I note the regulars from my perch on the cardio platform while I do my HIIT routine on the elliptical. I wish I could make sense of why my apparent pulse rate starts at 145 when I first get on the machine, peaks near 180, but drops to 105 while I'm three quarters through a high intensity section. It never fails to entertain me though, even if it's befuddling. I only recognize a few regulars, like Nice Goatee, who again looks rather disturbed. Maybe I should rename him? I haven't seen Loud Goatee in a while though. People's schedules change for various reasons.
When I'm done with hammer grip pull ups, I turn and see Ballet suppress a smile to himself. I call him Ballet not because he's particularly graceful, but he's always dressed like a ballet dancer in a simple white T and trim sport pants. I think he's smiling because everyone else is doing assisted pull ups, which is basically not doing pull ups. That machine does not train your body to use the correct muscles, the lats in your back, to pull you up to the bar. Everyone mistakenly believes you need arm strength to pull yourself up, but it's all in the back.
I knock out core movements and then drag an adjustable bench to the Smith. A young man is sitting on the ground inside the adjacent MaxRack cage, looking at his phone between sets of Inverted Rows. I recognize Maroon and a few other regulars. There's a really big guy setting up on the breaker bench behind me. He looks vaguely familiar but I can't place him. I think the fluorescent yellow T he's wearing makes him looking more mountainous than he is.
There are new faces at the gym. Some are older men and some are fat young women who are there with their friends. Because I've adjusted the inclined bench steeper than usual, pressing is harder today. Also, my left shoulder has been bothering me since the middle of the night, for no apparent reason. As in, no apparent trauma, other than the possibility that I slept on it weird. The DB Laterals super set with Reverse Inclined Flyes goes much better. I might think about upping the weight a bit.
I see Big Yellow T trying not to stare. Suddenly it occurs to me that I met this person at the gym holiday party some weeks ago. People looks so different in workout mode, And the only reason he's at the gym now is because the government is in a partial shut down and he's a town worker for a place further south.
I move on to Rip Skulls and worry about my wonky right elbow. Everything is fine until the last set, when I decide not to risk total failure and the potential for injury. A fat older man occasionally stares. He's hopelessly out of shape, but perhaps will gain some inspiration to work harder. I don't acknowledge Big Yellow because I know one of my gym friends, widowed with several boys, found him cute. She told me so at the holiday party. She's a big woman, so naturally she's interested in big guys. Her hubs died a few years ago during surgery for a dissected aneurysm during the holidays. Death is always hardest on the survivors. And while she's not considering ever remarrying, she does get lonely for a little fun and companionship.
The scale tells me I've overindulged because it reads 113 lbs. Yep. Roasted duck legs for Christmas Eve dinner, and venison stew for Christmas dinner. Plus lots of short bread cookies and wine. I'll be at the gym tomorrow, hopefully a tad earlier. Later, we're taking my son to visit a friend at a nearby trampoline place because there are few alternatives to video gaming during Winter break.
Post Christmas 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 271
Miles 3.57
HR 142 / maximum 183 (low 109)
HGPU 20
Push Ups
Crunches 2 x 30
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Smith Inclined Press
(Woke up left shoulder twinge)Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
90 x 12, 10, 8
60 x 25
DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20lbs x 12/15 reps x 3 sets
Rip Skulls
(Right elbow)
40 lbs x 12, 12, 11
Mat Stretch
No comments:
Post a Comment