Another Pull Day

It's cold but not frosty. Although the day starts off bright (eventually, when the sun rises), clouds roll in and the sky darkens. A nor'easter is headed down from Canada late this afternoon and promises to bring torrents of rain and a lot of wind. Oh well. Bye-bye lovely Autumn foliage!

It takes me a long time to get myself ready to do cardio. I'm tired and sleepy even though today I actually poured my reheated coffee into a to-go mug and sipped it in my car. Tuesdays are killer for getting to bed on time. But, as always, once I get going, I'm good. Pullups feel awesome, especially when I can stabilize myself and keep from swinging by crossing my ankles and pulling my feet up behind me slightly so that my body forms a sort of triangle, with my arms at the apex, and my knees the widest part at bottom.

I had to adjust my posture during elbow planks. A mild lower back ache meant I wasn't positioned properly. It wasn't visible in the aerobic room wall of mirrors, but what I thought was straight wasn't. I had to raise my hips higher just a tad and then everything felt okay. But I'm getting bored with crunches, even with legs aloft. I remember when those used to be hard!

The Smith machine is empty so I do a few sets of RDLs, again limiting myself to just 100 lbs. I should do 110 just to get to body weight, but that's for next time. The RG BB Rows are routine. The Seated Cable Rows are also routine. I use the 7.5 lb brick instead of the 5 lb one and skip a set. I should probably figure out what I can use to do Thor's Hammer for forearms. I viewed an article in T-Nation demonstrating it but I haven't seen any appropriate equipment. You really need something hammer-shaped for it to work. A dumbbell, plate, or weighted bar isn't going to cut it.


I skip the last cardio session again. I'm a lot better but not fully recovered yet. And my weight seems on track so I should be able to wear my winter clothes after all. Yaaaay me!

Nor’ easter Wednesday Pull
30 elliptical + 5cd
Program 3
Miles 2.90
Calories 325
HR 152-200 (80, 85)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 22

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches Legs Up 60
Horizontal Scissors 60
Crunches knees bent 60
Bicycles 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith RDLs
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12, 12, 12

Smith RG BB Rows
80 x 26 x 3

Seated Cable Rows
70 x 12
77.5 x 12
85 x 12
90 x 12

RG BB Curls
40 x 25 x 3

Quick Mat Stretch

Here's a total non sequitur. Sometimes, I really hate this software I installed, Grammarly. It's fine for mundane things like spellchecking or reminding you to add that Oxford comma. But more than half of its error-catching are mindless AI rules that don't make any sense in context because the software isn't very sophisticated. Every week I get an email asking me to upgrade to the premium software, which of course, costs money. But since I don't really trust this software, there's no way I'm upgrading. Because you can't argue with dumb software. And when I say dumb, I mean, limited. I'll post a few examples just to let you see what I mean. There's no way for the software to learn your "style" and it will change/correct all your sentences until they are bone-dry correct and devoid of any flavor. You can click "ignore" but it will persist and repeatedly flag the same "error" over and over again. Then, your choice is to ignore it, or give up and change your wording. 

The phrase "in sight" as in
"no one in sight" gets flagged
for spelling. But "insight"
doesn't make any sense. And I
don't want to say "within sight"

I aim a fan. Nope.
Grammarly doesn't understand that.
However, I can be a fan.