After a weekend of not going to the gym (but I did go dancing) I am excited to go to the gym tonight. So excited, in fact, that I don't even wait until my usual 8:00. Instead I go at 7:00 filled with this bizarre motivation that has become increasingly more common. I'm sans any gym buddies tonight, which I consider both a positive and a negative. No one is there to distract me from my tiredness, but I also don't have to worry about maintaining a conversation instead of listening to my music. Music is pretty awesome.
It's also colder than cold tonight, so I'm happy to have the promise of an 85 degree pool waiting for me. But before the pool, I must do cardio. I'm tempted to try the treadmill and see if I'm able to do any jogging whatsoever, but I chicken out when I see that there are three other people on the treadmill who are better than me. I'm easily intimidated when it comes to cardio endurance.
I settle on an elliptical machine, slightly disappointed that my choices are so repetitive now. Shouldn't I be mixing it up for the sake of not getting my body into a habit? Oh well, I'll save that for another day. Right now the only thing between me and a tropical dip is twelve minutes on this baby. I am ready to punish myself for my slightly lazy weekend and I'm going to do it with the help of Ke$ha.
Slight shift while I talk about results: I have proof that my endurance has improved. I used to have to immediately drop resistance on the elliptical down to level 10 because my heart rate would rise too fast. Now I can leave it on the standard fifteen and even push myself with a very steady climb in heart rate and I can maintain a healthy level. This is awesome, in my opinion.
After my twelve minutes are up, I full on surprise myself. I decide to go for half an hour. Will I be content with not striving to do my best?! Hell to the no! I almost immediately regret my decision. I realize I'm getting tired and I would really like to stop. But that's the old, lazy me talking. Shut up, whiny lazy Sam. You aren't welcome here anymore.
As I tend to do when I'm on the elliptical, I glance around at the other individuals who are also on a quest for physical fitness. Some people are riding stationary bikes, a very intense looking gentleman is rowing like his life depends on it, and some silly woman is watching the Food Network while she jogs. And not just any show. She's watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, a show that basically features only unhealthy foods. This is foolish and let me tell you why. The whole time she's working out she's going to be thinking about food she shouldn't eat. When she goes home, she's going to be craving a burger with five strips of bacon and two kinds of cheese and you know what? She's going to have it because she'll feel like she earned it after working out. At least that's what I would do. That's why I can't watch the Food Network while at the gym and I can't go on Pinterest at work. Too many delicious looking things.
Over a mile and 20 minutes (30 minutes and 1.52 miles, in actuality) later and I step off the treadmill feeling like what I imagine Gumby felt like constantly. My legs are made of jello. But man, I feel good. Ladies and gentlemen, exercise is therapy. This is what I have discovered and I am sharing this information with you free of charge.
Like a giddy child, I lumber with purpose back to the locker room to change into my swim suit. For some reason, this 'motivation' thing follows me to the pool, and I am not content to swim like an old person (slow and leisurely (sorry to any elderly readers)) and I try to push myself. I don't take small breaks at the end of each length, and I don't slow down after my first full lap.
When you feel as strongly about making a change in your life as I do, you aren't supposed to go about it halfheartedly. I really did make a decision to change my life and not pushing myself wouldn't be fair to me. That's why I've made the decision to get some personal training sessions. Fitness is an investment in my future and I need to know what I'm doing if I'm going to be as successful as I can be.
Showing posts with label swim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swim. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Routine...
I have made a decision. Earth shattering news, I know, but I have made one. My tax return is being invested in my health and I will be buying some personal training sessions. I've talked with Justin (whom I can now officially call my trainer) and settled on sixteen half-hour sessions. Holy crap what am I getting in to?
Ever since Fit Andrew joined the gym, we tend to go at the same time. It's nice to have extra motivation in the form of a buddy, even if we do nothing together while at the gym. When we enter tonight, Skinny Matt is in the office. I stop in and chat for few minutes because I haven't seen him in weeks and we fondly reminisce about when I first joined.
When I enter the cardio room, Grant is wrapping up a training session with Justin. I pop over, say hi, and then get up on the elliptical. Believe it or not (but believe it, because I'm telling you) there is quite a degree of variance between elliptical machines. The machines I usually use are both occupied so I have to make do with this new one. This machine has my arms moving similarly to jogging, with alternating arm and leg swings (left with right; natural movement, basically). I don't know what's going on but I am overcome with a wave of motivation and I kick it into high gear. Quite possibly it's listening to Imagine Dragons that has me ferociously ellipting (yes, I'm still trying to figure it out) away. Grant joins me near the halfway point of my fifteen minutes and we chat. By the end of my fifteen minutes, I've gone a full mile. This usually takes me twenty minutes.
Grant decides he'll join me for a swim, which is a wonderful way to end the workout. I stick mostly to freestyle, really digging the new pair of goggles I bought yesterday. At the conclusion of the swim, we head to the steam room. Honestly, this has become my favorite post-workout ritual. Yes, steam rooms are weird and you should still be careful when searching for images of a steam room, but they are also amazingly relaxing. And Grant brags about how long he can stay in the steam room. I can only manage five minutes before I need to leave, but he's convinced he can stay for ten or fifteen. We discover that he can't.
Upstairs, the amazing Carla makes us some delicious protein shakes. This isn't something I get often, but it's pleasantly cold and tastes really good with the frozen fruit. Makes for a good meal replacement. The problem is, I tend to be a guzzler and drink it way too fast.
Keep an eye out for my first personal training post. It'll hopefully be up in a week. And with it will come my pre-training measurements with a promise of post-training updated measurements! And probably photos. And everyone should check out the Imagine Dragons album. It's pretty awesome.
Ever since Fit Andrew joined the gym, we tend to go at the same time. It's nice to have extra motivation in the form of a buddy, even if we do nothing together while at the gym. When we enter tonight, Skinny Matt is in the office. I stop in and chat for few minutes because I haven't seen him in weeks and we fondly reminisce about when I first joined.
When I enter the cardio room, Grant is wrapping up a training session with Justin. I pop over, say hi, and then get up on the elliptical. Believe it or not (but believe it, because I'm telling you) there is quite a degree of variance between elliptical machines. The machines I usually use are both occupied so I have to make do with this new one. This machine has my arms moving similarly to jogging, with alternating arm and leg swings (left with right; natural movement, basically). I don't know what's going on but I am overcome with a wave of motivation and I kick it into high gear. Quite possibly it's listening to Imagine Dragons that has me ferociously ellipting (yes, I'm still trying to figure it out) away. Grant joins me near the halfway point of my fifteen minutes and we chat. By the end of my fifteen minutes, I've gone a full mile. This usually takes me twenty minutes.
Grant decides he'll join me for a swim, which is a wonderful way to end the workout. I stick mostly to freestyle, really digging the new pair of goggles I bought yesterday. At the conclusion of the swim, we head to the steam room. Honestly, this has become my favorite post-workout ritual. Yes, steam rooms are weird and you should still be careful when searching for images of a steam room, but they are also amazingly relaxing. And Grant brags about how long he can stay in the steam room. I can only manage five minutes before I need to leave, but he's convinced he can stay for ten or fifteen. We discover that he can't.
Upstairs, the amazing Carla makes us some delicious protein shakes. This isn't something I get often, but it's pleasantly cold and tastes really good with the frozen fruit. Makes for a good meal replacement. The problem is, I tend to be a guzzler and drink it way too fast.
Keep an eye out for my first personal training post. It'll hopefully be up in a week. And with it will come my pre-training measurements with a promise of post-training updated measurements! And probably photos. And everyone should check out the Imagine Dragons album. It's pretty awesome.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sabotage...
Despite my best efforts (okay, not my best efforts, but semi-decent) the plan I laid out for the weekend morphed into something different. Friday night is great. I show up ready for spin and even get about fifteen minutes of pre-riding in. Justin is teaching this class and pops over before it starts to tell me that everything I'm doing is wrong. My seat is at the wrong height and my handle bars are too close. Riding a bike is hard.
Saturday we'll call a rest day. My alarm goes off at 6:45 and I want to die because my butt hurts so bad. Two days in a row on a bike seat for an hour? I think not. So I go back to bed and wake up after Pilates. I decide that I'm going to do some yoga, but I can't find the videos. I swear to you, exercise sabotage is a thing and I am a victim.
After my lesson in bike riding, Justin heads up to the front to start class. I'm wary after my first spin experience. Heavens knows I don't need to spend another Friday night crying. But this seems like an energetic class, which should prevent me from becoming over-emotional.
Justin is an interesting spin instructor. He did tell me before my first experience that regardless of how I felt afterwards, I had to give his class a try because his were always fun. Fun may be a slight overstatement because really, how fun could an hour on a stationary bike be? It's not exactly at the top of my list for birthday party ideas. But I do find myself entertained and motivated enough to last the entire hour-long class.
Throughout the class, Justin keeps referencing some woman (I'm assuming as a motivational tool) who is constantly either just ahead of us or gaining on us or any other action that could possibly be considered threatening. By the end of class, I hate this imaginary woman. She has got to be the rudest woman ever. I would throw a stick in her spokes if I could. By the end of the hour, I have ridden 25 miles. My butt is as sore as can be from that stupid bike seat, but I feel pretty proud of myself.
After the biking, because I'm a glutton for punishment (and a glutton in general) I decide I'm going to swim. I neglected to bring goggles and so water keeps getting in my eyes and I keep choking on water because I'm trying to keep my head above water the whole time. I probably look like Fit Andrew trying to swim. It's awful. So I stop after not too long and call it a night.
Justin is an interesting spin instructor. He did tell me before my first experience that regardless of how I felt afterwards, I had to give his class a try because his were always fun. Fun may be a slight overstatement because really, how fun could an hour on a stationary bike be? It's not exactly at the top of my list for birthday party ideas. But I do find myself entertained and motivated enough to last the entire hour-long class.
Throughout the class, Justin keeps referencing some woman (I'm assuming as a motivational tool) who is constantly either just ahead of us or gaining on us or any other action that could possibly be considered threatening. By the end of class, I hate this imaginary woman. She has got to be the rudest woman ever. I would throw a stick in her spokes if I could. By the end of the hour, I have ridden 25 miles. My butt is as sore as can be from that stupid bike seat, but I feel pretty proud of myself.
After the biking, because I'm a glutton for punishment (and a glutton in general) I decide I'm going to swim. I neglected to bring goggles and so water keeps getting in my eyes and I keep choking on water because I'm trying to keep my head above water the whole time. I probably look like Fit Andrew trying to swim. It's awful. So I stop after not too long and call it a night.
Saturday we'll call a rest day. My alarm goes off at 6:45 and I want to die because my butt hurts so bad. Two days in a row on a bike seat for an hour? I think not. So I go back to bed and wake up after Pilates. I decide that I'm going to do some yoga, but I can't find the videos. I swear to you, exercise sabotage is a thing and I am a victim.
Sunday I wake up and I'm super pumped about the gym. The problem is, I can't find either pair of my hot pink headphones. I said it once and I'll say it again. Sabotage. But Andrew ever so politely reminds me that I tend to lose things and that it's not sabotage. Fine Andrew, we could have had a ton of fun solving the mystery of the missing headphones but we'll just cop it up to me being slightly scatterbrained. Boring.
We head over to the gym and I and start with fifteen minutes on the elliptical. Is there a term for ellipticalling? Whatever it is, I do it, and I do it well. After I elliptical I timidly enter the weight room. It's literally been over a month since I've been in the weight room. And it seems like they rearrange everything constantly. Where are my usual machines?! Oh, right there. I apologize for being overly dramatic.
After the weights I swim. Yeah, it's a lot for one day, but it's necessary. I enter the pool area right at the end of family swim and pick my lane. Let me tell you there is nothing better than watching a bunch of children leave the pool you are about to use. It's a sign that literal calm waters await and you won't have to listen to any annoying crying or screaming or laughing. I get in a couple of laps, definitely more than on Friday, but I don't go too crazy because this is not my only exercise today.
Side note: Every time I go to the gym I check in on foursquare and if you're mayor, my gym rewards you. I had been mayor for 2 months before some new lady came in and stole it from me. And now I think she works there. Totally not fair, if you ask me.
We head over to the gym and I and start with fifteen minutes on the elliptical. Is there a term for ellipticalling? Whatever it is, I do it, and I do it well. After I elliptical I timidly enter the weight room. It's literally been over a month since I've been in the weight room. And it seems like they rearrange everything constantly. Where are my usual machines?! Oh, right there. I apologize for being overly dramatic.
After the weights I swim. Yeah, it's a lot for one day, but it's necessary. I enter the pool area right at the end of family swim and pick my lane. Let me tell you there is nothing better than watching a bunch of children leave the pool you are about to use. It's a sign that literal calm waters await and you won't have to listen to any annoying crying or screaming or laughing. I get in a couple of laps, definitely more than on Friday, but I don't go too crazy because this is not my only exercise today.
Side note: Every time I go to the gym I check in on foursquare and if you're mayor, my gym rewards you. I had been mayor for 2 months before some new lady came in and stole it from me. And now I think she works there. Totally not fair, if you ask me.
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