The last 24 hours have been brutal for my right pointer toe: I smashed it into the desk, rolled over it with Ron's wheelchair, and got bitten by a fire ant. The poor little thing looks awful, but after an application of my beloved Pomada de Arnica (Arnica salve) it isn't hurting. Well, not unless I touch it.
I decided to wear shoes as much as possible today, to prevent further abuse. It seems to be working. The last joint is all red and swollen, but thanks to the salve, not hurting.
About 7 years ago, I broke my left "ring toe" by running it into the exercise bike, and then the toilet safety frame. Ow. It looked like my foot had a black olive instead of a toe!
Hey, if that's the worst thing I've got I am doing FANTASTIC. We have had a lot of rain the last 24 hours; remnants of Alex. In my area at least, it's all draining off beautifully.
I slept in, no alarm, woke up about 7:30. I took a shower and did my God time, had a good talk with Ron, got dressed and thought "I keep thinking I need to lift weights, and I'm not!"
I went out in the garage. I decided to stick to the Big 3: Bench Press, Squat, Deadlift. Due to my Fetal Alcohol syndrome I have shorter femurs, which is apparently AWESOME when you want to squat. I can do excellent, deep squats.
I started with the Squat. I had a bar with approximately 25 pounds of weight, total. It felt a little light. When I squat, I NEED a heavier bar. I looked at my big olympic barbell. It's 40 pounds. I had plates on it; I knew I couldn't do THAT. I removed the plates, adjusted the pad, and did about 8 good-quality squats. I went for 9, and got wobbly and sloppy.
Note to self, since I am doing this ALONE and I have a disabled man depending on me, I need to do the right amount: normally I work until I fail, but not on a squat. "Failing" under a heavy barbell could be ugly! Better to do the 8, maybe I could do another, maybe not... but I am doing it well and not harming myself. I can securely rack the barbell without wobbling, falling over, or bending my back in an unsafe manner. Decision made. Going to fail on the squats? I'd be a failure!
Since my legs felt pretty shaky, I decided to work on some bench presses, they use completely different muscle groups. I did several and worked to failure. Good. I moved things slightly (I have about a 15 x 10 foot area) and got ready to deadlift.
A deadlift is essentially squatting down, reaching down, and picking a barbell off the floor. Stand up, the barbell at pelvis level, and lower it again. That, I can do to failure. The first couple reps I felt like it was too light, but I failed around 9 or so, a good range.
Back when I was more "hardcore" about the weights, I would have done 3 sets of each. The last time I postponed and resumed my weight lifting, I told a friend the 3 sets I had started with had just killed me. "Why didn't you start with one set of each?" Good question, and what I aim to do for this month. One quality set of each exercise until everything wakes up again; then I can add more sets. Trust me, it was plenty. Hours later my legs are still shaky.
I want to be healthy, slimmer, able to consume more carbs if I want. I also want to have nice, fat, easy-to-stick veins. I have never heard of a weightlifter with lousy veins. To reach that goal, I got a dumbell and did some bicep curls. It was "too easy". So I did another set with the 10 pound dumbell.
Ron bought me a home gym as a wedding gift, and I added various plates, barbells, and dumbells to my setup. I have a plate tree and a dumbell rack. Everything is nicely organized. I'll put up a photo one day. I really like the safety rack for squatting. I can just tip back and rack the bar.
It was interesting, as I did my workout. I tease Ron, telling him I get a great butt workout from pushing him in the wheelchair. True. I also get a great calf workout. At work, it's calves, butt, and back. A day out? Almost always results in some sore calves.
As I did my third or so squat, I realized I'd forgotten how good weights can be for the abdominals! Whoo! I will be sore tomorrow! The three major exercises all work multiple, major, muscle groups. I will add in more arm/shoulder/back and possibly leg work.
This means, of course, I'll be getting up even earlier. I envision getting up, God time, workout, eat, shower, etc. Instead of getting up 2 hours before the pickup it will be perhaps 2.5 or even 3. Well, I do have the time.
After all that, I was ready to go to Burger King. Ron got a steak burger meal. I got my cheeseburgers with added bacon and peeled the bread like some kind of revolting rind.
Something told me to peel the game piece off Ron's drink. I did. I had two choices to scratch. I felt a strong urge to do the lower one. I did. Free Whopper.
We debated our options. On the one hand, it would be nice to redeem it now. On the other, Ron had just eaten a steak burger (I am NOT a Whopper fan). He considered heating it up later (but it has veggies).
It struck me. "Hey, why not give it to the driver?" Ron loved it. I redeemed the coupon and Ron called Metrolift. He wanted to tease the disapatcher by telling her we had just bought a Whopper for the driver. She sent him a message!
He showed up "Right Quick" after that. "I love Whoppers. How did you know? I never eat red meat but I'm eating this!" He is a great guy who did something nice for us recently, so I was delighted to spoil him.
Both Ron and the driver commented I seemed really tired. Yup. "Properly medicated". Last night I was so queasy I asked Ron to tell me how much it meant for him, that I take my pills. He was very appreciative. I really seem to only have the energy for a part time shift and then a nap!
I went home, read a bodybuilding book for a while, and napped for about an hour and a half. I had the apartment/office building dream. Sometimes they can be disturbing and wierd but this one was nice. I woke up once, because it was raining so hard. I dropped off again.
I feel pretty rested. I went out in the garage, purged a big sack of yarn, and brought it in. Ron came out and talked to me as I worked. I have to go to bed in a little over 2 hours. I'm considering taking a shower now and forgoing it in the morning. [shrug] We'll see.
Since I ate such a big meal at lunchtime I took my other lithium. I don't need to take a third one tonight, I'll see how I feel. Probably not, though.
Tomorrow will be interesting.
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