This is a personal blog entry that I posted around two weeks ago. It seems like as good a place to start a diary as any.
What a difference a year makes...
Yup, you heard it right - it's been a year since I started working out. On May 16, 2005 I walked into a local gym and signed up, and $450 (for the year) later I was a member. I remember weighing in around 344 or thereabouts, and was just out of the hospital where I was treated for cellulitis in the (left) leg. My first tasks were getting a food plan (2200 calories, 6 meals a day) and a tour of the facilities, including the cardiac theatre and weight room. Once that was done the trainer took me back to the ellipticals and had me get on one, to see how I did. Well, 1 minute, 45 secs later I was exhausted, and gasping for breath. We let it go at that... til the next time I rolled in for the weight training part the next day. (The workout is detailed in a previous posting). While it was an almost religious experience, being purged of stress and good amount of sweat, I was VERY tired at the end. (And quite sore the next day as I recall). Readers of this page will know that in the course of time I got a heart rate monitor, and used it religiously for a while, then when it became a chore, I decided not to use it (a very liberating experience that). But when I first started using the band I had to bring it out to its full length just to get it on. At the time I was doing weights twice a week and cardio (elliptical) 3x a week.
Fast forward to November, when I finally started to take advantage of the corporate gym that opened just after I'd signed on to the local gym. I'd asked for a traning program and was given an "upgrade" to 5x a week cardio and 3x a week with the weights (and 3 sets of each exercise too). By this time I was up to around 20 minutes or so on the elliptical, and the weights, while tiring, were not the exhaustive experience they once were. Combining both together (elliptical AND weights) on the same day proved a challenge (and still does), but I was able to do it. (It's not pretty but I can do it). It was also around this time that I started taking my first group class - Pilates, which the gal I work with teaches. It's a sneaky bugger, because I took the class on Wednesday, and felt fine Thursday (me thinking, this wasn't so bad...). Well, Friday I had trouble getting out of bed as my abdominal muscles were so stiff and sore. (But I hung in there - more on that later). Somewhere in/around this time I started taking Yoga and Tai Chi also - excellent classes both, though I think I enjoy the yoga a little more. Great stretching and mind, body coordination, as well as balance are its benefits - and it DOES make you feel centered and calm. Tai Chi is more for joints, with various turning motions, which are said to keep your organs healthy among other benefits. Both classes are now taught by the same person - a gal in her 50's who is a great instructor.
Cut to January, when class sizes for the spinning (indoor cycling) class were running low. The gym manager had approached me a few times to try it - but I was leery about joining because I figured it would be way too difficult for me. (I was however, about that time, closing in on 30 minutes on the elliptical). I'm not sure what happened, or why, but the gym manager asked me again, and I said to myself, "what the heck, I'll give it a shot". Put on my heart rate monitor, and met the instructor who was very nice. She helped me get and set up the bike and told me how we were going to use the monitors in class. It's a funny thing how your body reacts to a stress like that. The first five or ten minutes are the warmup - getting the stiffness out of your legs, and getting ready for the workout to come. The little aches and pains in the muscles are their way of asking "you're not seriously going through with this are ya?". (You think they have a point, since it's going to be about 50 minutes before you stop, but you push on). They quiet down a bit then, and you're able to get some minutes of cycling in before the muscles start feeling fatigued (the length of time between the two is a measure of how fit you are I think...). It's around this time your body starts saying "Oh my God, I'm dying..." and pushing those pedals around becomes a real chore, mentally and physically. If you're like me, you look up at the clock, and realize 30 minutes have gone by and you have 25 to go. There's something about that realization that is motivating to me - "I could quit after 30 minutes" becomes "I've been on this bike for 30 minutes, and I'm gonna see it through to the end". And then before you know it, you're done. (As a side note, the only things that were sore were my inner thighs etc from the seat - if you've ever had saddle sores you know what I'm talking about - moved around like an old man for a few days but I eventually got used to it.) But I liked the class and the instructor enough to keep coming - I liked her style of conducting class - not too serious, but she'd always make us work. She stresses the importance of heart rate monitors esp when doing higher difficulty exercises (which I didn't take part in for a while, but now I do), as well as the necessity of drinking water during the ride.
Now we're up to March, when I got a new training program from the assistant gym manager - this one has me doing 2 sets of exercises, and interleaving pairs for the opposing muscle groups. For example, I do a set of tricep extensions, then follow up with bicep concentration curls, 1 set for each am. Repeat this for the second set. By this time the workouts weren't the exhaustive experience they were when I first started, but you sure can tell you've worked yourself. It's important to change workout programs every few months - firstly becasue different exercises for the same muscle group hit the muscle at different angles, and also new exercises makes the workout more enjoyable as it is fresh and new. Another change that happened was my elliptical workout - instead of just getting on it and going, I was now to add resistance for a bit then take it off as intervals... I think there are around 12 levels of resistance on the machine - the higher the number the higher the resistance. I'd always done 30 minutes at lvl 1. But now I was to do a 5 minute warm up at level 1, then change the resistance to level 3 for two minutes, and bring it back down to 1 again for 3 minutes. Keep repeating this cycle (2 min at 3, 3 min at 1) until the 30 minutes was up. It wasn't too long ago that I moved up to 2 min at 4, and 3 min at 2), so I'm gradually turning up the resistance. It was also around this time that I was notcing that I wasn't getting as winded during Pilates class also. The exercises are still challenging, but again I don't feel the exhaustion I did when I started.
This brings us around to now, May 16th. In the past week I bought myself some special shoes for spinning - they have cleats inset into the soles where you can lock into grooves on the pedal - makes your stride more efficient and effective, and your foot doesn't get as fatigued because the hard sole absorbs a lot of the force. They look great too.
I'm still doing the elliptical 5x a week, weights 3x a week, spinning tues and thurs, pilates wed, yoga thurs (before spinning), and tai chi on fri. But I'm not feeling nearly as fatigued by them anymore. Internally/psychologically though it is taking time to adjust to this newer state of affairs. I was in Philadelphia recently, and since a subway elevator was full, I decided to take the steps (one flight), and I ran up. When I got to the top I was fully expecting to be breathing heavy etc, but I wasn't - a little heavier maybe, but not very noticeable... (the words "holy ****!" came to mind). I also find things seem lighter now - like the sixtels (sixth kegs) I carry in from my car to my kegerator. While they still require some effort, it's not nearly like it was when I started - and had to rest half way. So I am stronger and have more stamina, but I think there's much room for improvement. This year was kind of devoted to making the about face from a sedentary life to an active one. I'm hoping this coming year will be one of getting healthier still.
Think I've said my peace for now.
What a difference a year makes...
Yup, you heard it right - it's been a year since I started working out. On May 16, 2005 I walked into a local gym and signed up, and $450 (for the year) later I was a member. I remember weighing in around 344 or thereabouts, and was just out of the hospital where I was treated for cellulitis in the (left) leg. My first tasks were getting a food plan (2200 calories, 6 meals a day) and a tour of the facilities, including the cardiac theatre and weight room. Once that was done the trainer took me back to the ellipticals and had me get on one, to see how I did. Well, 1 minute, 45 secs later I was exhausted, and gasping for breath. We let it go at that... til the next time I rolled in for the weight training part the next day. (The workout is detailed in a previous posting). While it was an almost religious experience, being purged of stress and good amount of sweat, I was VERY tired at the end. (And quite sore the next day as I recall). Readers of this page will know that in the course of time I got a heart rate monitor, and used it religiously for a while, then when it became a chore, I decided not to use it (a very liberating experience that). But when I first started using the band I had to bring it out to its full length just to get it on. At the time I was doing weights twice a week and cardio (elliptical) 3x a week.
Fast forward to November, when I finally started to take advantage of the corporate gym that opened just after I'd signed on to the local gym. I'd asked for a traning program and was given an "upgrade" to 5x a week cardio and 3x a week with the weights (and 3 sets of each exercise too). By this time I was up to around 20 minutes or so on the elliptical, and the weights, while tiring, were not the exhaustive experience they once were. Combining both together (elliptical AND weights) on the same day proved a challenge (and still does), but I was able to do it. (It's not pretty but I can do it). It was also around this time that I started taking my first group class - Pilates, which the gal I work with teaches. It's a sneaky bugger, because I took the class on Wednesday, and felt fine Thursday (me thinking, this wasn't so bad...). Well, Friday I had trouble getting out of bed as my abdominal muscles were so stiff and sore. (But I hung in there - more on that later). Somewhere in/around this time I started taking Yoga and Tai Chi also - excellent classes both, though I think I enjoy the yoga a little more. Great stretching and mind, body coordination, as well as balance are its benefits - and it DOES make you feel centered and calm. Tai Chi is more for joints, with various turning motions, which are said to keep your organs healthy among other benefits. Both classes are now taught by the same person - a gal in her 50's who is a great instructor.
Cut to January, when class sizes for the spinning (indoor cycling) class were running low. The gym manager had approached me a few times to try it - but I was leery about joining because I figured it would be way too difficult for me. (I was however, about that time, closing in on 30 minutes on the elliptical). I'm not sure what happened, or why, but the gym manager asked me again, and I said to myself, "what the heck, I'll give it a shot". Put on my heart rate monitor, and met the instructor who was very nice. She helped me get and set up the bike and told me how we were going to use the monitors in class. It's a funny thing how your body reacts to a stress like that. The first five or ten minutes are the warmup - getting the stiffness out of your legs, and getting ready for the workout to come. The little aches and pains in the muscles are their way of asking "you're not seriously going through with this are ya?". (You think they have a point, since it's going to be about 50 minutes before you stop, but you push on). They quiet down a bit then, and you're able to get some minutes of cycling in before the muscles start feeling fatigued (the length of time between the two is a measure of how fit you are I think...). It's around this time your body starts saying "Oh my God, I'm dying..." and pushing those pedals around becomes a real chore, mentally and physically. If you're like me, you look up at the clock, and realize 30 minutes have gone by and you have 25 to go. There's something about that realization that is motivating to me - "I could quit after 30 minutes" becomes "I've been on this bike for 30 minutes, and I'm gonna see it through to the end". And then before you know it, you're done. (As a side note, the only things that were sore were my inner thighs etc from the seat - if you've ever had saddle sores you know what I'm talking about - moved around like an old man for a few days but I eventually got used to it.) But I liked the class and the instructor enough to keep coming - I liked her style of conducting class - not too serious, but she'd always make us work. She stresses the importance of heart rate monitors esp when doing higher difficulty exercises (which I didn't take part in for a while, but now I do), as well as the necessity of drinking water during the ride.
Now we're up to March, when I got a new training program from the assistant gym manager - this one has me doing 2 sets of exercises, and interleaving pairs for the opposing muscle groups. For example, I do a set of tricep extensions, then follow up with bicep concentration curls, 1 set for each am. Repeat this for the second set. By this time the workouts weren't the exhaustive experience they were when I first started, but you sure can tell you've worked yourself. It's important to change workout programs every few months - firstly becasue different exercises for the same muscle group hit the muscle at different angles, and also new exercises makes the workout more enjoyable as it is fresh and new. Another change that happened was my elliptical workout - instead of just getting on it and going, I was now to add resistance for a bit then take it off as intervals... I think there are around 12 levels of resistance on the machine - the higher the number the higher the resistance. I'd always done 30 minutes at lvl 1. But now I was to do a 5 minute warm up at level 1, then change the resistance to level 3 for two minutes, and bring it back down to 1 again for 3 minutes. Keep repeating this cycle (2 min at 3, 3 min at 1) until the 30 minutes was up. It wasn't too long ago that I moved up to 2 min at 4, and 3 min at 2), so I'm gradually turning up the resistance. It was also around this time that I was notcing that I wasn't getting as winded during Pilates class also. The exercises are still challenging, but again I don't feel the exhaustion I did when I started.
This brings us around to now, May 16th. In the past week I bought myself some special shoes for spinning - they have cleats inset into the soles where you can lock into grooves on the pedal - makes your stride more efficient and effective, and your foot doesn't get as fatigued because the hard sole absorbs a lot of the force. They look great too.
I'm still doing the elliptical 5x a week, weights 3x a week, spinning tues and thurs, pilates wed, yoga thurs (before spinning), and tai chi on fri. But I'm not feeling nearly as fatigued by them anymore. Internally/psychologically though it is taking time to adjust to this newer state of affairs. I was in Philadelphia recently, and since a subway elevator was full, I decided to take the steps (one flight), and I ran up. When I got to the top I was fully expecting to be breathing heavy etc, but I wasn't - a little heavier maybe, but not very noticeable... (the words "holy ****!" came to mind). I also find things seem lighter now - like the sixtels (sixth kegs) I carry in from my car to my kegerator. While they still require some effort, it's not nearly like it was when I started - and had to rest half way. So I am stronger and have more stamina, but I think there's much room for improvement. This year was kind of devoted to making the about face from a sedentary life to an active one. I'm hoping this coming year will be one of getting healthier still.
Think I've said my peace for now.
