Weights session

Tonight I went to the gym after work. It's the first time I've exercised since swimming on Saturday. I decided to rest my knee on Sunday, but I just didn't feel like getting up this morning.

I wanted to do a weights session today as it's been a while. I warmed up with a 10 minute walk on the treadmill, and then dug my program out of the filing cabinet. I modified it as per the doctor's instructions but I'm going to have to get some advice from Krissi to get some additional leg exercises.

I started off on the leg press machine, planning to keep the motion within the 30 degrees the doctor recommended. I could feel my knee straining, and realised I was doing the wrong half of the motion. I swapped over to the other half and it felt fine. I did some thinking and realised that if I had the seat further back I would only be able to do the right range of motion, so I wouldn't be able to accidentally do the wrong half next time. I jumped on and off the machine a few times to get it set up properly. I wrote it down on the card, but I probably won't be able to read the squiggle next time or remember what I was trying to communicate to myself. I did 3 sets of 15 at 60 kg. It didn't seem at all hard, so I might have to increase the weight while I am doing the reduced presses.

After the leg press I did the hamstring curls on the fitball. I could really feel them and my balance was shot to hell, but I managed to get through two sets of 15 reps. When I went to use the Smith machine most of the weights were missing. I've no idea where they have all disappeared to, but I managed to scrounge some up weights. I did one set of 15 reps at 10 kg to warm up, tossing the bar at the top of the motion, and then I did 15 fitball pushups on my knees. I am not really sure whether I'm in the right position for them (I suspect I'm not) but I could feel them in my arms so at least I was getting a workout. I then did 10 reps at 15 kg, one more set of fitball pushups and then 5 reps at 15 kg.

I then did biceps curls and triceps pulldowns and then finished off with some abs work. I did the plank (45 sec, 40 sec) then two sets of 20 crunches. I was sweating away by the end of it, but I think that was more because the gym was hot.

I wouldn't say my knee feels sore but it's tired. I'm icing it at the moment, which seems a little excessive for tiredness. I figure I'll give it a go anyway as the swelling is showing up a day or two later. I guess I have to get used to having a prevention mindset.

Tomorrow is Yoga night. I plan to swim in the morning and run on the treadmill before Yoga. Hopefully I'll make it out of bed.