Moving Right Along

Today was Torso Group #2 (pullover, bent over row, straight leg deadlift, and side bend). And as always, ab-holds, kneebend-holds, and tiptoe-holds. I thought the deadlifts would be harder. By 4th set I was up to 10# and it was still not hard to do, although it made me breathe hard -- when I crunch over it's hard to breathe and my heart is not happy about things real heavy on extended forward bending.

I didn't go near the cycle, aka The Monster. Maybe later. I contacted Vision Fitness today. That exercise bike still retails for $2000, so it's worth worrying about, but I swear it just canNOT be normal that 30 seconds trying to do 60RPM is nearly killing me. I told them, I swear level 1 feels like level 12, at least! I remember when I got it. Level 1 had almost zero resistance. It's killing me. It sat in the garage for 6 years, do you think this would matter? Heh.

The rep is probably telling her coworker what an idiot I am as I type. She said YES, heat, cold, humidity, dust, are major issues. Take a crank puller and pull off the casing, clean it, and look at the brake, it sounds like it needs adjusting, the heat and cold can definitely change its tightness, even in a retail gym environ, never mind a midwest sweltering summer and subfreezing winters!.

So I asked my dad what the heck a crank puller is and could he please bring me one so I can play fix-it man. And as an added bonus, crawling around the floor to clean and fix the thing will be a workout all on its own, I suppose!...

So the workout went pretty well today. On the pullover, I forgot to start at 3# and work up through 5 and 8 -- I started on 10#, and then realized it, and decided to just go with it. I was having a problem with the muscle in my left upper arm until I realized the problem was I was letting my elbows go too wide. When I pulled them in I had no more problem. I've been trying to be careful and not hurt myself because I want to be able to keep doing this stuff and get more intense with it.

I felt much, much tougher today than I did yesterday. Tomboy tough! Was cool.

I didn't have any carbs to eat after. I didn't really schedule them in this menu. Not like I've done well on the menu so far. I ate a stallone pudding (20g protein) and a lowcarb highprotein slimfast (20g protein) right after though. At least I got protein.

Yay! I need to get bigger barbells. The 10# is too small for the deadlifts and the bent over row and probably a couple others. I want to use all the little plates I have for my -- are you ready? -- KETTLESTACK! That sounds like fun. Gotta try that.

I might mention that my "Bean" -- a heavy-duty inflateable thing -- made it possible for me to do the pullover. My bench isn't nearly long enough for me to have done that and I can't hold myself up on it sideways (with only my back on it). So it has turned out to be a useful investment for a few things. I do a funky "frog-squat" thing as I get gradually up off it, holding in various positions as I stand up. I think it'll be even more useful as I get a little more limber, but even now it's pretty cool.

Music for the day: Leann Rimes, Greatest Hits (then I snuck in a whole bunch of New Jack Swing, like My Prerogative, Reversal of the Dog, and then a little music from The Clash, to wash out the insipid pop and wannabe-country. (Not that this low opinion of it kept me from singing my head off to it, mind you. Should I admit I know all the words to the old Debbie Boone song 'You Light Up My Life'? ;-))