Mixing It Up

It was raining when we went to sleep last Thursday. I answered the automated call signifying a school delay at 4:45 am. Three-hour delay! We've never had one of those before! That's literally a half day, but front-loaded. Apparently, it had snowed all night and we were left with a bright sunny day to shovel the frozen "wet snow" and ice off the road, and our cars. My hubs was set to shower when we discovered we had no water. Again?! WTH? After multiple immersions (due to basement flooding), the water intake regulator for the well tank had rusted apart. Ugh. I called the plumber. My hubs went to work dirty. Luckily he was in the field that day, where literally no one notices if you've showered or not.

I explained what we thought was the problem so the plumber could pick up parts on the way to our house. He's good like that. It only took hiim 30 minutes to fix the issue, and also replace the pressure gauge on the well tank because that was stuck in the 12 noon position. It had also been submerged several times and was rusted inside as well. We discussed raising the 20-year old well tank above the flood level, when we fit a new tank in it's place. It's going to require some new piping. He tells me that the new tanks only last 5 years. WTH? I'm not replacing the tank every 5 years! We'll revisit this issue some time later. Ugh.

Today is the first day I'm back at the gym after 3 days. The one good thing about my hubs going low/no carb is that I'm not over-eating horribly on weekends. But we both have our annoyances with the app MyFitnessPal. Today it gives me last week's data in a nice chart format so I can see trends. What it tells me is that the one day when I seem to hit all my macros properly, is the one day I don't come close to meeting my caloric goals. Figures. I am happy though, when the gym scale reads 110.2 lbs, which, for a Monday, is pretty good. Lately, it's been anywhere from 111 to 113. That gives me hope that I can get the numbers a little lower by the end of the week.

I need to really mix up my routine, because, like the dog, I'm getting bored. I made ground turkey boiled with brown rice and oatmeal for the dog this morning. He loves that now, and scarfed it all down once I dumped a few spoons onto his ground turkey, white rice and meds breakfast, which he had previously sniffed at and walked away from.

This is the week when my favorite Life Fitness cross-trainer gets replaced with something or other. Sigh. It's vacant when I get to the gym so I hop on for 30 minutes plus the 5 min cool down. Then pull ups, push ups and core. The Smith is free so I set up for Inclined Presses. Then I do light sets of RDLs, something I've been meaning to do for a while. My right knee bothers me at 120 lbs. I finish the set, but I don't really want to do more at that weight. Instead, I drop down to 90 lbs and knock out 3 sets there. It's not quite as "aerobic" as the back-to-back sets of 25 reps I do to end the Inclined Press, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna feel this tomorrow.

Today's a "heavy" push and pull day, with a lot of cardio. Tomorrow I'll do Intervals, and all the shoulder and arm stuff I skipped today. If I get to the gym Wednesday (hard to say with a new snow storm threat), then maybe another Push Pull day. I'm hoping to get in kickboxing on Thursday. Friday, I need to be home for a delivery, but I don't have a delivery time range yet.

My hubs also wants me to sign my son up for the Snow Sports merit badge. He won't be around next weekend, but I'll have to take my son to Thunder Ridge ski area for a class on snow sports. None of us know how to ski, skate, or snowboard. Should be interesting. It's suppose to be 40F, but they have snow-making equipment. Well, it beats sitting around the house...

Monday
6.78 cardio miles

30 + 5 x-trainer
Calories 162
Miles 4.22

HGPU 30
Push Ups 60
Elbow Plank 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 15
50lbs x 12
70 x 12
80 x 12
90 x 12
60 x 25
50 x 25

Smith RDLs (super light)
Bar x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12 (rt knee)
90 x 12 x 3 sets

30 min elliptical
Program 1
Calories 289
Miles 2.56
Average Heart Rate 150

Making Up for Less Days

I tried to make up for not working out yesterday by doing two out of three big movements. And cardio. And push ups and pull ups. And a few pistol squats. The only thing I didn't do was Smith Split Squats because I was hogging the Smith with benching and SLDLs, and I knew that the disheveled old guy was looking to use it. Plus, I'd already been here waaay too long.

My timing was off this morning so I arrived at the locker room just as a class let out and it was all a flurry of noise and activity. It makes me stuff my earbuds into my head in a hurry, and scurry out to the gym like I'm being chased by demons. I'm still tired. I've read that it's not really possible to make up for lost sleep, not that I went to bed any earlier last night.

Tomorrow I have to get my get car inspected, an annual rite for New York State car owners. Then I might drive down to the vet's office to refill the dog's medications. Or maybe I'll wait until Thursday when I have to take my son down that way for kung fu. What I really need to do is get the car washed since it's probably still got road salt on the undercarriage from this past winter. And with the faux dual exhaust pipes that Subaru thought looked cool, it's best to keep all that clean so I don't have to replace it in years to come. Mostly, our cars rust away before they actually break down, and if they break down, it's because something rusted away. This is the joy of living on wetlands, surrounded by ponds, streams, lakes and bogs.

I'm surprised to have made over 6 miles today for cardio. Less surprised about the amount of weight I moved. I figure I'd do a full body workout today, kickbox tomorrow, and split my routine between pushing on Thursday and pulling on Friday. It's a plan. My right hand starts to hurt during warm ups. The glove isn't supportive enough when I do push ups. I feel my hand slide to the right and I press up, and almost roll onto itself. This happens with my feet as well, as if the ligaments and muscles can't keep the bones in their proper position when I walk. It's why I don't like to go barefoot: I run the risk of spraining not my ankle, but my actual foot. My right hand feels slightly painful as I bench, but I'm undeterred. By keeping my wrists properly positioned and wrapped, I'm able to finish my sets without further injury.

Behind me, The Mayor is at first benching on the breaker bench, and then reverses his position to use the bench for Rip Skulls. He spends so much time chatting loudly with that hoarse "I've been screaming at an all-night rave" voice, that I wonder how it is he manages to look sweaty and disheveled. Well, I guess that means he's working out. Summer is here and there are a lot of new kids in the gym. And I mean kids, like maybe they hit puberty yesterday. School ls mostly done. My son doesn't have any homework any more, and next week will be a series of half days designed to exact Federal funds, and give school bus drivers a few more hours of pay, but no learning.

It seems to perplex some that I don't follow the traditional workout routines which separates lifting weights from cardio. I do what's optimal for me and my particular body-type. I saw Animé Hair once get on the elliptical after a weightlifting routine. She was done in 15 minutes and seemed to be limping away. But she's a skinny girl so she doesn't need to worry too much about cardio. Her main concern is gaining size. Of course, I haven't seen her lately. People need to customize their workouts to their own bodies. I don't need bigger legs so I don't do much weight work for them, except for the occasional Split Squat or Pistol Squat. Coincidentally, they're both one-legged movements. I have yet to see cardio work make me stringy, and there's no substitution for building endurance. Except maybe doing mega reps at a moderate weight. Not a super light weight, but a moderately heavy weight. Just not a max weight. If I don't do cardio, I get big and puffy. Not attractive at all!

I'm ravenous when I get home, and suddenly remember that I drank half a bottle of Stonyfield's Organic Protein yogurt smoothie for breakfast. Two gulps and it's finished. I'd like this better if it didn't match grams of protein with grams of sugar. And what the heck is sugar alcohol (10 gms)? I've never seen that on a yogurt label before. It's not on the label listed on their website.  But it tastes less sour than the high-protein kefir drink I got from Lifeway (click to go to their website). That has more protein. And more sugar. I'm not a body builder. I'm not competing. But damn, sometimes I just want a quick protein drink that's moderately healthy and not chock full of sugar. I guess I could always mix up an ON whey vanilla shake with lactose-free milk instead... I think my milk is expired though — it's dated May 25. Oops!

Tuesday Workout
(6.4 miles total cardio; 24,168 lbs moved; according to the JeFit app, my workout took 1:41 minutes)

Cross Trainer

Warm Up

Calorie :   138 CAL
Distance: 3.92 mile
Speed :    7.39 mph-
Duration : 00:30:00

Hammer Grip Pull Up

209.07

Set 1 : 112x26

Wide Hand Pushup

100

Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep

Crunches

50

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 3 : 50 Lap/Rep

Bird Dog Plank

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

Smith Machine Bench Press

168

Set 1 : 30x20
Set 2 : 80x15
Set 3 : 100x15
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 90x25 Good pump!

Smith Machine Stiff Legged Deadlift

182

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x13
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 130x12 OMG!
Set 6 : 100x15

Seated Flat Bench Leg Pull In

50

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep

Hammer Grip Pull Up

209.07

Set 1 : 112x26

Elliptical Training

Prgm#1

Calorie :   277 CAL
Distance: 2.48 mile
Duration : 00:30:00

Hammer Grip Pull Up

227.73

Set 1 : 112x31 Yaaay!

One Leg Bodyweight Squat

134.4

Set 1 : 112x6

What Girls Want

I skipped yesterday and having trouble getting up to speed today, hence the mediocre mileage. But at least I'm not walking. Okay, I shouldn't diss the folks who walk the treadmill every day, although it'd be nice if they actually saw progress. Maybe they're running as fast as they can just to stay in place? Maybe. Sometimes I feel that way too.

Tricep Shot

I've been cutting down on my warm up moves because I honestly spend waaay too much time here. So just a set of push ups, some crunches, and one 4-part set of bird dog planks. And only two sets of pull ups today because the big movements tend to be hard on my joints, specifically elbows, wrists and shoulders.

I hadn't planned to, but I do all my big moves at the Smith today, mostly because it's available and the MaxRack isn't. Smith Bench Press, Smith SLDLs, and finally, a few Smith Split Squats. I also do a few One-Arm Seated Cable Rows, and a full Mat Stretch. The gym is mostly empty because the sun has come out and it's blazingly hot outside, with rain promised for later this weekend.

Animé Hair Girl seems distracted today. Like most girls, she doesn't appear to have any muscles until she's actually using them. Because I've seen her curl 30 lb DBs, I know she's got them. But she must be frustrated that she has to flex in order to see anything. However, she does have a nice shape, but maybe she's after something more.

I know what girls want... they want visible muscles without having to flex for them. I have the luxury of a body that retains muscle fairly well. I don't need to constantly work out to look like I do, but I'm careful not to get cocky about it. I don't want to look like most of the people in my gym, the people who don't show any change from day to day, week to week, month to month. When I work out, I work out hard. I don't need to grunt, or push massive amounts, but there's little rest and no chatting. It works well for me, and I hope it inspires the other gals to do the same.

There's an interesting HS couple at the gym that I've been watching lately. They're both young, pale and lanky, and he's trying desperately to be supportive. He wants to lift weights, use the machines, get his beast on. She just looks soooo bored, like she'd rather be doing something else, anything else than be here at the gym. Her posture is terrible, with her hands on her hips, elbows jutting out and an expression of mild disdain. I feel sorry for him, and I wonder how long they'll attempt to do this as a couple. Sometimes you're just better off flying solo.

Single-serve coffee makers brew delicious coffee, but tax my patience. I haven't figured out just how many Starbucks Komodo Dragon coffee beans to grind yet. Today I bought a vacuum bag of Cafe Bustelo espresso to try in the single-serve drip maker. My hubs bought a portable French Press for our impending Boy Scout camping trip. Coffee's important when sleeping in the wilderness!

Grocery shopping today and came across Core Protein by Fairlife, which is owned by Coca-Cola in spite of stating it's Canadian. I bought a vanilla, mostly because I was starving. Tastes like overly sweet milk... no wonder with 26 grams of sugar! I like the 240 calories and 26 grams protein, the 70% RDA calcium, but no one needs 26 grams of sugar. I see on their website that there's a 42 gm protein drink called Core Power Elite with only 7 gms sugar, because it contains sucralose.

Friday Workout
(6.17 total miles cardio; 23,614 lbs moved)

Cross Trainer

Warm Up

Calorie :   126 CAL
Distance: 3.47 mile
Speed :    6.93 mph
Duration : 00:30:05

Hammer Grip Pull Up

209.07

Set 1 : 112x26

Wide Hand Pushup

100

Set 1 : 100 Lap/Rep

Crunches

50

Set 1 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 2 : 50 Lap/Rep
Set 3 : 50 Lap/Rep

Bird DogPlank

Knee : 00:00:30
Knee : 00:00:30
Straight Leg : 00:00:30
Straight Leg : 00:00:30

Smith Machine Bench Press

165

Set 1 : 30x20
Set 2 : 80x12
Set 3 : 100x12
Set 4 : 120x10
Set 5 : 90x25

Smith Machine Stiff Legged Deadlift

168

Set 1 : 30x15
Set 2 : 80x20
Set 3 : 100x15
Set 4 : 120x12
Set 5 : 120x12
Set 6 : 120x12

Smith Machine Single Leg Split Squat

98

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 50x12
Set 3 : 70x12

Cable One Arm Seated Row

63

Set 1 : 30x12
Set 2 : 37.5x12
Set 3 : 45x12

Elliptical Training

Intervals

Calorie :   309 CAL
Distance: 2.7 mile
Duration : 00:30:00

Hammer Grip Pull Up

227.73

Set 1 : 112x31