There's nothing more exciting than the unexpected. This can be good or bad, it all depends on your perspective. Due to the Holidays, this workout week is only 3 days long, and I like to put HIIT cardio in at least twice. Which means that today, a Cardio Day, will also have 33 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical, and two other cardio machines, depending on availability. For no apparent reason, I've decided that an hour of cardio is appropriate for Cardio Day. Health researchers always try to report the minimum amount of time and effort the average person needs to exert to reap the benefits of exercise, probably because only extremists would go further. I've read that 20 minutes a few times a week will suffice. Except I don't actually believe that to be true.
I always feel good after HIIT cardio, regardless of how hard I've pedaled. It varies, as can be seen in the differing mileage. Some days it's all I can do to get the speedometer up past 210 SPMs (strides per minute), and other days I can coast along at 230, panting the entire 60 seconds, of course. I'm probably some sort of endorphin junkie, but the not type that gets off on hair-raising stunts. That would be adrenaline, and most probably makes me queasy. I haven't noticed my lungs burning, but that's more likely to occur during kickboxing. That'll be next week, a regular full 5 days. I've tried to cut back my workouts, but always wind up gravitating back to doing a full 5 days. Yep, gym junkie.
I knock out 20 hammer grip pull ups and then do push ups and core in the class room. I see one of the staff setting up for a class that'll start in 15 minutes. Plenty of time for me to complete crunches, bicycles and a few planks. Back to the gym proper to clamber up the Step Mill. Hollywood greets me as she's on the other machine. But she's only on for 3 minutes, then down to the Seated Cable Row. Then back to the Step Mill. I've never seen this type of super set before, and it doesn't make any sense to me. Like a lot of people who climb the Step Mill, she's draped over the handles. This position detracts from the work your glutes, quads and core should be doing, but I'm not about to correct anyone. It's just that I'd never do that.
I see Nice Goatee who I am renaming Angry Goatee. He always looks like he's impatiently waiting on someone to show up. I see Hollywood chatting with a few other guys. She's very friendly, but unlike B, she doesn't spend a good 20 minutes standing around gabbing. Lazy Pedals and M are benching. I see a lot of regulars, but not Snow Bird (he's probably gone to Florida for a few weeks) or the Gym Rat couple. I don't see Ballet either, although Maroon and Hoodie are back. There are a lot of new faces, mostly older men with serious weight issues. Another set of pull ups for me. Then I have to decide between the Expresso Bike or the Octane. There's someone on the bike I usually ride, but both Octanes are empty. I like the one closest to the dead kickboxing machine. The other one is adjacent to the arm bicycle, and that machine gets lots of use. I don't like to be crowded.
I'm wearing speckle-patterned crop leggings, except on me they're closer to ankle pants, because I'm so much shorter than the average woman. If I move the leg bottoms 4-5 inches up, then they'd come mid-calf, which would be correct, but soooo uncomfortable. It doesn't show in photos, but I have reasonably large calves and I don't like tight clothes. I stopped wearing these a while ago because the waist is a bit loose and the iPod wouldn't stay on the waistband. Now that I use Bluetooth earbuds, and keep the iPod in my gear bag, there's no issue. Except I look funny. Yeah, whatever.
I've paired them with my other clown shoes... which are fairly comfy given that they're a good half size or more too big. They have white soles like my cheap Avia shoes. And like those shoes, they are slippery and offer no traction, regardless of the nice grid pattern. On the wood floor in the classroom, I had to contract my core to keep myself from sliding onto my face while doing push ups. It certainly made the push ups more difficult. On the elliptical during HIIT cardio, my feet kept sliding up the pedals, which was distracting. Ugh. Maybe they'll be better if I wear them outdoors and rough them up a bit?
At my third set of pull ups, I look up at the roof of the stretch cage and see a face peering back at me from the treadmill directly in front of the cage, on the cardio platform. He must be really tall if he can peer over the treadmill monitor. He's completely cloaked in a huge hoodie and seems to be amused. Maybe he's just watching the TV screen on the monitor? Of course, he looks totally surprised when my head pops up over the cage roof as I do pull ups. By the time I get to 20 though, I can barely get my chin up to the bar, much less past it.
The lying leg curl is occupied so I put my hoodie back on and do Walking Lunges. By the time I'm done, the machine is empty. Yaaay me! Last week I started at 20 lbs, moved up to 25, then back down to 20. This week I'm determined to get two sets at 25. And I do. It makes me feel like a Bad Ass. I really want to do another set of pull ups but decide to wait until after some stretching. The stretch area is crowded because there's another class in session so people who would normally stretch there are here. And a girl who should be doing her solid BB squats out on the gym floor proper is doing them in the stretch area as well. I don't know why. Most people want the mirror to check their form, and there's no mirror in the stretch area. I hate it when people who should be in the free weight area decided they'd rather hide in the stretch area, but bring all their equipment with them. It's not that big a space! I feel like shouting Get Out! at them, but of course, I don't say anything.
Luckily I have my spot on the floor before the class lets out and a swarm of women descend into this tiny area to do planks and stretches. Little R tries to tiptoe through the bodies to retrieve a black mat to do planks elsewhere in the gym. I have my tunes on loud so I don't hear the banter but I can tell that some of the women are teasing him. As the women leave, I look around. The big guy in the hoodie is doing curls of some sort. Except he's not wearing the hoodie anymore. I can see what looks like a simplified Celtic cross on his left shoulder blade. He has really nice arms, and he's big and young.
I don't feel done yet even though I've gone through all of the Mat stretches. Just one more set of pull ups. I worry that I've overestimated my abilities and that I won't be able to finish the set. But I do. Now I'm done. Four sets and I feel awesome, almost invincible. I've also sucked down m entire water bottle, which was only 20 oz. Normally I try to pace myself, but with this runny nose and scratchy throat, I've needed more fluids than usual. A woman in the locker room who I recognize as a regular offers me a cold, unopened bottle of water. "I have a whole case in my car," she says when I hesitate. Wow, thanks!
I've been happier lately, but I can't attribute it to regular workouts. Instead, I realize that my mood darkens tremendously when I forget to dab a bit (as in a pinkie tip) of estriol cream on my wrists. Being close to 59 years old, I'm in menopause. No hot flashes or night sweats, but I did suffer from low energy, brain fog and depression. A friend told me about an online company (click
here for the link) that sells an estriol cream when I complained about the horrible side-effects of the topical my Ob/Gyn prescribed for me. There's an interesting article stating that estriol had been considered a weak, non-essential estrogen hormone, but is considered very safe and effective when applied through the skin. Click
here to read it. All I know is that I feel more like a capable human being when I remember to apply it a few times a week, and when I don't, I'm bleak.
Friday Cardio Day And More
Norwegian 4x45 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 45, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33Calories 286Miles 2.63HR 145-192 (93-115)Cage StretchHGPU 20Push Ups 50Crunches 30 x 2Bicycles 50Side Planks 2 x 60sBird Dogs 2 x60s15 min StepMillLevel 3Total steps 531FloorsMiles 33Calories 84HR 140HGPU 2015 Octane + (3 cd)Default settingCalories 110Miles 1.51Steps 2052Floors 34HR max 237-194 (116)Cage Stretch HGPU 20Walking Lunges27 + 29 = 56 total2:1 Lying Leg Curls20lbs x 1225 x 12 x 2Mat StretchHGPU 20
Another set of pull-ups, just a few more than before. I'm so happy that I'm almost done. On the cross-trainer, my stomach starts to growl. Ugh. Hungry! Thank goodness I've got a 30 gm protein RTD in my car (in an insulated bag with a cooler pack). Ensure brand has finally delivered a mild mixed-berry flavor beverage that isn't Nesquick Strawberry sweet. So much tastier than Muscle Milk. And so much more convenient than going home to mix up a shake. Because I get easily distracted.
