box over to the space between the two cable stations where there are pull up bars suspended overhead. She manages to do a few, maybe 3 to 5, pull ups for each set. Sometimes she only gets 1 or 2. They're not full pull ups either, as her arms are severely bent and she's barely moving for each rep. Jeeze, I hope my pull ups look better than that! But I don't know. Most bars are too thick around for me to get a reasonable grip so I don't even attempt them. I have ridiculously small hands, even for a person of my size. She's bigger than I am, obviously. But I like to think I have better arms and back.

I don't push myself very hard on the cross-trainer. And I drop down a speed on the Step Mill but I'm sweating profusely at the end of 20 minutes. The Expresso Bike kicks my butt. I don't score as high as I've done in the past, but today I encountered some mountainous grades that were almost impossible to climb while chasing dragons and coins. In a few weeks I'll have to drop my exercise intensity level to walking. Boring! Not looking forward to that. And I'm a bit perplexed as how to resolve the apparent conflict between doing HIIT cardio, and keeping one's heart in the "safe" zone for your age.

Going all out for 30 seconds means my heart rate will most likely jump to over 200. It probably won't drop down to 60% during the minute or two of jogging/walking because that's a heart rate of 97. 97 is not a reasonable rate for someone who is exercising. All the charts tell me that because I'm 58, my maximum heart rate should be 167.4 beats per minute. It doesn't help one bit that I feel like I've lost conditioning by adhering to these guidelines. (I'm stubborn, but I'm not stupid.) However, cardio doesn't give me the same mental and physical benefits since I slowed down. I feel as if going slower has made me slower, and exercise no longer helps me with my anxiety. Ugh.

We finish in the classroom with lunges, push ups, core and then a little stretching. My son wants to workout on Monday because it'll be the last day of his membership. The gym will only be open from 7 am to 3 pm, so I tell him he can't sleep in if he wants to come. Not quite sure what we'll do on our very last day, but I'd like to plan something fun.

Last Cardio Day with my Son

20 cross-trainer
Manual
Miles1.87
Calories 152
AHR? 128 / 150

20 StepMill
Speed 5
Total steps 943
Floors 58
Calories 140
AHR 112?

20 Expresso Bike
Dragon Island
Total points 99,910
Miles 2.86
Calories 61
AHR? 128

HGPU 15, 15, 15, 15 (60)
M pull ups 8, 8, 7, 7 (30)

Lunges 34
M 26

Push Ups 50+10
M 35
Crunches 30/20
Scissors 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Dead Bug
Stretch

End of Summer Days

Having some software/hardware issues with my ancient aging computer systems. Gone are the days when you could maintain equipment. Software updates become limited by the hardware you own, and eventually you find you can't connect to the world anymore. I'm a bit tired of the entire digital world right now after spending two hours with tech support just to unlock my email, And the email was only locked because I got a prompt from Apple to enter my password into my phone. Which it promptly rejected. So I had to create a brand new password. Which unlocked my phone, but my desktop, the very place I actually initiated the new password, decided it didn't know who I was. Ugh. I have to get a new computer. I just haven't decided what type yet: Mac Mini or MacBook laptop?

My son and I decide to do our regular cardio warm up of 15 and 30 minutes. Pull ups are still hard afterwards. Again, we save push ups and core for our cool down later. Instead, we're at the Smith for RDLs. I skip the Smith BB Rows and replace them with T-bar Rows. My son decidedly hates these even worse. I don't mind them, but it annoys me that I don't know how much an unloaded bar weighs. I'm guessing 30 lbs? Because there is weight. The handles are uneven because the neoprene grips have been partially ripped off. Ugh. My son is uncomfortable with the bent knee, straight back but bent over position to properly execute the movement. I don't force him to do it. Instead, after I get my 3 sets in, I give him the choice of Lat Pull Downs or Seated Cable Rows. He chooses the latter. I put a half-brick (7.5 lbs) on the stack.

Finally, we grab a BB and do curls with elbows pinned to the sides. I think my son actually likes doing this exercise, maybe because it works something he can actually see? The gym is mostly empty. Our town starts school next week, but this town started this week. Weird. So no kids here today. Also not here is Crazy Woman with White Chihuahua. I'm happy not to trip over the dog or the water bowl or the girl sleeping under the coat rack.

Next Monday will be the last day I can bring my son to the gym. He's looking forward to school, but he says he enjoyed our gym time. Friday we'll have a Cardio Day. I think I'm going to miss having him with me, even if it has lowered my workout intensity. In a few weeks I'll be back to a crawl anyway as I recover from cataract and stent surgery on the other eye. Sigh.

Resting between sets means staring at our phones

The Last Pull Day with My Son

15 + 2cd Octane Calories 100
Miles 1.39
31 floors
AHR 112/130

30 treadmill
Incline 10% Speed 3
Calories 263
Distance 1.48
AHR 116/209 (no, didn’t see that)

HGPU 15, 15, 15, 15 (60)
M pull ups 8, 7, 7, 7 (29)

Smith RDLs
Bar (30) x 15, m15
60 x 12, m12
80 x 12, m 12 x 2
120 x 12
140 x 12

T-bar Rowing
Unloaded (30?) x 12 reps
25lbs x 12 x 3
M 12

Seated Cable Rows
77.5lbs x 12 x 3

BB Curls
30lbs x 12reps x 3 sets

Push Ups 60
M 35

Crunches 30/20
Scissors 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Another Heatwave

My son and I went to the local farm market on Saturday and bought peaches and baked goods. He loves their corn muffins, double chocolate muffins, and I'm partial to the cheddar & chive savory scones. The peaches are still a little hard, but the shiro plums we saw seemed a bit too juicy. When fruit feels too plump, it means there's been too much rain and the flesh won't be as tasty. Instead, it'll taste diluted. The cashier had some plums on the counter, offering free samples. I take one and roll it around in my hand. "It feels gritty," I tell her and look around. She tells my son he can wash the fruit at the sink in the back. Okay, rule number one: if you're offering samples for customers to eat, make sure they're actually something they can pop into their mouths at that moment. Jeeze. Needless to say, I don't buy any shiro plums.

We had pizza for dinner, and ate muffins and yogurt. Today, we both feel tired. Is it the heat? (It was a wonderful 70F all weekend, but today hits closer to 90.) Or is the fact we didn't eat proper salad and meats like we normally do? My hubs is working in Florida for the weekend, and I took this opportunity to eat carby things that we normally shun when he's home. Oh well. Tonight I've got a London broil and salad for supper.

My son and I only do 20 minutes on the recumbent bike for cardio warm up. Even the pull ups are tough today, but maybe because we're not warmed up enough? It's a push day and it's already late in the day so we skip right to Smith Inclined Presses. My son seems a bit grumpy. He's more tired than I am and we both got over 8 hours of sleep last night! I go to do my DB super sets and he diligently marches off to do machine lateral raises and then leg presses. I see Noodle Arm boy with his dad. At least they're consistent. Later, I see another guy with his son but I don't recognize them. The dad is thick and beefy, maybe an old HS or college jock. The kid is fairly stocky too. What I notice, though, is that the dad is swinging to get the BB up doing curls. Using body english isn't good form, especially if you're trying to teach your kid how to lift.

We finish with Rip Skulls. At first my son complains that his shoulder is bothering him when he pulls the bar over his head. Then he settles down into the motion and everything is fine. We retreat into the classroom and notice that it's a lot warmer than we're used to. It must really be hot outside! We decide to add a lower ab movement that I'll call horizontal scissors because I have no idea what it's really called. We save Side Planks for last. I don't remember doing Bird Dogs, so I think we skipped them. I'm spacey and hungry at this point. I suck down a strawberry Ensure at the car, and then we grab a couple of reusable shopping bags to buy groceries.

Tomorrow, we plan to go to the movies. It's going to be over 90F, but since we go around 11, there'll likely be no one at the theater. I offered to take my son to see The Meg, but he said it was probably the same as all those other silly shark movies, and he'd rather see The Happytime Murders. What!? I'm actually surprised. I know it got awful reviews, but we're both interested in the scenes that roll after the credits, which actually show the complicated dance work of making Muppets seem independent. It can't be as bad as Sausage Party. I hope.



Heatwave Monday

Happy it's over! Whew!

20 recumbent bike
Level 1
Miles 1.85
Calories 78
AHR 105

HGPU 15, 15, 15, 15 (60)
M pull ups 8, 7, 6, 7 (28)

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12, m10
80 x 12, m10
90 x 12
65 x 25, m20

M Lateral Machine
30lbs x 12 x 3
M Leg Press
115 x 12 x 3

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20lbs 12/15 reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
35 lbs x 12 x 3
M30 x 12 x 3

Push Ups 50 + 10
M 20 + 15

Crunches 30/20
Horizontal Scissor 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s

Stretch

Dealer's Choice Cardio

I let my son choose the cardio routines today. He was still tired after I dragged him out of bed at noon to come to the gym. Naturally, he selected the Recumbent Bike first. If we do 3 sessions of cardio for 20 minutes apiece, we've done an hour and that's a decent Friday workout. I'm not even counting the pull ups, push ups and core stuff.

I'm a bit disappointed that we start with something so lazy. On the other hand, the Step Mill is somewhere in today's routine, and that always guarantees profuse sweating. In between, I give my son the choice between the Precor elliptical, Life Fitness cross-trainer or a Cybex cross-trainer I don't quite fit into. He doesn't want to work arms at all so elliptical is the hands-down winner. I get to watch TV while playing my tunes. The replacement bluetooth headphones arrived a few days ago.

broken memory foam ear pads

I bought the same brand MPOW because I like how good the music sounds using them. But I'm not really happy that they lasted only a few months, or that the memory foam ear pads arrived as if mice had chewed on them, and they broke apart the instant I tried to apply them to the headphones. I always have to use the smaller ear cushions because like my eyes, my ear holes just aren't that big! However, the MPOWs were the cheapest earphones (at $20) with the best sound quality. They make the gym's own speaker system sound thin and tinny.

My son and I take turns doing our pull ups. While he's on the Stretch Cage, I can see Noodle Arm Boy and his dad taking turns on the Assisted Pull Up machine, doing Assisted Dips. I don't know. Somehow I think that you should do a few real dips, or bench dips. As it is, I don't fit comfortably into dip stations — I think my wingspan is a little short.

Then we retreat to do push ups, core and planks. Between sets, we attempt to emulate the Dead Bug (or Happy Baby) pose I've seen online. Neither of us can get our knees and thighs on the ground. But at least we don't have our legs straight up in the air either. I can feel the stretch in my hips. We try different arm positions. Not getting those thighs on the ground! Then I realize we've forgotten lunges. Both of us groan, and I say that we don't have to do them. We don't actually have to do anything. But my son says that since we're here, we might as well. Good boy! Then, he tells me he'd like to nap until 4 pm as he lays on the foam mat, with his face on a towel and his butt in the air like an overgrown baby. Silly boy.

We still need to pick up groceries I forgot yesterday, and walk the pup. He's due for a dose of Visbiome with some yogurt. I think he's feeling better, although I did have to clean up the newspapers again this morning. But he had a good appetite for breakfast and that's reassuring. I've ordered more senior male dog wraps from Fosters & Smith. I got some from Chewy.com but the Large was the biggest size I could order, and it's not quite big enough for my mid-size (63 lbs, 28" waist) pup. As I head towards the locker room I see Crazy with her white chihuahua. Ugh. There's already a bowl of water, a back pack, a pillow and other stuff on the floor. I literally can't wait to shower and leave. Ugh.

Cardio Friday

20 recumbent bike
Level 1
Calories 78
Miles 2.0

20 elliptical
Program 1
Calories 168
Miles 1.55
AHR 129-170 (uh oh)

20 StepMill
Speed 5
Total steps 944
Floors 59
Calories 141
AHR 129

HGPU 15, 15, 15, 15 (60)
M pull ups 8, 7, 6, 7 (28)

Push Ups 60
M 35
Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20
Dead Bug Stretch
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Lunges 32
M 26

Floor Stretch

Go Down Fighting

The old dog has been having quite a lot of trouble with his digestive tract lately. Even when he was younger, he'd occasionally get a bout of the viscous orangey diarrhea. It appears to be bile-related, so I suspect the pup has had issues with his gall bladder, liver and pancreas for a long time. His lab work is usually normal except for certain pancreatic enzyme values. We already know he's got pancreatitis. I lay a lot of newspaper on the kitchen floor before I go to bed. This morning the dog again had an issue. It's not his fault. And he absolutely refused to have anything to do with the home-cooked turkey, rice, gizzards and sweet potatoes mix that contained his medicine. He's especially not fond of the Tylan powder (used to treat his digestive ills when he was younger), which I understand can taste bitter. He can smell it. I used to hide it in peanut butter, or balled up inside white bread nuggets. But the dog can't eat peanut butter anymore. And he's very discerning with his bread now.

The dog will lick flavored yogurt out of my hand. Plain yogurt not so much. Yes, the dog's got a definite sweet tooth. I drive to the vet and ask for something to treat the pup's digestive woes. Instead of probiotic paste, the dog is prescribed a new treatment: Visbiome®, a super-strong probiotic in capsule form that I can sprinkle on his food. It's suppose to be odorless and tasteless. We'll see... I have to buy more flavored yogurt, and while I'm at a different grocery store, I'll have to see if I can get some ciabatta bread. Ugh, there's only a loaf of olive oil, and a loaf of garlic. Well, garlic's definitely a no-no. I take my chances with the olive oil since the nutrition label suggests that there's barely any fat content.

Since the probiotic needs to be refrigerated and cars get hot in the summer, I have to go home and drop all this stuff off before I head to the gym. My son is still asleep when I leave the house for the second time today. It's past noon and the gym is mostly empty. It's also a really nice day out, bright and sunny with little humidity, and not too hot. (Of course, my lawn is sitting in 2" of water so I'm not seeing it being cut anytime soon either.) I do my warm up cardio and DB routine, stretch at the Cage and wrap my hands. The glare is always a problem on the kickboxing machine screen, and no different today. Ugh.

I decide that even though I skipped last week, I should be able to increase my rounds this week. I settle on doing 7 rounds Beginner, and 5 rounds Intermediate. That familiar burning sensation at the bottom of my lungs appears halfway through the Beginner rounds. I must be in horrid cardio shape because I don't remember feeling this way before I had my glaucoma surgery. This feeling persists through the 5 rounds of Intermediate, but halfway through that, I suddenly realize that it doesn't really bother me. Hurrah for tiny victories.

I am completely drenched though. I hurry to change and shower because I'd like to not be there when the crazy woman and her dog and kid show up. As I walk out the door, I hear the familiar thwack of the pads being struck. A small wiry man with a big headset (if I can see it from 15 yards it's a big headset) is whacking the other Nexersys. I've never seen him before, but I'm glad someone other than me is making use of them!

7 rounds Beginner FM

When I finally get home, the dog is eager for me to make him ciabatta toast. I put a tiny (0.8 ml) of CBD oil spread thin on 4 little pieces. He greedily gobbles them down. Then I mix a capsule of Visbiome into a heaping teaspoon of Chobani Smooth strawberry-banana flavored yogurt. The pup licks the bowl clean. Half an hour later he noses me frantically, because he knows when there's a disturbance in the bowels. I'm hoping the Visbiome eventually calms his system down. I don't think the tiny amount of CBD oil is causing diarrhea. Because the pup still enjoys his walks, toast and yogurt, and there's some hope that his issues can be treated reasonably, we're not ready to call it Done. But cleaning poop off the kitchen floor several times a day gets old really fast! I'm also tired of my house smelling faintly like pee. Ugh.

The old pup's still got some fight in him. I don't see anything in his eyes to suggest he's ready to leave us yet. He might be stubborn (oh yes, he's definitely that), or just not that bright (yeah, that too), so as long as he's willing to get up every day and tend to business, we'll be there too. I just need to buy the economy size disinfectant wipes, trash bags and paper towels...

5 rounds Intermediate FM

Nexersys Thursday
10 elliptical
Calories 86.3
Miles 0.79
AHR 140 / 171

T, Y & I Raises
5lbs x 15 x 2

Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

Nexersys FM
7r Beginner
5r Intermediate

Fighting My Inner Snark Monster

My son and I got to the gym before noon, but we'd already spent an hour at his school trying to figure out not only where his new locker was located, but how crazy running from class to class would be. Luckily, we met up with a friend and his mom. The boys share several classes this coming year, which is good because my son is a social creature bemoaning the fact that he had barely a class with two other friends. The last period of the day will be German language, and for the first time (that I've noticed) there will also be a PTO-sponsored after-school German class. The school also decided mid-summer to extend the school day by one more study period, and to provide late buses for kids enrolled in the after-school programs. Hurrah!

We both feel less than enthusiastic so to cure that, we opt for 15 minutes on the Octane. For the first time, I manage to select the right button that initializes a program that asks me how much time I want to exercise, how old I am, how much I weigh and what level I want to use. The machine flashes between various data points, telling me when I'm over or under the heart rate it thinks I should be at. Which is a bit frustrating, because my heart rate is all over the place, even as I "pedal" at a steady clip. So many machines have registered this that it must be true, it must be me, right? Of course, at my annual physical, when an EKG is hooked up and I'm lying on a table, there's absolutely nothing weird about my heart rate. Of course.

Then we do a leisurely stroll on the treadmill. Okay, so I bust a sweat doing a fast walk, so maybe not really leisurely, but I'm not running! Both of us feel a little dread approaching the Stretch Cage. I almost feel as if my endurance is getting worse, not better. We save push ups and core for after the weight-training routine. I see Gym Owner and a new Male Staffer moving equipment around. Truthfully, it's a bit crowded so it's good that they're taking time to actually check out each piece of equipment. The Male Staffer's been around for a while, but mostly at night. I'm not even sure he's got any sort of exercise degree or certification, like the last guy who left over two years ago.

My son and I knock out our Smith RDLs. Last week my son maxed out with 8 reps at 80 lbs. Today he's able to do a full 12, and it's probably because we didn't burn ourselves out with too many light sets beforehand. I pull my 120 and 140 and feel okay. We also knock out our BB rows. Next week perhaps I'll show him the T-bar row just to try something new. I tried it once but wasn't very happy with how my lower back felt. I'd be willing to try it again just to see if it's any better. I want my son to get a good feel for the different equipment at his disposal. I know he's only 13, but he's very solid. It won't hurt him to learn how to handle himself around weights.

Today he seems interested in doing a bicep exercise so I tell him to choose between Lat Pull Downs and Seated Cable Rows. He chooses Lat Pull Downs, but we nudge the weight up by just 5 lbs. It's just enough to make us feel tired. For biceps, I'd like to start my son off with just the 20 lb solid BB, but a girl grabs it before I get to the rack. We settle for doing seated alternating DB curls, starting with a pair of 10s. Even 15s seem okay, which means next week I might be able to start my son off with a 30 lb BB instead. I'm not going to freak him out with 21s, unless he's really interested in making his biceps grow...

We retreat to the class room to do push ups and core. I notice that my son's head, in profile, seems to lean slightly forward. I'm only aware of this because my hubs told me that his chiropractor noticed this postural defect in him and recommended exercises to correct it. My son thinks I'm being overly dramatic so I take a few photos to show him how he stands normally, and how I think he should stand. But in order to correct his posture, I make him stick his chest out and pull his shoulders back. He complains that this is unnatural and uncomfortable. He thinks I'm being a bit crazy.

L: normal posture R: corrected but uncomfortable

There's a woman doing some yoga poses in the far corner. She's oblivious with her oversized headphones. Shaggy is there doing his routine. I still find him creepy because of his previous behavior with mousey, new women members where he'd lean within inches of their face to chat with them. Ugh. Super creepy. He alternates between a minute on the jump rope and a minute doing sit ups, or DB curls, or push ups. Then he "wanders" too close to my son and I while we're discussing whether to do Side Planks first or last. Creepy, and "none of your damn business."

Stock photo: Chihuahua

Well, that's what I think, but I don't actually say it. Like the woman living in the gym's tiny locker room. Ugh. For the past several days in the late afternoon, there has been this large (200 lbs +) woman in the locker room. With her skinny teenage daughter. And her chihuahua dog asleep on a standard pillow (that she calls her Service Dog, but it's not wearing a Service Vest and doesn't seem to perform any tasks, so it's maybe an Emotional Support pet?) on the bench in front of my locker. My locker which clearly has a lock on it, meaning it's occupied and the owner will return to change clothes. Ugh. There's a bowl of water on the floor. There's a phone charging on the counter along with food wrappers all over in front of the make-up mirror. One day the girl was curled up asleep on the floor under the coat rack. Another day the woman was yelling into the phone about needing a lawyer to sue the police department for not arresting someone eating unpaid-for cookies even though twice officers had been sent to investigate and filed no charges. WTF?

I try to be nice, but not too nice. I get "crazy" vibes from the woman. And "damaged" vibes from the girl. They are polite and social when interacting with me. The woman tries to curry favor by complementing my long hair, and my loose-fitting pants. She announces that she's all about doing charity work so if I ever cut my hair I should donate it to Wigs For Kids. Uh huh. She says this six or seven times. I'm not mean, but I'm not friendly or inviting.

Actually, I'm fighting my inner snark monster. The one that really just wants to shout at them, "Why the hell are you here!?" Because they're not using the gym facilities to exercise, shower and then leave. A girl at the front desk tells me, when I ask, that their contract has been cancelled but it's good until the end of the month. So they won't be here next month. Perhaps they have no place to go, so I feel a little bad for them. But there are other places. Like the library or the laundromat. I'm a gym rat, and even I don't "live" at the gym. For me, the gym is a special place and I'm not happy with people intruding on it. Especially ones that don't respect the gym for what it is.

Wednesday

15 Octane
Default settings
Calories 92
Miles 1.27
Heart Rate Range 108-140 (goal 126)

30 treadmill
Incline 10% Speed 3
Calories 263
Miles 1.48
AvHR 112-129

HGPU 15, 15, 15 (12+3), 15 (60)
M pull ups 7, 6, 5, 6 (24)

Smith RDLs
Bar x 15
60 x 12
80 x 12, m12 x 2
120 x 12
140 x 12

Smith BB Rows
RG 80 x 25 x 3
M 80 x 12 x 3

Lat Pull Downs
75lbs x 12reps x 3

Seated DB Alternating Curls
15lbs x 12 ea x 3 sets
M10lbs x 12, 15lbs x 12 x 2

Push Ups 60
M 35

Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s

Stretch

The Power of Video

My son and I started off the workout with our standard 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill. Most people would say Done, but I'm trying to get my son used to harder, more varied workouts. But even I have to admit that the pull ups were tough! I asked my son to extend his arms a tad more, and warned him that this would make it more difficult. It did. But he still did more than most people in my gym. I honestly have never seen anyone graduate from the Assisted Pull Up machine to doing actual pull ups by themselves.

We agreed to get push ups and core out of the way so we could focus on the Push portion of our routine. Also, the Smith was in use by a guy doing Squats in it. I don't see that very often. Usually guys will do chest or shoulders, but not usually legs in the Smith. My son doesn't like how shaky the left side of the machine is. It is a bit unnerving because it also rattles. But at least it doesn't stick and add drag to the bar! My son matches me for reps until we get to 80 lbs. Then he's stuck at 8, while I knock out 12, and then another set at 90. It's not the heaviest I've ever gone, but it's doable. He rolls his eyes when I tell him 65 lbs with as many reps as he can get, preferably 20, but anything over 12 is great. He gets to 10, pauses then another 5, pauses and then proceeds slowly until he can count 20. Yaaaay!

I let him go off on his own to the Lateral Raise machine and the Leg Press. He comes back while I'm between sets during my DB super sets. Someone is on the Leg Press so I show him how to use the Hack Squat with just the bar and no plates. He does a dozen and then happily notes that the Leg Press is now available. He'd rather do the Leg Press machine because the Hack Squat is a lot harder.

Last are Rip Skulls. I caution my son about positioning the bar over his mouth or throat as he bends his elbows. I'd rather he accidentally bonk his forehead than break his teeth, or catch himself in the throat! It's hard to know the position of your own limbs sometimes. I whip out my phone and start videotaping him so he can see what he's doing. He's aware that I'm recording, and maybe because he's more self-conscious, he actually corrects his form so that his hands come close to his forehead before dropping down behind his head. Perfect. I also show him the magnetic 2.5 lb discs.

We're kind of pooped afterwards, but still do our stretches. My shoulders and back have been knotty lately, mostly because I'm not able to do the same sort of stretches anymore with these abbreviated foam pads. Ugh. Meanwhile, our dog seems a tiny bit better. I've been giving him a tiny dose of CBD oil on ciabatta toast, and oddly, he seems less leaky. His appetite is still off — he doesn't touch his medicated breakfast until mid-afternoon, and his back legs shake and occasionally fail. The King Kanine CBD oil I ordered arrived in the mail today. A therapeutic dose (2.6 ml) is much larger than what I've been giving (0.8 ml) him, and this oil can interfere with prescribed medications. I usually try to give him his toast after he's eaten breakfast and several hours have passed. I probably won't attempt an actual therapeutic dose just yet... maybe work up to it in small increments?

Today, my son and I went to see Crazy Rich Asians. It was quite a spectacle! I might have to watch it again, if only because it's so hard to catch all the details of the sumptuous decor and exhilarating scenery. I've never seen Singapore except in airline commercials. Even my son enjoyed it. And of course, I'm fans of Constance Wu (Fresh off the Boat), Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger), Nick Santos (Super Store), and an Easter Egg with barely recognizable Harry Shum Jr (Glee)...


Pushy Monday

15 recumbent bike
Level 1
Calories 61
Miles 1.68
AHR 106

30 treadmill
Incline 10% Speed 3
Calories 264
Miles 1.49
AHR 115-216 (ridiculous)

HGPU 15, 15, 15, 11.5 (56.)
M pull ups 6, 5, 4, 4 (19)

Push Ups 60
M push ups 35

Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith Inclined Bench
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
80 x 12, m8
90 x 12
65 x 20m, 25

M Lateral Machine
30 x 12 x 3
(Hack Squat bar only 12)
M Leg Press
110 x 12 x3

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
35 x 12 x 3
M20 x 12, 25 x 12 x 2

Stretch

When Cardio Day Means Easy Day

This summer the rains have brought absolutely no relief from the heat, and certainly not the humidity. My son tells me that being outside feels like walking through warm soup. He's got that right. It's extra hard on the senior pup. He's much happier inside with the a/c, except when he's hot on the trail of a feral feline. This morning we came face-to-face with a regular my son has named "Dave." We're pretty sure "Dave" has an owner since he appears well-fed and groomed. But he's collarless, and out all day and night. A dead gray mouse in the road with a splash of crimson means the cats have been playing. There's more than one roaming about and we sometimes hear angry hisses and growling. The dog is happy to lay down on his bed with his nose pressed up against the storm door where he has but to barely lift an eyelid to gaze down the driveway.

I let my son sleep in while I start laundry and dishes, and wipe down the dog. Even with a pee-wrap, he's still messy and smelly. And the wrap itself has to be rinsed clean of old urine before being tossed in the washer. The dog's not interested in his breakfast this morning. Hopefully his appetite will improve after we've left for the gym. I put a dose of CBD oil on some toasted ciabatta yesterday after I saw that the pup had finally eaten his breakfast. He seems to like the fishy krill oil smell. Afterwards, he slept quite soundly in front of the door all night. That might be from the lavender essence it contains. Normally he paces around the house for a bit. I ordered some CBD from the online source my friend uses. I'm a bit concerned that the dosing chart is different online than what she showed me. But she's using it for her ailing cat. I'm fairly certain that the small amount I'm giving my pup is fairly harmless. And if it relieves his discomfort, well great!

My son is happy that Fridays are cardio days, because he finds them less taxing. I tell him we'll do the machines we haven't been on in a while.

Meanwhile, my left hand aches because it's swollen between the thumb and pointer. I suspect an insect bite, but I don't really find any wounds. I have lots of tiny itchy bites from gnats, mosquitoes and no-seeums, but they never swell like this. The last time I remembered a bite like this, it was a fly who bit the back of my hand as I was standing on the commuter train platform, reading a newspaper. My whole hand swelled like a makeshift balloon made from a rubber glove. After 3 days, I had to go to the doctor who gave me antibiotics and that worked. I hate flies, especially biting ones!

We do the cross-trainer for 20 minutes, then the Step Mill. Finally, we're on the Expresso Bikes. I play the Dragon Island game but my son selects a regular course. He doesn't like the difficulty pedaling up the hillside to chase the dragons. I tell him he doesn't have to pedal uphill. He can just stay on the paths, but there's no fun in that. I find the regular courses boring. I don't want to constantly shift gears and focus on steering around curves, or other cyclists. I'd rather chase floating coins and dragons and occasionally pick up a treasure box worth 5,000 points. Coins are only worth 250 points, and dragons vary, depending on what color. White coins let you chase a Silver dragon, worth 1500 points. Green coins let you chase a green dragon worth 750 points. There are also blue and red coins, and dragons. Today I manage to find 3 treasure boxes, but I slipped into the water chasing a red dragon and lost 1,000 points which I then made up by running down 4 coins with only 36 seconds left in the game. I have a lot of fun doing this.

Afterwards, we stretch and then do our pull ups. My son tries HGPUs and says they feel easier. I agree, and explain to him how the change in grip position affects the forearms and elbows. They're easier, but my son reverts back to regular pull ups for his last set. It's totally fine. Maybe he'll develop some killer forearms? My swollen hand doesn't really seem to impede my grip on the Stretch Cage so I'm happy about that. Cognizant of my tendency to keep my arms extremely bent, I drop a little more on the extension so that I can look up and see the cage top bars. Counting aloud helps with breathing. I'm so spent that my I mark my very last rep of the very last set as a 1/2. My son tells me that I can just do another 1/2 rep and call it a day. What a wise guy!

We do push ups and core in the class room. We're both tired and spend more time chatting than usual. While I'm taking a few selfies, my son decides to bounce on one of the balls in the rack, as if it was a Hoppy Ball. By this time, the swelling in my hand has subsided quite a bit. It's not quite normal yet, but it doesn't hurt as much. Hopefully it'll be totally gone by tomorrow.

The Hillywood Show released their new Supernatural 2 parody, and it's done extremely well, with cameos from all the major characters from the actual show. That's soooo impressive. But I'm afraid I don't like it as much as their original Supernatural parody, which brilliantly spoofs Taylor Swift's Shake It Off. This second version sings the Ghost Buster's theme song to Winchester. You know where to put the emphasis! I'd share the clip here, but they've nicely asked that no one copy their work to any social media, so I won't. But I will give a link to their YouTube page here for you to check it out. If you're a fan and have followed the show, the pizza delivery scene is priceless! For non-fans, this won't make a whole lot of sense, except as it loosely follows the Ghost Busters script. And yes, I enjoyed both the original, and the recent remake.

Cardio Friday

screengrab from Hillywood Show Supernatural Parody 2

20 x-trainer
Level 1 Manual
Miles 2.15
Calories 157

20 StepMill
Speed 3 for 7min, 5 for 13 min
Floors 54
871 Total Steps
Calories 132
AHR 121

20 Expresso Bike
Dragon Island
Points 132,550
Miles 3.19
Calories 65

HGPU 15, 15, 15, 14.5 (59.5)
M pull ups 10, 8, HGPU 10, 5 (33)

Walking Lunges 32
M 26

Push Ups 60
M 30

Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20

Stretch

Humpty Dumpty Day

Neither my son nor myself felt particularly energetic when we got to the gym Wednesday afternoon. I'd already spent half the morning cleaning up the dog, and the kitchen. It's not his fault his bowels have been upset. Again, he'd been wearing a full diaper (as opposed to an incontinence wrap) so he he was doubly messy. I don't think it's the food. What I suspect, but I'm not willing to drag the poor pup off to the vet to confirm, is that not only is he losing muscle control in his nether regions, but perhaps he's got internal lumps. That would explain why he starts to leak as he's eating, with the stomach pressing against his bladder, sort of like what it was like when I was pregnant with my son.

I'm going through a lot of newspapers on the floor, and a lot of pet-friendly wipes. The Earth Bath brand smell the nicest but they're expensive. The cheaper Nature's Miracle brand doesn't smell as good, and consequently, the pup doesn't smell as good. Actual baby wipes are cheaper yet, but I'm not really sure how canine-safe they are since dogs seem to be sensitive to things we humans take for granted as being edible, like coffee, chocolate and macadamia nuts.

A friend recommends trying CBD oil. Online literature suggests that it can soothe pain, increase appetite and ameliorate pancreatic and liver issues. Sounds a bit like snake oil. Because it's derived from hemp, there's no danger of the pup getting high. He's already dazed and confused as it is, no doubt having canine senior moments. Of course, traditional vets can't make any recommendations for alternative treatments since there's not enough published, hard-science testing. Everything is anecdotal. Nor are there standards for quality of oils available. How do you know you're actually getting what you ordered?

On the other hand, I don't see my pup recovering from these age-related indignities. He's becoming more agitated. Today he wouldn't eat, vomited bile from not eating, and again had a few accidents in the house. I'm definitely going to look into the CBD oil, because I don't think it will make the dog worse, and it might make him more comfortable. I know this is probably his last summer.

At the gym, we decide to do the Octane cardio machine first, and then the recumbent bike. I'm having trouble with my wired headphones. We're both hot and sweaty when we approach the Stretch Cage. My son has a better-and-yet-worse pull up form than I do, but I only know this because I shot a video of him (I tried to post the video but it wouldn't upload properly) to show him his one leg forward position. Then he used my phone to do one for me. I can see that my movement is still very limited. My son has better range with a fuller extension. I'll have to work on my form on Friday!

Our arms are tired so we agree to only do a set of push ups before hitting the weights. Core can wait until we're ready to stretch at the end of our workout! The Smith machine is still noisy but somehow the glide is smoother. Maybe someone squirted a bit of WD-40 into the tracts? We get to 80 lbs when my son decides he's had enough. His arms are tired. I add weight and do a set at 120, then another set at 140. My son asks me "Why?" I can't just say "Because" so I give him the full explanation of what it's like to get older and not be in shape. He sort of already knows this, but I tell him that I want to live to be old, but not crippled or frail, and especially not losing my mind. I tell him I want to be one of those "pain in the butt" seniors, sharp as a tack and able to take care of myself. He nods because we both remember how his paternal grandparents declined both mentally and physically.

I almost forget to do BB rows. My son does them overhand, first with gloves then without. He hasn't quite decided whether he likes them or not. I do mine underhand to work biceps with the back. The overhand mostly stresses my son's forearms. Sometimes I can't believe he's only 13. True, he hasn't reached his full height yet, but structurally, he's got very sturdy proportions. I'm extremely happy he's not cursed with the Southeast Asian body type: long torso and short limbs.

My son excuses himself to use the bathroom so I take this opportunity to find a neutral grip handle for the lat pull down station. Unfortunately, the handle I choose has rubber grips that seem sticky. I spray them and wipe them off, but that only helps a little. My son would rather use the regular bar but I tell him we're using this one. I need him to slow down. Well, at least this handle has a set hand width. We also do Seated Cable Rows. I know he can move more weight, once his forearms catch up. Because it's always his forearms that get tired.

We have a lot of trouble doing Side Planks in the classroom, mostly because we're tired and it takes a bit of effort to maintain the odd position. Behind us, two men are doing walking lunges with BBs on their shoulders while talking loudly. Well, they're probably speaking in a normal tone, but the class is empty and echos. And it's really only one guy doing walking lunges across the room, because his buddy is merely stepping forward, then stepping back.

Bird Dogs are somewhat easier, but still a bit of a challenge. It's a relief to lay down and do Bicycles and Crunches! My son's hip stretches are getting a tiny bit better, but he's definitely lost the flexibility he had as a 5 year old. His warts also seem to be spreading, although he concedes that some seem to be insect bites because not only are they smaller, they itch. Molluscum contagiosum doesn't itch. If anything, my son seems addicted to using hand sanitizer these days, just so as not to spread the warts any further. Sometimes, a little OCD is a good thing.


Hump Day Wednesday 

15 Octane
Calories 125
Miles 1.38
AHR 119/138 maxHR
Strides 1966 / 32 fl

15 recumbent bike
Level 1
Calories 61
Miles 1.45

HGPU 15, 15, 15, 15 (60)
M pull ups 5, 5, 10 (20)

Push Ups 60
M 30

Smith RDLs
Bar (30) x15, m15
50 x 12, m12
70 x 12, m12
80 x 12, m8
120 x 12
140 x 8

Smith (RG) BB Rows
Bar (30) x 15
70 x 25, m12
80 x 25 x 3, m 80 x 12 x 3

Lat Pull Downs
Neutral wide grip handle
(both of us)
70lbs x 12 x 3

Seated Cable Rows
(both of us)
60lbs x 12 reps x 2
70 x 12 x 2

Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20

Stretching

Hitting the Reset Button

After a reasonably nice weekend where it only rained for a few hours instead of all day, the weather has reset itself and we are once again deluged with Flash Flood warnings. But at least the temps have dropped and I can just run a fan instead of the power-mad a/c. The dog had to readjust to the chaos of having a full house again as soon as my son and husband returned from Boy Scout Camp. I think I've done at least 6 loads on laundry since they got home. The dog's digestive system seems to have calmed down, but I was worried this morning when his diaper seemed a bit too dry. Not that I'm happy about his soggy nether regions, but you always have to take note when there's a change.

The dog looked unhappy but he still went for his walk. However, he wouldn't eat his breakfast. I put a frozen loaf of ciabatta into the oven to freshen the crust. Normally he'd go crazy just based on the scent of fresh-baked bread. He took one small slice but nothing more. All his medications were mixed into his breakfast bowl. It's not unusual for him to let food sit for hours until he's finally desperate enough to eat. He just sat staring out the front door, looking sad. I had had my coffee and was washing my vitamins down with some strawberry yogurt. Normally I let the dog lick the foil cover but today he wasn't interested. He has a sweet tooth though, so I scraped my finger against the foil and wiggled it in front of his face. He licked the yogurt off. I offered my finger again with just a bit more yogurt. It's not enough dairy to cause any lactose problems, but just enough to reset his appetite. After an hour, he got up and polished off all the food in his bowl. Whew.

My son and I got to the gym really late today. It was nearly 2 pm and pouring. People I've associated with early morning were also showing up mid-afternoon. We settle on the recumbent bikes, and I discover that my bluetooth earbuds no longer work. Ugh. I leave all my stuff on the bike and rush back to the locker room to grab another pair of ear buds. I have another wireless pair, but they're old and refuse to pair with the iPod. Grrrrr. Finally, I grab a pair of wired Skull Candy earbuds and plug them in. Now I have to attach the iPod somewhere on my clothes! Ugh. Riding the bike and walking on the treadmill are both mitigated by having a TV monitor with close captioning. I get to watch Supernatural, and even though I've seen every episode, there are so many seasons that I have no problem watching them over again. After all, they've got 300 episodes aired so far, with season 14 about to start in a few weeks.

I make a point of disconnecting from my tunes as soon as we're ready to do other things. Like pull ups. Otherwise I'm speaking too loud, and there's no reason for that. The gym is playing a weird assortment of tunes today as I hear Voulez Vous Coucher Avec Moi Ce Soir. My son is trying to figure out what their shtick is since it's not Throwback Thursday, or Country Western Wednesday. I tell my son that we're hitting the reset button on Pull Ups. Now that we know we can knock out reps, let's focus on better quality. I ask him to let his arms extend a bit more. He doesn't drop into a full extension but part of that is because he's tall enough to worry about his feet while pulling himself up outside the edge of the Stretch Cage.

I tell him "just do 5" and he does. He agrees that having arms less bent is harder but he can do sets of 5 okay. I manage to do sets of 15 with a partial extension. I already know that my elbows and forearms suffer tendon damage that will last for days from full extensions. It's not worth it! I can breathe until I reach 15 reps. Weird, right? Analyzing my routine, I see that when I start to tire, I shorten the distance by keeping the elbows more bent, but this cuts into inhalation time, so I'm consequently breathless. I'm better off dropping the reps and taking full breaths. I'm not panting between sets anymore and I feel better. Of course, I've also cut my reps down by a third (from a total of 70 to 53)!

We decide to go straight to the Smith and save core and push ups for later. Later, we realize that it's a mistake to leave these movements for the end, when we're tired and our arms are shaky! Well, my arms aren't, but I don't tell my son that. The Smith is in desperate need of servicing, or at least having the tracts cleaned. The bar sticks in the track and feels heavier than usual. Maybe it's not even counterbalanced anymore? At one point, my son sets the bar higher than I can reach and I start laughing.

Meanwhile, he spies an odd insect on the floor next to the equipment and stoops to take a few pictures with his phone.
"What is it?' he asks.
"I have no idea. Grasshopper?"
"No. It doesn't hop. It crawls. Weird."
"But look at those long back legs. Like a grasshopper."
"I think it flies," he says and just then it takes off and flutters away.


My son uses two Cybex machines (deltoid raises and leg press) while I knock out my DB supersets. This week I've moved up to 20s. I tell my son to wipe down everything before he gets on because I just read an article about all the nasty germs resident on gym equipment, with the surprise being that the leg press seems to have more nastiness than many of the other pieces. Weird and gross. There are a lot of guys in the free weight area, but I've seen most of them before. They have to know that this is my son with me. No issues.

I give my son the choice between skull crushers or V-bar press downs. He chooses the latter because he's never done them before. I can see from across the gym that 1) that station is free and 2) the V-bar is already attached. I won't have to chase down a box to stand on to put on the proper handle. Whew! We manage to slip a 5 lb block sideways onto the stack halfway through our sets. I have to admit that my son is pretty good at following directions. He doesn't show a lot of enthusiasm, but that's just how he is. I tend not to look overly enthusiastic either. But I smile a lot more when he's with me.

Tomorrow, if I don't have jury duty, we're going to see the Pooh movie. I've already seen it, but it's sweet enough that I'd see it again. I called the Court House to find out if I need to show up tomorrow. No one has changed Friday's message, which tells prospective jurors that no one is needed for Monday, but only Monday. Call back after 5 pm each day! But, no one has updated the message. I know because I've called 5 times already. Ugh. Seems reasonable to assume that there's no jury selection happening tomorrow.

Reset Monday

15 recumbent bike
Level 1
Calories 60
Miles 1.57
AHR 100

30 treadmill
10% Incline / 3 Speed
Calories 264
Miles 1.49
AHR 119 (74%) / max HR 175!!!

Reset HGPU 15,15, 15, 12 (57)
M 5, 5, 5 (15)

Smith Inclined Press
(sets for both of us, unless otherwise noted with an M)
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
80 x 12 (me only), M 80 x 8
90 x 12 (me only)
60 x 25 (both of us)

M Lateral Machine
30lbs x 12 x 3

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20lbs x 12/15 reps x 3 sets

Cable V-bar Press Downs
20lbs x 12 (both of us)
30 x 12, M12
35 x 12 (me)
M25 x 12 x 2
40 x 12 (me)

Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20
Push Ups 50, M20

Stretch

Let's Have Fun Today

The dog was unusually restless this morning. The click-clack of his toenails on the floor woke me up before I was really ready. I heard him barf in his crate and I shuddered. Uh oh. There seem to be bread crumbs in his crate. Weird. He's still not feeling well. Yesterday he'd had the worst case of poops in a long time. Luckily, (for me, but not for him) I'd tried out the new washable dog diapers I'd recently purchased. So the mess was confined to his butt and personal area. I didn't even bother to consider washing the diaper out. It was THAT disgusting! I just threw it away and proceeded to wash the dog's hindquarters with warm water and a cleaning rag. Eventually he was clean, but it doesn't last. He leaks when he sleeps and usually there's some part of him wet from all that... Poor guy.

The diapers come three to a package, but the elastic tail hole seems very unforgiving. It would've been better if there had been a velcro closure for the tail, to accommodate different tail thicknesses. The dog hated having me pull the diaper up his tail to get it on him. I suspect it's too tight. I'm half-tempted to snip it with a scissor but then I'd have to sew super strong velcro closure tabs to it in order for it to be secure when he lays down, or rolls around on the floor. And I don't think I'm a good enough seamstress to pull that off. Plus, the fabric might unravel during washing. I haven't decided how to remedy this yet...

I'm not sure if it was the supermarket "artisan" bread that had no ingredient label, or the single slice of deli-style Carolina Honey Turkey that made him sick. The label said turkey, but it looked a lot like ham. And ham has a very high fat content. Since the dog has pancreatitis, he can't process fats. Usually bread and turkey are okay. I ate the Honey Turkey slices for dinner last night, using it to roll bunches of arugula and dab in mustard. It was pretty tasty. I gave the dog toast after he picked at his dinner. He doesn't like any of the medications I give him. When his stomach is acting up, I put a 1/4 tsp of Tylen powder in his food. Yet another thing he turns his nose up at. No labrador in him, that's for sure, because labs eat everything.

I go out to the kitchen and find that the water bowl is stone dry. He doesn't even wait for the bowl to fill, sticking his head under the running water while he laps noisily. I take him for a walk because he still has to pee. He's old and sloppy, so at the end of each walk, I have to rinse out his butt harness, as he's inevitably soaked the front end with urine. Usually the other harness is dry by the time I hang the wet one up outside. The dog falls asleep in front of the door without even touching his breakfast, which contains his pulverized pee pill (Proin) and joint pain (Metacam) drops. I feel bad for him, but I know he still enjoys his walks, barking at cats and delivery people, and eating ciabatta toast. So, life's not totally horrible. The back left leg is deteriorating, and he swivels to the right a lot. But he can still walk around the house as long as I have sporadically-placed floor mats scattered about to give him additional traction when he needs it.

I've ordered two more "male dog wraps" for incontinence. The dog seems to be getting leakier as he ages, so I'll need extras to keep the house from becoming totally disgusting. It's bad enough that I feel like the house smells like we have a puppy. Yuck. Right now I only put the wrap on him at night, when he's deep asleep. This has kept me from stepping into assorted wet spots throughout the house when I get up in the morning. I've never had this issue with any of my previous dogs, but they've also all been females. And spayed females are famous for incontinence, but this dog is still the leaking pee king. He's not even a big dog at 63 lbs, but measurements suggest I buy size XL because of his 28" waist.

The weather is cooler today, with less humidity. It's actually pleasant outside! Still, I go to the gym and it's nearly noon. There's hardly anybody there because not only is it Friday, but it's a nice Friday and if I were a runner, I'd probably be running outside. Forecasts is for storms this weekend. Of course. I had toyed with the idea of doing a combo Cardio and Push/Pull, meaning Smith Bench press, Smith RDL, and Intervals. But I just wasn't feeling it. Since there's a chance I won't get to the gym at all next week if I get selected for Jury Duty, I figure I'd do the things I like but hadn't gotten around to this week. That would be Intervals, Step Mill and the Expresso Bike. And a few Pistol Squats because I can't even remember the last time I did those!

I'm a lot more cautious doing Intervals, but it's not nearly as much fun when you have to work at keeping your heart rate low. I'm constantly having to slow myself down! I'm not sure if it's me or the heart rate sensor, but today I noticed that my HR appears to slow down during the high intensity cycle, and then speeds up afterwards. Like it's playing catch-up. Or the sensor is. Well, at least I don't actually hit my maximum heart rate of 167.4 bpm, or exceed it. That's new for me. I only do 20 minutes instead of the usual 30, as I plan to also do 20 minutes on the Step Mill (instead of 15), and 20 on the Expresso (instead of 15). That's a full hour of cardio exercise! And I'm not forgetting pull ups, push ups and some basic core.

At the Stretch Cage, I find that I can't actually inhale during the last 5 reps of each set, hence my gasping afterwards. Keeping my elbows bent makes me feel a little like SpongeBob during his driving test...


But I've watched videos of others doing pull ups, and half of them (like one of the Buff Dudes) keep their elbows bent like I do, so I don't feel quite so bad... I decide today that 70 is quite enough anyway. On the Expresso Bike, I thoroughly enjoy the Dragon Island game and could probably go for longer than 20 minutes. At one point, I find myself singing along and laughing with my tunes while I'm pedaling furiously. It must make a peculiar sight, but I don't really care what anybody thinks.

In the classroom, I see Little R doing basic elbow planks. He doesn't even use one of those foam mats. When he steps out, I do a few Pistol Squats. I'm out of practice, and they feel hard as my extended quad clenches when I push up on the one leg. Sweat is dripping off my nose, but at least I remembered my little white hand towel to drape over the mat. I knock out my push ups, planks and crunches. I'm soooo done! It feels like it's going to rain, even though the sun is blazing. Ugh. The boys come home tomorrow... I have to shop for groceries so there'll be dinner on the table for them. Neither of them is going to want to eat lentils and rice for supper, so that's what I'm making tonight.

Friday Cardio

20 elliptical + 5 cd
Intervals
Calories 227
Miles 2.04
AHR 134 (80%) /162 (oops! 96%!!)

20 StepMill
Level 3
Total Steps 749
Floors 46
Calories 117
HR 136 (81%)

HGPU 25, 20, 15, 10 (70!)

20 Expresso Bike
Dragon Island
Points 93,430
Calories 53
Miles 2.93

Push Ups 60
Pistol Squats 12 total

Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Bicycles 50
Crunches 30/20

Quick stretch