Halloweenies Workout

It doesn't feel much like a holiday in spite of our window decor and lights. My son won't don his costume until this evening when he goes trick or treating with his friends. I opt to wear a festive outfit to the gym. Very few people are wearing orange. Black is a given though. One woman traipses through wearing glittery bat wings on her way to class. I think my pants make me look like the Hamburgler, but I don't care.

My lower back is still a little stiff so no RDLs today. But I'm okay doing the dread Norwegian 4 x 4s because if there's anything I hate, it's HIIT cardio. So that's what I do first. Like the adage, there's no going around, under or over. You just gotta go through. At least watching the HR display is amusing, especially since cardiac lag means the I get to watch my HR response at least a full minute to 90 seconds after my exertions. It's almost impossible to adjust pedaling speed in order to keep in any "zone." My heart rate drops to its lowest rate (100) not during the 5-minute warm up, but after the first minute of the first high-intensity session. I'm still pedaling at a fairly brisk pace for the next 3 minutes before dropping down to a walk for 3 more minutes. My heart rate might or might not adjust accordingly.

Of course, the fact that the HR says 143 as soon as I touch the handles makes me doubt the machine's accuracy. Or, it could be me. I don't doubt that my HR zooms up well past my theoretical maximum rate of 167.4 bpm. It didn't peak at 200 like yesterday, but close enough...

I'm sure I could've squeezed out a few more pull ups too, but they wouldn't've been pretty. Even push ups were a tad difficult. I also do core before weights, otherwise I might space and forget them. Because my lower back is STILL a bit sore, I decide to do some easy back work today. So low weight and high reps for T-back rows. But of course, the Gym Rat's inner beast kicks in during Lat Pull Downs. The station is already set up with the handle I use, with the seat and plate pin in the settings I use. Weird, or coincidence? The grippy handle is deteriorating and leaves sticky black residue on my right hand. Ugh. Next time I'm going with the all-stainless close grip neutral handle.

At least today I'm smart enough to do One-Arm Seated Cable Rows with super light weight. I finish with a few sets of RG BB Curls. And because I'm such a beast, I increase the reps with each set. My delts are actually a little sore from yesterday, so I guess I'm pretty much back to a normal time-consuming routine. Doing cardio, weights and stretching eats a lot of time. So, maybe I shouldn't try to do this all in the same day? Ugh. I guess I've still got a few scheduling kinks to work out....

Halloween Wednesday
Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 270
Miles 2.55
HR 135-192 (100)

HGPU 21
Push Ups 50
Crunches 30/40
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

T-bar Row (light)
Bar x 20
25lbs x 20 reps x 3 sets

Lat Pull Downs
70lbs x 12
85 x 12
100 x 8, 10, 12

One-Arm Seated Cable Row
30lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

RG BB Curls
30lbs x 20, 21, 25 reps

Stretch