Begin Again

Today is the first day of July and the first day I'm taking my son to the gym for the summer. The gal at the front desk is kind enough to suggest a less expensive option than the standard $100 for the "student summer deal." At first, she offers $199 for the entire year, but I tell her that my son will only come during the summer with me since we live the next town over and there's no way he's going to walk to the gym from school during the rest of the year. Then she tells me that I can just pay $20 a month for the two months and the $20 initiation fee. That totals $60, saving me $40. Nice!

My son isn't feeling great as the five days he's had off has really messed up his sleep cycle. He was awake until 5 am (we went to bed at midnight), so me dragging him off to the gym at 10:30 meant he was still groggy and out of sorts. He ate breakfast cereal which was perhaps a mistake because he complained about being queasy afterward. There is also a pool party he wants to attend this afternoon, and I didn't want him too blown out to be safe. Being tired makes you careless.

So not only do I have to modify my workout to accommodate my glaucoma issues, I have to figure out how to make this worthwhile for my son without being too boring or too hard. Even though he's taller and heavier than I am, and considerably younger, I'm still stronger. (And he's no weakling compared to his peers, either!) A lot has to do with the fact that not only have I built up endurance over the years, I've also figured out the best techniques (for me) through trial and error.

We do 33 minutes of cardio. The Precor ellipticals are intermittently occupied (every other one) so I decide we should do the cross-trainers. I've actually never done Norwegian HIIT 4x4s on the LifeFitness cross-trainer before. It's much harder for two reasons. The first, most obviously, is that there is arm motion. You can opt to hold the stationary handles in front, but there are no HR sensors in those. The second, less obvious reason has to do with the actual motion of the pedal. I can feel all my weight pressing onto the balls of my feet as if I were running. It makes for numb toes. The ellipticals allow for a more even distribution of force even as my left foot slides up the pedal. However, my feet don't actually go numb and I wonder if it's due to the SuperBeets, or that I'm doing HIIT cardio with "rest phases" built into the routine. My son is blithely pedaling while plugged into his phone. It's enough that he's moving at a fairly quick pace.

When we finish we advance to the Stretch Cage and then pull-ups. I only get 22 today. My son manages an awkward 10. Of course, he's using an actual pull-up grip and I've got my hammer grip. Still, I'm impressed. There are so many adults who struggle to do any at all. We retreat to the classroom, which is empty except for a lone woman in the corner, doing some arm work with DBs. My son doesn't actually know how many push-ups he can do even though his kung fu class does them in warmups. They just do them until someone says Stop. Today he gets to 30. Again, I'm impressed. We do core and then head back to the free weight area.

The Smith is vacant and I'm debating whether to do a standard full-body 3X a week, or a variation of my own workout. Because my son is still feeling queasy, we do just a few sets of two basic compound movements: RDLs and Inclined Bench Press. Then I tell him we should do some different cardio.

He's game to ride the Octane but I've given that up because the lateral movement is hard on my knees. There are only two StepMills and one is occupied. However, the recumbent bikes are available so we pedal for 20 minutes. He feels better. We do some basic stretching, and then I'm off to shower.

I'm sorely tempted to go to the gym tomorrow just to do the movements I'll skip when I'm with my son, like DB supersets. I'll probably give up kickboxing the Nexersys as well. I think cardio, core and basic compound movements are enough for a 14-year old. Later, I plan to take him to see "Spiderman Far from Home" because I liked the trailer, and Toy Story 4 is probably still going to be sold out (like it was last week).



July 1 Monday Pull

Norwegian 4x4 on the Cross-Trainer
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 261
Miles 3.83
HR 123-154

Cage Stretch
HGPU 22 / Child 10

Child Push Ups 30
Crunches Legs Up 40
Bicycles 50
Crunches knees bent 50
Horizontal Scissors 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith RDLs with Child
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12

Smith Inclined Press w/ Child
Bar x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12, Child 10

20 recumbent bike
Manual level 1
Calories 80
Miles 2.05
HR n/a

Mat Stretch