A Step Up

     Tonight I brought Emily and a friend to the gym. Not exactly what I wanted to do, but it made her happy. While the ladies were strolling the indoor track, I figured I'd get in some cardio. I used the Stair Stepper and the Recumbent Bicycle. I finished up with the multi hip machine because that's become one of my new favorites.

     I woke up this morning expecting the worse from my knees. I pushed heavier weight yesterday than I have in literally years, so I was ready for some pretty severe aches. I was nothing less than shocked when I got out of bed without knee pain and went downstairs like a normal person, without wincing, grimacing or grunting in pain. The only thing I can think is that the stretching I'm getting from the multi hip machine as well as the inner/outer thigh machine is lessening some of the strain on my knee caps. I can't say it's because I've gained muscle because it's much too soon for that. But stretching? Yes, I think I could see results from that in a week. I don't know how to explain how wonderful the absence of pain is. I'm by no means 100%. Deep squats are still totally out of the question - acute angles are not my friends right now. But to be able to go downstairs and get laundry without pain, or simply get up from the couch without issue, is a wonderful thing. 

     Here's what got done tonight:

••••••••••

STEPPER MACHINE:

556 steps in roughly 13 minutes on level 1

I wasn't too into this machine. I don't think I was doing it quite right or something. I dunno. It felt like I couldn't get into a good rhythm with it. I'll try again next cardio day.

RECUMBENT BIKE:

I set it on the "Rolling Hills" setting. I tried various levels, but settled on level 5 for most of it. Including a cool down period, I went 7 miles in roughly 30 minutes.

MULTI HIP MACHINE:

I set the weight at 7 lbs for all of the movements.

Inner/Outer thigh x15 ea leg

hip flexor x15 ea leg

glute x15 ea. leg.

••••••••••

     And that was it. I was toasted after that. I was a sweaty, red-faced mess, but I don't care. I'm enjoying the work and I'm enjoying the effects it's already having. Now If I could start dropping a few of these extra pounds, that would be great. All in due time, I suppose.

Pressed For Weight

     I'm going to need you to brace yourself. I'm actually proud of myself tonight. I know, I know. I can't believe it either, but it's true! I gave myself an hour of solid lower body effort and I feel it tonight. Yes, I had my braces on, but the knees felt good and they held up well, even when I went heavier (for me) on the leg presses. 

Here's what got done tonight:

••••••••••

LEG PRESS:

100lb x10

120lb x10

140lb x10

(160lb x5) 3x

SEATED LEG CURLS:

60lb x10

80lb x10

100lb x5

120lb x5

110lb x5

LEG EXTENSIONS:

60lb x10

80lb x10

(100lb x5) 3x

ADDUCTER/ABDUCTER (SEATED):

40lb x10 ea.

50lb x10 ea.

60lb x10 ea.

STANDING CALF RAISE:

90lb x10

(Machine weight only x10)

45° LEG PRESS:

(I'm going to assume that the weight of the sled is somewhere around 100lbs, but I honestly don't know. So the weights listed here are based off of that.)

190lbs x10

(240lbs x10)

STANDING MULTI HIP MACHINE:

Adductor: (5lb x10) 3x ea. leg

Abductor: (5lb x10) 3x ea. leg

ROTARY TORSO:

60lb x10 ea. side

80lb x10 ea. side

••••••••••

     I gotta say, that multi hip machine kicked my ass. I will definitely try and add weight too it, but what I really liked about it was the good stretch I got on my hips. Because I sit all day, my hips get super tight. I'm thinking this machine may be a god send. 

     Emily has invited a friend who has a membership at the Y to go with us tomorrow night. Frank has opted out of the all-girls gym trip (I can't say that I blame him). I don't have much hope of the two girls actually accomplishing anything, but I'm thinking that I may do some cardio tomorrow, maybe one of the stair climbers or something. It'll be an adventure, that's for sure. 

     Anyhooooo.....I'm very pleased with this decision to join and I'm having a great time. I'm back in my happy place.

Family Affair

     Tonight was the first night that we all went to the gym. I'm happy to say that everyone, including the almost 15 year old, did a fine job and enjoyed themselves! I forgot my notebook or any sort of paper to keep track of what I did, but I'll give the best run-down I can of what I did. I'm still getting used to the machines so I'm not truly dialed into a set routine yet.

I will add that the Y here has a lot of "Precor" brand machines. I remember most of the names of them, but I'm sure some of them won't be right lol.

CONVERGING SHOULDER PRESS:

50lb x10

60lb x10

(70lb x5) 3x

PEC DECK:

(This machine does the rear delts as well, but I had I had no idea how to use it for that lol. I've since watched a video so next upper body day, I'll give it a go.)

60lbx10

70lbx10

(80lb x5) 3x

DIVERGING LOW ROW:

70lb x10

80lb x10

100lb x5

120lb x5

140lb x5

SEATED DIPS:

(I will admit right from the get go that I did these incorrectly. Again, after watching a video, I'll need to try them again...the right way!)

40lb x10

50lb x10

(60lbx5) 3x

PREACHER CURLS:

(I've actually never done these before, either on a machine or with free weights. They were much more difficult than I expected.)

35lb x8

(25lb x10) 3x

AB MACHINE:

60lb x10

70lb x10

80lb x10

ROTARY TORSO:

60lb x10

70lbx 10

80lb x10

     That pretty much sums up what I did. I'm upset that I screwed some stuff up, but that's to be expected, I suppose. It feels good to be moving again. I'm having a harder time with legs than I thought I would. Trying to get a good workout on the muscles without beating up my knees is something I'm still working on. I'll get there, but I don't think it's going to be in a hurry. 

Never Miss A Leg Day

      Day 2 is in the books. Today we went and checked out some of the lower body machines. We did leg extensions, hamstring curls, leg press, adductors, abductors, back extensions and then we finished with some core work. I was braced up, and everything except the leg press felt good. It took a little to figure out the best angle and weights, but I got in about 60 reps.
     We spent just about an hour there which I'm pleased with. Nowhere to go but up!

It's Fun To Stay At The....

     Well, I went and did a thing. I got us a family membership to our local YMCA. It's 10 minutes from our house and has every weight apparatus we could want. 

     There's no hope for our basement to be used as anything but storage for the foreseeable future. Frank's dad passed away this past December, so we have tons of stuff from his house now residing in our house, which was already full to begin with. There was no way anything was getting done in that basement. 

     I finally got fed up and marched myself into the Y and used my tax refund to take a major step. I figured the cost would be a major incentive to me yo actually go. Plus Frank will benefit from it too as well as Emily. 

     I was nervous as all heck and my anxiety was through the roof because I've never been to any place like this. You have to remember that the gym I went to was small and old school. The only machine it had was a treadmill lol. When I went for a tour of the Y, the guy told me I could schedule an orientation to get a feel for all of the machines but when I called the fron desk to set it up, the girl had no idea what I was talking about. I emailed the guy I talked to and he never got back to me so I was losing my mind. But Frankie came to my rescue and said he would show me what to do.

     Tonight was our first visit and it went very well. It wasn't too structured because we were just getting a feel for the place, but we focused on upper body and got in about 30-40 minutes of work. I dare say that I actually enjoyed it. It was a great time of day to go - not too many people there at 3pm on a Friday, so if we can figure out the slow times of day like that, I think it will be fine. 

     I don't have a log to share because as I said, we were just breaking it in. We did a wee bit of bench, some dumbbell flys and rows and we hit the machines for pecs, triceps, abs, shoulder press and I think that was it. Next visit (hopefully tomorrow) will be lower body. For that, I'll surely be wearing my braces. 

     In regards to my lovely knees, I'm trying to stay as active as possible without the braces to see if I can strengthen them a bit. I was out working in the garden yesterday for about 4.5 - 5 hours and they held up fairly well. They were sore and swollen at the end of the day, but nothing crazy. I'm not going to attempt any leg day at the gym without the braces though; for now at least. 

     I'll be back to keeping my notebook in my bag with me, having people side eye me lol. Oh well, I feel good about this. It was not an inexpensive investment, but our health is worth it. We don't want to die.