Another legs night: survived

A friend asked if I could go in-depth to my strength training, and so I'll endeavor to do so, starting with last night's leg session. I hope some new ideas might be gleaned from my experiences!

Here in Minnesota, we've had some wicked end-of-winter weather. Last night, it made for some oppressive humidity inside the gym, and while it was cool (and pouring rain) outside, inside was like a smelly sauna powered by sweaty people.

So J and I headed for the dome, where the tennis courts are and the TRX gear is kept. In theory, it was going to be more comfortable out there.

In practice, that was a pretty stupid theory.

Before beginning, I strapped on the heart rate monitor that I picked up over the weekend. I've wanted one for a while, and now that I'm doing more road running, I decided it was a worthwhile investment. It helps me to track how hard my body is actually working, which is useful for both calorie-burning figures and a good measure of how well I'm improving, physically.

I haven't laid out my benchmarks exactly, but I know that my resting pulse varies between 60-76, depending on if I'm sitting or lying down. A spirited warm-up holds me in the 120s or so. My running intervals on the treadmill push me up to the 170s, my walking intervals drop me back to below 150 within about 30 seconds.

I peaked over 180 once or twice and my head started to throb. I don't do that intentionally.

We started the night with a giant set of three exercises, starting with the TRX bands. First up was the single leg squat, which I like to imagine looked like this, but probably involved a lot more wobbling. (In that video, he's demonstrating a squat plus a row with the arms. I kept my arms straight, without the row.)

Fifteen of those on each leg and it was over to the low step, a little lower than knee-high for me, and it was single leg step-ups.

Each time we do these, there's a little variation. Sometimes, I'm stepping onto a box in front of me, like you see people doing in step aerobics. Most of the time, like this time, I square up with the box under one of my feet and I step up simply by straightening my leg. It's as though I were going to walk up a stairway sideways. Last night's variation had me stepping up and lifting my knee up to waist or chest level. Again, we did fifteen on each leg.

Last in the circuit, J had me hit the mat as he rolled over a medicine ball. I sat and looked at him, and he looked expectantly at me.

"Are we doing the hamstring thing?"

"Yes."

"Ah crap." Only I didn't say 'crap'. I so totally didn't say 'crap'.

I laid back on the mat, planted one heel on the medicine ball, held the other foot aloft, and through the awesome power of my glutes and hamstring, lifted my lower body off the ground. It looked roughly like this, only sweatier. We did fifteen of those on each leg.

Dripping sweat and gasping for breath like a goldfish on the kitchen floor, I checked my heart rate monitor before climbing to my feet to begin again.

"What's it say?" J asked.

"130. 130? That's it? I hate this thing!"

(Fun fact: No matter how hard it feels like you're working, if you're sitting or prone, your cardiovascular system isn't really working that hard. So totally unfair.)

We repeated that three-exercise circuit, then moved on to another set of exercises.

Round two! J started me with side lunges in a wide stance. This is a fancy way of saying that I dropped into a wide sumo squat, then waddled sideways taking tiny crab-walk steps with each foot. Last night, J walked along and threw a 10-lb medicine ball to me with every few steps. Down and back, about ten yards.

Second in this circuit was backward walking lunges. Straightforward, as the name implies. Good for the hamstrings and glutes, J told me.

"That's a big selling point for ladies muscle mags, you know," I said as I headed backwards my first time. "'Ten exercises for rounder, shapelier glutes!' Like I need that."

He laughed. "Lots of women want them."

"Yeah." A pause, turn and head back in the other direction. "You know what I want? Ten exercises to help me keep my boobs as I lose weight."

After the backward lunges, it was squats. Fifteen of them, medicine ball in hand.

Then it was back to the top, and repeat the circuit three times.

The night was wrapped with two abs exercises, alternating sets of bicycles and straight-legged sit ups.

(Fun fact #2: Heart rate monitor chest straps aren't that comfortable. When doing abs exercises and sporting a few [dozen] extra pounds, the transmitter really digs into the belly fat. The bruise is ridiculous.)

And with that, another legs night was on the books.

I felt good today, really good, so I gleefully headed for the gym after work. Twenty minutes or so on the bag, boxing, then over to the treadmill for some running.

Now, four hours later, my legs have seized up. Thanks to my brilliant choice to box tonight, my shoulders have also seized up. So.

Wednesday = Rest day. Thank goodness.