Every Day Feels Like Monday

Adhering to a traditional 3-day-a-week, aka Monday Wednesday Friday, workout schedule is having unintended consequences. But since this is "new" to me, perhaps I'll be able to adapt without feeling as if every gym day is Monday. Yep, when I take Tuesday and Thursday off, the following Wednesday and Friday feel like I've just gotten up after a long weekend hibernating. I feel much better if I've been to the gym the day before so recovery time has nothing to do with it. However, weird as it sounds, it's not uncommon. There are countless message boards filled with discussions of the same phenomenon. 

My favorite suggestion is that fatigue is caused by the body being in a deeper stage of recovery, only noticeable after a rest day. A lot of athletes agree that spending a rest day doing nothing actually makes everything feel worse. Light exercise that warms the body up and gets the blood moving seems to be the most beneficial. I like to think this aids in flushing the muscles of the protons that cause acidosis (that burning sensation in your muscles) and increases blood flow to provide nutrients and oxygen critical to complete cellular repair. 

My least favorite advice states that discomfort is caused by inflammation, so that should be eliminated by whatever means necessary. Personally, unless you're in so much pain that you can't walk, you should work through it. A little discomfort is no reason to go running for the ibuprofen, which appears to inhibit muscle repair and growth. There's also no research that's shown ice baths (aka cold water immersion or CWI) to work, although I do take a cold rinse after a moderately hot shower. But that's mostly so I don't start sweating again once I'm clean. 

Although it seems counterintuitive to have a hard time adjusting to fewer workouts, I know my elbows feel better today. The one stretch that works for me doesn't appear on any of the "fix your tendonitis" sites. Instead, I straighten my arm out in front of me, angled about 30 degrees from my center, shoulder height, bend my wrist up and open my hand wide with the palm facing away from me as if I'm stopping a force field. The wider I spread my fingers, the more I feel the medial epicondylitis at the bottom of my elbow. I close my hand to make a fist, then open the fingers wide again and repeat this motion three or four times. 

A few hours after my workout, I can honestly say that I'm really tired and could use a good nap. I am surprised that I'm not sore after Wednesday's push-up madness. What I felt was an odd fatigue, but only in the shoulders and chest when I did push-ups as part of my core routine. And I didn't feel the fatigue for the second set later in the session. Weird, right? 

I'm also able to do pull-ups without too much elbow distress. Walking Lunges causes me momentary discomfort in my quads just as I finish walk lunging the length of the gym. Lying Leg Curls are always hard and I'm still conflicted about whether this exercise is affecting my IOPs (intraocular pressures). It's hard for me to know and the literature is vague, only mentioning the risk of the Vasalva maneuver, essentially holding your breath to complete a lift. I'm going to be so bummed if it turns out that I have to quit lifting... 

Another Rainy Cardio 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 285
Miles 2.63
HR 132-186 (109, 96)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 25

Push Ups 50
Crunches 30/40
Leg horizontal scissors 50
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

20 Step Mill
Level 3
Calories 114
Total steps 722
Floors 45
HR 129

HGPU 23

15 Octane + 2cd
Default setting
Calories 113
Miles 1.54
Steps 2128
Floors 35
HR 136 -158
(Numb right toes)

HGPU 22

Walking Lunges
30+30= 60

2:1 Lying Leg Curls
30lbs x 10, 9, 8

Push-ups 50
Mat Stretch