Fitness Blah for the Truly Bored
Mar. 17th, 2005 02:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threadwalkerFitness Journal:
Self Assessment:
Overall, my routine is pretty regular. Hurrah for building habits.
I haven't succeeded in keeping any weight off. I'm too weak when it comes to sweets and use those as comfort when I'm stressing. (mmmmm ....BIG Kit Kat .... my favorite indulgence!) It doesn't help that one of my co-workers has the same habits and likes the same snacks. So I need to deal with this aggressively. With the way all the other changes are falling into habits, I think I'm actually ready for this one. I'm finding I'm best when I plan every meal for the day ahead of time - not actually make it, but build in my expectations early and then I don't veer from my path.
Cardio -
I'm switching to a new machine tomorrow or Monday. Mondays are always good for "fresh starts", but I just finished my latest book, so tomorrow might be a good day since I don't have anything else to read. (A mental curse sent to Robert Jordan and an almost 800 page book that spans ... what? a week in his fictional world?) It's time to switch cardio equipment because I can't work the bike hard enough to keep my heart rate elevated. Meaning either I need to increase the level of difficulty past the point of joint comfort or I peddle 100+ rpm to maintain 130 bpm which prevents me from reading at the same time. Since the whole point of cycling is to be able to multi-task, I might as well switch to a new piece of equipment where I know I can't read. They have some elliptical running things that look intriguing. Maybe I'll try one tomorrow with the only expectation being that I figure out how to work it and I don't hurt myself.
Weights:
Shoulders (punch block)- (8# dumbells) These need a lot of work. I'm so tired after the punch-block exercises, it drives home how much work I need. Currently using 8lb dumbells.
Lunges - (8# dumbells) my legs are KILLING me. But it feels so good and this is definitely feeling more effective than leg extensions. I also find myself taking little "lunge breaks" at work. I think I will alternate these with sitting squats (per Sir St) and work in bicep curls on the squats. (gotta love multi-tasking!).
Hips - Up to 75 lbs. That's cool. Should make skiing more fun and more aggressive.
Arms - (30-35# - depends on which machine and which gym). Not much change in weights, but noticeable difference when I flex and poke them. d'Salai is making me a Ropa and I tried on a sleeve last night. It was ... snug across my bicep. Errr, not good? She glared and shook a pair of sharp shears at me. I am not allowed to get bigger biceps. It's never been my plan to make bigger arms and there's no point in pissing off the seamstress who also periodically feeds me. But I've also been kind of ignoring my arms while I've been wrangling with the lunge/punch/block circuit for the last week. Hopefully more imrovement here later.
Abs: (20#) Hammer Crunch - Hurrah! I feel more dramatic improvement here than anywhere else. I tried upping it to 25# today, but that was too aggressive. 2 months ago I could barely do 1 crunch with 10 lbs. Now I'm doing three sets at 20#. I'm mostly feeling that in my upper abs and I've been wanting to work my lower abs, so today I cruised over to the thingy that you dangle from, balanced on your forearms, and you do leg lifts. Woof! I did a set of 10 and a set of 5 and then I was done. Thus I need to work these in, too.
Stretching: bad me, no stretching before this. As the pain in my legs wears off, I realize that I've gotten very tight and some of the lingering pain is tightness that hasn't stretched out. So now I stretch. Sometimes I even stretch at lunch time for the heck of it.
Self Assessment:
Overall, my routine is pretty regular. Hurrah for building habits.
I haven't succeeded in keeping any weight off. I'm too weak when it comes to sweets and use those as comfort when I'm stressing. (mmmmm ....BIG Kit Kat .... my favorite indulgence!) It doesn't help that one of my co-workers has the same habits and likes the same snacks. So I need to deal with this aggressively. With the way all the other changes are falling into habits, I think I'm actually ready for this one. I'm finding I'm best when I plan every meal for the day ahead of time - not actually make it, but build in my expectations early and then I don't veer from my path.
Cardio -
I'm switching to a new machine tomorrow or Monday. Mondays are always good for "fresh starts", but I just finished my latest book, so tomorrow might be a good day since I don't have anything else to read. (A mental curse sent to Robert Jordan and an almost 800 page book that spans ... what? a week in his fictional world?) It's time to switch cardio equipment because I can't work the bike hard enough to keep my heart rate elevated. Meaning either I need to increase the level of difficulty past the point of joint comfort or I peddle 100+ rpm to maintain 130 bpm which prevents me from reading at the same time. Since the whole point of cycling is to be able to multi-task, I might as well switch to a new piece of equipment where I know I can't read. They have some elliptical running things that look intriguing. Maybe I'll try one tomorrow with the only expectation being that I figure out how to work it and I don't hurt myself.
Weights:
Shoulders (punch block)- (8# dumbells) These need a lot of work. I'm so tired after the punch-block exercises, it drives home how much work I need. Currently using 8lb dumbells.
Lunges - (8# dumbells) my legs are KILLING me. But it feels so good and this is definitely feeling more effective than leg extensions. I also find myself taking little "lunge breaks" at work. I think I will alternate these with sitting squats (per Sir St) and work in bicep curls on the squats. (gotta love multi-tasking!).
Hips - Up to 75 lbs. That's cool. Should make skiing more fun and more aggressive.
Arms - (30-35# - depends on which machine and which gym). Not much change in weights, but noticeable difference when I flex and poke them. d'Salai is making me a Ropa and I tried on a sleeve last night. It was ... snug across my bicep. Errr, not good? She glared and shook a pair of sharp shears at me. I am not allowed to get bigger biceps. It's never been my plan to make bigger arms and there's no point in pissing off the seamstress who also periodically feeds me. But I've also been kind of ignoring my arms while I've been wrangling with the lunge/punch/block circuit for the last week. Hopefully more imrovement here later.
Abs: (20#) Hammer Crunch - Hurrah! I feel more dramatic improvement here than anywhere else. I tried upping it to 25# today, but that was too aggressive. 2 months ago I could barely do 1 crunch with 10 lbs. Now I'm doing three sets at 20#. I'm mostly feeling that in my upper abs and I've been wanting to work my lower abs, so today I cruised over to the thingy that you dangle from, balanced on your forearms, and you do leg lifts. Woof! I did a set of 10 and a set of 5 and then I was done. Thus I need to work these in, too.
Stretching: bad me, no stretching before this. As the pain in my legs wears off, I realize that I've gotten very tight and some of the lingering pain is tightness that hasn't stretched out. So now I stretch. Sometimes I even stretch at lunch time for the heck of it.
