This Week's Workouts

I had to be at work much earlier than normal this week. The new schedule subsequently messed with all my original plans. I had already been at work for a while by the time I normally get up to run came around so I had to switch up my workouts a bit.

Wednesday, when I got off work I made my way over to the free weights and grabbed two 15lb dumbbells, a 10lb dumbbell, a 30lb bar, a 20lb plate, and two benches.

I set up a circuit that looked like this:

(Shoulder Press with the 15lb dumbbells)

(Tricep Kickback with the 10lb dumbbell - alternating arms)

(Clean and Jerk with the 30lb bar)

(Tricep Dips with the two benches and 20lb plate)

I then hopped on the bike and went for 3.1 miles in 10 minutes at level 10

I'm not usually the biggest fan of the bikes but I do love being able to compete with myself and seeing how far I can go in a matter of minutes is a nice distraction from the knowledge I'm trapped in the gym on a stationary bike.

On Thursday my grandmother joined me at the gym. Earlier in the fall we had gone out to lunch and she was complaining about her weight and I told her she wasn't allowed to complain unless she was doing something about it. So now she joins me for a workout once a week (and doesn't complain a bit).

The two of us on her most recent birthday

This week we started on the stair master for a five minute warm up then moved over to the cable tower.

We alternated working on the Lat Pull Downs and Rowing Machine for 3 minutes each.

Next we each grabbed a bench and a pair of weights to work on three sets of ten Shoulder Presses and Kneeling One Arm Rows.

We switched up our weights for three sets of ten squats, me with 125lbs and her with 10lbs (I'm moving her up to 20lbs next time because she keeps talking about how easy squatting is).

We finished with five minutes walking on the treadmill. When I'm as old as she is I hope I can do what I've got her doing; it's a pretty impressive workout for 82 years old.

Friday wrapped up the week with me being able to get off work early. This was my first chance all week to run outside! The sun was out and shining off every surface. The lack of cloud covering meant near freezing temperatures but I was too happy about being outside to notice.

With a view of the water from the trail there's not much prettier than a run outdoors

I got in an easy 5 miles all before the sun went down and felt better than I have in weeks of not running. The trail I typically run is only lit on a quarter mile stretch and with the sun setting at 4:30 I haven't had a chance to get out there all week and have been forced to slog through miles on the treadmill, instead.