Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Walking Lunges Are Kicking My Butt

I did a lap of Walking Lunges last Friday after having not done them for several weeks. By later that night, my glutes and quads had started to stiffen. Saturday was painful with ultimate soreness achieved by Sunday, where walking up the stairs made me feel old. Not that my knees or hips ached. Nope, it was the glutes. Walking Lunges are by far, the one exercise that elicits the biggest DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) reaction for me. (Click here to read more about Walking Lunges.)

My biceps were slightly tender from the 3 sets of curls, but my butt hurt for days from just waltzing across the Aerobics Room and back. I wasn't even carrying any weights, no DBs in hand. Walking Lunges is a grand compound movement that activates not only glutes and quads but also hamstrings and calves. And not merely the big glutes, but all the smaller muscles involved with flexing the hip and stabilizing the core. Otherwise you fall over.

I skipped Monday. At first I planned to go, but then I remembered that the Monday after a gluttonous holiday weekend is usually crowded. Sunday was Mother's Day. My hubs actually came home on Friday (surprise!) and suggested we should go out to eat when he saw a lot of guys in the supermarket with bouquets declaring Happy Mother's Day. We went to a local Mexican place and had a nice meal, although it wasn't so crowded to justify them forgetting to put out chips and salsa, or even asking us if we wanted dessert. Maybe it's because I'm a really slow eater and still had half a quesadilla when the waitress slapped the check down on the table. Anyway, I have cups of flan (my favorite dessert) in the fridge...

At noon, the gym had only a few members inside. The theater starts their $5 Tuesday showings at 1:30 so the parking lot isn't crowded yet. I'd like to see that new Marvel film Thunderbolts* and there are several showings. Next week will be the last time I'll be able to avail myself of such cheap movie tickets since the cinema is closing after 15 years. The new landlord is refusing to renew their lease. Which is odd considering that the tiny restaurant next door closed over a year ago and has not been replaced. There are other vacant spaces in the strip including a Weight Watchers and a Verizon phone store. The RiteAid at the other end will be closing soon. My gym is there along with a pizzeria, a Spanish restaurant, a laundromat, wine shop, a few salons and a big chain grocery anchor at the very end.

 

It's early enough that no one is on any of the elliptical machines so I get on #1 and pedal program #3. I slathered skin cream on before I put my gym gear on this morning but it didn't really help me fight the painful pinprick itching I endure as my body reaches the threshold temperature where it will actually sweat. Not sure if everyone with my type of ichthyosis vulgaris experiences this (Google AI suggests that this is common for people like me), but all I could do (besides scratch) was fantasize about pouring a bottle of water over my head and body. Ugh. Eventually, the sweat starts dripping down my face and back, and the itching stops. Next time I might douse my head under the sink before I step out onto the cardio platform.

With sweat running off my face like it's raining, I felt so much better. But I didn't feel particularly strong and struggle to get my pull-ups. Maybe I'm not ingesting enough protein? I have been eating more salads lately, and alternating between having half a banana (for the potassium) and just taking a mineral supplement (potassium gluconate 650 mg = 99 mg potassium). A medium banana should provide 422 mgs of potassium. And if I eat bananas, I have to drink tomato juice. Or vegetable cocktail juice. Or I could get cliche and drink prune juice because 1 cup = 707 mg K. (Bananas and prune juice would be killer but I might have trouble leaving the house.) All this just to lower my blood pressure...

It's Cardio Day and I follow my routine. I'm not rushing because I haven't decided whether it's worth it to do an abbreviated workout just to see a movie I can probably stream later during the summer. It is only $5 and I would be supporting a local business. But still, I don't want to rush or do a shortened routine. Tomorrow I have a follow-up dentist appointment with the periodontist and that makes me nervous even though I floss and brush religiously. 

The rest of the routine was routine, except that push-ups felt really hard today. I did complete two sets of 20 back-to-back. Air Squats are definitely easier than the Side Lunges. I don't even know why I'm doing Side Lunges, except that some part of me says I should be able to do them. When I was on the cross-trainer, I saw a "regular" on the treadmill who I used to call (in my mind) Square Jaw. He's middle-aged and has heavily tattooed arms. I've only ever seen him doing cardio and only on the treadmill.

I mention him because out of all the "old regulars" from before the pandemic, he looks the worse... if he were a woman, I'd swear he had "Ozempic arms" like he was on a starvation diet. Women, especially celebs in the news a lot, have been sporting ghastly skeletal arms attached to bony cadaverous frames. Cuz if it's not that, then he's got a bad wasting illness. Other old regulars have put some size back on, as if they've recovered from their ailments. But this guy's not looking good. And some old guys just haven't returned at all. Like Snow Bird.

13 May 2025 12:00-2:00
Tuesday — All Cardio
Cloudy Spring 70°F

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30 + 5 (5550)
Distance: 2.82
Cal: 313
Avg Hr: 156, 196-90
New FB: 44-148

HGPU 18.5

Matrix StairMaster (L)
Manual timer 8+2 cool down
Speed 5 (50-45) / 2 (33-36) / 1 (29)
Steps 438
Floors 27
Cal 66
Hr 127

HGPU 17

Life Fitness X-Trainer #3 
Program Manual L1
Time: 12 (+3 min cool down) = 15
Distance: 1.31
Cal: 113
Avg Hr: 120-128


HGPU 15

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 25 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 40 (counted to 20 twice)
Arm rotations 20
Air Squats 25
Side Lunges 10 each side (better)
Neck stretch / Eye yoga


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