When Standing Still Is Making Progress

I'm a bit frustrated with my weight because I'd seriously like to drop 3 or 4 lbs and I'm not having much luck lately. The gym scale reads 111.2 lbs today. Egads! But my sciatica seems to be improving incrementally. I can do most things now without actually thinking about whether my leg hurts, except getting in the car and hitting the gas. So that's an improvement. It's about time (it's only been over a month)!

No lunging moves, which means no lunging stretches, no one-leg squats, no pistol squats, no glute-hamstring raises. I can drop down into a full butt-to-heels position but I'm not pushing any weight except myself back up. I'm still 98% certain that this is piriformis syndrome, which means the sciatic nerve is being aggravated by the piriformis muscle that sits deep under the glute. My hamstrings are fairly loose so tightness or lack of stretching isn't the issue. If anything, I suspect over-stretching. I'm 56 and there's probably a limit as to how much an older body can adapt and recover from physical activity. My flexibility and strength have improved over the past several years, but I have to remind myself that I'm not in my 20s and making gains. I'm in my 50s, doing mostly "maintenance" and happily making small gains.

Maybe 100 push ups is a bit rough for a warm up, but it does get you warm! Not that I'm cold after 30 min on the cross-trainer and a set of pull ups. I've added back the Torso Twist machine. Maybe it's helping with my sciatica? It doesn't seem to have hurt me any. I dropped it after reading about the improbable damage of torquing weight on the spine and hip. But I also don't do much weight, with 50 lbs for 25 reps each side. Also added back the Flat Bench Knee-In but only for 50 reps because more than that, I start to rub a scab on my coccyx. Still only doing two sets of planks. Thought about crunches but planned to bench and didn't want my core too tired, especially with my "iffy" right leg.

Smith bench press and leg feels mostly okay today. I"d really like to add another 10 lbs and bench 130, but I'd like hamstring spasms to not be an issue when I do that. What the heck, let's do Inclined Smith Benching too. I do a lot less weight and reps on this movement, but it's rewarding none the less. Because I've put on some weight, I'm now more comfortable in the bigger tanks (Old Navy size S) I bought last year. But I'm not real happy that subcutaneous fat puffs out under my arm pits. It makes me self-conscious and I'm constantly adjusting my tank and sports bra straps.

The hard stuff are always the DB Laterals super set with Rev Incline Flyes. I've upped the sets for the latter movement because I'm trying to hit the posterior delts from three different angles: forward, side, back. The side motion is the easiest, so I do them last and add 5 more reps. So, that's 12 reps of DB Lateral Raises then drop face down on an Inclined Bench and do 5 Reverse Flyes with hands pointed forward (10 and 2 o'clock), then 5 reps with hands pointed back toward hips (7 and 5 o'clock), then 10 reps with hands coming up at the 9 and 3 o'clock position. No wonder my shoulders are sore lately. And it might be wishful thinking, but I think I can see changes in them. Yaaay!

Can't find the 50 lb BB so I skip the Drag Curls. Another set of pull ups. Then 30 min of the elliptical, program #1. Some lateral leg stretches and another set of pull ups, but I fully extend for the last 6 reps just to prove to myself that I can. Full extensions are hard on the elbows, or at least mine. With arms bent, doing pull ups directs more focus on the lats as the pulling mechanism. Besides, I kinda skipped biceps today. I know I could've done one-arm cable rows since I feel those mostly in the biceps and not the lats, but I'm leery of doing anything to aggravate my sciatica, especially since it seems to be healing finally.

A note on ageism at the gym: people always react badly when they find out how old I am. Rose is acting funny now because she thought I was in my 30s and finds out I'm in my 50s. At least the gym staff isn't freaked out. It's not like I'm Dorian Gray. Guys just get embarrassed because they're not suppose to know a woman's age anyway. But other women? I don't understand them. I'm learning to make peace with my hair too since it's now come to mid-back. My neck has suddenly started itching again in spite of taking a daily dose of antihistamines. Oh well...

Monday Workout
(6.47 miles total cardio; 23,696 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Steady State

Calorie :   139 CAL
Distance: 3.89 mile
Speed :    7.74 mph
Duration : 00:30:10

Hammer Grip Pull Up

190.4

Set 1 : 112x21

TorsoTwistMachine

Left : 50x25
Right : 50x25

Seated Flat Bench Leg Pull In

50

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep

Wide Hand Pushup

100

Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep

Plank

Regular

Set 1 : 00:00:30
Set 2 : 00:00:30
Set 3 : 00:00:30
Set 4 : 00:00:30

Plank

Side

Set 1 : 00:00:30
Set 2 : 00:00:30
Set 3 : 00:00:30
Set 4 : 00:00:30

Smith Machine Bench Press

165

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x10
Set 4 : 120x8
Set 5 : 90x25

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

140

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 50x15
Set 3 : 70x12
Set 4 : 80x12
Set 5 : 100x12

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

35

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 20x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

41.67

Set 1 : 20x20
Set 2 : 20x20
Set 3 : 20x20
Set 4 : 25x20
Set 5 : 25x20
Set 6 : 25x20

Hammer Grip Pull Up

190.4

Set 1 : 112x21

Elliptical Training

Prgm#1

Calorie :   293 CAL
Distance: 2.58 mile
Duration : 00:30:00

Hammer Grip Pull Up

190.4

Set 1 : 112x21

Moving Through, Not Around

Sweeping snow is almost as taxing as shoveling. It's certainly a warm up. I half expected the school's to post a two-hour delay, but the phone is silent this morning. Two other towns have delays, but not ours. If I don't clear the driveway, it'll be treacherous tonight when we take the dog for a walk. I sweep and then salt. Hmmm. I could use with another bag of salt even though I have 50 lbs of the stuff inside the house. But I like to be prepared. I'm not happy with the -6F forecast for later this week. It means I need to bring more firewood inside.

Sciatica persists but is not debilitating. Yet. Not happy about the slow creep of my weight. My pants feel too tight in the hip and thighs. Yep, time to cut out the sangria and apple ale, and probably even the oatmeal. Back to basics like Greek-style yogurt with maple syrup, and salad. Lots of salad. The sciatic pain is only noticeable when I'm trying to put my socks on, or I'm leaning on my right leg, as in pressing the accelerator when I drive. Sometimes there's a weird ache in my outside ankle or the ball of my foot. It's all the same nerve.

If I wait any longer for the sciatica to heal, I'll become a fat, dumpy old lady. Or that's how I feel. I'm turning 56 next month, but in my head, I'm already there. Back to my routine, more or less. 30 minutes on the cross-trainer leaves the front half of my right foot numb, but I know that's temporary. There's an ancient man stretching at the Cage so no hammer grip pull ups just yet. I do a round of push ups, followed by planks, then more push ups, then different planks. I want to bench at the Smith, but of course, I can't find the small bench, the bench that actually allows me to place my feet on something solid. Not the ground, but the cross-bar foot.

I'm too short to have my feet planted flat on the ground, and it's a major problem when benching heavy. I only do a few sets, dropping reps as I add weight. A hamstring spasm during heavy benching is scary, but since it almost happened last week, I'm sort of prepared. My legs are bent with my feet on the bench. I'm in the middle of a press when the hamstring muscle seizes so I immediately straighten the leg out. People don't usually bench with legs straight out. I'm sure I look odd. I keep the left leg bent for stability while I finish the set. I know I can bench heavier than 120 lbs. I've done 130 and more in the past. But I guess I have to wait until my body will let me do it.

When I get to DB Lateral Raises SuperSet with Reverse Incline Flyes, I feel weak. But I do them anyway. I've modified the Reverse Flyes so that I do 5 reps in each direction, starting with high (pointing to the anterior delt), then low (pointing toward my hips), and finishing with straight out (perpendicular to the body). That's 15 reps per set. Six sets. Pushing through exhaustion means it was mostly in my mind because obviously the body could do it.

I only do 3 sets of Rip Skulls at 40 lbs — my left elbow hurts a little during the movement and increasing the weight only increases the chance of injury. But I can use the 50 lb bar for Drag Curls. Weird. And then I do another set of pull ups, keeping my elbows bent except for the last rep. Just because I need to prove to myself that I can do it. Because I'm so damn competitive and combative by nature.

With all my joint issues, I find bent-arm pull ups spares the biceps and elbows, especially since I can do them after bicep curls. Only my hands really get tired, especially my thumbs because of how I grip the "roof bars" on the Stretch Cage. I can see some growth in my lats which is very exciting, and in my delts as well. That makes me happy. Now to shed some of this excess weight... Today the gym scale read 110.2 lbs. At least it's moving in the right direction again.

Wednesday Workout
(6.62 miles total cardio, JeFit app 20,059 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Steady State

Calorie :   141 CAL
Distance: 4.02 mile
Speed :    8.02 mph
Duration : 00:30:00

Wide Hand Pushup

60

Set 1 : 60 Lap/Rep

Plank

Straight/Elbow

Set 1 : 00:00:30
Set 2 : 00:00:30
Set 3 : 00:00:30
Set 4 : 00:00:30

Wide Hand Pushup

100

Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep

Plank

Side Elbow/Straight

Set 1 : 00:00:30
Set 2 : 00:00:30
Set 3 : 00:00:30
Set 4 : 00:00:30

Hammer Grip Pull Up

188.7

Set 1 : 111x21

Smith Machine Bench Press

165

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x10
Set 4 : 120x8
Set 5 : 90x25

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

35

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 20x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

37.5

Set 1 : 20x15
Set 2 : 20x15
Set 3 : 20x15
Set 4 : 25x15
Set 5 : 25x15
Set 6 : 25x15

Barbell Reverse Grip Skullcrusher

56

Set 1 : 40x12
Set 2 : 40x12
Set 3 : 40x12

Barbell Drag Curl

75

Set 1 : 50x15
Set 2 : 50x15
Set 3 : 50x15

Hammer Grip Pull Up

188.7

Set 1 : 111x21

Elliptical Training

Prgm#3

Calorie :   296 CAL
Distance: 2.6 mile
Duration : 00:30:00

Hammer Grip Pull Up

192.4

Set 1 : 111x22

Surprise Yourself

I don't quite understand the myfitnesspal app on my phone since it gives you caloric credit for doing cardio (via minutes) but doesn't seem to know what to do with strength training. It does have a convenient scanner feature that lets you aim your phone at the barcode on the package in order to upload nutritional data instead of tediously keyboarding everything in. That's a term I never thought I'd use: keyboarding. We were moderately busy over the weekend, and went on a hike because the sun was shining and it wasn't snowing. It took almost three hours to finish, mostly because we were dodging icy spots and taken time to actually look at the fallen trees and little sprouts of greenery. To its credit, myfitnesspal actually lists "hiking" under it's cardio activities, but I think it overestimates just how many calories one burns tromping through the woods.

I get to the gym late today because I want to finish my oatmeal, egg and 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries. (Of course, by the time I'm done, I'm so hungry I could eat my arm.) I have trouble getting started with the cross-trainer today, having to restart the program three times before actually doing any cardio. I figure I might slack a bit today and only log in 3.84 miles for warm up. There's a skinny guy on the Smith when I get to the free weight area so I plop my stuff on one of the breaker benches. I hate these benches. I haven't quite decided what I'm doing when I realize that he's re-racking his plates. Yaaay! But the over-sized adjustable inclined bench is in the Smith cage. Not yaaay.

I lay the bench flat. This one doesn't have the hump in the middle although there is still a huge gap between the seat and the bench back. I'm just small enough to have my shoulders fall uncomfortably into this space unless I scoot up and place the gap under the bottom of my blades. My right shoulder feels odd today. It doesn't actually hurt though. My left trap is still sore from last week's muscle spasm. And my left index finger still hurts when I press against it. Boy, this is gonna be fun.

I don't have a lot of confidence today. I don't feel particularly energetic. And the gym is weirdly empty and seems especially brightly lit. By the time I get to 120 lbs I know I can do at least one set at 130 lbs. I was really hoping to do more. WTH... cut my reps down to 6 and see how the next set feels. The next set doesn't feel too bad either, although I'd be lying if I said any of this was easy. I get my 3rd set and feel pretty good about it. Then I drop the weight down to 90 lbs and knock out a quick 25 reps just for the pump. There are regulars milling about. I know a few of the guys have been watching me bench, albeit from a "safe" distance. If I wanted to freak them out, I'd replace the 25, two 10s and a 5 on each side with a big 45 lb plate and a 5. They're already weirded out as it is, but it keeps the creepy old guys at bay.

Because I suffered a nasty trap spasm last week, I'm careful to do two sets of "warm up" movements with the 20 lb DBs before upping to the 25s. I had cut my reps with the heavier weight, but I know I can do more reps. At Set 5, I up the reps. And then I talk myself into doing Set 6. Meanwhile, I see R doing DB presses with a pair of 115s. Then he swaps them for the 125s. In between sets, he's stretching his shoulder and doing ab work with a 45 lb plate. I ask him how he's doing as he grimaces. His knee's inflamed and he's been putting off having it drained. What? Inflamed bursa. He's on a Z-pack and anti-inflammatories because it always drains pus. What?! For him, this is the result of years of football abuse, and heavy training. Bad back, bad knees, bad shoulders. He is happy that his wife is having a girl in August, and we both hope that she takes after his wife and not him. Already his 14-month old little man seems half the length of his wife, and just today scarfed down a 3-egg omelet and half a banana for breakfast. Oh jeeze.

I do some abs and then another 30 minutes on the elliptical, Performance Program #1. While I'm pedaling away, I see a lot of regulars... PJ Pants strolling on the treadmill, Tattoo Tank looking very trim (he's been working hard lately), and oh jeeze, The Mayor is back! He looks twice as wide now, but it's hard to tell exactly in that tent-like polo shirt. He's also still wearing weird gloves that totally cover his hands. They don't look like any exercise gloves I've ever seen. I do my Mat Stretch with Dive Bomber Push Ups and Pistol Squats before heading off to shower and change. PJ Pants looks up from a Cybex machine as if he's going to say something creepy. Yuck. I'm outta here!

Monday Cardio and Workout
(6.77 miles; 18,760 lbs moved)

Cross Training

Calorie :   148 CAL
Distance: 3.84 mile
Speed :    7.65 mph
Duration : 00:30:11

Smith Machine Bench Press

165

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 120x10
Set 4 : 130x6
Set 5 : 130x6
Set 6 : 130x6
Set 7 : 90x25

Smith Machine Incline Bench Press

126

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 30x12
Set 3 : 70x12
Set 4 : 90x12
Set 5 : 90x12
Set 6 : 90x12

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

35

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 25x8
Set 4 : 25x8
Set 5 : 25x12
Set 6 : 25x12 SuperSet with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

37.5

Set 1 : 20x15
Set 2 : 20x15
Set 3 : 25x12
Set 4 : 25x12
Set 5 : 25x15
Set 6 : 25x15

Elliptical Training

Calorie :   260 CAL
Distance: 2.93 mile
Duration : 00:30:07

TorsoTwistMachine

Set 1 : 50x25
Set 2 : 50x25

DiveBomber Pushup

Set 1 : 20 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 20 Lap/Rep

One Leg Bodyweight Squat

145.67

Set 1 : 115x8

Reaping What You Sow

Winter Storm Linus made more of a mess than last week's "blizzard" and school was cancelled yesterday. A 2-hr delay always follows the next day, presumably to clear the parking lots and school buses. So I'm already going to be late to the gym. Just as I'm getting my son into the car this morning (because 11°F is too cold to stand around waiting for the school bus) my cell rings and I hear a recorded message telling me that our school is closed due to oil burner issues. WTH?

No school today because there's no heat at school. But only my son's elementary school. Our district has three. So I tote my son off to the gym with me, but warn him that he'll probably be the only school-age kid because everyone else is in school! But that also means an abbreviated workout. Bummer. My upper back has been a bit knotty from all the shoveling. Today is Chest and Delt Day. If I don't just give it all up for cardio.

The parking lot is a slushy mess. All the cross-trainers are occupied as well. Bleah. I like to use the cross-trainer as warm up because it involves arms as well as legs. After two and a half miles on the elliptical, I grab a flat bench and position it in the Smith machine rack. I'd already made up my mind to cut my reps and up my weight a tad, ever mindful of the wonky right shoulder and elbow. I have the bench flipped so that my feet on the separate head rest, and my arms are able to hang off the narrower bottom of the bench. This allows me to keep my elbows tucked close to my sides on the down stroke. I'm a small person and all the other benches are way too wide, too high, too big.

I'm really happy that 120 lbs feels okay, and 130 feels as hard as 120 used to be. Progress. And my front right shoulder feels okay. It's the DB Lateral Raises that cause me trouble. In truth, I'd already been experiencing some upper back knottiness. Probably all that shoveling. I grab the 25s because that's what I did last week. But I was better warmed up last week. I only do 3 sets of Laterals superset with Reverse Flyes. My upper back feels like a network of painful lace stretched across it. The type of weird pain like a stomach cramp, not one sharp pain like a stitch, but an array of flexing electric talons. It's something I can't ignore but I manage to finish my sets. I have just enough time to finally get 30 minutes on the cross-trainer. My back doesn't bother me here and I'm able to really ramp up the speed, logging in 4.01 miles. Wahoo! My son is absolutely the last child in the Child Care room at 1 pm. When I get home, I have to find my wooden doorknob knot roller and use it. Because tomorrow is Back Day.

Tuesday Post-Storm Workout
(total mileage: 6.57 miles; 8,260 lbs moved)

Elliptical

Calorie :   289 CAL
Distance: 2.56 mile
Duration : 00:30:08

Smith Machine Bench Press

165

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x10
Set 4 : 120x8
Set 5 : 130x8
Set 6 : 90x25

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

33.33

Set 1 : 25x10
Set 2 : 25x10
Set 3 : 25x10 Superset with

Dumbbell Reverse Flyes

35

Set 1 : 25x10
Set 2 : 25x12
Set 3 : 25x12

Cross-trainer

Calorie :   151 CAL
Distance: 4.01 mile
Speed :    7.95 mph
Duration : 00:30:15

Week Five Day One: Abbreviated Push

Wineberries AKA Wine Raspberries

I was sore the entire weekend, and learning how to split firewood with a 9-lb maul didn't help when the split wood flew off the stand and hit me in the shin. Luckily I had long pants and gloves on. We were at a day-long seminar on the art of Ash and Coal Fire Cooking at Practical Primitive in Hackettstown NJ. It was there that I learned that the wild raspberries we've been gathering (and eating) these last few weeks are also known as Wineberry or Wine Raspberries, an invasive Japanese variety that's taken hold in the northeast US. Well, it's the first invasive species I actually approve of, because, damn those berries are tasty! The bushes themselves seem extremely prolific, and we're surprised the birds haven't eaten them all. Sshhh!

My son and I got to the gym an hour later than normal because we both needed the sleep after a hectic weekend. He's not old enough to be onsite at the seminar so first we headed east to Connecticut to drop him at a friend's house for an extensive play date which included a trip to the Bronx Zoo and an impromptu water gun fight. Then we drove back through NY to NJ. It makes for a very long day, especially since we didn't get to retrieve our son until 10 pm.

This morning, all the Precor's were available so I got on my favorite machine and punched in Hill #5. Again, I don't actually feel warm until the 20 minute mark, and barely bust a sweat on Mondays. It's as if I need a few days of cardio before my body can rev up to proper speed. I don't make my quota either and the Smith machine is occupied by a pair of college boys who look as if they're going to be there all day. I don't want to lose momentum so I do reps on a standard flat bench. By my 3rd set, the Smith is free and I hurry over to claim it. I know I'm going to regret doing so many reps but I have to at least try to hit the heavy weights. What starts to fail on my heavy lift isn't my pecs or triceps, but my hands. Specifically, my right thumb and palm. My right front delt strains a bit and I know that there's nothing I can really do to improve my hand strength. I cut my sets short and do a few drop sets so I don't feel as if it's been a total waste of time.

Later, at home, my 8 year old son playfully tries on my wedding band and engagement ring, discovering to his horror that even though his hands are smaller than mine, his fingers are bigger. The rings get stuck on his knuckles! I have very small fingers and hands, and that is a big obstacle in my strength training. My right pinky and ring finger periodically lose their grip strength but then recover. I haven't been able to determine any causality for it. I'll have to look harder because I'm sure there is something that I'm missing. I can hang onto the dumbbells as I do Bent Over DB Rear Flyes, perhaps because I'm more focused on the back of my shoulders than my hands. The free weight area is really crowded today. By the time I start my sets of Lateral DB Raises, most of the guys have moved on to other stations. Finally, some breathing room!

B said Hi on her way out as I was signing my son in. She was actually smiling today, perhaps because she recognized that my spacey distractedness isn't personal. I see Mo from across the room but she's in and out so quickly that I don't have any opportunity to greet her. I don't recognize too many regulars, except for R. I think his wife is using the cables because he's spending an inordinate amount of time explaining forms to a tall, thin young woman with skinny long arms and long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. R looks distressed. I sense discord and keep my distance.

Today is an abbreviated workout because the Child Care room closes at 1 pm. I can only squeeze in cardio, benching, stretching, two delt exercises and some abs before showering. I claim my son at 12:58 pm and he is the only child left in the room.

Week Five Day One: Abbreviated Push
35 min cardio hill #5 = 3.91 miles Bleah!
Olympic Flat Bench: 25 reps @ bar / 25 @ 65 lbs / 15 @85 lbs
Smith Machine Bench Press: 12 @ bar / 25 @ 95 lbs / 10 @ 115 / 8 @ 135 / 2 x 6 @ 155 / 10 @ 135 / 12 @ 115 / 25 @ 95 lbs
Cage Stretch with BW Heel Dips and Side Kicks
Bent Over DB Raises (chest in lap): 6 x 15 @ 25 lbs
Standing Lateral DB Raises: 6 x 12 @ 25 lbs I can do 8 reps for each set without any problems then have to slow down to muscle up the last 4 reps for each set.
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 150
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Mat Stretch: even though my legs and back are stiff and a tad sore, my splits are good today and I'm surprised enough to attempt another horizontal roll forward. It's better on days when I do limited cardio because the double cardio days see too much tightness in the hamstrings.

The gym scale reads 111.4 lbs which is good considering the feasting I partook in yesterday. It started with cinnamon rolls (Pop'n Fresh) stuck to a clay vessel and placed on a bed of coals while a chicken roasted overhead, followed by coal-grilled corn, sweet and white potatoes, clams on the half shell, whole catfish laid directly on the coal bed, tomatoes drenched in olive oil grilled on a granite slab, peppers (directly on the coals), salmon (cooked on a section of ash bark), pork chops cooked directly on an ash bed, vegetable soup (placed in a clay vessel and heated with stones from the fire until the soup came to a furious boil), baked garlic, baked eggs, and for dessert, ash cake (patted thin like a tortilla and placed on hot white ash) made from wheat flour, acorn flour, eggs and water, topped with wineberries, butter and rosehip jelly. Yum!

Again, I didn't have time to incorporate Upright Rows into my workout. I'll have my son tomorrow so that's another abbreviated workout, but perhaps I'll try to do a Back session. Friday is the wild card day because I have an eye doc appointment in the morning with my old eye doc just to renew my eye drop prescription. I have a consultation with a glaucoma specialist in Philadelphia at the end of next month but I don't have enough eye drops to see me through till then. I could just blow off the gym, or I could come to the gym AFTER my appointment and perhaps do a bit of cardio...

Week Three Day One

My shoulder is actually still a tad sore from Friday's bout with the Nexersys station, but I don't let that slow me down. Indulging over the weekend, and the 90+ degree weather makes me sluggish today so it's important that I kick into gear with at least 30 minutes of cardio. I know I'm not making my 4 mile quota. The question is by how much? Precor #3, the smooth glider, is free because someone has inadvertently kicked the power switch off. It's simple enough to kick it back on and punch in Hill #5. I find that on Mondays I don't sweat much even with my hoodie up. It takes me so much longer to get into gear, at least 20 minutes before I feel vaguely warm. Amazing what a weekend of relative inactivity will do for you! (Spending hours crouched in the blazing sun picking organic raspberries doesn't actually count as an activity.)

The Manchurian is using the Smith and I ask him how many sets he has left. "Oh, uh, two or three," he says hesitantly. I guess he doesn't actually know how many he's going to do, so I walk away to the Cage Stretch because it's not worth waiting for, and besides, I don't want to pressure him. When I return, the bench and bar are all set up perfectly for me. He's doing something with dumbbells but I'm in my own world and fairly oblivious to everyone else. The gym is oddly empty for a Monday morning, and doesn't start to fill up until noonish. I see The Mayor looking disheveled and frantic as ever as he spots a much younger guy. Maybe, like myself, they all have other things to do and places to be. Although the gym is nicely air-conditioned, no one wants to spend all day here!

My right shoulder feels odd on the heavier lifts, especially the front deltoid. I still lift my routine but toss in an extra set of reps at the end to give my chest and arms a pump. Today I don't feel the benching in my chest at all. Delts are probably going to suck. I'm a bit dismayed that they're still recuperating from Friday. Recuperation shouldn't take so long!

Week Three Day One: Chest and Delts
35 min cardio hill #5 = 3.92 miles bleah!
Cage Stretch with BW heel dips and side kicks. Because of an ancient IT injury in my right quad, I'm careful not to push the side stretch too far: I've felt my kneecap slip painfully, on the verge of dislocation doing this stretch.
Smith Bench Press: 12 @ bar / 12 @ 95 / 10 @ 115 / 8 @ 135 / 3 x 6 @ 155 / 12 @ 135 / 21+5 @ 115 / 25 @ 95 lbs
I toss the last set of reps in because I'm so annoyed at having to pause with the previous set.
Bent Over DB Raises: 6 x 15 @ 25 lbs
Standing Lateral DB Raises: 6 x 12 @ 25 lbs
I certainly like the way my arms look when I'm doing these! 
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 150
Ab Crunch Station: 100
Torso Twist Station: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
I don't even consider doing Decline Presses today because suddenly the gym is crowded and I'm not in the mood to wait for the one decline bench. 
Mat Stretch: I'm worried that my legs will be really stiff and that the splits will be painful because I'm not really warm anymore, but everything is relatively good. I don't even attempt a full horizontal split where I roll forward because it's Monday and I want to ease into that particular move.

I see V while I'm doing abs and I make sure to walk a wide circle around him as unobtrusively as possible. The gym scale reads a reasonable 111.6 lbs. It's what I weighed last Monday. Psychologically, as long as I'm below 112 lbs, I don't really feel bad for weighing more at the beginning of the week. But I'd feel bad if it was Friday. Ah, the mind games we play with ourselves!

While I'm dressing, one of the trainers comes in with a 3-pack of boxing wraps. It's actually 6 wraps because each of the three colors (red, white, black) is a pair. "They're $25 for the package," she says. I tell her that's way too much money, especially since I don't even know if I want to use them, much less 3 pairs of them and she agrees with me. I tell her I'll probably stick to putting band-aids on under adhesive tape before I don my gloves. She suggests ACE bandages. Then she tells me she used to teach a kickboxing class here, and that an instructor she knew used to have the class wrap their hands even though they weren't actually hitting anything. That's odd. She said people just liked to feel as if they were boxing, even if they didn't actually make contact. That's funny. And a bit sad.

This year must be a good year for the deer because they haven't eaten the wild day lilies like they did last year. The heat is wilting my snow peas but the zucchinis have large beautiful leaves and I'm hoping they provide some shade for the peas. Cilantro, basil and thyme are also in the garden, as well as a pot of bok choy. We'll see if baby grasshoppers wipe them out as in previous years. I was looking forward to the cicada invasion, especially after all the hoopla, but we've heard nothing and now it's passed. But this is the first year I've put black oil sunflower seeds out for the summer, and I'm pleased to see all the finches, purple and gold, and others I haven't identified yet, along with what I thought were winter birds: downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals and tufted titmice (or is it titmouses?)... robins, jays, sparrows, mourning doves, grackles and starlings round out the rest.

Inspiration is Where You Get It

Pair of 5s, pair of 10s and a 25 lb plate each side
plus bar minus the counterweight equals... Hmm

This past weekend was busy as always, but at least it wasn't all work and no play. Except for the car battery that died and necessitated a trip to Sears. And grass tall enough to hide velociraptors that needed to be mowed.

But it was lovely BBQ weather, and we had a meat-fest with a dry-rubbed London broil and Asian-spiced pork chops on the grill, a big bowl of strawberries and cubed canteloupe, smashed potato salad, and glasses of  Cupcake malbec.

I felt pretty wrecked when I got to the gym this morning, and not at all inclined to give it 110%. Still, once I plugged in and climbed up onto the elliptical, I was moving, flexing my frigid fingers and wiping the spit off my half-open mouth.

As I've mentioned before, I never slow down during the 5 minute "cool-down". Instead, I see that as opportunity to play catch-up and go as fast as I can to make up for lost mileage. Today I did manage to squeak through my (self-imposed) quota and I was pretty damn happy with myself.

When I got to the weights though, Hannibal Baggy Knees was setting up on the Smith and I slunk off to a free Olympic bench to warm up. I'm not even sure he got a set in because after a few minutes I realized that the bar was still racked, but he had abandoned the station. And I think, Hmmm, I probably am benching more than he is because he's just got a 25 and a 10 lb plate on each side. But the bench is mine and that's all that matters. I stripped the bar, lowered it to where I like it, adjusted the bench and got my sets in. I was pretty damn happy until my last set which is always 25 reps. Granted I probably didn't rest enough, but at the 23rd rep I had to put the bar back on the stays and take two breaths. Then I knocked out another 7 reps because I was pissed at myself. But it felt good when I was done!

Today's 1st Push Day Workout:
35 min cardio = 4.02 miles Yippeee!
Olympic Bench Press: 25 reps bar (45 lbs) / 12 @ 65 lbs / 10 @ 85 lbs
Smith Bench Press: 12 @ 95 lbs / 10 @ 115 / 8 @ 135 / 3 x 6 @ 155 / 12 @ 135 / 23+7 @ 115 lbs
Cage Stretch & Kicks
Bent Over Rear DB Raises (chest in my lap): 6 x 15 @ 25 lbs
I lose count as to whether on I'm the 3rd or 4th set and do another 3 sets just in case.
Lateral DB Raises: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs
Lateral DB Raises SuperSet with One-Arm DB Tricep Extensions: 3 x 15 @ 20 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125
Lower Ab Kick Outs: 125
Tricep Press Downs: 12, 11, 10 @ 50 lbs
I am so burnt by the end of this that I know it's time to think about stretching.
Torso Twist Station: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Mat Stretch

There's an improbable amount of chatting at the Mats but I manage to squeeze myself into a reasonable space where I can run through my routine. Sometimes I think I could probably doze off in one of those flopped-over-with-your-nose-on-your-shin positions, but I'd be worried about who I'd be waking up next to. I see B, M, The Mayor, MacGyver and a few other regulars. I'm tired and my clothes reek (all the synthetics seem to promote stinky bacterial growth) so I head off to the showers. The scale reads 111.4 lbs. It's definitely not the heaviest I've ever weighed on a Monday so I'm not too concerned. At least my clothes still fit! LOL!

When I get home, I read about Fallon Fox, the transgender MMA fighter (born Boyd Burton). I'm not sure how I feel about someone born biologically male competing against women because I do wonder if having spent formative years as a male engenders muscular strength. What is of real interest though, is Fox's idol, Megumi Fujii, a 5'3" 115 lb, 39 year old Japanese champion MMA fighter. "Mega Megu" wants to compete in the UFC but they don't have a Straw Weight Division for 115 lbs yet. Here's a link to a youtube tribute to her which I've tried to embed here but it didn't take. She's fast and powerful, and not very big but she comes at her opponents like an unstoppable freight train. (An aside, we just watched Denzel Washington's Unstoppable. That was great!) It's all very inspiring! 

I realize that I'm too old to do a lot of things but I can still train hard (and look good). With my glaucoma, there's no way I could ever take up anything that would increase my intra-occular pressure
(IOP) and exacerbate what, doctors tell me, is a rather difficult type of glaucoma to treat. I'm still freaking out over having to have eye surgery, but I've been familiarizing myself with all the details of this type of surgery (called a trabulectomy) so that I can determine what facility to contact. There is the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, and there is the John Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore. Neither is really convenient, but at least I won't have to travel halfway across the country.

I think I can still go to kickboxing classes and whack the Nexersys station. At least until my eye docs tell me otherwise. In the meantime, I can still work out hard, and intimidate the crap out of much bigger people at my gym. Life is good. Happiness is where you find it.