Working Out the Kinks

I shook my son awake so we could get to the gym at a reasonable hour: reasonable meaning before noon. This time I didn't feed him breakfast. This time he wasn't queasy, but he did yawn a lot. I didn't work out yesterday and I won't tomorrow either. I have to learn to accept this modified workout lifestyle but it's been quite difficult to get my mind to accept this body's increasing limitations. 

Athletic extremism might be the new face of a modern mid-life crisis, at least according to an article I just read called Extreme Athleticism is the New Mid-Life Crisis. (Unfortunately, the article is embedded in a subscription service [Medium], but I can provide another link that neatly summarizes it here: https://chrisbowler.com/journal/new-midlife-crisis.) It's not that I'm having a mid-life crisis. I think I might've always been this way, but I've never thought of myself as an athlete before. Yeah, I work out longer and harder than average folks, but that's just me.

All the ellipticals are vacant so my son and I can do our cardio warmup there. It's another HIIT cardio day for me. My son happily pedals while plugged into his phone. We do pull-ups, then he does pushups, then we both do core moves. Some people would be done. I'm just getting started much to my son's chagrin, but he knows better than to complain. I'm also cognizant of his limitations. He's a child after all, and not well-trained. He's not a student-athlete, but he's fairly strong among his nerdy peers.

We skip Smith RDLs because his neck is sore. He thinks it's from Monday's RDLs where I kept correcting his form. Like a lot of boys his age, he spends a lot of time staring down at his phone and his posture is slightly stooped and forward, with rounded shoulders. I know he's not going to be a tall guy, so standing straight with shoulders back is even more important. He thinks it's unnatural to pull the bar up against the front of his legs, thrusting his hips and chest out while pulling his shoulders back slightly. He might change his mind as he gets older. I'm content to have him do RDLs once a week instead of three.

Today we do sets of Smith Inclined Benches. I'm not tall enough to spot him properly at a standard bench and I don't want to take unnecessary chances. When we get to 70 lbs, he's tired after two sets. I'm sure he hasn't noticed that I'm knocking out 25 reps for three sets. Of course, I haven't pre-exhausted myself with push-ups either.

We need to do some back work so we head to the cable station. A girl beats us to the Lat Pull Down so we do sets at the Seated Cable Row. My son keeps his perfect form but isn't sure whether his legs should move like on a rowing machine. They're not. At 70 lbs, he's able to complete three sets but complains that this just makes his arms tired. He doesn't feel it at all in his lats. I don't want to increase the weight until he's figured out how to contract the correct muscles.

The Lat Pull Down station frees up so we adjust the seat and put the pin in at 70 lbs. I think that's too light. We leave the long bar in place but my son's form is sloppy and loose. He's not feeling the right muscles at work. I swap the bar for my favorite, the close grip neutral that is often used during Seated Cable Rowing. Suddenly my son can feel his lats, not just his arms and shoulders. We increase the weight. He's tired after a set at 85 lbs. I move on to 100 lbs but stop short of the 115 lbs I normally do.

Now it's time for some cardio to limber up before a final stretch. My son enjoys the Octane machine. I concede that if I go slow enough, my knees probably shouldn't bother me. They don't and I work up a good lather. The classroom isn't particularly cool, but it's empty and insulated from the piped-in wailing that echoes throughout the gym. I forgot; it's Country Western Wednesday. I don't find songs of heartbreak to be effective workout music, but normally I'm plugged-in to my own tunes. When I have my son in tow, I only use my earbuds when we're doing cardio. During the rest of the workout, I'd rather have conversations with him.

Later, I'm pleasantly surprised in the locker room when the scale reads 109.8 lbs. I haven't worked that hard. Perhaps less is more.

Wednesday Combo

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 299
Miles 2.71
HR 144-192 (87)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 23 / 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 Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 12
50 x 12
Child 70 x 10, 10,
70 x 25, 25, 25

Cable Rows
70lbs x 12, 12, 12

Lat Pull Downs
Straight Handle
Child 50 x 12, 70 x 12, 6
Neutral Close Grip
85 x 12, Ch 70 x 12
100 x 12, Ch 85 x 12

15 Octane + 2 cd
Manual level 1
Calories 109
Miles 1.51
HR 132-187

Mat Stretch