Twofer Friday

Thursday I was too busy to post anything. I went to the gym and did my 14 rounds of whacking the kickboxing machine. Then some grocery shopping because if I wait until Friday, a lot of items are sold out before the weekend rush. Barely had time to put stuff away, walk the dog and shovel the alternate parking spot out past our hedges before I had to run off and pick my son up from his Archery class. Luckily, I'd also made and packed "turkey, swiss and spicy guac sandwiches" since I wouldn't have any time to make dinner. From Archery we went to Kung Fu where my son finished up his HW in the car before class. We always get there too early if we leave directly from school, but it doesn't make any sense to go home since we'd only have 10 minutes before having to leave for Kung Fu. So we sit on the parking lot and my son either does HW, or takes a nap. I'd like to take a nap, but I'm too paranoid to sleep in my car. Probably comes from being born and raised in NYC.

Back from kung fu and I had all of 15 minutes to drop my son off, wolf down the remainder of my sandwich, and rush off to the middle school for the annual Curriculum Night. We have a new principal so this was the shortest presentation yet, explaining what choices our 7th graders will have to make upon entering 8th grade. Some choices need to be made this year though, as they require qualifying entrance exams, like Advance Science. Ugh.

Well, at least I enjoyed my workout. Those 3 rounds of Sparring between the 4 rounds of Beginner Follow Me are quite intense! I admit that by the 3rd Sparring round, I'm not quite as feisty, but I'm still scoring fairly well with multiple hits and combinations. I don't even bother trying to "block" the punches because it just stops the action. And I punch and jab through all the blank screens, figuring what's the worst that could happen? I accidentally score? Win-win! Between rounds I note the presence of regulars, and newbies taking the requisite tour of all the equipment. I see The Mayor and then I don't so I think he's left. But I'm wrong. He's just moved over to a new station to chat with someone else. I don't think I've ever seen The Mayor not talking. Ever. He probably even talks in his sleep. Seriously. But at least I haven't seen the creepier guys lately, like PJ Pants and Frankenstein.

Pull ups were fine, and I probably could've done more, but I didn't. I just wanted to stretch and shower. I seriously spend too much time at the gym.

Thursday

10 min warm up elliptical
Calories 94
Miles 0.83

T, Y & I DB Raises
3lbs x 15
5lbs x 15
Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

Nexersys
7r Beginner 4FM / 3Sp
7r Intermediate FM

HGPU 26

Most of the newbies are really, really old. Today, I saw an elderly couple examining the cardio machines with a staffer while I was on the Step Mill. He looked patiently disinterested, but she had such a look of puckered disdain that I almost burst out laughing. Of course I didn't. The fellow on the Step Mill next to me spent more time fiddling with his phone than he actually did climbing. Well, at least he wasn't talking. I've seen him before. Maybe a college kid? He's athletic, but losing his hair. Which means I really have no idea how old he is... No real eye-candy at my gym. Oh well...

I started out my workout with Intervals, which always worries me. Because I'm not really warmed up. But you don't get better at something unless you tackle it head on. And I suck at Cardio. So not a bunny. I did manage to do pull ups okay, and then push ups (where I spaced and lost count) and the core workout of planks and more planks. They feel more effective than the crunch and bicycle variations I'd been doing. And I don't have to take my hair clip out so that's even better!

While I'm on the elliptical, I see a kid in a hoodie and shorts with a weighted belt doing chin ups in the Stretch Cage. I smile to myself because I like it when other people use the Cage to do chin ups and pull ups, and it's not just me. I have yet to see any other women doing pull ups or chin ups. I absolutely don't count the Assisted Pull Up machine. No one who uses that has ever graduated to doing real full-body pull ups.

I decide to finish with a short ride on the Expresso. The new bike used to face the backs of the 3 older bikes, but now sits perpendicular to them, facing the back of the Cable station in the Cross-Fit area. It's okay, except that I try to do the "ride of the week", which is a night ride. And the glare from the overhead lights and front windows means I can't actually see the darkened course, only the reflection of my face staring back. I have to switch to a "daytime" ride instead. I'm getting better at this as I pass my pacer! Of course, I'm only pedaling for 11 minutes, but I've started sweating again, so there was some effort here! Here's a YouTube video (commercial) for the Expresso bike if you're curious...



I do a full Mat Stretch but I'm still undecided about the Pistol Squats. The last thing I need is for my legs and butt to get bigger. My weight is at the mercy of the sodium gods. Yesterday I sucked down my entire 1.5 liter bottle and weighed in at 112.0 lbs. Today I drank half my water, and the gym scale said: 110.4 lbs. I'm still logging my meals into the MyFitnessPal app, and still managing to squeak over my calorie limit. Of course, I'm not logging any exercise whatsoever, so I think I'm still on track to lose some of this body fat. I'd really like my clothes to be a tad looser... I guess I should be a tad more zealous with the calories?

Friday

30 elliptical
Intervals
Calories 305
Miles 2.67
Average Heart Rate 133 (max 196)

HGPU 26
Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15
Push Ups 60

Elbow Plank 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

20 StepMill
Calories 139
Flights 58
934 total steps
Level 5

Expresso Bike
Mini Mayhem
2 miles
55 calories
11:13 min

Cardio Friday

Although my lower torso appears to be ringed with an odd soreness, I still went to the gym today, but later than I had planned. Because I hadn't planned on the school district announcing a two-hour delay due to weather. Okay, it was snowing this morning. Not a lot. And it's warm enough for the road salts to work the way they're suppose to. There's a thick sheet of slippery ice under the soft wet melting snow on my lawn. I debate whether to salt or not because tomorrow's suppose to be near 50°F with rain which would be a waste. On the other hand, our property is a cold spot pocket on the side of a very steep hill. I decide not to salt. If it's icy tomorrow, I can salt then.

Today is a Cardio Day, pure and simple. I manage my 5 minutes warm up and then go full gallop for a minute, drop to a crawl for the next minute and repeat this for another three minutes. Then I change the intervals to 30 seconds because that's all I can manage by this point.

Sweat is running down my face when I'm done and I blot the elliptical clean with a paper towel spritzed with bleach water. I want to work up to doing a full ten minutes of 1 minute on and 1 minute off. Then I can attempt doing 90 second intervals and work up to 2 minute intervals. It's nice having a plan.

My lower back and abdominals are still oddly sore. My right hip is tight and that does impact my cardio slightly, slowing me a tad. I barely feel my glutes and hamstrings, but the base of my neck and traps are sore as well. I guess DOMS takes a full two days because I did the Back Workout on Wednesday. Part of me wonders if the Ab Wheel is to blame for some of this, but I don't know. There are too many variables to know.

I do as complete a Cage Stretch as I can manage. Bending over to touch my face to my knee is more difficult than it should be but I take it very slowly, easing into the stretch. This is lower back. But tossing out a side kick is fine. As is stretching my legs out to either side, putting my foot up over my head is fine. I sit down in front of the more popular Nexersys machine, strip off my hoodie, wrap my hands and stuff them into my stupid pink gloves. I've got to learn to wrap them better: I'm not sure why, but my knuckles are pink and raw when I'm done boxing. They aren't usually but today I'm pummeling the pads during the last 3 rounds of Sparring.

The Follow Me Avatar program is a lot of fun so I do 9 rounds at the Beginner Female level. Afterwards, I try to check out the Intermediate Level. It suggests punches and kicks that I'm familiar with, but when the program starts, it asks for combinations I don't know and am unsure how to execute. There's just no way I can knee the center pad because the center pad is about neck height for me. I'm just not tall enough. And there's no way to run the tutorial on just the Intermediate Avatar program. Instead the machine wants to run you through the entire litany of cardio, core, etc exercises and I don't have the patience for that. I ask one of the trainers at the front desk and he confesses to being baffled by it as well. Oh well... I punch in 3 rounds of Sparring Beginner Level Female and take out my frustrations on the machine. It's very satisfying. My lower back and right hip only seem to hinder me slightly when I use a right-side power move but the torquing hip action doesn't hurt. It's just stiff, and not quite as fast as I normally am.

Instead of heading immediately to the showers, I put my hoodie back on and drop myself onto a Mat. I want to stretch out my lower back, but I also want to assess just how limited my mobility is. It's definitely impeding my ability to drop my face on my shin, but otherwise, the rest of me is okay. My traps and shoulders are feeling a little stiff as well, but that's understandable. The gym scale again reads 114.0 lbs and that's oddly consistent. I know I don't weigh quite that much, but I do know I'm fatter. Definitely fatter. I can see the fat under my belly skin, pooling around my navel. Didn't used to have that. My upper arms look huge too. I'm so not happy about this, but I've also not made an appointment with my GP either. I know I'll have to submit fasting blood work beforehand and I hate doing anything without a cup of coffee. Next week I'll call. Next week I'm just going to do cardio anyway.

Cardio Friday

HIIT: 5 min warm up at 189 Strides Per Min, 5 min of 1 min on (220-260 SPM) / 1 min off (70-80 SPM), 5 min of 30 sec on / 30 sec off = 1.50 miles

Nexersys: 9 rounds Follow Me, Beginner Female
  Accuracy 84% / Strikes 107% / Avg Power 128%
accuracy decreased because the machine didn't register several power kicks

Nexersys: 3 rounds Sparring, Beginner Female
  Strikes 209% / Avg Power 95% / Points 937  
this might be a high score for points!

photos provided for actual stats:

9 rounds Follow Me Avatar, beginner female 

3 rounds Sparring Avatar, beginner female