Do It Because You Can

It's cold and wet this morning. Cold and wet all day. Temps dropping into the teens tonight. Thank goodness the freshman HS hike has been canceled for tomorrow. The wind chill will make outside feel like single-digit weather. The gym is still being painted. I get on the elliptical and select Program 1, the one I least like. I'll also select it again at the end of my workout, but for 25 minutes (total) instead of 35. The machine isn't sophisticated enough to compress the programmed hills and valleys into the selected time period. It just ends the program wherever 30 or 20 minutes happens to fall. These programs default to 60 minutes, which I've never done. It's clear to me now that there may be portions of the program I've never seen! OMG!

The Aerobic Room is empty except for a middle-aged woman I've never seen before. She's in her socks, dancing to a tune only she can hear with her cushioned headphones. Well, that's different. I do my core workout then head back out to the free weight area. Since it's Tuesday, I figure I have a decent chance of snagging the Smith machine, and I'm correct. However, I don't feel sufficiently warmed up. Pushups were always a great warmup for benching, but now I don't do them anymore and I kind of miss that. The Smith is in need of a good cleaning as the tract feels sticky. Ugh. There's tiny paint spatters on some of the benches as well.

I move into the DB area just as the painter arrives with his ladder and drop cloth. I'd better make this quick! He's painting the edges of the wall that abut the mirrors. The yellow paint is going to need a second coat to cover the splotchy gray underneath. I do most of the DB superset as planned when I remember that I was supposed to increase the weight for the DB Reverse Inclined Flys. Well, better late than never. I'll just tack on a few extra sets of that movement specifically, especially since I have no idea how many reps I can get. It turns out I can get the same number of reps mostly. Hmmm. I'm not sure where that leaves me now with what to do next time.

Rip Skulls are problematic today because all the breaker benches are in use. That means I have to use a regular flat bench. My feet don't reach the ground so for stability, I have to keep my feet on the bench with my knees bent. My left elbow clicks oddly and I worry that the clicking will become painful. I keep trying to adjust the angle my arms descend over my head until the clicking stops but it's futile. There's less noise but it's not totally gone.

At last, I can get back on the elliptical. I'm actually so cooled down that I'm a bit chilly. By the time 25 minutes have passed, I'm wonderfully warm and limber again. I do a quick mat stretch and then it's out into the cold.

Dreary Tuesday Push

30 elliptical + 5cd
Program 1
Miles 2.85
Calories 317
HR 140-191 (85, 105, 84)

Cage Stretch

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches 60/60
Bicycles 60
Horizontal Scissors 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 13
70 x 25, 25, 25

DB Laterals s/s Rev Inclined Flys
20 lbs x 12/20 reps x 3 sets
20 lbs x 12 reps / 25lbs x 20 reps

Rev Inclined Flys
25lbs x 20 reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls (left elbow clicking)
40 x 12, 10, 10

20 elliptical + 5 cd
Program 1
Calories 227
Miles 2.04
HR 135-188 (81, 85)

Mat Stretch