Abbreviated Friday Workout

It's the Summer Solstice and I'm sure many families have high-tailed it out of town for a long weekend, especially since camp starts Monday. When I was a kid, school ran until the last day of June. I remember those dreary hot humid days, days before air conditioning was the norm in school and other municipal buildings. Today my son is happy to accompany me to the gym even though I've warned him that there mostly likely will not be a lot of kids to play with. I'm right. There's not a lot of kids to play with. Even an abbreviated workout will run longer (including time to shower and change) than the allotted two hours, but luckily, since my son is no trouble (unlike a baby or toddler), he's usually there for at least 30 minutes more.

Back from the dead aloe

To shorten my workout, I consider what I can skip today. Not cardio. Not stretching. Today is Back and Biceps Day. What I skip are abdominals, a second bicep exercise, and lower back extensions. My abs are too big anyway. They could use some atrophying. I still run late but my son is playing with the two remaining toddlers in the room. Being an only child means that he's eager to interact with any other child, younger or older.

Heavy rainfall and hot sunny days seem to have revived the once dead aloe vera plant now sitting outside on a garden bench. These days we call it Lazarus. It's not fully recovered yet, green seeping upward from the soil into the once dead and brittle tips. It's quite fascinating to watch although it's taken several weeks for this process to become noticeable. Sort of like weight lifting.

Today's Abbreviated Back and Biceps Day:
35 min cardio Intervals #8 = 4.20 miles Yay!
Seated Cable Rows: 15 @ 60 lbs / 12 @ 90 / 10 @ 105 / 8 @ 120 / 3 x 6 @ 127.5 / 12 @ 112.5 / 15 @ 97.5 lbs
Cage Stretch & Kicks
Reverse Grip BB Rows: 6 x 12 @ 105 lbs
I knock out 15 reps the first set, but the remaining sets are a struggle to get 12 reps each.
Pendlay BB Rows: 6 x 12 @ 65 lbs
I try to squeeze my shoulder blades together at the top of each movement but this is an exhausting exercise, much more so than the BB Rows.
BB Curls: 3 x 21 @ 45 lbs
I drop the weight down 5 lbs and up the reps. With my arms flared out, my elbows don't hurt in this position but it feels a bit weird. I can see the biceps flex so I know they're getting something out of it. 
Reverse Grip BB Curls: 3 x 20 @ 40 lbs
I stretch my forearms between sets and my right wrist suddenly spasms as if sprained. Figures!
Mat Stretch: I am stiff stiff stiff today and my splits are not pretty. But Monday's another day. 

I see a few regulars today but because I'm in a rush, I literally ignore everyone I see or know. People know better than to get in my way. The gym scale reads 109.6 lbs again. That's unusually consistent. I feel pretty good, but hungry. I woke up hungry this morning, and even put an egg in my blueberries, oatmeal and  honey breakfast. I'm so hungry I feel gassy, empty, hollow. It's not a good feeling and I'm glad the Ensure is cold and thick. My son is also hungry so he snacks on a 14 gram protein bar in the car. Their the same calories as a candy bar but less sugar, and he feels as if he's eating a treat.

For the next 5 weeks, I'll be bringing my son to the gym for two days out of five. I tell him that I'm going to change my workout so that he won't spend so much time in the baby room. He tells me that he doesn't mind at all. Such a good kid! But since it's only 5 weeks, I use this as an opportunity to change my workout. I'm toying with the idea of adding more cardio, perhaps doing two sessions twice a week on those days I bring my son. My plan: Monday's still a Push Day but only Benching, Delts and Abs, Tuesday's still a Pull Day with Back and Abs, Wed is double cardio and Abs, Thursday is Leg Day with 1 session cardio, Friday is double cardio and Triceps and Biceps. I'm actually only adding one more cardio session each week, but it might just kick my butt.  I'll just have to see how I hold up. And then, at the end of 5 weeks, I'll assess myself and decide what to do then.

Was Resting Detrimental?

Program 8 and today's tally

Today is Back and Biceps and although I've sworn not to do any pull ups, I wonder how the rest of my work out will be considering yesterday's disappointing routine. My butt (glutes) are sore and that's actually reassuring. Maybe cardio won't suck today. Feeling uncharacteristically adventurous, I punch in program #8, the long interval and start peddling away. My thighs burn for the first few minutes into the program but everything starts to feel pretty good as I warm up and sweat pools at the end of my nose. It's unseasonably hot and humid today but the gym is air conditioned and I have my hoodie zipped all the way up. For the last two minutes of the program, I'm able to rev my pace up to 285 SPM and that feels good. I slow down a bit for the cool down (185 SPM) but bring the pace back up to 200 for the last three minutes. The machine calculates an even better mileage than yesterday and I'm very happy.

I've also decided that I'm not really happy with the sloppy form I use in moving the 135 lb stack on the Seated Cable Rows so I drop back to 120 lbs for three sets of 8 reps. I don't know why I haven't done drop sets on this (like I do on Benching) so today I institute that change as well. The rows feel pretty good and my left elbow doesn't complain at all. I see Mo as I exit the Cage Stretch and we chat briefly. She's on the abductor machine and I tell her that I used to use that until I discovered they were ruining my stretch by making my muscles too tight. I'd rather toss kicks and I pull my left thigh up laterally with my knee bent as if I was going to side kick. Peripherally, I see three different heads turn in our direction from the various exercise stations. She jokes that I ought to work a few muscles for her. She tore some ligaments in her hips several weeks ago so she's being very cautious. I cringe to think that such a big woman (she's at least 5'11 and 165 lbs) can be so fragile. I've heard the claim that menopause makes women less flexible and more prone to injury. That just makes me more determined to work harder, and smarter.

I'm a little skeptical when I take the 100 lb barbell off the rack but I hate backtracking. I managed Reverse Grip BB Rows last week with 105 lbs so that's what I attempt today. Except that my right hand starts to fail during the last three reps of the first set. This is not good. The thumb and the portion of the wrist immediately below twinge as if they're inflamed. I stretch my forearms by holding my arms out, palms forward, fingers down and pressing them against a wall between each subsequent set of rows. The discomfort eventually subsides but I'm not happy with the fact I could only get 12 reps per set. I did feel it in my back, but also in my fingers and palms. I'm beginning to think that taking a week off only made things worse instead of better.

Today's Pull Day Work Out:
35 min cardio interval #8 = 4.69 miles Yippeee!
Seated Cable Rows: 20 @ 45 lbs / 12 @ 90 / 10 @ 105 / 3 x 8 @ 120 / 12 @ 105 / 20 @ 90 lbs
Cage Stretch & Kicks
Reverse Grip Bent Over BB Rows: 6 x 12 @ 105 lbs
I'm so bummed that my right hand/thumb starts to fail almost immediately but I push through and stretch out my forearms between sets.
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 100
Lower Ab Kick Outs: 100
Torso Twist Station: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Lower Back Extensions: 2 x 25 @ 97.5 lbs
Ab Crunch Station: 100
BB Curls: 15 @ 40 lbs / 5 x 15 @ 45 lbs
Lower Back Extensions: 2 x 25 @ 97.5 lbs
5 x 15 @ 45 lbs
Reverse Grip BB Curls: 3 x 20 @ 40 lbs
Mat Stretch
The splits are a little tight today and I'm disappointed but that seems to be the nature of the body, or at least my body. It's not a constant increase but two steps forward and then a step backward.

I see a lot of regulars today except for B whose car I spied in the parking lot, but who I haven't actually seen all week. M, the Mayor, ZZ, IrishAbs, IrishGal & girlfriend, Ollie (he looks like Oliver Hardy), PonyTail Tattoo, R, FishGuy... they're all here at varying times. I remember to wave a quick Hi to Fish Guy, and wish R a Good Weekend but I'm probably not smiling when I do it because that's just another thing that doesn't come naturally to me, especially when I'm trying to focus.

This probably isn't
the look the dress
designer had in mind

The scale is slightly kinder today with a reading of 109.6 lbs. As I'm getting dressed, a short round woman greets me and it takes me a moment to realize who she is because her normally red hair is died several different shades of blue. Not tints but actual shades of peacock and cerulean blue. "Is it permanent?" I ask her. "No, it's all natural vegetable dye so it'll eventually wash out. I have the kind of job that allows me to do this." "What do you do?" "I'm a drug counselor." Ah. I would've guessed advertising creative but that's the world I come from. Perhaps having colorful hair makes you more approachable, or less likely to seem judgmental. When I was younger I toyed with the idea of dyeing a blue streak in my black hair but that would involve actually bleaching it. Asian hair can turn orange and I don't want a tiger stripe in my hair.

My husband suggested I take some ibuprofen (ie, Motrin or Advil) for the elbow. I've been holding off on NSAID because they've been implicated in inhibiting muscle growth. But acetaminophen (Tylenol) is much worse. I've never trusted it, not only because it's much more likely to cause liver damage, but also because it doesn't really address inflammation. It relieves pain without diminishing the cause, whereas aspirin, ibuprofen and other NSAIDs reduce swelling as well as fever and pain.

I probably won't take anything and see how it all feels on Monday when I prepare for another Push Day. But I'm liking the cardio change so I think I'll keep mixing that up. Meanwhile, it's a scorching 92°F outside and I'm dressing as minimally as I can, which means a sundress from EMS that requires no bra. I just wish it had pockets.