Redefining Active Rest

I'm still sore from Sunday's hike so I thought I'd take it easy and just do more cardio. It's called Active Rest and consists of moderate cardio exercise to keep everything warm and flowing. I get on the elliptical (beating the Lazy Pedal Dude to machine number one) and select Program 3. My heart rate is all over the place, but that's not unusual. When I'm done, I stretch at the Stretch Cage but skip doing pull ups.

However, after doing planks for core, I feel unsatisfied and wander back into the free weight area. The Smith is vacant but there's no bench under it either. I take a few minutes to warm up my shoulders with baby bells. Then I drag the flat bench over to the Smith to do Flat Presses. I haven't done these in a really long time. And because I haven't benched in months, I take it really slow and easy.

I guess my Active Rest Day has become a Push Day, which means DB Laterals super set with Reverse Inclined Flyes, followed by Rip Skulls. The only things I skip are pull ups, push ups and crunches. After a quick stretch I'm done.

My son wants to know when we're getting a new puppy, and as much as I want to replace the one we lost because the house feels so weird now, I haven't cleaned up the dog's crate yet. Or the rest of the kitchen. I'm not ready yet, but I keep scrolling through dog adoption websites. I even see one who seems to fit the right parameters. Should I contact that rescue organization? Should I wait? Will I lose an opportunity that I should take? I don't know...

Tuesday Active Rest. Not.
30 elliptical
Program 3
Calories 275
Miles 2.47
HR 151-200

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

DB T, Y & I
3lbs x 15
5lbs x 15

Smith Flat Bench
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
80 x 12
100 x 12
60 x 25

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
15lbs x 12/15 reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
30 lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

Stretch

Better But Not Cured

I've still got a touch of vertigo but it's definitely not as bad anymore. It does tend to catch me off-guard though, and thus, a tad off-balance. The weather's definitely not helping. I don't like to medicate before I work out so no ibuprofen, no pseudoephedrine this morning. Just my standard eggy oatmeal and instant espresso. But instead of heading straight to the gym after getting my son on his school bus, I go home to wait 30 minutes before heading to the school myself, along with other 3rd grade parents. Today is the 3rd grade recorder concert in the cafeteria. I bring my long lens camera because I know that my cell isn't good enough to find him on stage. I record their best song, We Will Rock You, to text to my husband in Boston. The concert only lasts 30 minutes but all the children are beaming. I drive back home to drop off my camera, grab my gear and finally head to the gym.

It's a bit after 10:30 am by the time I get in. There's still remnants of the morning crowd. I peddle my 2 miles steady-state but barely feel warm. I'm much happier when I'm really warmed up but I'm saving the 4 minutes of Tabata for the 2nd cardio session, after I lift. Benching makes me a bit leery. I need to hold onto the bar overhead to steady myself as I adjust to the change in head position. At least the room's not actually spinning this time. 95 lbs feel good. So I put on a pair of 10s.

The set at 115 feels pretty good too. I take my time between sets. I get my three sets of 8 reps and that makes me happy. I only do one 20-repper though because I don't want to get too tired. And my head still feels weird. I do a few Inclined Presses. Each time I lean back on the bench, I have to take a moment while my head settles. Eventually it passes and my sets feel a tiny bit easier. But I'm taking it easy today since I'm still not quite 100%.

Six sets of 12 reps with 20 lb DBs feels pretty good. I like the way my shoulders and arms look in the mirror. Meanwhile, I hear a grunting Push! Push! Push! from behind me. It's Big Glasses Dude benching three plates per side. He's very happy with his 3 reps and no spotter. I'm glad this isn't a PF gym. He's been losing some of his girth too. But I doubt he'll ever be svelte. Most people at my gym are much bigger than I am, but it's not readily apparent to me until I'm standing next to them and look in the mirror. Then I see that maybe I come up to their shoulder. Maybe. Sometimes not even.

I'm a tad more cautious with the Bent Over Rear Delt movement. The 20s are way too easy. The 30s are harder. I only do 3 sets because my head doesn't really like this position. Like last week, I decide to do Biceps instead of Triceps. So that's curls with the EZ bar, and then twisting DB curls. I skip the Reverse Grip BB Curls. My arms are so pumped that I have to loosen my elbow and wrist wraps in order to get decent blood flow to my finger so I can grip the DBs. Then back to the Precor for about 30 or so minutes of cardio. After 5 min at the low heart rate of 116, I do the 4 minutes of Tabata to get the heart really racing. Then back to the steady state pace but keeping the heart rate anywhere between 120 and 140.

I should do abs. But what? It's hard to do abs without really exacerbating the vertigo. Sit ups and crunches are still out. I settle on the plank and knee to elbow plank because it's part of my Mat Stretch routine. As is Dive Bomber Push Ups. And splits, and lower back/glute hip bridges. I'm done. Going to the Robin Hood Faire in Guilford Ct yesterday was a lot of fun, but we ate a lot of salty fatty foods like ribs, mac & cheese laced with bacon & pulled pork, fried chicken, biscuits. And my hubs kept plying me with BeeStings, a beverage mix of honey mead and hard cider. So I'm not surprised when the gym scale reads 114.8 lbs. I know a lot of that is water. Tomorrow's cardio and boxing. Yay!

Monday Workout

Workout Logs

 Exercise Name

1RM

Lifting Logs

Elliptical Training

N/A

Calorie :   170 CAL
Distance: 2.01 mile
Speed :    --
Lap/Rep :  --
Duration : 00:23:00

Barbell Bench Press

158.33

Set 1 : 45x12
Set 2 : 95x12
Set 3 : 115x8
Set 4 : 115x8
Set 5 : 115x8
Set 6 : 95x20

Barbell Incline Bench Press

113.33

Set 1 : 45x12
Set 2 : 65x12
Set 3 : 85x10
Set 4 : 85x10
Set 5 : 85x10

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

28

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

Dumbbell Seated Bent Over Reverse Fly

42

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 30x12
Set 3 : 30x12
Set 4 : 30x12

Barbell Curl

66.5

Set 1 : 15x12
Set 2 : 37.5x12
Set 3 : 47.5x12
Set 4 : 47.5x12
Set 5 : 47.5x10
Set 6 : 37.5x12

Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl

28

Set 1 : 20x12
Set 2 : 20x12
Set 3 : 20x12

Elliptical Training

N/A

Calorie :   255 CAL
Distance: 3 mile
Speed :    --
Lap/Rep :  --
Duration : 00:33:00

Plank

N/A

Set 1 : 00:00:30

Plank with Side Kick

N/A

Set 1: 16 Lap/Rep
         00:00:30

Bridge

N/A

Set 1 : 00:00:08
Set 2 : 00:00:08
Set 3 : 00:00:08

Dive Bomber Push Ups
2 x 12 

The Epic Fail

I blame the Rip Crushers I did on Friday and still haven't quite recovered from because my triceps are uncharacteristically sore. Still, I never let a little soreness get in the way of a good workout. Rip Crushers are so much harder than the standard skull crusher because it's a two-part movement. I use less weight and grit my teeth through three sets at 40 lbs but I wasn't expecting this to really impact my Benching today. Maybe I'm laying blame in the wrong place?

I had no intentions of doing HIIT cardio today but 5 minutes into a leisurely lope on the Precor and I suddenly remember that HIIT is best done two or three times a week, and well it's Monday so really I should be doing HIIT today. I'd planned to do 20 minutes on the elliptical anyway, so I break into a run as fast as you can stride for 45 seconds, and then drop down to a pleasant jog for 75 seconds. Until it's been nearly 21 minutes.

I really dislike the new benches, because even with yoga blocks under my feet, I don't feel as secure as with my feet flat on the ground. I don't ever feel properly grounded, with my back in a slight bridge. I work my way up to 125 lbs like last week. I feel pretty good. I actually get 6 reps for the first set. Yay! And then I get 5 reps for the 2nd set and wonder if I can get one more. And I don't. EPIC FAIL! My right elbow crumples and the bar winds up resting on the right side of my jaw only because I've had the sense to tuck my chin into my neck. I can't move the bar. And I can barely squeak out Help Help Help. No one hears me although there are people all around. I try to squeak out louder. It's hard to yell when the bar is resting on your jaw, keeping you from fully opening your mouth. Finally, a woman on the adjacent bench hears me and rushes over. Then all the guys rush over. M pulls the bar up and racks it on the low stay.

I've seen the woman before but I always confuse her with her identical twin sister. She tells me that she'll spot me cuz she understands not wanting a guy's crotch in your face while you're benching. I decide I need to "get back on the horse" so I strip the bar and reset it back on the top stay, and replace all the weights. The woman comes over and I tell her "It's my third set so I'll be happy if I just get 3 reps," and that's all I get. "I could've pushed you for one more," she says but I'm good and she goes back to doing her yoga moves in the DB area. I drop the weight down to 95 lbs and only get 19 reps. I really wanted 20, but M steps in and grabs the bar as I just finish the 19th rep. Because I don't want him constantly stepping in, I don't even bother to try and get 5 more reps like I normally would.

Instead I move to the Inclined Bench and do a few sets there. I'm a bit leery of having another fail because I don't want to need another rescue, but at least the bar will wind up in my lap if I fail. There's a guy doing maintenance on the Decline Bench and the other Inclined Bench. I grab some DBs and do Inclined Flyes, Then DB Lateral Raises, and finally Bent-Over DB Reverse Flyes. I've got a good pump in my shoulders but my chin is a bit sore. The woman comes over and asks how I am. "Oh, I'm fine," I tell her, "but do you think this is going to leave a mark?" "Did you hit your chin?" she asks. "No, but when the bar came down, I tucked my chin so it was resting on my jaw." "Naw, should be okay," she says. I completely forget to ask her name, but I will next time.

The Step Mill is busy so I drop onto the Mat and knock out a few crunches, then dance off to the LifeFitness ellipticals by the front door. I was planning to do LISS but I have too much energy and I've just put Billy Idol on my iPod, so my LISS is more like a 20 minutes jog. Then a quick Cage Stretch and a Mat Stretch before hitting the shower. The gym scale reads 112.4 lbs and I'm good with that considering my son and I ate rainbow marzipan cookies for dessert last night and salted caramel gelato the night before. He's quite disappointed that Winter Storm Titan completely missed us, but I'm sure it's because I have three bags of rock salt in my garage.

Monday Workout
20 min Precor elliptical: 5 min @ 160 SPM; 15 min @ 45 sec run / 75 sec jog = 1.73 miles

Flat Bench Press:
12x45 (bar)
10x95 lbs
10x115 lbs
6, 5, 3 x 125 lbs Epic Fail on 2nd set as I was going for rep 6
19x95 lbs

Incline Bench Press
12x45
12x65 lbs
8x75 lbs
8x85 lbs
4, 3 x 95 lbs

Incline DB Flyes
12x20 lbs
3x12x25 lbs
12x20 lbs

DB Lateral Raises
12x20 lbs
12x25 lbs
3x12x30 lbs

Bent Over DB Reverse Flyes
6x12x30 lbs (just because I said I was going to do this last week)

Torso Twist Machine
2x25x50 lbs
Crunches: 2 x 50

20 min LifeFitness elliptical = 1.9 miles
Cage Stretch
Mat Stretch 2x12 DBPUs and 60-sec plank, upper and lower back stretches; splits