Slacker Leg Day

I took yesterday off and actually stayed in bed reading until it was damn near noon. I'd already had my coffee and oatmeal, although I did soup it up a bit by adding a scoop of whey powder to it, figuring it would hold me until I'd gotten all my errands done. I even took a half dose of pseudoephedrine and drank a lot of herbal tea. Today I feel better, although I'm still blowing snot out of my head. And instead of staying home, because I had to drive my son to school for his extra gym class anyway, I packed all my gym gear, put on my gym clothes and went to work out.

I'm still sick so I figure I'd do a slacker Leg Day routine but I tend to make that up as I go. I toy with only doing one cardio session but because the first one felt pretty good, I opt to do number two as well. I don't pull great mileage, but it's still over eight, and that makes me really happy. If I had to leave the gym suddenly at this point, say due to a call from the school nurse, or because the power grid failed throughout the entire Northeast (hey, it's happened), well, I can say, at least I got this done. The Smith machine is free and that makes me happier.

I remember that I was going to video the speed squats so I put my cell on the floor in front of the Smith. When I review the footage for speed squat sets one and two, I realize that the overhead lights are causing a glare problem. By the time I've done regular squats, I've figured out that I can gingerly place my cell on the ledge of the cardio platform and see if that's better. I do my last set, speed squats of 25 reps with just the bar and the footage looks decent. I toy with the idea of getting a video of my Smith machine Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts, but suddenly there's a convention of old people hanging about the cardio platform. I have to check last week's log to see what I should be doing and decided I'm going to do better. And I do. I get three sets of 12 instead of 10. That makes me feel really good.

I'm tired by the time I get to the Cage and although my stretches are good, the kicks are cursory. Only Seated Leg Curls and Seated Leg Extensions to do. I don't have the energy or the mind to do more than three sets, matching the weight from last week, but not the volume. I knock out sit ups and crunches, then head to the Mat to do Dive Bomber Push Ups, the single 20 second plank and more stretches. I'm soooo done. The gym scale reads 110.4 lbs and I'm good with that considering I'd completely drained my water bottle. Depending on how I feel tomorrow, I might be back for more cardio and to whack the Nexersys. That's worth getting up for!

Slacker Leg Day
35 min Interval 7 = 4.35 miles + 35 min Hill 5 = 3.81  Grand Total = 8.16 miles Yay!

Smith Machine Squats: 25 @ bar (30 lbs) fast as I can go Butt to Heels / 12 @ 60 lbs fast as I can go Butt to Heels / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 100 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 12 @ 140 lbs / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 60 lbs fast as I can go Butt to Heels / 25 @ bar fast as I can go Butt to Heels 

Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts: 12 @ bar / 12 @ 60 lbs / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 100 / 3 x 12 @ 110 lbs Yay!

Cage Stretch

Seated Leg Curl: 12 @ 97.5 lbs / 10 @ 127.5 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs
Seated Leg Extensions: 12 @ 90 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 12 @ 135 lbs

Flat Bench Twisting Sit Up: 125
Ab Crunch Station: 100

Mat Stretch with 2 x 12 DBPUs & 20 second plank, splits and other stretches

There's No Hump When It's Leg Day

It's warmer compared to the past few days and the song birds are all confused, especially since I tossed a bag of dried meal worms into the feeder just for fun. Well actually, it was something new I'd seen at the local supermarket and the packaging promised that it would attract new birds. The dog keeps shedding though, and we wonder why he's not bald yet. I get to the gym just as Zumba class is about to begin and standing amid the flurry of women scrambling for the door is akin to being a gate post during a cattle stampede.

There's few people in the cardio area and I'm happy to get on Precor #1. Today is Leg Day and even though I'm feeling a bit tired, I punch in my standard 30 minutes and the Interval 7 program. The bruise at the base of my left finger has seeped into my hand, but it doesn't hurt unless I press into it. Gripping the handles of the elliptical is the most uncomfortable part of doing cardio today. I'm happy to make over four miles and blithely punch in another 30 minutes for Hill 5. This is so much harder. Both my hands are achy and I can't find a good position to rest my palms, my thumbs chafe against the bar no matter where I place my fingers, the toes in my right foot are going numb. Finally I'm done and a tad disappointed that I couldn't make four miles this time. But overall, the total is good.

The Smith Machine is occupied so I head directly to the Cage to stretch out. I've read various caveats about stretching before heavy lifting, how stretching weakens muscle strength. I'm not totally convinced, although I don't normally stretch until after my heaviest movements. I see the Manchurian leave the gym, neatly attired in button-down shirt and suit pants and for some reason I think he's in the medical profession. The free weight area is fairly empty now, just the way I like it.

I always start with Smith Squats because I don't think I'd be able to squat if I did Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts first. First a high-rep set of Speed Squats with just the bar, then I add a few pounds and do a regular 12-rep set, again Butt-to-Heel. As I add weight, my knees start to complain and eventually so does my lower back. By the time I've got my max weight on the bar, I'm only barely able to go parallel. Drop sets follow. In the interim, a broken man in a wheelchair is maneuvered into the tight space between the Smith machine and another bench, leaving me no way to re-rack my plates. The man is given a 25 lb DB by his male health aide and manages to do a few curls. His head lolls to one side, his face distorted, mouth slightly agape. I'm not sure if it was a stroke or some other catastrophic injury, but the health aide unnerves me because I saw him staring while I stretched out at the Cage. There is no way that I'm asking him to move his charge, so I plop my plates on the floor and re-rack when they've moved on to another station.

I strip the bar and do a set of Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts. ZZ is busy with DBs so at least he's not hovering about the Smith like he was last week. Actually, he's been keeping his distance since he saw me and my family walking across the parking lot at a local store. [I noticed him because he drives a black WRX -- the hood scoop's a dead giveaway on a Subaru -- and who else wears a pompadour? My husband's a fairly formidable guy for someone who should work out more often.] I'm trying to get better at SLDLs so I do as many reps and sets as I can handle. I don't throw up. But after each set, I feel a little light-headed and I'm breathing hard. There's a sign I just noticed in the BB area that says "Do Not Dead Lift while Yoga Class in in Session. Please consult Class Schedule." I don't think that applies to me, especially since the Smith is in the opposite corner, sandwiched between DBs and the raised cardio platform area.

Only two more exercises to go but I feel like I've been here all day. I need to find a new seated Leg Curl because this Cybex machine has been fixed and adjusted so much that the motion feels odd, as if the cables have been pulled too tight. I only do a few sets. My hammies are tired anyway. But I make it up at the seated Leg Extension machine and push out three sets of 12 reps at my new max weight. Done! Well, not quite. Again, there's a bit of abs to do first, and then the Mat stretch. Then I'm done! Yay! The gym scale reads 109.2 lbs and I'm more than good with that.

Tomorrow I have to bring my son to school an hour early because I signed him up for the PTO's extra gym class, figuring little boys need all the running around they can get while at school. So I'll be at the gym early. I hope it won't be crowded... there's usually a new bevy of faces during the holidays because there's a sudden awareness of how people want to look, and reality. Yes, I'd like to look like a Super Hero please. Cape and boots with that bodysuit? Sorry, no magic pill, no radioactive spider bite. Just lots and lots of consistently hard work. No hump here on Wednesday. It's Leg Day.

Leg Day Workout:
35 min Interval 7 = 4.51 miles + 35 min Hill 5 = 3.92 miles  Grand Total = 8.43 miles Yay!
Cage Stretch

Smith Machine Squats: 25 @ bar (30 lbs) Butt to Heels as fast as I can go / 12 @ 60 lbs Butt to Heels / 12 @ 80 lbs Not quite as Low / 12 @ 100 lbs Just under parallel / 12 @ 120 lbs  Just under parallel / 12 @ 140 lbs Parallel as lower back and knees not really happy / 12 @ 100 lbs Below parallel / 25 @ 50 lbs Butt to Heels as fast as I can go

Smith Machine Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts: 12 @ bar (30 lbs) / 12 @ 80 lbs / 12 @ 100 lbs / 3 x 10 @ 110 lbs

Seated Leg Curls: 12 @ 105 lbs / 10 @ 120 lbs / 8 @ 127.5 lbs

Seated Leg Extensions: 12 @ 90 lbs / 12 @ 105 lbs / 12 @ 120 lbs / 3 x 12 @ 135 lbs

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

Mat Stretch

Maybe It Was the Butt-Ugly Shorts

It was a tad warmer today but I still got off to a slow start. I'm not sure if tourists from the City have begun their annual crawl through the exurbs yet, leisurely driving the speed limit and peering at the changing autumn leaves. Leafers or leaf peepers are what we call them. We know them by the brake lights that come on at every curve in the road, at every large vehicle passing in the opposing lane. Makes me wish I had a big-ass old fashion truck with a cow-pusher bumper grill on the front. Or maybe everyone's in a Benadryl® haze, driving medicated and stupid. Can I blame the golden rod and ragweed now?

Cackling emanates from the locker room and I brace myself for the crowd of women screaming salutations. Zumba and spin classes are happening within moments of each other. It's surprisingly humid and warm in there, adding to my discomfort. Today is Leg Day and I'm hoping my favorite elliptical is free. It is and I feel very lucky because the other two are occupied. I pull my hoodie down over my eyes, turn up my iPod and punch in Interval 7. My glutes are sore but eventually everything loosens up and I start to relax. I make my quota and I'm extremely happy. I could walk away now and just do weights. But I don't. Instead, I blot my face with my sleeve, gulp some water and punch in another 30 minute session at Hill 5. It's hard to keep my pace over 200 and halfway through the program, I'm struggling to keep my pace over 185. I just miss 4 miles, but the total is more than eight and a half so I'm feeling pretty good. Maybe it's the butt-ugly running shorts.

Butt-ugly running shorts

I've forgotten how desolate the free weight area can be on Wednesdays but I like it better. As much as everyone disparages Smith machine squats, I do them because they don't hurt my elbows the way a free standing Olympic bar does. Of course, first I manage 25 speed squats with just the bar, butt to heels. I get 12 reps for each set, upping the weight each time until I've hit my maximum weight. I can't get to parallel at this weight: there's a weird crunchy popping sensation in my lower back that still unnerves me but I finish the set and then drop plates after every set. Then another 25 heel to butt speed squats. Sweat is running off my nose when I finish.

Afterwards, I try to get my form correct for doing Dead Lifts with just the bar. I hit myself in the knee and decide, Heck, I'm just going to do Stiff-Legged Dead Lifts and see how it feels. Just the bar is easy. It is after all, less than 45 lbs due to the counterbalance on the Smith. Then I add 25 lb plates. It's decidedly heavier but my back doesn't complain. I add another ten pounds to each side. Still doable. Moment of truth. I add another ten pound plate. It's heavy, but I can still do 12 reps. I think this is the heaviest I've done but now's not the time to push my luck. The drop sets are easier. And although I'm a bit tired, I feel okay. Again I think, maybe it's these ugly shorts.

The Cage Stretch feels good. I've peeled my hoodie off and left it draped over the railing of the cardio area. It's too heavy now to drag around with me as I make my way to the Seated Leg Curl machine. I know I've done 120 lbs but I can't quite remember how many sets. Because I'm a bit burnt from the SLDLs, I know I'm not going to get much more than a few. The Seated Leg Extensions are another matter. I start at 75 lbs because I remember doing that weight. For every 12 rep set, I up the weight another plate (15 lb increments) until I'm at 120 lbs. I don't even want to attempt 135. Not today anyway.

I do a few crunches just to warm up my core, and then I'm done. I head over to the Mats and do my Mat Stretch. I glance up and note that there are more bodies in the free weight area. It must be the lunch time crowd. I've been ending my Mat time with a few lower back stretches. I don't actually feel anything when I do them, but the fact that I can do a few SLDLs is encouraging.

The gym scale reads 108.8 lbs today, and I'm starving, but distracted because my new cell seems to be defective. We'd upgraded our phones after my husband dropped his one too many times and shattered the screen. Nevermind that the ringer had an agenda all its own. So we have new old phones (not the latest greatest version) but new enough. Today my phone finally recognized the wi-fi signal in our house, but then it lost the ability to use the 4G network. So it's basically just a camera at this point. A camera that can't make calls, or send texts or emails. Maybe it's these butt-ugly shorts.

Leg Day Workout:
35 min Interval 7 = 4.69 35 min Hill 5 = 3.97  Grand Total = 8.66 miles Wahoo!
Smith Machine Squats: 25 speed squats with just the bar (butt to heels as fast as I can go) / 12 @ 95 / 12 @ 115 / 12 @ 135 / 12 @ 155 / 12 @ 135 / 12 @ 115 / 12 @ 95 / 25 speed squats again
Yes, it's a Smith so detract 15-20 lbs from the above weights for a more accurate assessment
Smith Machine SLDLs: 12 @ bar / 12 @ 95 / 12 @ 115 / 12 @ 135 / 12 @ 115 / 12 @ 95
Same goes here too regarding actual weights moved
Cage Stretch with BW Heel Dips and Calf Raises and Side Kicks
Seated Leg Curl: 12 @ 90 lbs / 12 @ 105 / 3 x 8 @ 120 lbs
Seated Leg Extension: 12 @ 75 lbs / 12 @ 90 / 12 @ 105 / 3 x 12 @ 120 lbs
This is heaviest I've ever done for Leg Extensions
Mat Stretch with 10 Wide Legged DBPUs, 3 rolling push ups, walk hands out to regular stance for 10 DBPUs, splits, lower back stretches, etc.