I went to the gym, episode II: The Leg Press Strikes Back
Based on my last gym experience, I decided to wear a black vest instead of purple, and felt far less conspicuous.
Marc, having previously expressed no interest in any of the cardio machines except the elliptical, suddenly came over mad keen on exercise bikes, but I did convince him to start off on the elliptical with me. This time I managed the full five minutes on level 5, although I felt useless all over afterwards.
The leg press clearly had it in for me after last time, as I had to put it down to 120kg. Still pretty good though. We also added leg curls and leg extensions to the set (I needed to give my arms a rest.)
I took 5kg off the counterweight for doing chin-ups, which made it bloody hard, but I did it. It's the best machine ever!
Marc once again started heading for the exercise bikes, and eventually talked me into having a go on a hand cycle. He assured me that this was very good for the back and shoulders. Unfortunately I found it unspeakably tedious, and after a couple of minutes I gave it up and went back to the assisted pull-up machine. I don't care how good it is for my shoulders. It's no fun at all.
Having run out of machines we headed for the free weight room, which was a lot tidier this week (apart from the dumbbells, which for some reason littered the squat cage). I'd remembered to bring a hair clip this time, so I pinned up my hair and got under the bar. Despite my earlier issues with the leg press, I had no trouble doing 20 squats with the empty bar, so next time I'll get one step closer to ALL THE PLATES.
With the tidier weight room, bench pressing was a realistic possibility. Marc loaded it up to the point where I suggested that I could just practice planks while he bench pressed me. Then it was my turn.
There are two sets of pins on the benches, conveniently positioned at 'too high' and 'too low'. We decided on the latter, given my inability to levitate. Marc initially added 5kg to the 20kg bar but that was too much so I was left with the empty bar again. For some reason I feel less silly lifting an empty bar than a bar with the tiny 2.5kg plates on it.
I finished off with a few 30kg dead lifts, although I think I might just manage 35kg next time.
I did go looking for the Lady Gym while I was there, but didn't track it down until right at the end when I was dressed and ready to go, and would have felt silly going into a gym. So I haven't actually seen it yet. You have to go through the ladies' changing room to get to it, which is why I couldn't find it before - I wasn't expecting to find anything beyond the sunbeds and sauna room. Someone came out of the gym while I was nosing around though, and she was followed by a curious aura of pinkness...
To Be Continued.
Marc, having previously expressed no interest in any of the cardio machines except the elliptical, suddenly came over mad keen on exercise bikes, but I did convince him to start off on the elliptical with me. This time I managed the full five minutes on level 5, although I felt useless all over afterwards.
The leg press clearly had it in for me after last time, as I had to put it down to 120kg. Still pretty good though. We also added leg curls and leg extensions to the set (I needed to give my arms a rest.)
I took 5kg off the counterweight for doing chin-ups, which made it bloody hard, but I did it. It's the best machine ever!
Marc once again started heading for the exercise bikes, and eventually talked me into having a go on a hand cycle. He assured me that this was very good for the back and shoulders. Unfortunately I found it unspeakably tedious, and after a couple of minutes I gave it up and went back to the assisted pull-up machine. I don't care how good it is for my shoulders. It's no fun at all.
Having run out of machines we headed for the free weight room, which was a lot tidier this week (apart from the dumbbells, which for some reason littered the squat cage). I'd remembered to bring a hair clip this time, so I pinned up my hair and got under the bar. Despite my earlier issues with the leg press, I had no trouble doing 20 squats with the empty bar, so next time I'll get one step closer to ALL THE PLATES.
With the tidier weight room, bench pressing was a realistic possibility. Marc loaded it up to the point where I suggested that I could just practice planks while he bench pressed me. Then it was my turn.
There are two sets of pins on the benches, conveniently positioned at 'too high' and 'too low'. We decided on the latter, given my inability to levitate. Marc initially added 5kg to the 20kg bar but that was too much so I was left with the empty bar again. For some reason I feel less silly lifting an empty bar than a bar with the tiny 2.5kg plates on it.
I finished off with a few 30kg dead lifts, although I think I might just manage 35kg next time.
I did go looking for the Lady Gym while I was there, but didn't track it down until right at the end when I was dressed and ready to go, and would have felt silly going into a gym. So I haven't actually seen it yet. You have to go through the ladies' changing room to get to it, which is why I couldn't find it before - I wasn't expecting to find anything beyond the sunbeds and sauna room. Someone came out of the gym while I was nosing around though, and she was followed by a curious aura of pinkness...
To Be Continued.