The Day IS a Wee Bit Longer!

Because my son boards the school bus at 7:13, the sun's barely in the sky even if it's vaguely light out. Today the sky was a bit brighter! It's the last day of school for him this year, so it's basically a no-learning day where the school's get Federal money but don't actually teach anything. Pizza, holiday candy and a movie are what's on the agenda. Jeeze...

My hubs is off from work today and Monday so I tell him to come to the gym with me. He gets a work-related call just as he's about to start, so I get to watch him stare at his phone for 20 minutes while I'm on the cross-trainer. Then, because we have different workouts, I lose sight of him until the very end of my workout where I tell him that I'm ready to stop at any time. Of course, today is the first time I've seen two different guys use the kickboxing machine. My hubs wants me to show him how it works, so we use the left machine, the one that works okay as long as you're not actually logging into your profile. Well, at least he's gotten a basic idea on how it works even if he's not quite clear on how the labels correlates to a specific blow.

I do only 30 minutes of cardio today, but maintain my core warm up routine of pull ups, push ups, crunches and planks. The Smith is free so I do RDLs, followed by RG BB Rows. I've taken to keeping my gloves on even when I use the Versa Gripps because my callouses are getting out of control. I periodically try to file them down, but they're at the point where I'm picking at the peeling discolored edges. I don't want them to rip off and bleed like I've heard happen to other lifters. I wear gloves most of the time, but this is probably the worst my callouses have ever been, probably because pull ups. Yep, pull ups are ruining my hands. Even with gloves!

My skin is extremely dry and sensitive, and has always been prone to over-reacting to physical trauma. I scar easily, so callouses shouldn't really be a surprise. Short of applying salicylic acid (it comes in stick form now and looks like an unpleasant lip balm) directly to my hands, I'm not sure what else to do. My hands are so small that I have a hard time getting the file at the correct angle to smooth down the rough edges. Constantly slathering my hands and fingers in vaseline or Bag Balm works as long as I remember to do so. Once I forget, well, it's like I never even started.

There are a few regulars, and later, a lot more younger guys. They seem to cluster around the cable system where I'm finishing up Seated One-Arm Cable Rows. At least, until I pull out my earbuds and chat with my hubs. He's also doing a Pull Day but his routine calls for Lat Pull Downs, DB Rows and an assortment of curls. He asks me about dead lifts but not only am I uncomfortable giving advice or instruction about it, the only Olympic bars free for such movements are on the other side of the gym, in the CF area. You can't actually tell if the equipment is in use until you wander over there. It's kind of a pain unless it's something you're dead set on doing.

Still, I feel pretty good about my workout, even if I only did two sets of pull ups and skipped the last cardio session. The gym scale is obviously not broken, as it read 111.4 today. No doubt all the sodium in the baked corned beef I made last night for supper caught up with me. I did soak it to remove most of the salt, slathered it in dijon mustard, brown sugar and honey mustard, and sealed it in foil to bake in a 350F oven for 2.5 hours. It came out great! But I could still taste the saltiness in the meat. I'm planning to make pot roast for Christmas dinner. I've never made one before, and I hope it turns out well since these hunks of beef cost a lot more money that one would expect! If not, oh well, lesson learned... and we picked up a pork shoulder just in case. You can never go wrong with kalua pork!

I've been on an adult beverage ginger kick. Red's Apple Ale came out with a ginger flavor that was great! But I never saw it again. The Angry Orchard and StrongBow versions are okay, but I like one's that taste more like ginger beer. Stewart's makes a nice non-alcoholic one with a bite. My hubs brings home a brand I've never heard of before. He went to the local beer distributor and asked about the Red's. It's probably a limited edition so I'll really never see it again! But this Crabbies is quite excellent, with a sharp bite and just a bit of alcohol. I'll probably never see it again. We did try a limited edition Leinenkugel Cranberry Ginger shandy, which walks a fine line between being almost too sweet and mildly pleasant. Or as my hubs says, "It's a beer for people who don't really like beer." Uh, yeah, that'd be me. Maybe I should just stick to my Red's Apple Ale?

Friday Workout

30 min x-trainer
Calories 143
Miles 3.90
Average Speed 7.79
Average Pace 7:42

HGPU 31

Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 100
Crunches 3 x 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith RDLs
Bar x 15
12 x 80, 100, 120, 130

Smith RG BB Rows
22 x 80, 100, 120, 130

HGPU 31

Seated Cable OneArm Row
45 lbs x 12 x 3

Happy Back and Biceps Day

The storm was pretty wicked last night but nothing toppled over, no trees went down and we didn't lose power so all in all, it was a good storm. I begged out of kickboxing and my husband seemed disappointed, but he had trouble getting up this morning, so it's probably a good thing we skipped it last night. I promised him we'd go next week. It's the end of the week and my body seems to be feeling its mileage. I get on the elliptical and it's at least 6-7 minutes before I'm not sore and stiff. It takes another 20 before I actually start to feel good, but at least I finish my Intervals #8 session and make my quota. Priorities, don't ya know!

I can't find the handles to the Seated Cable Rows that I like so I settle for the ones with rubber padding. This extra bit makes the handles harder to grip because I have such little hands although I do appreciate the extra padding because I also have boney hands. Using a thumbless grip, I'm actually able to complete all my sets with decent form. That makes me happy. PonyTail Tattoo is working out at the adjacent station and in spite of my cranked up iPod with MeatLoaf blaring, I think I hear him grunt in disbelief when I finish with drop sets. The gym's awfully crowded today and I don't speak to anyone, not even B. I see The Mayor, Hoodie Tattoo, Nixon, M, Tall Pace, ZZ, LoudMouth, Old Florida, PJ Pants... yes, the gym's damn crowded and I have to thread my way between stations and people chatting along side.

I don't up my weights today because I'm tired and I don't want to court injury. My elbows feel pretty good all the way up to BB Bicep curls when the left one complains incessantly, regardless of forearm stretching. I haven't done pull ups in weeks and miss doing them, but my elbow's too important to attempt doing those just yet.

Today's Back and Biceps Day Workout:
35 min Interval #8 = 4.49 miles Yay!
Seated Cable Rows: 15 @ 60 lbs / 12 @ 90 / 10 @ 105 / 8 @ 120 / 3 x 6 @ 127.5 lbs / 12 @ 112.5 / 15 @ 97.5 lbs These feel really strong and good today and I'm very pleased with myself
Cage Stretch & Kicks
Reverse Grip Bent Over BB Rows: 15 @ 100 lbs / 6 x 12 @ 105 lbs
My hands start to slip during the last reps but in general they don't hurt which is surprising considering I woke up feeling as if I'd sprained my right thumb/palm. 
Pendlay BB Rows: 6 x 12 @ 65 lbs
I can't say that these feel heavy, but I'm thoroughly exhausted when I finish each set and can't wait to straighten up afterwards. I may affix another 5 lbs to the BB next week and see how that feels.
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Up: 125
Lower Back Extension: 2 x 25 @ 97.5 lbs
Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
BB Curls: 6 x 12 @ 50 lbs
My left elbow really complains about this movement and I find myself modifying the exercise to minimize the pain. I may drop back to 45 lbs next week and just knock out more reps instead.
Reverse Grip BB Curls: 4 x 20 @ 40 lbs
Mat Stretch: splits are stiff today but at least I worked them.

My favorite blue pants

Mo plops down besides me as I'm stretching out. When I'm done, we chat for a few minutes. "Grass gotta get cut," she complains gently. "Why can't they create genetically modified grass that only grows 3 inches tall? I'd never need to mow it!" I tell her the lawnmower lobby probably put the kibosh on it. She tells me a joke an elderly lady told her: "Why are men like parking spots? All the good ones are taken, and the only ones left are handicapped." We both chuckle.

The gym scale reads 109.2 lbs again and I'm surprised. I'm not usually so consistent! I did have another egg with my blueberries and oatmeal this morning. Blueberries seem cheap right now so I'm game to buy several pints to wash and freeze. When I get home, I take a photo of my favorite blue pants next to my 2nd favorite blue pants. The cell camera sucks and makes my royal blue pants look mauve! Thank goodness for photoshop color correction.

After trying unsuccessfully to snap a photo of my back in the hall mirror, I drag out my tripod and set the camera timer so that I can see if all my hard work is paying off or if I should revise my workout again. I'm pleased with the results so far! At least I don't think I look scrawny anymore... LOL!

Pros and Cons

Yep, big arms!

There's pros and cons to just about everything, including getting what you think you want. When I review photos I took of myself last year (2012), I liked my face but thought the rest of me looked kind of scrawny. I've since put on about 4 lbs and I'm happier with my lifts, my muscles seem fuller and thicker, but I'm unhappy with how puffy my face looks all the time. Or at least in photos I take of myself at the gym. It's always something!

The left side of my neck and shoulder were still sore this morning in spite of a vigorous massage last night, but getting hot and sweaty (via exercise) seems to have mitigated most of the pain. I tend to see soreness as a challenge to push through so it's no wonder I surprised myself at cardio today. My elbows, especially the left one, are still tender and I've decided to skip exacerbating movements like dumbbell (DB) curls and pull ups (and/or chin ups).

Aloe back from the dead

The rain seems to have cooled the temperature and I'm hoping that it'll also revive the long neglected aloe plant I've had in my window for years. It's mostly a pale lifeless tan color but hints of pale sea green are creeping back up into the rubbery leaves. This may yet be another plant resurrection (the impatient is blooming in my kitchen window, still planted in its original plastic drinking cup). I'm a terrible gardener and once my plants are outside in the elements, I let Nature take its toll. Mostly this has worked for the overgrown jade plant I inherited from my sister's now deceased ex-mother-in-law, although the first few frosty nights (temps below 34°F) caused it to shed most of its leaves. But tiny new ones are growing back. The potted thyme seems relatively healthy, even as it over-wintered outside, unprotected on a garden bench. The coddled rosemary that spent winter in the kitchen has survived being left outdoors since early April. Benign neglect is my motto with houseplants.

Today's 2nd Pull Day Workout:
35 min cardio hill #5 = 4.10 miles Damn, am I surprised!
Seated Cable Rows: 12 @ 45 (just an experiment to see if this lower warm up will help) / 12 @ 90 / 10 @ 105 / 8 @ 120 / 3 x 6 @ 135. I still like the weight at 120 best. 
Cage Stretch & Kicks (a new middle-aged guy asks me if the kicks are tae kwon do and I say No, because they're not, but I'm not going to explain what I'm doing)
Reverse Grip Bent-Over BB Rows: 6 x 15 @ 105 lbs (it's the weakest link, the two smallest fingers on my left hand, that starts to fail, not my back or biceps)
Torso Twist Station: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Lower Back Extensions: 2 x 25 @ 97.5 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Lower Ab Kick Outs: 100
BB Curls (I'm still debating whether to go for the 50 but I'm leery of really hurting my elbows so I stay with what I know I can handle): 6 x 15 @ 45 lbs
Reverse Grip BB Curls: 3 x 20 @ 40 lbs
Pull Ups (I can't resist doing just one set but there are consequences and my elbow complains): 12
Mat Stretch
Today I'm actually able to roll forward in my horizontal split and lay on my face/chest with my legs 95% flat against the mat. It's been a slow steady progression. My vertical splits are fairly good, the right leading leg better than the left leading leg. I'm pretty happy overall.

The gym starts to fill up late morning. Perhaps everyone had errands to do before the rain. I chatted briefly with B and Mo, saw the regular guys like The Mayor, Nixon, Ranger Rick, Skinny J, Fish Guy, Hoodie Tattoo, ZZ and Eagle Eye. Some of the younger guys have pretty nice bods but I'm not one to stare. I'd rather just peek. I'm actually afraid that staring will be construed as interest, or worse yet, an invitation. Being socially inept, I have no idea how to gracefully handle these sort of situations. Unless you want to talk training. But women and men train differently, respond differently. I see Nixon watching from a distance. He performs basic moves like squats and dead lifts and he's got pretty decent arms (today's the first time I've seen him in a tank). Skinny J looks emaciated. Fish Guy seems to have put on weight overnight. Eagle Eye has a great body except for those erratic tattoos.

The scale again disappoints me and reads 110.4 lbs. Okay, I am definitely bigger and heavier. While 4 lbs might not seem a lot, it profoundly shifts the way I view myself. Last summer, one of my neighbors exclaimed that I looked like a teenager. I had muscles but they were smaller, and I was thinner. Now I'm bigger. I don't think I look like a teenager anymore. I'm sad to let that go. On the other hand, I've been trying to get stronger for ages now. For me, size accommodates strength. It's not always true for other women. There's a gal who can squat and dead lift way more than I can. She's also about 20 or more years younger than I am. She posted her measurements online and taking into account that she's probably a good 6-7 inches taller than me, she only weighs 20 lbs more but she's got smaller arms and chest, bigger waist and hips. I can also bench more than she can (even subtracting the Smith counterweight).  I've seen photos of her: she's a stick. And I'm not, and never will be. I'm just trying to get comfortable in my skin. Again.

Does Wishing Make It So?

Imagine my surprise this morning as I'm pulling on boots to walk the dog when I glance over at my husband's work boots and find my glove sitting inside, resting like a downed bird in an unlikely nest. Yippee! I don't have to buy new gloves! I'm so pleased that probably nothing can ruin my day. Probably. We didn't got to kickboxing or even TKD because my husband got back from a business trip not feeling too good.

"Gas station sushi?" I ask him. "Nooo, but something I shouldn't've eaten." I spend the evening completing an online course to lower the premium on our auto insurance, but I don't go to bed when I know better. Instead I watch old episodes of Bones (my new favorite show lately) and paying for it this morning by dragging myself to the gym. I don't make my 4 mile quota either but truthfully, after Wednesday, anything over 3.90 miles is good. I have to cut myself some slack because no one else will.

I see B but she's too busy chatting and once I'm in "workout mode" I rarely, if ever, acknowledge anyone at the gym. I find myself not all that pleased to speak with her these days anyway because she's always complaining about something, and odd as it may seem, I don't like the fact that she never seems very happy to see me. But she's the one coming up to me to say Hi. Perhaps it's a compulsion and she doesn't really want to but does anyway? She's such an unconscious flirt with all middle-aged male gym bodies and I watch distantly with only observational interest.

I don't think I even know how to flirt. I'd rather be intimidating, but of course, being chest-height to most people makes that quite a feat. But it can be done. As the online defensive driving course states, it's all about "attitude." I don't have a bad attitude. Heck, I'm not even mean. But I know what I'm doing, and I'm not going to stand around helplessly waiting for some guy to give me instructions. Which is what guys seem to be bred to expect.

Today's 2nd Pull Day and TGIF
35 min cardio hill #6 = 3.96 miles Yeesh...
Seated Cable Rows: 12 @ 90 lbs / 10 @ 105 / 8 @ 120 lbs / 3 x 6 @ 135 lbs
I like the 120 lb weight best for doing cable rows; it just feels really good and strong although I try to end each heavy set with negatives where I gently lower the weight so it makes barely a sound.
Pull Ups (my left elbow is really bothering me today so I only do one set at a time): 12 reps with legs curled to chest
Cage Stretch & Kicks
Pull Ups: 12 legs straight out
RG BB Rows: 6 x 15 @ 95 lbs
I'm tempted to try the 100 lb barbells but figure I'll wait until 15 reps seems easy.
Alternating DB Curls: 12 @ 25 / 8+4 @ 25 / 10+2 @ 25 lbs
My elbows aren't liking this movement either.
Pull Ups: 10+2 legs curled to chest
Lower Back Extensions: 2 x 25 @ 97.5 lbs
BB Curls: 6 x 15 @ 45 lbs
RG BB Curls: 3 x 20 @ 40 lbs
Pull Ups: 8+5 legs straight out
My left elbow is really complaining now. I should probably ice it when I get home.
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Torso Twist Station: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Mat Stretch

I've drained my water before even starting Mat Stretch although I don't think I'm sweating that much. But my clothes reek and that makes me a tad self-conscious. I see R and I wave Hi to him as he's resting on a bench. I think that's all we're comfortable with these days. Later, when I leave I wave at him and he says "Have a good weekend" which is what I was going to say. Lamely I say instead, "You too." Things are weird and I don't know why. Probably because I don't really like to talk to anyone when I'm working out. I'll chat after I'm done, when I can break out of "workout" mode. Perhaps most people don't compartmentalize like that. Which would explain why they don't seem to work out very effectively either.

While I'm stretching out, Mo pops on and after I'm done, we chat for a few minutes. In the interim, I see Fish Guy (today I remembered to wave Hi to him), Ranger Rick, M, The Mayor (whose voice is so squeaky it sounds as if he'd been screaming at an all-night rave), Nixon, Hairy Shoulders, Ponytail Tattoo and a few new faces. The HS boys are back as well. I'm glad I'm done!

During my sets of Reverse Grip BB Rows, I glance into the mirror and see all the action behind me. A thin middle-aged woman, who I've seen a few times before, is struggling to bench just the bar. She changes her grip from narrow to shoulder's width, then moves from flat bench to the inclined bench. After I've finished my 6 sets, I ask her what she's doing. Or rather, what's she trying to do. She shrugs her shoulders and says "Just trying to exercise everything." I'm kind of surprised that she doesn't have a better grasp of weight-lifting fundamentals so I tell her that most people start out benching shoulders width to work chest, then later do a narrow grip to work triceps. "Otherwise you'll make your arms too tired."

I also suggest she try to lower the bar to her chest but she seems dubious. "The movement should be like you're pushing a drawer." I have no idea whether she even understood what I was talking about but perhaps next time she'll have better control of the bar. I've seen a lot of women playing with the weights (good) and unfortunately, most of them have no idea what they're doing (bad). And I resist the urge to butt my nose in and offer my two sense, but perhaps I shouldn't. Egads, I certainly don't want to be like The Mayor. Bleah! I guess I'll just see if a few instructive words will be of any help or if I'm just wasting my breath. Wishing does NOT make it so. Unless you're Jean-Luc Picard, or looking for an errant workout glove.

The scale reads 110.4 lbs today and I'm mildly surprised. Yep, I'm just going to have to accept the fact that stronger means bigger means heavier. Sigh. At least my home scale tells me that I'm a mere 107.6 lbs. True, up from 105+ but I can still think of myself as a gamine. That reminds me of something I read a long time ago that stated middle-aged Asian women tended to dress androgynously, favoring short haircuts and comfortable loose clothes. Or as we call it today, gender neutral. It's nice to have the muscles to really confuse the issue. And of course, wishing doesn't make it so. Hard work does.