Back to That Post-Workout Cold Shower

It's 5F when I get up this morning, a temperature not conducive to leaping out of bed with great cheeriness. I'm also sore, which is unusual because I can normally weather my workouts without much aftermath except for a tendency to get sleepy by early evening. My quads and hamstrings were sore this past Saturday from the Cardio Day workout on Friday. But yesterday's workout had soreness creeping upon me by mid-afternoon. Also extremely unusual considering that I hadn't worked terribly hard or long. (I keep a log just to be able to double-check because memories can be faulty.)

I'm of two minds on this: it means my workouts are kicking my butt which means they're effective (a plus), and I should probably start finishing my post-workout showers with a cold rinse again. It's what I normally do to keep from sweating after a hot shower. It's also supposed to increase muscle-building testosterone, make hair shiny and tighten skin pores. I'm not sure how much of the latter is myth or fact, but it does keep you from sweating as you dress. Lately, the locker room has been frigid so I'm not worried about sweating, I'm just trying to keep from shivering. Which means for the past two or three workouts, I've skipped the cold rinse after a long hot shower. Maybe that was a mistake?

There has been literature of late dismissing the age-old recommendation of applying ice to treat injuries except to numb the area for pain relief. Some sports doctors suggest that ice baths might do more harm than good by slowing the inflammation process that is normal to cellular damage and recovery. If possible, the best therapy is to increase circulation through movement, i.e., "walk it off." Although the idea of lactic acid buildup causing DOMS has been discredited, I'm not quite sure how increasing circulation mitigates the damage caused by micro-trauma (the current theory of what causes muscle soreness) except to provide more nutrition and oxygen for the repair process.

All I know is that I've been skipping the cold water rinse after my workout and I've been oddly sore. I'm sore from my shoulders across the whole upper back, but I don't find it painful or restrictive.

Since the gym is chilly, I warm up with extra exuberance. I've forgotten to wear an extra layer and don't relish the idea of shivering in front of the Nexersys. I can't box with a hoodie on! The machine is extra sensitive today. It's on its last legs and I know it. I do the standard 7 rounds Beginner, patiently waiting for the screen to reemerge from darkness because it blanks over half a dozen times. I also manage quite a few Hitting Too Hard warnings.

I drop the Intermediate Rounds down to 3 and the program tells me that I should do more rounds because I'm not working hard enough. That's because it's counting the dead Lead Dig as a miss as well as any combos that contain a Lead Dig. If this machine had smarter programming, it would realize that no one who uses this machine has ever scored on the Lead Dig because the sensor is dead. But it's not that smart, and Nexersys no longer makes parts for this system.

For my last set, I do 5 rounds at the Advanced Level. The machine switches from Traditional Stance (right-handed) to SouthPaw for rounds 2 and 4 without any notification. Round 2 gets the better of me because I'm still reading the prompts instead of focusing on the color callouts on the avatar. I do better on Round 4 as a Southpaw. The machine tells me to drop rounds and work on my stamina and pacing because my scores are so low. Ha! Well, they'd be higher if the machine would stop changing to SouthPaw every other round.

I make a point of rinsing with mildly cold water after getting the soap and shampoo off. There's no need for shivering just yet. I do that enough just sitting in front of the computer.

(I'm still annoyed with Grammarly. Today it wants me to add an article in front of the word literature. Uh, no. That's not the right context. Just now it told me I'd misspelled the word word and offered to correct it to world. Uh no! Double ugh. At the end of the week, I'll get an email praising me for using unusual words, but then criticizing me for ignoring their corrections. They want me to buy their upgrade. Uh, no thanks. It's like having anti-virus software that keeps flagging your browser as a suspicious entity. Seriously.)

Frigid Thursday
10 min elliptical
Calories 93
Miles 0. 83
HR 164-198 (87)

T, Y & I Raises
5lbs x 15 x 2

Mid-Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15
Cage Stretch

Nexersys FM
Beginner 7r
Intermediate 3r
Advance 5r

Cage Stretch