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Despite @TrainForPain’s hilarious idea to end the thread there, I still have workouts to log! 
Upper Body Day
Superset:
A1. Cable Straight-Arm Pulldown: 4x10-15
A2. Seated Cable Row: 4x10
B. Chest Press: 5 sets
160-pounds for 6 reps
180-pounds for 5 reps
180 for 5 reps
180 for 5 reps
90 for 15 reps (back-off set)
Why am I even doing this? Those middle sets felt pretty tough. My left shoulder and trap are a little irritated from it, so I’ll probably skip this exercise next week and replace it with dumbbell bench press or dips. I need to be careful with that 180. What’s interesting about this whole thing is that I get a much better mind-muscle connection when using lighter loads. But my stupid ego likes the look of two 45-pound plates on each side. Lesson learned… again and again.
C1. T-Bar Row: 4x8
C2. Banded External Rotation: 4x10-12
D. Machine Lateral Raise: 3x tons of drop sets
E. EZ-Bar Bar Bicep Curl: 4x8-10
For the first set I just had 10 pound plates on each side, then for the last three sets I bumped it up to what my friend Mike had me using. I’ll be so stoked to tell him that I’ve been sticking with his recommendation. It’s challenging as heck!
A Big Hairy Topic
Last week I listened to a Huberman podcast on hair loss/regrowth and loved it. It’s a topic I’ve had some experience with… as you can see.
The sweet ladies in the picture were giving me PRP, a treatment where you have your blood drawn, spun in a centrifuge, and then the platelet-rich plasma is re-injected back into your scalp to promote hair growth. I got the newer version: PRF (platelet-rich fibrin) and it supposedly works better.
Did it work on my head? A little. But it was excruciating. They gave me nitrous oxide to take the edge off, but 200 injections to the scalp in under an hour was so painful that it wasn’t worth it. I had the treatment once a month for four months in a row, and then once every three months for a year.
And I wouldn’t start it up again if it gave me the most luxurious hair in the world.
It’s also not a one-time thing. These are ongoing treatments (for thousands of dollars) in order for it to work. I was lucky enough that the place I got mine from offered it for free in exchange for Instagram posts, but after our deal was over, I decided not to continue.
I also stopped posting about thin hair on social media because I was bombarded by unhelpful, unsolicited advice: stuff like, how I was manifesting the wrong thoughts which caused my hair to be thin, or how I needed to sign up to buy shampoo from a multilevel marketing company, or how women with thin hair just need to stop using steroids. Silly, right? And apparently I’ve been a steroid user since age 12. My mom must be one too, since she’s been wearing wigs for decades.
The bottom line is, your genetics and hormones largely determine how much and where you’re going to lose hair. But there are things you can do to mitigate it as much as possible.
And I’ve found a few solutions that work (!!) but they won’t work for everyone since our situations, and causes of hair loss, are likely very different. But that podcast from Andrew Huberman was so dang good because he teaches you about the natural growth and rest cycles that hair follicles go through and what measures you can take.
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Good news! 
“…older adults can learn new tasks and improve their cognition in the process, if they approach learning as a child does. Our findings provide evidence that simultaneously learning real-world skills can lead to long-term improvements in cognition during older adulthood.”
What type of things are you most interested in learning?
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Blacksmithing. I want a small forge to make my own weapons. Knives, swords, axes etc… 
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I have been shopping for forgeing stuff but nothing in the use market. I have a bit of the sticker shock.
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Whoa. I adore this. Hope you do it and share pics! 
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Thank you so much, Dani! I will definitely check out the cooking thread. That sounds great!
Thanks for sharing your fitness journal, BTW. I love it. and will be following!
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Thank YOU for dropping by and commenting! 
I have a couple workouts to log, but first, Kipper.
It doesn’t matter how nicely you make the bed, this fur-face will destroy it immediately. I’d get mad if it weren’t so cute.
Wednesday’s Lower Body Sesh
A. Smith RDL: 4x10-15 reps
I was really trying to get into a groove where I felt the glutes working on every rep. And once I got the tension in the right place, I moved through the reps pretty steadily. No super slow phases, just an even tempo up and down. It felt fantastic, and my butt has been delightfully sore since Wednesday.
B1. Leg Press: 4x10
B2. Walking Lunge: Out and back
Since I haven’t been lunging consistently, these felt challenging without any weight. Once I get more used to walking lunges, I’ll start loading them up.
C. Adductor Machine: 10-15 full ROM reps, then partials at mid-range.
It’s funny when you think about the functionality of certain exercises. This machine trains you to aggressively open your legs while in a seated position. I know that’s not quite fair to the machine, but still. Also, I can’t speak for others, but any exercise that hits my glute medius somehow prevents my knees from aching… and avoiding aches and pains seems pretty functional.
Our other muppet, Roxy-Pants. She smiles a lot.
Today’s Upper Body Workout
• A1. Straight Arm Cable Pulldown: 4x10-12
• A2. Seated Cable Row: 4x10
That pulldown can really change what musculature you hit just by adjusting your torso angle, straightening your arms or softening the crook in your elbows. It’s probably my favorite upper body exercise right now.
B1. Dips: 4x7
B2. Dumbbell lateral raise: 4x failure
C. Machine lateral raise: 3x full ROM + partial pulses
It’s weird doing machine lateral raises after the free weight version, but when the equipment you’re intending to use is taken, it forces you to rearrange. Regardless, since my delts were pumped already, I got an immediate mind-muscle connection on this and ended up decreasing the reps and weight.
D1. T-Bar row: 4x8
D2. Banded External Rotation: 4x12 each arm
E. EZ Bar Curls: 3x8-10
Make Hay On Occasion, but Not Too Much, and only for a Certain Period of Time
When I did CrossFit several years ago, one of the trainers, told me, “Make hay while the sun is shining!” And so I did. And then I started making too much hay too often. And then the hay sucked because I’d dug myself into a recovery hole.
With exercise, and lifting in particular, you may feel like you can handle a super hard workout or a bunch of hard ones in a row, but if you’re wrong, you’ll end up paying for it later.
“Only make the amount of hay that you can recover from” should be the idiom for lifters… if we’re going to use it at all. It’s possible that you might not know what you can recover from until you’re feeling the effects sometime after the workout. So it makes sense to be mindful and to know your body.
My recovery-ability depends on where I am during the month. I can make some decent hay during the ovulatory, follicular, and last half of the menstrual phase. But attempting to make hay during the luteal phase is a death wish. It backfires in so many ways it’s not even funny: exhaustion, mood swings, sleeplessness, random pain and joint irritation, water retention, etc.
Easing up during the luteal phase leads to higher energy levels, good moods, good sleep, no pain, and minimal water retention.
Why share this? Because it’s crazy that I’m almost 40 and just now figuring it out. It would’ve been nice if science classes had spent more time telling us how to navigate our hormonal fluctuations instead of just informing us about baby-making. The female infradian rhythm is wonderfully complex and probably needs to be researched more.
Do you have any strategies that pertain to pushing yourself and easing up? Does it depend on your dietary intake, sleep quality, stress, or something else?
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Haven’t figured out the 2nd part yet… I’m the person at a buffet with an overflowing plate, trying to balance an egg roll on top.
Obligatory 2023 Disclaimer: I have no menstrual cycle.
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HAHAHAHA so glad to hear that!
It’s tough! Especially since some people seem to do amazingly well with the extra egg roll.
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Home renovation - like, house flipping or interior design. I think this would be so fun! But in all reality, I’ll probably just learn to knit or something. lol
How about you?
All of the above and lately the number and severity of my injuries. Getting old really sucks! When my sleep and stress are high, I give myself more rest days. And when I’m injured, I do my best to “gingerly” work around the hurt.
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I couldn’t agree more with both these sentiments! LOL. Interior design seems like such a blast, but I’ve gotta settle for just rearranging/beautifying my own home.
If you’re up for it, I’d love to see some of your design style. Is there a room you love to spend the most time in or a space that you’re most proud of? I need details! 
And do you have any favorite bloggers or online design pros who’ve influenced you?
A couple of my faves: Young House Love and A Beautiful Mess
Our bodies are basically in agreement on this. It sounds like we have the same strategies!
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Leg Day
I’ve had a constant throbbing headache since waking up; luckily it wasn’t too bad during the workout, so I was able to get a decent leg day in. It’s right in the forehead kinda behind and between the eyes.
Smith RDL: 4x10-15
I inched the weight up every set, and then on set-three discovered a weight that took tension off the right places. So I removed a couple plates and did a lighter last set. The RDL is underrated for glute work… at least for my anthropometry it is.
I actually haven’t done a hip thrust in 2023 simply because of the time it takes to set it up, but haven’t really felt the need to bring it back as a staple. Caring about glute size is not really a goal I think about anymore, but I’ll still emphasize the booty when I can.
Adductor Machine: 3 x15, plus partials at peak
Walking Lunge: 3 x out and back with pauses at hardest part
This combo is lovely. You breathe a little harder, get a pump in the glutes and quads, and elevate your heart rate, but it doesn’t feel excessive. You’re not coughing out a lung between sets.
Leg Press: 4x10-15
Instead of going heavy for this, I used a slow eccentric and paused at the bottom where the quads felt it the most. Was I using heavy weight? Heck no. There was just a 45-on each side. But I had a solid mind-muscle connection on every rep, and because of the pauses, each set was a challenge. My loading strategy would’ve been different had this been the first exercise of the workout.
But that’s the thing about lifting in a busy gym: you can either waste time waiting around for equipment, or you can improvise in ways that benefit your physique just as much.
I think many of the rules fit pros come up with regarding loading, order of exercises, exercise selection, etc. actually don’t make that much of a difference in the long run. Your body is a reflection of how much you’re putting in. Nobody will be able to look at you and tell that you sometimes do squats last, rather than first, in a workout. Same with going lighter for higher reps on occasion. Same with using a machine instead of a barbell. (Heresy, I know.)
As long as you’re putting in sufficient effort and recovering properly, most other details are just minutiae.
This is what happens in MAY in Colorado and I’m not looking forward to it.
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Forgot to answer this! I want to learn to get better at shooting as a sport. It’s pretty fun.
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So, I am currently (as in at this very second) in the process of moving, so every single room in my house is a freaking DISASTER!! Once I’m settled in my new (smaller) place, I will get back to you on this!
Not any in particular, but I’m a HUGE HGTV geek. If you get super bored and need something to watch, check out Rock the Block. The last season was in Colorado. Thanks for the recs too, I will definitely be checking them out! I’m super new to this hobby, so I super appreciate it!
The struggle is real. LOL.
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I will wait for questions here with the pop corn watching.
I am a supervisor at my local Home Depot. I spend my days helping or scratching my head with every one projects.
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I still struggle with having any idea start I can recover from, vs I’m just a little fatigued, vs I’m just making excuses, etc. I know my tendency is to do too much, but legit don’t know how anyone knows what that is until hindsight
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I feel that so hard.
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Congrats on the new digs! Yes please, show us what you end up doing to the place. I’m sure it’ll be fabulous!
I love Rock the Block too! We haven’t seen it in a long time, so we’ll have to look up last season and give it a watch. Got any favorite HGTV designers? My favorite was Jasmine Roth. Not sure if she’s still around, but she always had some really innovative/modern designs.