Cardio Friday

Although my lower torso appears to be ringed with an odd soreness, I still went to the gym today, but later than I had planned. Because I hadn't planned on the school district announcing a two-hour delay due to weather. Okay, it was snowing this morning. Not a lot. And it's warm enough for the road salts to work the way they're suppose to. There's a thick sheet of slippery ice under the soft wet melting snow on my lawn. I debate whether to salt or not because tomorrow's suppose to be near 50°F with rain which would be a waste. On the other hand, our property is a cold spot pocket on the side of a very steep hill. I decide not to salt. If it's icy tomorrow, I can salt then.

Today is a Cardio Day, pure and simple. I manage my 5 minutes warm up and then go full gallop for a minute, drop to a crawl for the next minute and repeat this for another three minutes. Then I change the intervals to 30 seconds because that's all I can manage by this point.

Sweat is running down my face when I'm done and I blot the elliptical clean with a paper towel spritzed with bleach water. I want to work up to doing a full ten minutes of 1 minute on and 1 minute off. Then I can attempt doing 90 second intervals and work up to 2 minute intervals. It's nice having a plan.

My lower back and abdominals are still oddly sore. My right hip is tight and that does impact my cardio slightly, slowing me a tad. I barely feel my glutes and hamstrings, but the base of my neck and traps are sore as well. I guess DOMS takes a full two days because I did the Back Workout on Wednesday. Part of me wonders if the Ab Wheel is to blame for some of this, but I don't know. There are too many variables to know.

I do as complete a Cage Stretch as I can manage. Bending over to touch my face to my knee is more difficult than it should be but I take it very slowly, easing into the stretch. This is lower back. But tossing out a side kick is fine. As is stretching my legs out to either side, putting my foot up over my head is fine. I sit down in front of the more popular Nexersys machine, strip off my hoodie, wrap my hands and stuff them into my stupid pink gloves. I've got to learn to wrap them better: I'm not sure why, but my knuckles are pink and raw when I'm done boxing. They aren't usually but today I'm pummeling the pads during the last 3 rounds of Sparring.

The Follow Me Avatar program is a lot of fun so I do 9 rounds at the Beginner Female level. Afterwards, I try to check out the Intermediate Level. It suggests punches and kicks that I'm familiar with, but when the program starts, it asks for combinations I don't know and am unsure how to execute. There's just no way I can knee the center pad because the center pad is about neck height for me. I'm just not tall enough. And there's no way to run the tutorial on just the Intermediate Avatar program. Instead the machine wants to run you through the entire litany of cardio, core, etc exercises and I don't have the patience for that. I ask one of the trainers at the front desk and he confesses to being baffled by it as well. Oh well... I punch in 3 rounds of Sparring Beginner Level Female and take out my frustrations on the machine. It's very satisfying. My lower back and right hip only seem to hinder me slightly when I use a right-side power move but the torquing hip action doesn't hurt. It's just stiff, and not quite as fast as I normally am.

Instead of heading immediately to the showers, I put my hoodie back on and drop myself onto a Mat. I want to stretch out my lower back, but I also want to assess just how limited my mobility is. It's definitely impeding my ability to drop my face on my shin, but otherwise, the rest of me is okay. My traps and shoulders are feeling a little stiff as well, but that's understandable. The gym scale again reads 114.0 lbs and that's oddly consistent. I know I don't weigh quite that much, but I do know I'm fatter. Definitely fatter. I can see the fat under my belly skin, pooling around my navel. Didn't used to have that. My upper arms look huge too. I'm so not happy about this, but I've also not made an appointment with my GP either. I know I'll have to submit fasting blood work beforehand and I hate doing anything without a cup of coffee. Next week I'll call. Next week I'm just going to do cardio anyway.

Cardio Friday

HIIT: 5 min warm up at 189 Strides Per Min, 5 min of 1 min on (220-260 SPM) / 1 min off (70-80 SPM), 5 min of 30 sec on / 30 sec off = 1.50 miles

Nexersys: 9 rounds Follow Me, Beginner Female
  Accuracy 84% / Strikes 107% / Avg Power 128%
accuracy decreased because the machine didn't register several power kicks

Nexersys: 3 rounds Sparring, Beginner Female
  Strikes 209% / Avg Power 95% / Points 937  
this might be a high score for points!

photos provided for actual stats:

9 rounds Follow Me Avatar, beginner female 

3 rounds Sparring Avatar, beginner female

Happy New Year, Gym Rats!

I considered trying to do my workout at home today but the elliptical's in the unheated garage and there's no way to do a half way decent Mat Stretch there, even with the propane heater blasting full tilt. So I went to the gym, and it wasn't as crowded as yesterday! Granted, I got there around 11 am which is a good hour and a half later than usual, but still, I was surprised. Determined to do a better job of the HIIT program, I started with a 5 minute warm up at 150 Strides Per Minute, dropped to 70 for the 30 second rest phases and pumped up to between 250 and 279 SPM for the 30 second peaks. I was definitely feeling it when I got done. However, I wasn't ready to go home so I did a quick Cage Stretch and then ambled over to the free weights.

I don't really have anywhere in my program for Arms so I figure I'd knock out a few quick sets just so I don't lose what I have. Supersetting DB One-Arm Tricep Extensions with just 20 lbs (heavier weights really bother my wrist and elbow) with Alternating DB Curls seemed like a good efficient use of time and resources. The 20's too light for the curls and I pick up a pair of 25s for the remaining three sets. I could do more but I'm resisting the urge to do BB Curls or Skull Crushers. I won't even do Abs today. Instead, I grab the 50 lb BB and do three sets of Reverse Grip BB Curls because these address issues I have with my elbows and forearms.

I can see my chest!
That's kind
of surprising!

There's a bunch of girls on the Mats. They appear to be the same group from yesterday. One is bouncing on an exercise ball, one is checking her cell, and the third is attempting to stretch out. I drop my gear on the front mat which is the smallest, but large enough for me to do a split with my feel straddling opposing edges. The gal on the ball seems startled and intimidated. Oh well. It doesn't take long before the other two move off to do some actual exercise. Once I'm planted, I don't like to move so I stick with the small front mat to finish my stretches. The Dive Bomber Push Ups seem ridiculously easy, which is probably because I haven't done them since last week. I still hate the 60 second plank because I don't like how my entire body quivers on the exhale. I eye the Ab Wheel but I'm not comfortable with it yet. Maybe Friday. I haven't decided whether to try it on the floor or a mat, and whether my feet should butt up against the stairs even though I know I'll be starting from a kneeling position.

The gym scale reads a surprising 113.4 lbs. Probably because I only drank a third of my water or about 1/2 liter. Usually I drink the whole bottle. The TV in the locker room is loud with commentary on the RoseBowl parade, and intermittent messages about a Winter Storm Watch for tomorrow. School starts again tomorrow and none of us are ready for that reality. Tomorrow's Leg Day too. But I have to admit to feeling a little burnt. I've never felt this way before... I think it's that CNS burnout that everyone's mentioned. Odd, how I can do miles and miles on the elliptical and feel great, but now cutting my mileage down and upping my weights... well, I'll have to check because maybe I need to do a de-load. I hate to consider it since I've just starting doing LISS and HIIT. Maybe I just do cardio for a week since the last time I took a rest, it was the first week in October (I remember 'cuz it was the week of our wedding anniversary). I think I'll finish up the week with my scheduled routine, and then go light next week. It's a plan.

New Year Workout:
5 min warm up at 150 Strides Per Min
10 min HIIT with 30 sec at 70 SPM and 30 sec at 250-279 SPM

Cage Stretch with BW heel dips, calf raises and side kicks

DB Curls (alternating): 15 @ 20 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 25 lbs
  superset with
DB One-Arm Tricep (behind the neck) Extension: 4 x 12 @ 20 lbs

Reverse Grip BB Curls: 3 x 20 @ 50 lbs

Mat Stretch with 2 x 12 DBPUs; 60-second plank, splits, shoulder, neck, upper/lower back stretches