Monday, March 3, 2025

It's Not Just Cardio


I call the majority of my workouts All Cardio, but in reality, it's a lot of cardio mixed with other movements to achieve a more or less well-rounded whole body routine. Cardio is for general health and good for core and leg muscles. Pull-ups are great for the upper body. The core routine that includes Dead Bugs, push-ups and air squats should touch virtually every muscle group. I'm not pushing to failure so this routine is merely upkeep, not progressive. Which, considering I'm going to be "officially old" in a little more than a week, isn't bad. Aging well takes work. I wish I was more dedicated to it though. Last week I only made it twice to the gym. Still hopeful I'll make it thrice this week, but who knows...

Didn't quite make it to 2.8 and I was on elliptical machine #1, which surprised me considering how late I got to the gym. But at 1 pm on a Monday, it's pretty empty. The Senior class has gone home and the HS kids haven't shown up yet. Wind Breaker is actually already pedaling on #3. I guess someone else was on #1 before I got there. Technically, I should've done program 2 but I spaced out and selected #1 out of habit so that's the program I did. 

It's still winter so the air is cold and dry, my skin has developed fissures in spite of being slathered with petrolatum. On the elliptical, my back and scalp start to itch as I overheat just under the sweat threshold. Which means, until I actually bust a sweat, my skin reacts badly with intense pinprick itching. I scratch a lot until I get relief. I've tried applying moisturizing lotions to my skin before hitting the gym but that doesn't help. I feel very high maintenance a lot of the time.

Pull-ups are better this week and that makes me happier. Sweating profusely also makes me happier because I've stopped itching. Itching is very distracting! While I keep parameters on the step machine the same, I added a few minutes to the cross-trainer to round that out to 15 minutes. That might be my excuse for getting 2 less reps at pull-ups. 

Definitely no gym tomorrow as I have a meeting with my tax prep person, and I'm not anticipating any good news. So, maybe I'll be back at the gym on Wednesday. It'd be good if I could get myself back to a 3 or even 4 day workout schedule, but honestly, I have so many other things to do that it's been easy to just not go... although my sciatica does complain when I don't go. 

Actually, it's been acting up lately and I suspect it was a careless move on my part: an easy stretch that I should not be doing ever anymore -- sit crossed legged on the floor and lean forward. I can do it and rest my elbows on the ground in front of my feet, but I shouldn't because while it doesn't hurt when I do it, the movement inflames my sciatica and I'm in a bit of pain for a few days afterward. Hence the old adage: Just because you can doesn't mean you should. 


3 March 2025 1:09-3:00
Monday — All Cardio
Really Late Frigid Cardio

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30 + 5 (5448)
Distance: 2.79
Cal: 307
Avg Hr: 154, 190-82
New FB: 44-146

HGPU 18

Matrix StairMaster (R)
Manual timer 8+2 cool down
Minimum 5 minutes
Speed 5 (48) / 2 (33) / 1 (29)
Steps 437
Floors 27
Cal 66
Hr 124

HGPU 18

Life Fitness X-Trainer #3 (2:15-2:30)
Program Manual L1
Time: 12 (+3 min cool down) = 15
Distance: 1.35
Cal: 114
Avg Hr: 122-124

HGPU 16

20 Hip Bridges 
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
DeadBugs 20 x 5
Piriformis stretches
Child’s Pose
Cat/Cow stretch 12
Child’s Pose
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Arm rotations 20
Air Squats 25
Neck stretch / Eye yoga


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