When a 14-year old boy says he's interested in taking an excursion with his mom to see art, well, best to strike when the iron's hot. True, he's neither a macho sports kid nor a fussy clothes-horse, but I was still a bit surprised (and pleased) that he wants to go. It's been a while since I've taken the train during the week, and now I have to figure out where I'm going to park my car since there's a dearth of spots near the commuter stations. (And hell no, I'm not ever driving into NYC.) Then there's which subway to take, which station to make the proper connection since there's no direct route, and what else is in the area we will be visiting. Yeah, I'm a bit compulsive. I'm like this when we go on vacation too. It's exhausting. But it's extremely productive.
It's the way I am at the gym too. That probably makes me somewhat unapproachable, which I don't think is a bad thing, at least from my point of view. I get a lot done, and I like to think that that's the reason I have visible results. Or I could be wildly delusional, and blame it all on my genetics. The gym is busy today with a lot of regulars and a few new faces. One woman stares at me while I'm moving some DBs around. She's probably just staring at my arms. Because none of the other gym rat women have arms like me. Not even close. It's not Arm Day, it's Push Day.
Loud Goatee has beaten me to the Smith so I do a few sets on the Incline Bench. I don't have the safety of a fixed bar so I can't use my standard thumbless grip. That puts a lot of focused pressure right on my tiny bony palms. And I'm almost too short for this bench. I'm also having a bit of trouble with my breathing again since I can't seem to inhale when the bar descends. That's what you're supposed to do: inhale with the descent, and exhale with the ascent (or push). The bench angle is fixed. There are only two stays on the rack so there's a lot of non-adjustable factors here. With heavier weight, I run out of breath by rep 8. I only go to 85 lbs here instead of the 90 I use at the Smith machine. And because a free-standing bar is more difficult to handle than a fixed bar, I only use 55 lbs instead of 65 for the high-rep last set.
Big Tank, M, Lazy Pedals, Loud Goatee, and a few others have gathered around the fixed barbell rack. Even Big Eagle is here this morning. They're all working out but spend time more gabbing than anything else. I move quickly from Incline Benching to the DB supersets, using the same bench because there aren't any others available. Again, I toy with the idea of using 25s but stay stubbornly with the 20s. I'm worried about the elbows. Rip Skulls don't do those joints any favors. I'm constantly thinking about dropping the reps for each set, but I muscle through anyway, in spite of my misgivings. I'm good at ignoring that little voice in my head. I tend to ignore everyone else as well. It's the only way to be happy. And I'm very happy once I'm warm again.I've cooled down a lot so it's hard to get back on the elliptical for the last cardio session. As I warm up, I speed up and sing along to my tunes. Luckily, no one else is on any of the cardio machines surrounding me. I feel really good when I'm done and ready to stretch my shoulders, back, hamstrings... But I might be sore tomorrow when we trek all over Industry City.
Another Humpday Push
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 2.64
HR 134-186 (97)
Cage Stretch
HGPU 23
Push Ups 60
Crunches 30/50
Scissors 50
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Breaker Inclined Press
Bar (45) x 15
65 x 12
75 x 12
85 x 10 (out of breath), 8, 8
55 x 25
DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20 lbs x 12/15 reps x 3 sets
Rip Skulls
40 lbs x 12, 12, 12
20 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 3
Miles 2.07
Calories 233
HR 154-194 (84)
Mat Stretch
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