High Maintenance

Hair needs a trim

The parking lot is virtually empty when I arrive at the gym this morning. It is Thursday, an off day, and between the morning crowd and the kids who show up early afternoon. I count 6 people as I climb onto the Precor elliptical. My AirPods can't quite drown out the ambient gym music and I'm very happy that no one's having a rousing conversation next to me. Eventually more people get on cardio machines, but they don't chatter. Whew!

I haven't worked out on consecutive days in a very long time so I'm probably not going to do too well. At least I got past 2.9 on the Precor. And I did manage to do a good amount of pull-ups, even if the last 5 had my lower body curling up slightly to assist. I'm surprised that I'm not sore from yesterday's Seated Cable Rows, although the bruising on my FitBit wrist appears to be worse than ever. Having such delicate, difficult skin makes me feel high maintenance and adds a lot of time to my shower routine. I don't dare skip applying that special mix of glycerin and alpha hydroxy lotion if I want keep my skin soft and supple, not hard and scaly like an unfortunate lizard, or fish. 

My skin is delicate enough that removing lysine from my daily vitamin mix caused my lip to start burning as if it was going to split. Or worse, develop a cold sore. It turns out that lysine is important for collagen production in skin and "tissue maintenance." I bought another bottle of it and I'm hoping that this time the tablets won't be large with sharp edges. The current tablets are hard to swallow just because the edges aren't rounded. Do I sound like a difficult princess yet?

My skin is so delicate that a pair of new joggers (from LLBean), perfect in almost every way (length, fit, deep pockets, maroon color) is flawed by the exposed rough inside seam where the elastic waistband is secured. I feel like that difficult 7-year old who refused to wear "pretty" dresses because they were scratchy, which exasperated the hell out of my mother. (My sister didn't these issues.) 

This sloppy manufacturing makes the pants waistband scratchy and unpleasant to wear against belly and waist skin. It seems like such a minor inconvenience but it'll wind up scratching me and drawing blood if I forget to wear a t-shirt tucked into the waist as a protective layer. Remember, I'm the one who sliced their finger open on the peeling enamel paint off a lat-pull down machine handle and bled all over the place.

Meanwhile, I'll have to say that I'm impressed with the IUGA leggings I purchased on Amazon. Not only are they comfortable (don't ride up into the crotch or butt and I don't have to adjust the waist all the time) but the side pockets are secure and comfortable enough to hold a smart phone so snug that I even forgot that's where I put it. Not many pants can do that.

Because I know HS kids will be crowding the gym eventually, I change my routine to do weights right after pull-ups. Then I can do a modified core workout in the Aerobics Room later because class isn't scheduled until much later in the day. The free weight area isn't empty as I had hoped, but I have an inclined bench and access to the DBs, so all is good. I only do two heavy sets because I'd like to be able to do push-ups without falling on my face.

In the Aerobics Room, I skip Dead Bugs and the second set of hip bridges as I've read that even abs need time to recuperate. Bird Dogs go fine. Push-ups are fine. Air Squats go fine. Walking Lunges go fine even if I spaced out and lost count. I even managed 90 seconds of Wall Squats but that's still not easy. And then I'm done, and off to the locker room to enjoy a pleasantly hot shower in a small but clean and well-lit area. 

I'm planning to go to the gym tomorrow, which is crazy because that'd be 3 days in a row! But I'm already thinking that I'd like to do Seated Cable Rows again for back and biceps, and Skull Crushers / Rip Skulls for triceps. But nothing happens until cardio is done. I think this is having a positive effect on my hypertension (finally edging down to Hypertension 1 from 2). I can't rely on popping a pill once a day and limiting my salt intake. It always takes more effort than that, at least with us high maintenance folks.

1 February 2024 11:35-1:18
New Month Thursday
Let’s mix it up!

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30+5 (5860)
Distance: 2.91
Cal: 327
Avg Hr: NA 154, 194-82
Fitbit: 55-161

HGPU 20

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up
15 lbs x 25/15/25
20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 2 sets

20 Hip Bridges
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
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
Upper stretch w twists
Walking lunges 40? steps total
Neck stretch / Eye yoga
Wall Squat 90s (!!!)