I Meant to Hit Snooze

I haven't been getting the optimal 7-8 hours of sleep a night, mostly because I tend to stay up late watching old TV shows while simultaneously reading. Tuesday nights are the worst because we don't get home from our Scout meeting until nearly 9:30 and there may still be homework due the next morning. This morning, the alarm sounded at 6:30 and I thought I hit the timer for 7 minutes. Normally I'm too worried about sleeping through this next buzzer to actually fall back asleep. Normally, I get up with a minute or two to spare before it goes off. But today, I apparently did not hit the start button, woke up at 6:50 feeling a bit confused, but infinitely more refreshed. A few extra minutes of sleep does wonders! And I still got my son to school on time. Yaaay me!

There's been a lot of news about all the bad things that less than optimal sleep will do to your body. Today, I read about the correlation between bad sleep, i.e., sleep that's not restful, and an increase in blood pressure, which in itself is linked to heart disease and higher mortality. High blood pressure runs in my family so I'm cautious with things that might spike it, like high sodium intake. Vigorous exercise has the benefit of making your body seek deep sleep above everything else, so even when I don't get a refreshing 7-8 hours, the sleep I do get is restful.

I've done HIIT cardio twice this week for warmups, so today I take a break and do Program 3 on the elliptical. It's Cardio Plus Day so I'm not worried about not getting my quota of vigorous exercise for the week. It's a standard routine with hammer grip pull-ups, pushups, core and two more cardio exercises. Cutting back to 3 days a week has definitely improved my pull-ups. My form is infinitely better, my elbows don't hurt as much, and I think I'm actually stronger because of how much easier it is to clear my chin over the bar.

From the StepMill, I can see everyone in the gym. A new face: a young woman, probably college-age, dressed in shorts and a tank with big knee wraps that extend over the lower half of her thighs. She's got an athletic build. At first, I just see her reaching up for the pull-up handles that sit between the two large multi-platform cable stations. She doesn't do any pull-ups, though. Instead, she pulls her legs straight up and out in a core movement. Then she goes to the other side of the gym where the heavy bag is and proceeds to kick, kneed, and punch it after donning large black boxing gloves. She does this for a few rounds. It's nice to see other women do more than just Circuit Training or Cardio Machines. I've yet to see any other woman knock out pull-ups and pushups though.

All the cross-trainers are occupied but the Expresso bikes are not. It's been several months since I've done the Dragon Island game and I'm not sure how hard it's going to be. Well, needn't have worried since it's just as much fun as I remember. Even though I'm mostly doing odd twists and turns to chase floating tokens and dragons, I've worked up a lather. It could just be me.

Pedaling on "rough terrain" during the game puts a lot of stress on the quads. Which makes doing Walking Lunges a bit of a challenge, but I don't fall on my face. Win! I also do my 3 sets of 2:1 Lying Leg Curls. Thirty pounds doesn't seem like much weight, but by set 2 I can feel my leg bicep muscles weaken noticeably after the third rep. This makes all the subsequent reps a real grind. But it's done, and I'm happy. I'm also really hungry.

Another Cardio Plus Friday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 3
Miles 2.87
Calories 321
HR 159-192 (109)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 23

Push Ups 60
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 112
Total steps 709
Floors 44
HR 137

HGPU 23

15 Expresso Bike
Dragon Island
Points 148,330
Calories 53
Miles 2.54

HGPU 23

Walking Lunges
30+29=59

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

Push-ups 50
Mat Stretch