Cardio Week Day Four

I'll admit to being tired when I got up this morning, but my glutes aren't sore the way they used to be. For a change of pace, I put a spoonful of molasses in my oatmeal this morning but it didn't really alter the taste of the eggy cereal much. I may just dig out those frozen summer blueberries and toss those in instead. The ellipticals were all free when I got to the gym and I punched in 30 minutes, Interval 8, because I figure this might be the last time I do this for a while. It takes me a few minutes to get my pacing as I start off at a lethargic 160 Strides Per Minute and only gradually work my way up to the 190-210 SPMs that I enjoy. Again, I only manage 240-255 SPMs during the 5 minute cool down, and my mileage is eerily exactly the same as Tuesday: 4.29 miles. Very odd.

I'm drenched in sweat so I don't bother to take my hoodie off. I hate sweating all over everywhere I go. After a stretch at the Cage, I eye the new bench for decline push ups. The bench comes so far up my thigh, it's just about crotch level. Yes, I have short legs. Still, I put my feet up on the bench and see how push ups feel as I knock out 25. I think I'm too high because I don't like the way my head feels the blood rushing toward it. (Nope, never catch me doing a handstand either.) Not only do I suffer from probably-sinus related vertigo, but I'm wary of increased fluid pressures due to my glaucoma. The push ups themselves are fine and 25 is relatively easy.

Instead, I head over to the Mats at the other end of the gym. First I play with the Ab Wheel, trying to imitate the form I viewed in the instructional video, keeping my back rounded. This feels weird and I'm thinking this is really bad for my lower back. I'm a very flexible person but since I can't see my profile as I do this movement, I have no idea whether my lower back is neutral or tucked. I do three sets of 12, alternating with decline push ups (feet up on the 2nd step), but since I'm concerned that this is stressing my lower back too much, I decide that there are better ab exercises to do. The push ups are fine though and after a total of 100 reps, I feel a bit of a chest pump. Then I flop down on the Mat and do some crunches. Then I do a variation of crunches, trying to prepare myself for next week's routine. I'm so not looking forward to it, but I'll do it because it's only 3 weeks long.

I'd like to leave but trudge back to the Precors becasue I still have to put in 20 minutes of LISS. I use the time to read emails, scan Feedly, and check out the online muscle forums. The pony-tailed dude next to me probably wonders why I even bothered to get on the elliptical as I'm only doing 45 SPMs. Sometimes I wonder that too. The gym scale says 112.6 lbs but I've only sucked down half my water, and I'm dripping wet before I even hit the shower.

I run into B who tells me that now not only is her lower back still injured with probably a pinched nerve, but now she can't turn her head and the pain is keeping her up at night. But she doesn't want to go to doctor. And she's not going for an MRI because she's too claustrophobic. Instead she's self-medicating her neck pain with NSAIDs and a muscle relaxer. "I don't want to take the pain killer the doc gave me. It's hydrocodone." "He gave you codeine and Tylenol for back pain?" I ask, but she's not internet-savvy so she can't really answer me. I tell her to find a good sports doctor but she won't. She'll just suffer and complain about it until her husband gets sick of it and makes an appointment for her. It's probably a generation thing since she's about 8 years older than me.

As I"m leaving the gym, I see P, the owner who promised to show me what the Intermediate Level entails at the Nexersys. "I'll show you tomorrow," he says. "But you're not usually here on Fridays." "Oh, we're getting some new equipment so I'll be here." I give him a quizzical look as he motions to the Cardio platform. "Swapping out those old Precors for new ones," he says. "Oh no! I hope I fit into the new ones!" "Well, they're still Precors," he says. Then I complain about the new benches being too high for me, and he says I should take the yoga blocks and put them under my feet. Again I give him a quizzical look. "They're stacked up in the class room. I'll show you tomorrow." Yeah, okay. I'm not happy with all these changes because new is not usually better. Perhaps it's best that I've changed my routine, but this is going to really suck if I can't use the ellipticals to do HIIT. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Day Four
35 min elliptical Interval 8 = 4.29 miles
Cage Stretch
25 decline push ups with feet up 23"
3 x 12 Ab Wheel super set with decline push ups
3 x 25 with feet up approx 14" (2 steps)
3 x 20 crunches
20 min elliptical LISS = 1.06 miles

Another Anatomy Mystery

My lower back is still a bit stiff this morning when I get to the gym. I'm running late because the old silver sedan in front of me turned left (East) into the low morning sun and smack right into a huge, "so big how could you possibly not see it" garbage truck. It blocked the entire main thoroughfare until a police officer directed the garbage truck to back up onto the shoulder. I wonder if this is the same car that ran the stop sign on my road as my son and I waited for his school bus. I tell B about this when I get into the locker room and she tells me that she's sure the driver was on her cell. I can't even change the CD in my car while I'm driving, much less talk on the phone. When I'm driving, I'll have the radio on, but all I'm doing is driving. I'm very single-minded.

Today is Leg Day and I warm up on the elliptical for 15 minutes, barely breaking a sweat at 200 Strides Per Minute. I'm definitely doing a de-load next week, but haven't decided whether I'll continue alternating LISS and HIIT days. The Smith is occupied so I do a light stretch at the Cage. When I return to the Smith, the fellow has moved on to machine shrugs right behind me. Squats feel okay until I get to 120 lbs. I'm probably doing a lot more volume than I need and I'm considering cutting back my reps. At 120, my back starts to feel crunchy. My right knee also twinges a bit. Although I can drop to my heels on the lighter weights, it's too hard on my knees as I go heavier. At 150, I'm just barely parallel but I'm okay with that. I don't need a bigger butt than I already have. And I already have massive thighs.

My lower back is still stiff, and what's really bothering me is my right front hip. I'm not sure what muscles are involved but it's certainly annoying. I'm thinking that yesterday's heavy rows are taking their toll on me. Yeah, a de-load is looking really good right now. But I still want to do Smith SLDLs. All the step platforms are stacked inside the ongoing Zumba class. Luckily they don't use these platforms in Zumba. I didn't like pulling up from just under my knees and the platform allows me to grab the bar closer to my ankles. This movement doesn't seem to hurt my back although I did curse under my breath when I got to 150 lbs. Last week I could get 12 reps. This week I cut back my heavy sets to less reps.

I feel okay but that changes as soon as I try to do some of the accessory work I skipped last week because school's were closing early. Both the Seated Leg Curl and Seated Leg Extension made my lower back ache, which is really odd because it's never happened before. Part of it may be because I don't really fit into the equipment properly. My legs are too short to rest my ankles on the rollers without me scooting myself up against the lap bar, which means my back is not flat against the seat. I have to drop the weight substantially in order to do anything. I'm disappointed. The Leg Extension is even worse. I know I can get 12 reps at 135 lbs. But today I can barely do 105 lbs without my hips and lower back complaining. I toss in the towel after a few sets and mount the elliptical. Walk pedaling while reading my email and forum posts slows me to a mind-numbing 39 SPM.

The gym scale reads 114.0 and at first I think it's a mistake because it's been 115 for the past 3 days. Well, that's okay. I'm baffled by the stiffness in my back and hip but I'm not sure what muscles are actually affected. It's another anatomy mystery. I'm only planning to do some cardio and boxing tomorrow, things I don't think will bother my sore spots. And then next week I'm not going to lift at all. Not a thing. Except maybe my water bottle.

Leg Day Workout
15 min warm up elliptical = 1.63 miles

abbreviated Cage Stretch

Smith Machine Squats: 25 @ bar as fast as I can go Heel to Butt / 12 @ 60 lbs HTB / 12 @ 80 lbs all other sets are parallel / 12 @ 100 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 12 @ 140 lbs / 12 @ 150 lbs / 12 @ 130 lbs / 12 @ 110 lbs / 12 @ 90 lbs

Smith Machine SLDLs: 12 @ bar / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 100 lbs / 8 @ 120 lbs / 8 @ 140 lbs / 8 @ 150 lbs / 10 @ 130 lbs / 12 @ 110 lbs / 12 @ 90 lbs / 12 @ 80 lbs

Seated Leg Curls: 12 @ 75 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 90 lbs

Seated Leg Extensions: 12 @ 75 lbs / 12 @ 105 lbs / 12 @ 90 lbs / 12 @ 105 lbs

20 min elliptical LISS = 1.04 miles

Back Day Blues

It was warmer today but I still couldn't get my car door locks to work. Neither could my husband with his slightly younger car. The locks finally kicked in this afternoon when temps reached a balmy 23°F. Meanwhile, it was Back Day and those tend to really take a lot out of me. I did my 15 min warm up at a moderate 200 Strides Per Minute pace and then got half a dozen magnets. There weren't any stray Olympic bars for me to use as a warm up so I grab a 60 lb solid BB and knocked out an easy dozen reps. Then I lugged the 110 lb BB to the mirrored wall for Reverse Grip BB Rows. Except my first two sets were regular grip rows but I don't like the way they feel. Plus my hands and fingers were feeling a bit off.

I fish the VGs out of my bag and put those on for the remainder sets. I remember how heavy 125 lbs feels so I'm satisfied just to get 4 full sets at that weight before dropping back to 110. In the interim, a guy plops himself next to me in the Seated OHP station and does a few reps with just the bar. I drag my gear out of the way so that it's not all in front of his station. Wasted effort. I'm not really interested in other people so I don't make eye contact or chat, and the guy leaves. Now I'm just annoyed that I had to drag my gear out of his way for nothing. People are annoying.

One-Arm DB Rows are next, and they literally just drain everything I have out of me. I check last week's log just to remind myself what I want to accomplish. First set at 55 lbs. Next three sets at 60 lbs. And they are heavy. I want three full sets. Almost make it. Not quite. I do Left Arm first because it's the weaker side. But after a dozen rows, I'm panting hard and need to take a few seconds before I can set up to do the Right Arm. What's worse is that my lower back and inner right hip (front, so maybe some sort of abdominal muscle) seems a bit sore. I lay down on the bench between sets and my back feels better. Well, that's new, but not good. I finish with a set at 55 again and look towards the Lower Back Extension machine as a way to loosen up tight muscles.

After three sets of 15 reps, I still feel tight so I knock out some twisting sit ups and knee-ins. That makes me feel a little looser. Finally there's the Neutral (close) Grip Pull Downs. Miss Piggy and one of the lady trainers is sprawled on the floor between the two cable stations and I almost trip over her. I apologize for actually catching my foot on the cable. B waves at me, tells me that my longer hair looks good and then realizes she's forgotten where she put her coat. I keep pushing my hair out of my face. It annoys me but everyone seems to like it. I guess it's okay as long as it's cold out. Back to the Pull Downs. Again, I try to get three full sets at the max weight of 120 lbs but I'm too tired to make the last rep. Oh well. Time for LISS.

Today I've saved reading my email and forum posts for this... doing low, slow pedaling on the elliptical. It works in that my pace is a snail-racing 46 SPM. Once I finish reading, my pace automatically quickens to keep pace with my iPod and I have to pedal backwards to slow down. Because my front right hip and lower back feel off, I decide not to try the Ab Wheel again. Maybe tomorrow. But the Mat is free and I do my full stretch routine there.

Camera distortion makes my
hands and forearms look huge!

The gym scale again reads 115.0 lbs. That's really oddly consistent because it's never before read the same weight three days in a row. My chest is really sore from Monday's workout. I've only done this for three weeks, once a week but I can definitely see changes in my chest. I'm a small-busted woman so having cleavage is something I notice. Well, at least something's working. I snap a few photos with my cell but the lighting's not optimal and it's hard to see anything definitive. Except I know I'm bigger. The tape verifies that but not where. At least it's not just my back.

When I get home, the Rogue® Proloc collars are waiting on the front steps. Nice! Something else to stuff into my gear sack, and even though they're mostly plastic, they do have a bit of weight on them. Now there's no excuse should I happen to need to use an Olympic or EZ bar.

Wednesday Back Workout:
15 min warm up elliptical = 1.64 miles 

RGBB Rows: 12 @ 60 lbs / 12 @ 110 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 4 x 12 @ 125 Yay! / 15 @ 110 lbs

One-Arm DB Rows: 12 @ 55 lbs / 10, 12, 12 @ 60 lbs Yay! / 12 @ 55 lbs

Lower Back Extension Machine: 3 x 15 @ 180 lbs

Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Lower Ab Knee-In Kick-Outs: 100

Neutral (Close) Grip Pull Downs: 12 @ 90 lbs / 12, 12, 11 @ 120 lbs

20 min LISS = 1.04 miles

Mat Stretch with 2 x 12 DBPUs, 60-second plank (still hate this), splits, upper & lower back stretches

Photo's a little distorted, but not a lot. I wonder if the pecs will lose mass when I finally get over the DOMS from Monday's workout.

Out of the Comfort Zone

I didn't get to the gym as early as I wanted but it's New Year's Eve. I cut my cardio down five minutes to 15, hoping to leave enough in the tank so I could complete my workout the way I wrote it. I see most people just do 5 min on the elliptical, but I can't cut down so quickly after months of doing 4-5 miles a day. At the front desk, I ask for all their magnetic discs only to discover that they really have a lot more than just four 2.5 lb discs. I grab six because that's 15 lbs. After a quick warm up with just an Olympic bar, I grab the 110 lb BB, the last on the rack, and knock out my sets. At 125 lbs, the heaviest I've ever done, I can get 12 reps but they do feel heavy. Thankgoodness for VGs! Two more sets, and then a few drop sets. I feel okay but not really good because I miss warming up until I'm sweaty. The gym is moderately crowded. Latin Baseball and his friends are all over the free weights. When I claim a bench for One-Arm DB Rows, I notice The Mayor, Jude, M and the Slav.

I don't want to waste energy on lighter weighs so I start with the 55 lb DB to warm up. The 60 is heavy! I can only get 10 reps for the first two sets but somehow manage 12 reps for the third set. Very odd. I drop down to 55 again just for another 12-rep set. It's only 5 sets but they've got me bent over my bench panting hard. I return the magnets and wrestle myself into the Lower Back Extension machine. I'm going for reps. Only four sets. And only only four sets on the Neutral (Close) Grip Pull Downs, but at least I'm getting almost three full sets at my max weight of 120 lbs. Yay! Some abs (the things I didn't do yesterday) and then I climb back up to the cardio area to do 20 minutes of LISS. When I feel myself picking up speed (moving from 80 SPMs to 100) I peddle backwards which slows me down. My husband texts me a few times because he's getting new tires and was just told that the car's suspension should've been replaced at 100,000. Oops. He also wants to go hiking, and we plan to go to the $5 movies today. 47 Ronin is playing. We love special effects and mythical warrior stories. Plus, we haven't really hated anything Keanu Reeves has been in.

Again, I start perspiring as I'm mouthing songs while trotting along at 79 SPM. Very odd. Today I want to do a Mat Stretch but suddenly there are a lot of unfamiliar faces everywhere. And especially on the Mats. So no Mat Stretch. I do a quick Cage Stretch and head to locker room. The gym scale reads 115.0 lbs. Glad it's going down and not up! Tomorrow, if I manage to get out of the house, I'm planning to do 10 minutes of HIIT and maybe some arms. And a Mat Stretch. A good way to start the New Year.

Back Workout:
15 min cardio Hill #2 = 1.54 miles 

Reverse Grip BB Rows: 12 @ 45 lbs / 12 @ 110 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 125 lbs PR Yay! / 12 @ 115 lbs / 12 @ 110 lbs

One-Arm DB Rows: 12 @ 55 lbs / 10, 10, 12 @ 60 lbs / 12 @ 55 lbs

Lower Back Extension Machine: 15 @ 172.5 lbs / 2 x 12 @ 187.5 lbs / 15 @ 180 lbs

Neutral (Close) Grip Pull Downs: 12 @ 75 lbs / 12, 12, 11 @ 120 lbs 

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

20 min cardio Hill #1 LISS = 1.28 miles

Today The Scale is Not My Friend

With us, the actual Christmas and New Year's holiday are quiet events because we prefer to stay home and have a "jammie day". The weekend between is when invitations for play dates and meals are exchanged. Friday we went out for sushi. Lots of sushi because my husband always over-orders. Saturday we visited friends in Danbury. They had clam and bacon pizza as well as a more traditional sausage tomato one. We provided the dessert of home-made banana bread served with a choice of vanilla and/or eggnog ice cream. Later, we went to see friends in Newtown to view a UFC match. There was beer, cheddar, summer sausage and the spiciest jalapeno cheese I've ever sampled in my life. We didn't get home until after 2 am (my son fell asleep on the way home) but we were up early the next day as our Danbury friends were headed into the City and wanted our son to accompany their son on their "field trip" to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When they returned to drop our son off, we invited them over for dinner: grilled chicken and flank steak, potatoes, mac and cheese (mostly for the 3 boys), and of course, rainbow marzipan cookies and chocolate truffles for dessert.

I got up this morning, took the dog out and promptly fell back asleep for another hour. My husband is technically on holiday until Thursday when he has to drive up to Boston, but he had a conference call. My son was completely comatose so I snuck out of the house and headed for the gym, getting there mid-morning, just in time to greet B as she hustled on her coat to leave. I get on the Precor and punch in 15 minutes and trot at a leisurely 150 SPMs. But I don't think this qualifies as LISS so my New Year's resolution is to cut my warm ups to just 10 minutes, adding my cardio to the back end of my workout sessions. I just need to grit my teeth for the unpleasant unavoidable initial weight gain. I still plan to do HIIT workouts twice a week though. I'll give it a few weeks to see if this results in the body fat loss I want.

Meanwhile, it's Universal Bench Press Monday so down to the free weight area. Today I toss a pair of 45s and a pair of 25s down on the floor next to the bench. Much much better! I feel stable finally. I can't actually remember whether I put 2.5 lb plates or 5 lb plates on the end of the bar last week. My notes say 2.5 lbs (totalling 120 lbs) so I bite my lip, say WTF to myself and toss on 5s today. Okay, that's 125 lbs. I don't bother to see how many I can get because my program says to just get 4 reps. And I get my 4 reps. Then I reconfigure, stripping the weights bit by bit, and doubling the reps for each set. At 75 lbs I can get 20 reps, and I'm not breathing all that hard. This is better than last week when I had to pause twice with a mere 95 lbs. "Yep", I tell myself, "definitely going to cut my warm up time next week."

Next are Incline Presses. I'm not quite sure why they are so hard except that I don't really fit very well into the bench. The stays are too far away, and the angle of the bench seems quite severe at 60°. Still, I persevere, figuring that at some point I'll get better at it. Five sets later and my right front delt is twinging a little. But not enough to keep from Decline Benching. I'm more comfortable with this. The weights don't feel as heavy, but I know my arms are starting to fatigue so I keep this short. Just five sets here too, but ending with a nice 20 rep pump. The Chest Program I've looked at calls for 3 sets of15 reps of pec dec flyes but I don't do those so I grab a pair of 20s and do actual flat bench DB Flyes. I'm worried that the weight will pop my shoulders or spine out of alignment so 20 lbs is plenty for now. I use the same 20s to warm up for Standing Lateral DB Raises. Then I swap them for 25s. I look back in my log and see that I've done sets of 12 reps at 27.5 lbs, so doing less reps at 30 lbs should be doable. And I do them. Yay!

Just some light abs and a quick stretch at the Cage. But I don't feel satisfied so I find myself climbing back up to the cardio area and getting on a Precor. I punch in 15 minutes (it automatically adds a 5 minute warm up) and I start walking at the snail-racing 89 SPM. It's boring and I catch myself speeding up with the quick tempo of my cardio music mix. But what surprises me is that I start to perspire. I'm barely moving, and sweat is dripping off the back of my neck! This is extremely unexpected.

I brace myself for the gym scale's bad news. I'm expecting 115 lbs. I get 116 lbs. Ugh. Okay, I'm not that surprised. I caught a side view of me in the DB area and even I think my triceps are freaking huge. I've put on size everywhere (I took a tape measure to myself over the weekend), especially my thighs (a whopping two inches from 19 to 21 inches in about a year) so now I'm thinking I have to cut back on my Leg Workouts, lowering the volume a lot. Genetically, I have big legs. I never work my calves and they're 13 inches. It's a nice balance to the upper arms (also 13 inches), but really, I like my pants and don't want to buy new ones. When I get home, my own scale tells me 113 lbs, with a BF just over 21% (double ugh), but muscle mass back up to 37% and bone back to 4.6 lbs. Very odd.

Monday Workout:
20 min cardio warm up (elliptical 2.15 miles)

Bench Press: 12 @ 45 lbs / 4 @ 125 lbs / 8 @ 115 lbs / 12 @ 105 lbs / 16 @ 95 lbs / 20 @ 75 lbs
Inclined Press: 12 @ 45 lbs / 10 @ 75 lbs / 4, 6, 6 @ 95 lbs
Decline Press: 12 @ 45 lbs / 12 @ 75 lbs / 12 @ 95 lbs / 16 @ 85 lbs / 20 @ 75 lbs

DB Flyes: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs

Lateral DB Raises: 12 @ 20 lbs / 12 @ 25 lbs / 3 x 6 @ 30 lbs / 15 @ 25 lbs

Cage Stretch with BW heel dips & calf raises & side kicks

Ab Crunch Station: 100
Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs

20 min cardio LISS (elliptical 1.5 miles)