The Dog Days Are Over

Yesterday evening was my first day at the gym since February, and not a moment too soon.  Although I legit got my sweat on with Insanity, nothing curls the toes like doing overhead squats with a 70lbs barbell.

Naturally I had to make this most glorious occasion Leg Day.  I literally had been looking forward to this all day long...like seriously, I couldn't even focus at work; I'm pretty sure no work was done at all yesterday.  If you could see the casual way in which that last statement was typed, you would know there were also 0 f!cks given that day as well.

The gym of choice was Crunch Fitness (check out the last post if you have no idea what I'm talking about).  It's near my job, so I just walked straight from work.  I got there literally at 5:30, I know this because they have an "Ab Buster" class that starts at 5:30 that was announced over the loud speaker.  Now mind you, this place is the size of a matchbox.  Literally, I SMCM's pool area was bigger in square footage than this.  And they had the nerve to have a damn loud speaker.  The instructor could have just yelled real loud.  So extra, so unnecessary.

Anyways, I signed up for a free 1-day guest pass so I could try it out and get a good feel for the atmosphere during the time slot I'd be going.  This was the second time I'd been there, but I still had to fill out the same paperwork from the first time AND I had to go on the tour and pretend like everything was brand new to me, even though I had just seem it a few days ago.  This did not make me happy.

*SN* Tour lady/manager was a dark skin brown girl with blue contacts.  Republic of Brown People, why?  I couldn't even make eye contact with her because it was all too stupid.  I just kept thinking, either you're a fool or a vampire.  Either way I want you to stop talking and leave me alone.

But I digress...

The Business

I started off with some cardio - the StairMaster.  15 min was sufficient given the large amount of sweat on my face.

Next stop:  leg extensions.  It's been 1892461 years since I did this, so I kinda forgot where I left off (should have written it down, tisk tisk) but I'm pretty sure I lifted more than before.  I did  2x12 70 lbs single legs, then 130 lbs with both legs.

Leg curls were next.  The curl machine was jacked so I couldn't do my max weight on this one, but I doubled the sets to make up for it.

Then onto my love:  Squats

I started with overhead squats because I use less weights and I wanted to judge my conditioning since it's been so long.  When I started my Insanity journey I was doing 2x8 70lbs.  This time I did 2x12 70lbs, and could have kept going.  I only stopped because I wanted to save some energy for the regular squats.

Which brings me to my next event:  the standard squat.  So pretty much everyone should be doing these, regardless of whether or not you're really into lifting.  You want that "oh wow..." booty, get the squattin'.  It's not gonna make you have man legs, trust me.  But they will give you "sexy booty", and doesn't everyone want that for swimsuit season?  I did about 4 sets total, the first two being light weight but more sets and the second sets being heavier weight but fewer reps.  I actually did free weight squats this time as supposed to the machine - I was feeling ambitious.  There's such a difference between the two, with the free weights being better for your core and form.  I did the same amount of weight on both, but the free weight bar was more comfortable.

Then I did some inner 'n' outer thigh work, moving lunges with the 50lb bar, and ended the whole thing with a bang calf raises.

I did a little ab work at the end while I was stretching, but I want to figure out a way to incorporate that into a routine and not wait til the end.

Overall

I'd say the evening was a success.  The best thing about this gym is that it never got crowded, and I was there from 530-7:00 (before you judge me, remember a good chunk of that was the tour and the paperwork).  The had a stretch machine thingy, which was good; haven't seen that since my Philly days.  Also, the locker room:  LEGIT.  They provide soap, shampoo, and condition in dispensers in the showers, AND lotion.  Too bad I don't need any of those things...I stopped using other people's showers when I graduated from college.  They also provide courtesy locks and free towels.  I'm not at all sure why gyms think providing towels to people should be a selling point.  It was a plain, white face towel - like $0.59 at my second home Wal-Mart.  I have a million of those at home.  You haven't done anything breath-taking; a paper towel from the bathroom would have done just fine.

So this is supposed $65.99/mo + $99 enrollment fee + $19.99 processing fee (this part was so ridic it was f'n offensive), but they're running a special:  they're waiving the enrollment and giving away a month free, so technically I would only pay the pro-rated fee for May (like $30-something) and the $19.99 processing fee up front and wouldn't get billed again until July.  Oh, and the have a 15-day money back guarantee.  Seems legit.  Ol' Blue Eyes told me the special ended yesterday, but I'm pretty sure the guy I spoke with last week said the very same thing, and you can see how well that worked out.  He was even talking about seeing if he could get the general manager to waive the processing fee.  Should have hopped on it then, shoot.  But they'll make an exception if they really want this sale.  I'm in no big hurry and if you read my last post, you know there are plenty of fish in the sea gyms in the city.