Hump Day Leg Workout

The next week and a half will be abbreviated workouts because school doesn't start until Sept 4 which is a Thursday. Who starts school at the end of the week? Good grief! Today's Leg Workout is a luxury because I have more time. I do my split cardio routine with 2+ miles on the LifeFitness cross-trainer before I lift and then 2+ miles on the Precor afterwards. The Smith machine is free and I'm quite happy doing my Smith Squats and then Smith SLDLs.

My lower back still feels crunchy, but it feels that way when I bend over, with lower vertebrae popping like bubble wrap. Maybe I should use a lifting belt? I can't remember whether I tossed or kept my old leather belt. Everything leather eventually gets moldy in my house. I might've tossed it. I'm not sure I'd really want yet another piece of equipment to drag along to the gym. I'm tired but I've never let that deter me from a decent workout. I'm blaming Shark Week for sleep deprivation, since I've been staying up to watch and delete all the sharktacular episodes of jaw-dropping marine footage.

After Seated Leg Extensions, I stretch at the Cage, and after the area is clear of guys using the cable machines in that corner, I do a set of Pistol Squats to see how many I can do in succession. 10 per leg is pretty good! Then I wander back to the main gym area and do sets of GHRs at the Lat Pull Down machine. That always causes people to inadvertently stare. But not as much as putting my leg over my head at the Cage. Hey, it's not like I haven't been working at this for some years now.

I've cooled down a lot so doing a second leg of cardio helps warm up my muscles for the Mat Stretch that follows. I can't wait until the 3rd set of Dive Bomber Push Ups gets easier. The plank still feels like an eternity at 62 seconds. Only my splits feel effortless. I do another set of Pistol Squats but only get 5 (each leg) going backwards and 3 forward as that lands me in the middle of the Mat where I need to be to do the rest of my stretches. Finally, after the shoulder, neck, upper back and lower back stretches, I do a set of crunches, then pulse-ups, then another set of crunches. Done! Yay!

Leg Workout


Elliptical Training
Calorie : 96 CAL
Distance: 2.31 mile
Speed : 6.85 mph
Lap/Rep : --
Duration : 00:20:00

Smith Machine Squat
224
Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x15
Set 3 : 120x12
Set 4 : 140x12
Set 5 : 160x12
Set 6 : 130x12

Smith Machine Stiff Legged Deadlift
224
Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 120x12
Set 4 : 140x12
Set 5 : 160x12
Set 6 : 130x12

Leg Extensions
189
Set 1 : 75x12
Set 2 : 105x12
Set 3 : 135x12

Pistol Squat
Set 1 : 10 Laps/Reps
Set 2 : 8 Laps/Reps

GHRs
Set 1 : 12 Laps/Reps
Set 2 : 12 Laps/Reps
Set 3 : 12 Laps/Reps

Elliptical Training
Calorie : 314 CAL
Distance: 2.86 mile
Duration : 00:35:00

Plank
Set 1 : 00:01:02

Dive Bomber Pushup
Set 1 : 12 Laps/Reps
Set 2 : 12 Laps/Reps
Set 3 : 12 Laps/Reps

Crunches/PulseUps/Crunches
Set 1 : 50 Laps/Reps
Set 2 : 50 Laps/Reps
Set 3 : 50 Laps/Reps

Leg Day Wednesday

For some reason, my email glitched yesterday and told me my password was incorrect, right while I was in email printing out some HW for my son. Things went from bad to worse and now I'm totally locked out of my email and everything associated with my Apple ID until 6 pm tonight because apparently Apple feels that for security reasons, I can't even attempt to change my password until 24 hours have passed. Which means I can't email myself photos from my phone so there will be no images from today's workout here. However, I do have my Jefit app so I can still post my workout.

I don't really like cardio but I do it. I have a vague memory of actually liking it when I used to do 4-5 miles at a clip. I haven't done HIIT cardio since last week, and I can't say that I miss it, but I feel guilty for not doing it. Although, my lifts are a lot better with less cardio, I think I need to drop some of this "bulk" for the warmer weather. It might seem weird, but at 111-113 lbs, I feel big. Yesterday I put on a nice clingy cotton shirt that necessitated a bra but my 36AAA LuLu T-shirt bra felt like a corset and I could barely breathe. I'm so much happier wearing just an undershirt, but warmer weather dictates a bit of modesty. Sigh.

I don't do HIIT today either and instead lope along at 170-180 Strides Per Minute on the Precor. The gym's a bit more crowded but I'm not sure why. The Smith is free and I jump right on it for Squats and then for Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts. I'm not sure why, but even with the VGs on, I start to lose my grip with the heavier weight on the SLDLs. As a last resort I even try an "Over and Under Grip", but the results are the same: I'm barely clinging to the VG straps with my finger tips by the last rep. It has something to do with the fact that the Smith bar is in a fixed tract and how I'm pulling up against it because I don't have this problem doing RG BB Rows with heavier weight and a free standing barbell.

I can feel some neuro-muscular oddness in my left foot and right glute. My right knee also feel creaky, and I attribute that to yesterday's Recumbent Bike because I have to pedal with my right leg angled out slightly or my knee begins to click painfully. I get my sets done, do a quick stretch at the Cage and then a few accessory movements: Seated Leg Extension and Seated Leg Curl. Oh yeah, and the hated Standing DB Lunges. My right knee really doesn't like this exercise so I try to be gentle. It's still acting up when I clamber up the Step Mill, but after a few minutes, my knees settle down and feel okay. It's warm and humid in the gym today and I'm trying not to sweat all over my phone as I read the forum posts. Because I'm wearing shorts, I don't feel like doing the knee to elbow crunches and figure I'll just do extra regular crunches. The gym scale reads 113.4 lbs, the same as yesterday. Tomorrow I get to whack the Nexersys. Yay! I'm so looking forward to that!

Leg Day Workout

20 min Precor = 1.95 miles

Smith Squats
15x30 lbs (bar)
12x80 lbs
12x120 lbs
12x140 lbs
12x160 lbs +10 lbs PB Yay!
12x130 lbs

Smith SLDLs
12x30 lbs (bar)
12x80 lbs
12x100 lbs
12x120 lbs
12x140 lbs
12x150 lbs +2 reps Yay!
12x100 lbs

Cage Stretch

Seated Leg Extension
12x90 lbs
12x105 lbs
12x120 lbs
12x135 lbs

Seated Leg Curl
12x90 lbs
3x12x105 lbs (the last 2 reps for each set seemed unusually hard today)

Standing DB Lunges
15x20 lbs (each hand)
2x15x25 lbs

20 min Matrix Step Mill = 1110 steps

Crunches: 60, 80, 60