Diving Into the Stair Master

It's been cold and foggy every morning. Not ideal weather but it wasn't actually raining so there's that. Dogs had a great time at the Bark Park. I'm glad they'll at least clean their own feet and legs after I wipe them down. I got to the gym slightly before noon and it wasn't too busy. I see more and more regulars venturing back. Some are cavalier with their masks and others appear to be terrified of even stepping out of the car. 

My right-side lower back is even worse today than the initial twinge yesterday. I've pulled alternating bicycles off the list of core exercises. But the sciatica hasn't been troublesome lately, except when I stand with more weight on the right leg than the left. I'm bored enough to add a few more pushups to the core set. Maybe tomorrow I'll try sneaking in a few hammer grip pull-ups. 

I finally think to pay attention to the StepMill console and notice that the SPM (steps per minute) vary from 45 to 52. It's odd considering I've set the speed to 5 and I actually have no idea how high the setting goes. The number seems to vary with how quickly I place my foot on the topmost step. (I don't know why that should matter though.) 

That variation in SPMs would account for the difference in how many total steps and floors I've "climbed" in the same exact 15 minutes that I do. But why? Shouldn't the number of steps be determined by the speed of the StepMill? It determines calories based on I don't know what since it doesn't ask for my weight or gender unless it's surmising that from me being on the steps but I doubt this machine is that sophisticated. It's actually pretty old. 

I search the internet when I get home and don't find any answers. What I do find is the idea that maybe I'm going a bit easy on myself. Well, that's a bummer. Looking through several websites, I read that moderate to intense should be 60-70 steps per minute if not greater. Ugh. That means I'll be clicking that button up to speed 6 or 7, for a few minutes anyway. 

27October2020 Chilly Tuesday

Precor elliptical
35 min
Program 1
HR 98, 189, 150
Cal 315
Distance 2.84

Crunches x 60 x 2
Piriformis Stretch
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Pushups 30
Piriformis Stretch
Quick Mat Stretch

DB raises supersets
lateral standing 15 lbs x 15 x 4
reverse inclined flys 15 lbs x 20 w/u
20lbs x 20 x 3

Rip Skulls
35 lbs x 10, 10, 10

Matrix Step
Speed 5
Min 15
HR 130
Cal 107
Steps 720
Floors 45