The Other Workout

I didn't make it to the gym yesterday. Although the snowfall had been light with barely 2 inches on most surfaces, it still needed to be cleared. I like to make sure there's some pavement or ground showing to absorb sunlight and enhance snow-melting capabilities. I also sprinkle paw-safe ice melt on the steps, walkway, and driveway just to be certain. The temperatures might rise above freezing but nothing untouched will melt, sunlight will be deflected by the bright white and there will be no heat retention. We actually still had small snowbanks from the last snowstorm back in December. 

Shoveling is a great cardio workout. It's also why middle-aged men drop dead in the middle of winter, from heart attacks. Shoveling is a great weight-lifting workout too. I work up a sweat just clearing the walkway, car, and driveway. And then I take the dogs to the park where the town snowplows are clearing the general use parking lot but not the Bark Park parking area. No matter. 

Once I get my backpack off (because I bring water to fill the frozen bowls since water stored in containers in the shed overnight is now solid ice), I grab the snow shovel (there are many tools along the back of the shed) and proceed to clear part of the "astroturf" and then a path back down to the entrance gate. Other than sitting inside the shed with the electric heaters blasting at full tilt, it's the only way to keep warm. In total, I've spent more than two hours shoveling sticky, slippery snow. Online sources state that an average man will burn roughly 200 calories per 30 minutes. I'm smaller so I'll burn fewer calories. 

Today, I take the dogs to the park where they eventually meet up with a few other dogs to play with. I'm freezing inside my down parka and fleece layers, my boots with alpaca wool socks, my thick gloves with handwarmer packets nestled in the palms of my hands. Once I get home, I have to motivate myself to don exercise clothes and drive to the gym. It's hard, and I feel perpetually hungry. Which sucks. 
 

It's early afternoon and the gym isn't all that crowded, probably because it's Thursday. I do my cardio on the elliptical, stress my abs and glutes, stretch my piriformis muscles and hip ligaments, do push-ups and planks. I'm not inclined to wait for the Smith machine so I hop on the ClimbMill. Ten minutes at Speed 7 feels like an eternity even though the machine itself only averages 60 steps per minute. Or actually, less. Because 10 minutes gets me 589 steps which is only 58.9 steps per minute. I do manage to sneak in a few hammer-grip pull-ups after what seems like months... a decent dozen. I'll take it. 

28 January 2021
Frigid Thursday

Precor elliptical
35 min
Program 1
HR 132-186, 122
Cal 307
Distance 2.79

Crunches x 60 x 2
Piriformis Stretch
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Bent Knee Glute Kickbacks 25 x 2
Plank 60s
Pushups 50
Quick Mat Stretch

Matrix Step
Speed 7 (57-62 spm)
Min 10
HR 123
Cal 85
Steps 589
Floors 36

Sneaky HGPU 12