Back to the Back

The dreary drizzle seemed to have kept a lot of people home this morning. Mid-week is usually busy as a lot of folks adhere to a 3x weekly schedule, which means Tuesdays and Thursdays (off days) are normally quieter. Perhaps everyone's caught on now? I still get on the desired elliptical and pedal hard for 35 minutes, usually averaging anywhere from 160 to 180 SPMs (strides per minute). If I were doing Intervals, I'd aim for 190-200+ for 60 seconds before dropping to 160-180 for the next 60, and then 120-130 for the last two minutes before starting all over again.

Just as I approach the Stretch Cage, a senior regular clambers in. These guys take forever to do anything so I don't stick around and wait. I'll come back after I knock out Core in the Aerobic Room. The floppy skinny woman is already there, doing haphazard variations of arm exercises with 5 lb plates and plastic dumbbells. It's not the exercises that I object to, but the fact that she does about 5 or 6 reps while walking backward and forward, and her form is awful. I'm not sure what she's trying to accomplish.

I skip the Sideways Scissors today: they're making my tailbone raw from the friction of rubbing against my sport pants seams. I know you're supposed to place your hands under your butt for cushioning, but my small, boney hands go numb and painful doing that. I also skip Side Planks. My right foot is still feeling bruised and side planks are harder on my feet than any other part of my body. I do pushups and count to 20, then count to 20 again, then count to 10 just because I can. Okay, I'm a little winded at 50.

When I return to the gym area, I see that the Cage is vacant so I do my stretches and pullups. I hate doing things out of order because I worry that the pushups will be so taxing that I'll fail at pullups. Which is silly of course; the exercises impact different muscle groups. Technically, I could call myself done and go home, but today I'm actually going to lift some weights.

I had planned to do Seated Cable Rows first and then focus on Delts like last week, but both cable stations were occupied and I'm not one to share, i.e., you won't see me asking to work in. The Smith machine is vacant. The last person there was doing squats because there's a pad on the bar. There's no bench so I decide to do a few RDLs on a whim. I don't pull more than 100 lbs, but it's been a long time so even that is a bit heavy. At least I can actually hang onto the bar with 100 lbs. If it had been any heavier, I'd be forced to dig my VersaGrips out of my gear bag. I do a few sets of RG BB Rows too.

Now I'm worried I've over-tired my arms before doing Seated Cable Rows. I have a choice of heavy steel close-grip handles, and heavier black steel handles: both stations are empty now. I like the superlight aluminum handles but I'm too lazy to them switch out. I had a lot of trouble getting the carabiner to open last time and my hands are slightly sore today, so I'm not even going to try. Sore hands dog me during my DB supersets as well. I stick to the 20 lb DBs because I don't want to drop the 25s!

Wednesday Back & Bi’s & Delts

30 + 5 cd elliptical
Program 3
Miles 2.96
Calories 335
HR 140-205 (97, 86, 90)

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches 60/60
Bicycles 60
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
PushUps 50

Cage Stretch
HGPU 23

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

Smith RG BB Row
80 lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

Seated Cable Rows
70 x 12
85 x 12
92.5 x 12

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

Mat Stretch