sore

[redbird]

My gym was throwing itself an anniversary party, promising lots of contests and things--but you had to be there this evening.

So I went downtown, arriving around 6:30. I only ran into one contest, in which we found a trainer, and did 28 reps (because it's their 28th anniversary) each of four of a group of six exercises, and then were entered in a contest to win 28 free weeks of membership. (The poster talked about scratch-off cards, a vacation, etc., but by the time I was done I was too tired to ask about any of this.)

I started my workout with bicep curls, one of the things I hadn't done yesterday. Then I asked about a trainer, and was sent over to someone named Jen, who finished walking someone else through the same sort of deal.

I started with crunches, because I do those all the time, and wanted a trainer to look at my form anyway. She said it was fine, except that I need to make sure I breathe properly. 28 at once is harder than my usual sets of 15, alternating with another exercise, but not too hard.
Then I did jumping jacks, feeling very school-gymish at first, but then I got into them, clapping my hands together and all. I think they included those to give everyone one easy one.
Then squats, which are just what they sound like--good for the thighs, she said, and it felt like it--except that, for contest purposes, you had to hold an eight-pound exercise ball in front of you while doing them.

Then we tried an "assisted pull up". It looked straightforward when the trainer demonstrated it. Then she set the machine to support half my body weight, and had me get on. It ran away with me, up and down fast and uncomfortably, with me saying "get me off this" and then jumping off when she failed to pull a Big Red Switch (which may not exist). I'm fairly sure I have bruises in unlikely places, and hope it's no more than that.
So, to make four, I did 28 pushups, the kind with your knees on the floor, and after every few Jennifer told me I should move my hands that way, or do something different with my knees. But I did them.

After dealing with that, I did the leg extensions--not fun, with the thighs still feeling the squats--but I got through 3 sets of 10 on each leg, with 10 pounds of weight. I did all my usual stretches, plus something not on the menu and probably pushing what the machine can handle: I misread and did the basic back stretch holding the lower bar instead of the upper. Then I did some chest presses (2 sets of 15 at 35 pounds, then a set of 15 at 25 pounds). I finished with mat work: 15 back arches, 16 crunches (so I'm only one short of my usual), another 15 arches, and a bit of cat-and-camel.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Good. Lord.

This gives me the vapors. Must lie down and can only be resuscitated by huge quantities of ice cream. Sorry.

Maybe I should take the opposite tack: I think nothing of a workout like that. Nothing I tell you. Hah!

[redbird]

This is part of why I usually put the numbers behind an lj-cut tag. I left them in the open this time because I thought some of the stuff about doing different stuff might be interesting or amusing.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

To tell you the cold hard bitter honest truth I'm envious. I keep my fingers crossed that all the gym work I read about you and agrumer doing will lead to inspiration. It hasn't yet, but maybe someday who knows. Hah!

[webbob.livejournal.com]

I'm a step beyond you, Luke: I'm hoping that reading about Vicki and Avram's gym efforts will improve my physical fitness.

Btw, I liked your marquee. As a Frenchman would say, "Fourmi-dable!" Hexapodia as the key insight.

[redbird]

You're supposed to think about the exercises, ideally visualize yourself doing them, to get the best results.