The Last Resort Gym

Seated cable row

I had to buy a bag of kibble before my pups ran out of the somewhat pricey dog chow that they'll eat for supper. I've tried several other brands and they'd rather go hungry and then eat dirt at the park instead. I comparison price shop and realized that the local pet food store in town was the cheapest, beating out Chewy and Amazon. It's also 3 doors down from Planet Fitness. I got an email from PF inviting me to view their virtual tour of facilities, which I did. Then I was encouraged to download their app onto my phone in order to make use of a free day pass, good for 24 hours. That's what I did today.

The fellow at the counter tells me that it's a 24-hr pass so if I come back tomorrow before 10:55, I can work out again for free. That's nice. I'm more familiar with the place now so I'm hoping to get a better workout. I wind up with the same full-size locker because the one closer to the shower area is apparently a broom closet. There's a side changing room with a bench and full-size mirror in it, and I use that after my shower to apply body lotion. Because honestly, the shower this time was kind of gross: curtain was too short and kept blowing into the shower stall itself (and who wants a shower curtain constantly touching them while they bathe?), the shower head is too high to reach so you can't adjust where water falls, the shower itself is clogging up, the hook outside the stall is loose and my towel is in danger of falling off. This is a shower of last resort. A girl comes in fully clothed, tests the shower in the first stall and then leaves her water bottle in the stall's shelf. Uh, claiming the space even though she's not actually showering yet? I'm liking this place less and less.

Variable HR

The workout was good though: cross-trainer for cardio, stretching and core, a few light weights, more cardio on the Cybex arc once I figured out how to adjust the time for the program. I didn't bother with banging my knees on the assisted pull-up machine. There are two next to each other, and one of them had 3 guys hanging out on it, not actually doing anything but chatting. Today was a lot more crowded than I expected and my AirPod pros couldn't keep up to drown out the ambient chatter and odd humming noise. (I don't know if it was noise from all the cardio machines or something else.) 

I need better head phones, and probably a way to transfer my tunes to my phone from iTunes. At some point, my iPod nano is going to die, although I think I still have Kids Bop tunes on our original iPods. Yes, I still have iTunes on my old Mac that hasn't seen an upgrade for over 10 years because it doesn't have the chip power for the newer operating systems.

I managed to peddle backwards for cool down on the cross-trainer without shin splints or numbing my toes. I did a turn at the Seated Cable Row and a light set at a Should Press machine. I was cautious with the latter because my right ear clogs up as soon as there's any sort of pump. The Cybex was surprisingly jarring during Cardio 1 program but the HR monitor, when it worked, didn't go all crazy the way the Precor and the Life Fitness machines do. (At one point, the elliptical registered my HR as over 205 but the FitBit said it was only 163. I'll trust the FB.) 

Bruising top & bottom

I have to take the FitBit off to charge it and notice that it's bruising my wrist. It's not even on tight, just snug enough to keep contact with my skin. I'm amused by the reading it took two nights ago that saw my HR drop down to 44 bpm. Other than mitral valve prolapse, I don't know of any heart conditions and the fact that my HR rises to the 160s during intense cardio doesn't alarm me. Should it?  I don't know.

Electric outlet by the ceiling?

I never found the lateral shoulder machine and I don't even know if PF has them. There's one at Gold's but I prefer to use DBs. I suppose I could've played with the Cable set ups, but I'm not that adventurous, especially if it involves finding something to stand on so I can reach up to adjust the pegs for the cables. Once you get used to the fact that everything's purple (with yellow accents), the place is less intimidating. I didn't play with the DBs although I should have, if only to gauge whether I can actually get a grip on the handles. The solid BBs are thicker and heavier than those at Gold's, and I have ridiculously small hands, so diameter matters. That's the sole reason I can do pull-ups at the Stretch Cage and not on other devices.

HR looks healthy

I'm really not liking the locker rooms and shower. So much so that if I did join PF, it'd be only to work out and not shower there. It'd never be my "one and only", just a backup for an occasional change of pace, or when my errands put me in that part of town. Do I have to be loyal to just one gym? Can a gym rat belong to two different places if it's not prohibitively expensive? Also, the locker room is dark and dreary, and there are so few mirrors (cuz it's a no judgement zone) that you're in danger of walking out with your skirt tucked into your underwear. One of my earbuds falls out in the locker room and lands on the filthy floor in a corner. Ugh. 

I'm quite excited about the water color class I started yesterday. It's being taught by an artist whose work I admired in a show at the local library some years ago. This is the first year I haven't had scheduling conflicts with my kid's activities so I've jumped at the opportunity. It sold out almost immediately. I've looked at online courses but that takes a certain amount of discipline I don't have. Having to show up at a class and present work is an entirely different experience and the camaraderie is especially pleasant. Students, all women, range from an art class teacher in her late 30s (?) to a Betty White look-and-sound-alike and a lot of in-betweens, but mostly older ladies who have painted before and are deep into their own works. It's refreshing and invigorating.  

What's less fun is that show Dead Beat. Once Lucy DeVito left in Season 2, she got replaced by Kal Penn in Season 3, and it's hard to stomach all the stupefyingly puerile jokes and scenarios. He hasn't gotten past Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. (At least John Cho managed to hook into Star Trek.) It's not surprising that Season 3 was also it's last season. I am looking forward to Season 2 of Not Dead Yet. Still watching Fargo, Season 2. Season 5 was excellent, and I think that finale was totally and perfectly awesome. It took me a bit to realize that Fargo Season 2 was a prequel to Season 1, and only after I read a review online. I'm giving The Brothers Sun a shot though, just because it's got Michelle Yeoh. How could I resist?

31 January 2024 10:55-12:29
Dreary Wednesday at Planet Fitness
Crowded & really noisy weird hum

Life Fitness x-trainer
Program Manual L 1
Time: 20+5
Distance: 2.59
Cal: 198
Avg Hr: NA
Fitbit: 55-154

20 Hip Bridges
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
DeadBugs 20 x 5 alt/ss = 100 backache!
20 Hip Bridges & 10 one-leg bridges
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12
Fire Hydrants 20 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Side twists
Neck stretch / Eye yoga

Life Fitness Seated cable row
20 lbs x 15 reps warm up
27.5 x 12
35 x 12
42.5 x 12

LF Shoulder press
10 lbs x 12 reps (right ear clogs)

Cybex machine
15 minutes
Cardio 1 L1
Cal 146
Distance 0.83
Max HR 163
Fitbit 55-152 (?)