Hard Choices

Fitness health isn't one-size-fits-all even though that would be so much easier. I'm currently debating how to maintain my fitness routine without causing additional damage to my vision. While exercise is generally thought of as healthful (and most of us don't get enough of it), strenuous exercise can cause internal eye pressures to rise, which is something no one with glaucoma wants. Increased eye pressure damages the delicate optic nerve crucial for sight. Once vision is lost, it's not recoverable.

Balance this against recent evidence showing the benefits of intense exercise not just in our telomeres, but in staving off nerve degeneration which might be related to memory-loss and retention. (Click here for the NYT article.) I'm also working hard to keep my blood pressure low as there is a family history of dangerously high hypertension and several premature deaths due to strokes and cerebral aneurysms. Knowing your family history can be scary.

Studies have long suggested that doing only cardio isn't enough to age well because bones need weight-bearing movements to keep their density. I just don't know how much is enough. Today I started cutting back reps on some of the heavier movements but added additional sets elsewhere. And I started the workout with HIIT cardio just to get warmed up. Perhaps I'd be able to lift heavier if I merely did a plain, steady-state cardio warm up for 10 minutes, but I'm not looking to be bigger, or even necessarily stronger. My goals are to maintain decent musculature and stamina, but what I consider "decent" might differ from the average gym rat. And because I'm old ('cuz I ain't a kid anymore), I have to push a little harder just to keep that equilibrium.

The human body is highly adaptive so I'm not surprised that I'm able to do the 4x4 HIIT cardio routine and then lift weights. Muscleheads will warn you not to do this because you'll be too tired to push your hardest afterward. Perhaps. But being big and muscley doesn't mean you're healthy, or even fit. I see the biggest competitors run out of steam during the Titan Games on TV if they haven't trained for stamina.

I only do one set of pull ups today. My legs are still sore from Friday's workout. Those Walking Lunges combined with 2:1 Lying Leg Curls make this morning's HIIT cardio a challenge. In the mirror at home, I can see my right leg is slightly bigger than my left. It's the dominant leg -- when I'm pedaling as hard as I can on the elliptical, it's the right leg that pushes hardest and leads. You can't change "side dominance" in things like cardio, although weights should help to even things out. Of course, I'm not doing one-legged squats but maybe I should?

I get done with push ups and core just as the Boot Camp class starts and I make a quick exit. The Smith is free so once I wrestle the bench into position, I'm ready to go. I'm not willing to let go of Inclined Benching just yet, but worrying about increasing my IOPs causes me not to add 10 lbs and cut the reps to 5. That's what I should do -- bench 100 lbs for 5-8 reps. I've done it in the past, but I was less worried about my eye pressures back then.

I do add 2.5 lb magnetic discs to each dumbbell during my delt supersets. It doesn't feel that different. Maybe I'll move up to 25 lbs next week? I know I'll feel that. Past that weight and my elbows and wrists start to complain -- I don't want to risk injury. I decide to do Rip Skulls even though the elbows have given me warning twinges. My compromise is drop sets and it's only 3 sets anyway.

I see Gym Owner. Sometimes he works out with the rest of us regulars. I'm excited because now I can get him to attach the V-bar to the press-down cable station. He's talking to B when I wave the V-bar handle at him. B says that she also has trouble getting the handle affixed because she's only an inch or two taller than I am. (But I got 20 lbs on her!) He shows us a trick for the height-challenged folks: grab the carabiner clip and pull the cable down, then stick the pin in to keep the cable low while attaching the handle. Cool! I just don't know if I'm tall enough to reach the carabiner clip.

I haven't done V-bar press downs in ages. I add weight and drop reps, then reverse the sequence. What really starts to hurt though are not my triceps or even my arms. Nope. It's the side of my padded glove hands pressing against the metal handle. I have some boney little hands! I know I don't need bigger arms and triceps are two-thirds of your upper arm. Maybe I should do some bicep work? I've been letting all my back exercises serve double-duty by training biceps as well. I don't know that doing curls would serve any purpose, and there's always a concern that my elbows will develop tendonitis. I have such delicate, tiny joints.

Stretching lets me pay specific attention to my shoulders and back. I'm trying to prevent developing too many knots, but I'm a knotty person. I'm probably going to spend tomorrow inside, watching the snow turn to sleet. Winter Storm Maya is coming. Shoveling is a given. There's a good chance school will be canceled and a two-hour delay scheduled for Wednesday, which is the day I'm supposed to get my airbag replaced at the dealership. My brother told me to call them before going because his experience with his old Ford was showing up for a scheduled appointment and then being told that there were no replacements in stock. Ugh. I hope Subaru dealerships are more responsible than that!

Pre Storm Monday
(Sore from Friday)

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 282
Miles 2.63
HR 140-199 (105)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 22

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

Smith Incline Press
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
90 x 12, 12, 12
60 x 25

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

Rip Skulls
40 lbs x 12, 10, 8

V-bar triceps press down
20 lbs x 12
30 x 12
40 x 10
45 x 6
40 x 8
30 x 12

Mat Stretch