Workout Now!
I’ve now been working out for 3 weeks straight and I feel great. I’ve been pretty surprised at how well I can run, considering I haven’t done any aerobic exercise in years. I think I can probably make my goal of a 8.5 min mile now, but I haven’t tried yet. I tend to do 8.7-9 min miles and run for 10-15 minutes.
Lifting is also going well. After this week I’m upping the level on almost all machines and free weights. I took out my tape measure and found small but measureable results on a few different muscles.
I’ve gained 2-3 lbs since I started working out and not all of that is muscle. My waist has grown a bit since I started. I’m not particularly concerned since my current goal is muscle gain and not weight loss. A lot of that was from a lot of cheating over the past 2 weeks. Over both of the past two weekends I’ve eaten pretty poorly, including full bags of jelly beans (~1000 calories) and other junk food. Jelly beans are generally only available during the Easter season so I’ve allowed myself to eat them since they are one of my favorite candies. I did go a bit overboard though eating a full bag in a day. Lent is starting this Sunday and although I’m not particularly religious I’ve decided to give up pizza. I only eat it on occation now but even so I think giving it up will help put me back where I need to be.
So far the only supplements I’ve been using are a multivitamin and whey powder. I’ve been taking the multivitamin since I changed my diet in November. I decided to stop using it for a week to see if it makes any noticable difference, positive or negative. If I don’t notice any negatives I’ll continue using it next week. After next week I plan on starting use of creatine. I’ve researched it and found only positive results from scientific research with no negative health consequences. I’m also researching other supplements, but haven’t choosen to use any others at this time.
Here’s a detailed break down of my workouts. I workout Monday and Wednesday 1PM-2PM and Friday around 1PM, give or take an hour. I eat a meal at 11AM. During a workout I make sure to drink plenty of water. Afterwards I drink 1.5 cups of milk with 2 tbsp of whey protein (may be increasing this). I eat my next meal at 3PM.
I start all of my workouts with a run on the treadmill. Monday I run for 17 min at speeds ranging from 6-7mph. Wednesday I run for 11 minutes, speeds from 6-6.7mph. Friday I run for 12 minutes, speeds from 6-7mph. Once it gets warmer out I plan on running outside Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
After I run I stretch and then do situps, crunches, and pushups. Not a lot, just to the point that I start to slow down. The main point is to warm up my muscles. After I’m done all of that I start lifting. Monday I work on my core (abs, back), Wednesday is legs/calfs, and Friday is upper body (chest, arms, shoulders). I do 2 sets @ 4-6 reps at each workout, with 3-5 different machines or lifts on a given day. I pause 2-3 min between sets. I haven’t been doing warmup sets but now that I’m increasing the weight I’m going to start doing 10 rep, 40-50% weight sets for each muscle group.
That’s it! I record everything I do so that I can track my progress. I always feel great after a workout and have more energy for the rest of the day. At no point do I feel like blowing off a workout day. I always look forward to it because I know that I’m improving my body and I enjoy it.
How have you been exercising? If you haven’t I strongly recommend you start. At the very least start speed walking for 15 minutes a day, 3 days a week. After a few weeks it will be like second nature and you’ll want to increase what you do. Our society is becoming overly seditive. You need to get out and exercise!
on March 7, 2006 at 4:15 am
Permalink
Track started for me last week. My goals this season are first to get below 2:03 for the 800m, then work that to below 2:00, then a couple seconds under that for a state qualifying time (probably around 1:58). My personal best last year was 2:06, and 8 to 9 seconds is a huge drop for 2 laps, but I am in much better shape this year.