The kids have gone back to school, and I'm back to my routine of cardio, weights, stretching. I try to get at least two HIIT cardio sessions in a week so today is another Norwegian 4 x 4, followed by a quick cage stretch, hammer grip pull ups and then T-bar rows. Next to me, on the Shrug machine, is Phone Addiction, a middle-age man who spends more time standing in the Stretch Cage staring at his phone than anyone else in entire gym. I'm actually surprised to see him load two 45 lb plates on the Shrug, and then shrug a few times. Up until today, I have actually never seen him move any weight whatsoever. Not sure why he's doing shrugs either.Loud screaming from the Body Pump class warns me not to approach the classroom. I'll do core later. Today I actually remember to grab the close neutral grip handles and affix them to the Lat Pull Down station. These feel so much better than the wider grip bars in that I'm able to engage my lats and back. The wider grip makes me reliant on arm strength, and that's not my purpose with this exercise. I can touch the close grip handle to my chest at the bottom of every rep as I retract my elbows and arch my back, almost squeezing my shoulder blades together. It feels much better, more powerful.
I see Hollywood across from me, doing seated cable rows. And while I recognize people while I'm working out, I'm rarely inclined to break my routine just to talk to them. So I don't. Does that make me anti-social? Or just a gym rat? I get on the other Seated Cable station to do One-Arm Rows with just 30 lbs. But since it's the 4th movement in my routine, my arms are fairly stressed already. The Wraith King and Taz(manian Devil, cuz he looks just like the Bugs Bunny character) are also using this cable station. Taz has dropped a lot of body fat so his arms and shoulders seem extremely well-defined. He doesn't have any glutes or quads though. Just like the Looney Tunes character...
For my last exercise, I take the 30 lb solid BB and stand right in front of the mirrored wall. I try to find a spot between unused machines so that I'm not in anyone's line of sight. Guys at the cable station often check their form while doing tricep press downs or shoulder pulls. They're big enough to see over the equipment between them and the mirrors which are more than 20 feet away. I also don't need anyone except me seeing the grimace on my face as I squeeze out the last reps of a set. Seriously.
Lunch at Florrie Kayes was an adventure. Since it's Restaurant Week, the menu was at a special price. We opted for the three course selection: butternut squash soup with cheddar scone, a main entree and a dessert. I had the Guinness Beef Stew on Mashed Potatoes. My friend had the short rib sliders, and her friend had the acorn squash stuffed with quinoa and herbs. I've had better cheddar scones at Salinger's Farm Bakery. The soup was tasty, but the stew had no gravy. It was just seasoned meat, mostly tender but somewhat dry in spots, atop mashed spuds.
My friend was disappointed that her sliders were also dry. The aioli helped. As far as I can tell, the squash was good. For dessert, I wanted the rum raisin croissant bread pudding, but that was sold out. Instead I got an upside down plum cake with ice cream. It was moist and redolent of sweet ripe plums. My friend was perfectly happy with her tiny pot of chocolate, and her friend got a crustless pumpkin pie, which just looked to me like pumpkin pudding and a gingerbread leaf cookie. There are upwards of 75 types of teas to choose from to go with the meal. I could barely finish my second little teacup of Holiday blend because I was sooooo full. No supper for me tonight. I'll just whip something up for the child after he finishes his homework.I just finished watching the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I have to say that I'd watch the entire series again, but not because of Buffy or the rest of the Scooby gang. It's Spike that makes the show. He has the best lines, with the greatest range of emotions and character development. The series really seems to be about him. I'm still not sure why Angel got his own show, and I'm schoolgirl happy to discover that Spike reappears in season 5 of Angel, which unfortunately was its last season, due to the idiocy of execs at the WB. Angel is kind of boring as a guy, or even as a vampire, unless he's evil Angelus. I've read that at his audition for his role in Buffy, women watching him were left "in puddles" but I just don't see it. Spike, on the other hand, is mesmerizing. And in the end, he's also the hero. Can't say that I saw that coming, but his unrequited love hooks us and we follow.
I can't say that platinum blonde punks have ever been my on my radar as sex symbols. (On the other hand, Billy Idol remains one of my all time favorite singers. Go figure.) Spike, as lovelorn William, is mousy and pathetic. He's not at all attractive. But cut that curly mop and bleach it white, give him a sneering "I don't give a flying f*ck attitude," and I'm not sure why, but suddenly he's hot. What the hell? I catch a glimpse of the James Dean mystique there...
Post-Election 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 265
Miles 2.54
HR 138-190 (105 - 116)
HGPU 23
Push Ups 50
T-bar Rows
Bar x 15
25lbs x 15
45 x 12, 15, 20
Lat Pull Downs (close grip)
70lbs x 12
85 x 12 x 3
Seated 1-Arm Cable Rows
30lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets
RG BB Curls
30lbs x 25, 25, 30
Crunches 30/30
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Stretch
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