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April 07, 2006
The workout continues
I'm almost two weeks into my new diet and exercise routine. Amanda and I have been going to the gym every other day and working out on the treadmill. This week, specifically on Tuesday, I started doing 45 minutes on the treadmill (instead of 60) and spending about 30 minutes on weights.
When I first did the weights on Tuesday, I knew that I was going to be extremely sore on Wednesday. I wasn't expecting how sore I was going to be however. But while it was bad on Wednesday, Thursday came with me having to coax myself to lift my arms during the day because they hurt so bad.
But, I'm really wanting this exercising and diet plan to work, so I went back to the gym on Thursday night despite my pain and did another 45 minutes on the treadmill. After I was done, I got back on the weights and used the same equipment that I had on Thursday. I was working on my triceps and biceps, along with some other muscles that I just don't know the name of as of yet.
After I finished up the reps, 3 sets of 10, I decided that I needed to work out some other muscles as well. I got on the machine that does crunches with weights. I did 15lbs on 3 sets of 10. When I sat up, my stomach muscles immediately began to cramp up. That let me know that I was actually working them. After I was done with the crunches, I went and tried out a few more machines, doing 3 sets of 10 at each.
When I left the gym, I was very sore. I came home and took some pain medicine and went to bed (it was after 10:30 by the time we got home). When I woke up this morning, once again I was surprised to see that I wasn't hurting nearly as bad as I had on Wednesday morning or through the day. Sure, I have a little stiffness in the muscle, but it goes to show that my body is beginning to get used to the work that I'm doing. Over the next few weeks, I'm hoping to lift more weight and perhaps add some muscle.
Also, last week I was weighing myself during every trip to the gym. The problem was that we weren't going at any specific time throughout the week, so based on the time we went I might have food or water in my system. This would give me a very inaccurate weight, ranging anywhere from 5-10lbs depending on the time of day. So, this week I decided that I'm not going to weigh myself anymore. After reading this site, I decided that instead I'm going to purchase a tape measure and let my waist be my weight measuring point.
Well, that's about it for today I guess.
~out...
Posted by ed at April 7, 2006 09:00 PM
Comments
Ed,
Congratulations on making the efforts to increase your health and fitness. Having Amanda there to work with and motivate each other is really great.
Here are some things that might help you:
1. Talk to the local muscleheads. The thing about a gym is, nobody there will judge you, because the code in a gym is "It's not where you start, it's where you finish." So, talk to others and see what they are doing. Most people are glad to talk if you catch them in between sets or excercises.
2. Take advantage of the staff. They are usually full of people with weight training and cardio knowledge, and can help you set up a plan based on your goals. Whatever you do, set a plan that you can stick to, and that is realistic. Some of my friends do legs one day, then cardio, the upper body, then cardio...whatever. You have to decide what it is that you want to achieve, and then go get it done.
Even when you feel like total crap, go. All of the things that are worthwhile are hard. Period. It takes about 7 times the effort to maintain a rigorous schedule, (like exercising) than is does to break it. For example, you're at it for two weeks now. It's starting to get a little easier now, but maybe just a little bit. Eventually, it becomes routine. Miss a workout once, and you find it's very hard to get back into the swing of things. Vacations kill projects like this.
You can do it. I'm happy for both of you, and I can't wait to see how you progress over the course of the next few months and years!
Posted by: Troy Overton ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://edengelking.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 8, 2006 11:41 AM
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