Exercise As a Remedy for Fatigue

My blue hoodie and my purple tank are NOT
the same color. The camera's got color issues!

My alarm sounds this morning but I don't want to get out of bed. I stayed up late reading several chapters of Carl Hiaasen's Skinny Dip, and now I'm exhausted. I could just pull the covers over my head, except that I know I can't. The child needs to be driven to school, and since I'll be out of the house, well, I might as well head to the gym. Luckily I packed my gym bag the night before. This morning I put an old slow cooker, an oversized rice cooker, and the unused dryer vent in my car, figuring I'll go to Home Depot before the gym, and Good Will afterwards.

Traffic is dreary as everyone is getting on the highway. Home Depot is one of the few stores here open at this time. Contractors get an early start! When I get to the service desk, the woman behind the desk apologizes and tells me that she can't help me. I'll have to come back in 5-7 days. What!? Why? I have my printed receipt from my online order. She says that the system needs to have the installer report that the new dryer vent was not needed. Once the system updates, then she'll be able to take my return and issue a credit. Ugh. She says that this happens all the time, it's a glitch in the system but there's nothing she can do about it. I know it's not her fault. I browse holiday lights instead and buy a box of purple LED mini lights. I've been looking for this color for weeks now.

Surprisingly, I get to the gym on time. I briefly debate whether I should do a cardio day or stick to my "routine" which means another Norwegian 4 x 4. Even though kickboxing the machine was very cardio intensive, it's not the same as pedaling as fast as you can for 60 seconds, followed by pedaling moderately fast. I have no hope of using my heart rate as an indicator as to whether I'm pedaling fast enough. All indications would suggest I'm pedaling too much. Half the time I suspect my Raynaud's is interfering with the readings anyway since my hands and feet tend to go numb when I'm pedaling furiously. I'm sure that impedes the ability to get a proper and accurate pulse rate. My pulse rate drops to its lowest reading during the first minute of the 3rd high intensity leg. And then zooms up past what everyone says my maximum heart rate should be for my age. Uh oh. By this time I've slowed my pedaling, but even keeping my pedaling at a steady clip doesn't keep my pulse rate steady. Nope.

I'm definitely tired and sweaty. I can only do 20 decent pull ups so I quit when I realize I'd be struggling too much to go further. The classroom is full of screaming, dancing women so I do my push ups, crunches and planks in the stretch area near the storage closet. At least it's not crowded today. I'm too tired to look at the T-bar Row station, but the Smith is free. And because this is my 2nd pull day this week, I decide that doing a different exercise is in order.

I haven't done Smith RDLs in months. I'm convinced that going heavy here is detrimental to my IOPs so I'm determined to keep it light. People with glaucoma are often advised against heavy weightlifting. Good thing I'm not a power lifter. Other things we're advised not to do? Oh, things like headstands and downward dogs in yoga. Warming up with just the bar is always weird because the bar just isn't heavy enough for the movement. 80 lbs feels like but 100 feels heavy. So 120 feels heavy and I compensate by cutting the reps back to 8 from 12. Afterwards, I knock out RG BB Rows. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a small Asian woman trying not to stare. She's waiting outside the Spin Class. A lot of older women find the weight area intimidating. They'd rather flock to classes because there's safety in numbers. Personally, I'm not into classes.

I planned to do some Seated One-Arm Cable Rows but the Fat Indonesian beats me to the station. Ugh. There's only two and the other one is also occupied. I hate waiting around so I walk around to the Lat Pull Down. It already has the Close Grip Neutral handle attached. I so surprised that I'm able to pull properly today. This is in marked contrast to Monday's pathetic attempts. However, I'm wary of pushing my luck so I stop at 100 lbs. In hindsight, I probably could've pulled 115 today, properly. But too late now. I'm perplexed, because Monday's workout came after 4 days of rest and lots of sleep, while today's the 4th day working out, and I definitely haven't had enough sleep. WTF? What's really annoying is that the Fat Indonesian walks away after just one set. But, the Lat Pull Downs were better for me anyway.

So of course, my theory is that the body works better warmed up and that means successive workouts in a row. Rest for too many days and it's as if you were sick for a month. Don't be fooled though. I am definitely sore, especially my shoulders, probably from yesterday's whack the machine for 12 rounds. And I plan to take it easy tomorrow by just doing cardio variations. And maybe some core... My weight has stalled at 112.0 lbs so I need to nudge it along.


Work Off Exhaustion Thursday

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 263
Miles 2.52
HR average 139-max 186 (low 110)

HGPU 20

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

Smith RDL very light
Bar (30lbs) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 8 x 3

Smith RG BB Rows
80lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

Lat Pull Downs (close neutral grip)
70 x 12
85 x 12
100 x 12

RG BB Curls
30lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

Stretch