You Don't Have To Get Up So Early

This morning Drew and I both set our alarms for somewhere around 5:30. We both pressed snooze and he got up a few minutes later. I dragged myself out of bed at about 5:40 and got all suited up for the gymnasium. Drew got himself a heart rate monitor (after his failed attempt last time), so we both were wearing them today, so I actually have real stats again!

When we were standing and waiting for the elevator, Drew looked at me and said, "You don't have to get up so early, you know." I replied that I did. I know myself too well to know that if I didn't get up when he was leaving for the gym, I'd talk myself into staying in bed. Part of the reason that he's been wanting to get to the gym earlier is because he's been doing cardio / weight lifting / cardio, but I generally don't like to do two sets of cardio, so I just do a quick warm-up and then lift and then do my cardio. So, even though we're at the gym together, we don't really workout together.

These are the lifts I did today:

Leg Press: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 110 lbs
Dumbbell Curls: 1 set of 15 reps @ 12.5 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps of 15 lbs (per arm)
Lunges (Right Leg): 2 sets of 15 reps
Lunges (Left Leg): 2 sets of 15 reps
Tricep Pushdowns: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 30 lbs
Side Lateral Raises: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 5 lbs (per arm)
Ab Bench Crunches: 2 sets of 15 reps

I think it's a little funny that lunges are included in my weight lifting book, but I understand why. I'm actually not very good at them, so I found a spot by the mirror where I could have a good side-view of myself so that I could ensure that I was doing them properly. I think that with a lot of body weight exercises (lunges, crunches, push-ups, etc.) a lot of times people just rush through when they'd get more benefit by slowing down and using the proper technique. Just my two cents on the topic. I actually alternated right and left leg sets as it felt weird to do all right leg and then all left leg. Even doing 15 of my right leg in a row was funny.

Once I was done I headed over to the stair mill and hopped on for another session of Speed Intervals at Level 9. Man oh man does that machine make you sweaty! I felt like my towel was drenched by the time I had climbed up 132 flights of stairs (interesting fact: there are only 102 floors in the Empire State Building).

I then headed home, leaving Drew on the Arc Trainer, finishing up his second set of cardio. I'm not sure he is in love with his new heart rate monitor as the Arc Trainer machine was telling him a higher number of calories burned than his heart rate monitor does. I tend to have the opposite problem, where the machine doesn't give me enough credit. To be honest, I'd rather be in my position. When I got home, I had another taste of the Muscle Milk. Yum! It's just so delicious. I knew that it'd be a little while before Drew got home and then still longer before he made our breakfast smoothie, so I didn't feel bad having my post-recovery snack. They say that it's really important to get protein right after working out. I'm just following instructions!

Weight Lifting
Time: 26:51
Calories: 181
Maximum HR: 156
Average HR: 122

Stair Mill
Distance: 2.75 miles (132 floors)
Time: 30:52
Pace: 11:13/mile
Calories: 334 (machine said 280 calories)
Maximum HR: 174
Average HR: 165