Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 363
Day 363 Well my back didn't feel much better when I woke up this morning. It's not completely debilitating, just very frustrating. I can stand up pretty straight but once I start moving I feel like I have one leg longer than the other. However, moving around and not spending much time sitting seems to make me feel better.
Although I wasn't feeling the way I had hoped today, I did make my way to the gym. I made a point of avoiding anything that would stress my lower back or put in a position that irritated my back. I decided that some upper body strength work would be a good idea.
Today's Workout:
Superset 1 (Alternate Exercise 1 and 2)
Exercise 1: Inclined Barbell Press 3 sets / 10 - 12 reps / no rest
Exercise 2: Wide Grip Chin-ups 3 sets / 10 - 12 reps / no rest
Superset 2 (Alternate Exercise 3 and 4)
Exercise 3: Tricep Dips 3 sets / 12 - 15 reps / no rest
Exercise 4: TRX Inverted Row 3 sets / 12 - 15 reps / no rest
Tri-Set (Do exercises 5 through 7 in sequence)
Exercise 5: Lateral Dumbbell Raise 3 sets / 12 - 15 reps / no rest
Exercise 6: Alternating Dumbbell Bicep Curl 3 sets / 12 per side / no rest
Exercise 7: Tricep Rope Pulldowns 3 sets / 15 reps / no rest
I made a point of not resting between sets. I wanted to elicit a bit of a heart rate response on top of the muscular fatigue. I did use the largest of muscle groups but by keeping the pace up I definitely increase the level of difficulty. After the weights I planned on doing a little bit of cardio. I thought about using the versa climber but changed my mind and did some swimming instead.
Swimming: 15 minutes - used a mix of breast stroke and front crawl (mostly breast stroke)
I absolutely suck at swimming. I've mentioned it before. No matter what pace I use, I feel like I'm sprinting as fast as I can. After 15 minutes of flailing I was exhausted. The good news was that my lower back didn't hurt me at all. This was kind of the idea behind deciding to get in the pool. I figured that the weightlessness of being in the water would take some of the pressure off my lower back.
I feel better about my efforts today. I did what I could. I'm hoping that tomorrow yields an even better effort. I have 2 days left until day 365. I'll play things by ear tomorrow. If I'm feeling great I'll push things pretty hard. If I'm still feeling off, I'll play it a bit safer so that I can give it everything I've got.