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I slept all the way until 8:30 this morning (woo!), and was ready to go about an hour later. Of course, I underestimated how long it takes to get from home to the subway when we stop to browse a block of Greenmarket, but that's okay. I got Tydeman apples, apple/raspberry cider, blueberries, and meat.
Then I went to the gym, where I took my time, and learned a new machine. After working myself thoroughly out, I went down to Chinatown, stopping on the subway platform to assist some bemused tourists, who are used to a much more compact, air conditioned subway (Washington). I walked up as the woman was saying to one of the children "I hate this place", asked them where they were going, and assured them that yes, the R would take them to the Statue of Liberty, even though it also goes to Bay Ridge. In Chinatown, I met![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eleanor for dim sum (spending more than I'd expected, because we cheerfully got as many things as we might have if we'd been three or four people instead of two), and browsed Chinatown a bit. I have the pens and pony-tail holders I needed. I have ginger and scallions. I have fresh figs (and was bemused by the would-be customer who was unhappy because the stand had no dried figs) and thin asparagus. I even have two more rice bowls, because I liked the pattern.
Then home, and tea, and I'm sitting here trying not to grumble too much because I have (pre-)menstrual pain.
Gym details:
Cardio, 33 minutes, top heart rate 150
(Seated) calf machine, 70 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 65 pounds, 12 (for once I stopped before anything actually cramped)
Bench press, 65 pounds, 10, 7; 60 pounds, 10
[Seated leg curl, 110 pounds, 5: too much weight]
Adjustable row, 90 pounds, 3 sets of 15
Then I went and found Elliott, the trainer who is so cheerful and encouraging on Xpressline, and asked if he had a little time to show me how to use the leg press machine in the free weight room. He said sure. It turns out there are three such machines: he showed me each, discussed their advantages and disadvantages, and we settled on one (selected in part because it's easier on sometimes-painful knees). He then walked me through it, first with no weight plates, just to give me the feeling of how it works. Then he had me try it loaded with 90 pounds [for reference, I've been doing 360 on the Nautilus machine in Xpressline, but he confirmed my memory that one can generally do more weight on the Nautilus because it isolates only the muscles in question, and requires less control].
When that worked fairly easily, he walked me through using it for calf raises: they'll work a different calf muscle than the seated machine I generally use. (He showed me, and named them, but I don't remember which is worked by which.) I did 15 calf raises at 90 pounds; it's the same general motion as the people I sometimes see doing calf raises by hanging off the edge of a step.
Then Elliott loaded 360 pounds on the machine and suggested I try it. Result: I couldn't lift that weight at all. So he took half the weight off, and I wound up--after thinking "I'll just do 12 and then stop"--doing 2 sets of 12 at that weight, and then another 10 reps at 200 pounds.
Also, it turned out fairly quickly that, with no cloth to protect them, my shoulders were turning red from the pressure. The solution was to double my towel over and use it as padding: probably better than a shirt would have been (I exercise in a sports bra/top, for maximum coolth.)
After that, I went back to equipment I'm familiar with:
Triceps pulldown, 50 pounds, 15, 11; 45 pounds, 15
Wrist curl, 35 pounds, 2 sets of 15
Seated leg curl, 95 pounds (on the theory that 110 on the other machine doesn't mean I can do it on this one, and that 95 pounds is better than not doing 95 pounds), 13
Stretches
[I've been doing crunches and back arches at work on off days, so I don't mind skipping them at the gym.]
Then I went to the gym, where I took my time, and learned a new machine. After working myself thoroughly out, I went down to Chinatown, stopping on the subway platform to assist some bemused tourists, who are used to a much more compact, air conditioned subway (Washington). I walked up as the woman was saying to one of the children "I hate this place", asked them where they were going, and assured them that yes, the R would take them to the Statue of Liberty, even though it also goes to Bay Ridge. In Chinatown, I met
eleanor for dim sum (spending more than I'd expected, because we cheerfully got as many things as we might have if we'd been three or four people instead of two), and browsed Chinatown a bit. I have the pens and pony-tail holders I needed. I have ginger and scallions. I have fresh figs (and was bemused by the would-be customer who was unhappy because the stand had no dried figs) and thin asparagus. I even have two more rice bowls, because I liked the pattern.Then home, and tea, and I'm sitting here trying not to grumble too much because I have (pre-)menstrual pain.
Gym details:
Cardio, 33 minutes, top heart rate 150
(Seated) calf machine, 70 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 65 pounds, 12 (for once I stopped before anything actually cramped)
Bench press, 65 pounds, 10, 7; 60 pounds, 10
[Seated leg curl, 110 pounds, 5: too much weight]
Adjustable row, 90 pounds, 3 sets of 15
Then I went and found Elliott, the trainer who is so cheerful and encouraging on Xpressline, and asked if he had a little time to show me how to use the leg press machine in the free weight room. He said sure. It turns out there are three such machines: he showed me each, discussed their advantages and disadvantages, and we settled on one (selected in part because it's easier on sometimes-painful knees). He then walked me through it, first with no weight plates, just to give me the feeling of how it works. Then he had me try it loaded with 90 pounds [for reference, I've been doing 360 on the Nautilus machine in Xpressline, but he confirmed my memory that one can generally do more weight on the Nautilus because it isolates only the muscles in question, and requires less control].
When that worked fairly easily, he walked me through using it for calf raises: they'll work a different calf muscle than the seated machine I generally use. (He showed me, and named them, but I don't remember which is worked by which.) I did 15 calf raises at 90 pounds; it's the same general motion as the people I sometimes see doing calf raises by hanging off the edge of a step.
Then Elliott loaded 360 pounds on the machine and suggested I try it. Result: I couldn't lift that weight at all. So he took half the weight off, and I wound up--after thinking "I'll just do 12 and then stop"--doing 2 sets of 12 at that weight, and then another 10 reps at 200 pounds.
Also, it turned out fairly quickly that, with no cloth to protect them, my shoulders were turning red from the pressure. The solution was to double my towel over and use it as padding: probably better than a shirt would have been (I exercise in a sports bra/top, for maximum coolth.)
After that, I went back to equipment I'm familiar with:
Triceps pulldown, 50 pounds, 15, 11; 45 pounds, 15
Wrist curl, 35 pounds, 2 sets of 15
Seated leg curl, 95 pounds (on the theory that 110 on the other machine doesn't mean I can do it on this one, and that 95 pounds is better than not doing 95 pounds), 13
Stretches
[I've been doing crunches and back arches at work on off days, so I don't mind skipping them at the gym.]