Friday Combo

I awoke to a brisk 54F morning but still managed to get myself all hot and sweaty on the elliptical. Everything feels okay, within reason, ignoring the sporadic odd aches and twinges in my wrists, fingers, metatarsals, lower back. Yep, just as I was congratulating myself on not having any sciatica symptoms, my lower back stiffens up as a warning. There's a Body Pump class later in the Aerobics Room so there's some equipment laid out on the floor. Zumba was yesterday, and apparently gym owner is teaching a Boot Camp class mid-week. Truthfully, I didn't think he had it in him to do more than one-on-one training.

Today, during pull-ups, I feel an ache in the back of my triceps that stretches down into the right lat. Well, that's different. And disturbing. It didn't impact my pull-ups, but since this has never happened to me before, I'm a bit wary. I don't want to do something weird and make it worse, because it can always be worse. Luckily, it doesn't impede planks or push-ups or air squats. 

I argue with myself about how deep to go and how straight I should be in the up position. Do I need to thrust my hips out slightly when I stand up? Meanwhile, I read an article about deep squats, aka "Asian squats" and have to agree that ankle flexibility is key, and body proportions such as mine (short legs, long body) makes this movement much easier. Because it's always been easy for me.

I don't want to skip shoulders so I bail on the second pull-up set. There's no bar on the one available Inclined Breaker Bench. It's telling that all these type benches have rubber hoses or bungee cords strapping the uprights to the base. The novelty of having the upright pivot forward to position the bar over the chest didn't make up for the annoyance of having a bar holder that eventually always flops forward. 

I used DBs in all the movements and only worry when I get to the 25s. My child-size hands have trouble balancing the DB (especially the left) when pushing up for Inclined Presses. DBs are nicer in that I can drop my elbows deeper than if I were holding the bar (something to do with how my elbows and wrists position). The strain in the right tricep/lat isn't very noticeable with any of the three exercises no matter the weight. But the wobbling left hand makes me a little anxious so I only do one set instead of three.

Oatmeal has gotten very expensive to buy. What used to cost about $3 is now priced over $6 and sometimes closer to $9. For plain ol' oatmeal! Ugh. The sale price of a small container of 5-grain hot cereal catches my eye. I'll try almost anything if the price is cheap enough, as long as it doesn't look too iffy. Like "Danish" cookies made in India. Nope. Sorry. Not gonna buy those. But 5-grain cereal that doesn't contain sunflower seeds or anything I might find indigestible sounds good. 

This brand has oats, rye, triticale (a wheat-rye hybrid), barley, and golden flax. The only thing that might be concerning is the flax, because I've eaten flax as a topping on cereal, and that gave me a stomach ache. But maybe "golden flax" is different from what I ate ("brown" flax)? I'm okay with chia seeds too, except they get into my teeth and are hard to floss out. I follow the directions for microwaving it, and not unexpectedly, nuking a cup of water and 1/3 cup of cereal in a microwave-safe bowl does not go well. I use the "minute plus" button and everything looks good for minutes one and two (stirring in between). 

I should've hit 30 seconds for the next phase. Instead, some time during the 3rd minute, cereal geysered up over the bowl and made a sticky gluey mess. Good thing I had a paper plate on top to contain it. Regular oatmeal does this too, but doesn't need 3 minutes. (One minute and 40 seconds is enough.) If I add extras like fruit or nuts, the cereal won't overheat as readily, but timing is very finicky. I do plain today just to see if I can actually eat this without suffering from digestive woes. (Walnuts give me indigestion, while pecans don't. And although nutritionists like to tell everyone to eat walnuts, I'll stick to pecans.) 

The cereal is tasty with a chewy texture, but it'll be better when I add dried mulberries and maybe a half scoop of whey powder. (Yeah, I've got a half tub of Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey vanilla ice cream flavor protein powder that expired Nov 2019. But it still smells and tastes like it should, and I've read several online posters stating that their own "expired" whey protein is still good years later.) I finally found the expiration stamp after contacting ON... it's the one place I didn't look: on the bottom of the jug. Figures!

9 Sept 2022
Crispy Friday Combo

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5724)
Distance: 2.88
Cal: 321
Avg Hr: 146, 198-87

HGPU 23

Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Child’s Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga

DB Incl Press s/s Lat Raise s/s Rev Inc Fly
10 lbs x 25/15/20 reps warm up
15 lbs x 20/15/25 reps
20/15/20 lbs x 20/15/25 reps
25/15/25 lbs x 25/15/25 reps