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Joan, I definitely felt like I’d worked out. One of these days I’m going to manage to pull out the range and the fridge and clean behind them and that will be a workout in itself. I still feel somewhat in “shambles” mode and I won’t have time to go through some of the stuff for a while.
Thanks, Emmi! I think consistency is what keeps me going. It’s taken a while to entrench the good habits. So far, though, I’ve been doing the gym machine exercises from memory, and realize I forgot the shoulder lift, because someone was on the machine every time I looked in that direction. I’m not as sore as I thought I’d be, but I think the elliptical, after all the upper arm/upper body workout, was a bit much. Especially given that at 5’2”, I’m a little short for the machine’s default positioning, just as my 6’5” male friend says they are uncomfortable for him too. It did work up a good sweat though!
The pink is a little too bright, not exactly the neutral I was looking for, by daylight. But, it’s not hideous.
Tonight in Jazzercise I’m going to grab the 3-lb hand weights, so that my arms get a rest. Hopefully I won’t bop myself in the breastbone like I did last week, doing bicep curls to the chest to a Michael Bublé tune and forgetting my weights were so light!
Ann you are doing great!! I’m so happy that you are enjoying your new gym. Look at this coming weekend as a recovery period. Next week hopefully your body will be ready to go at it again full steam. I’m starting to think I may need a day or two of recovery myself. I have been so tried this week… but I’m not sleeping well. Tonight I may wear ear plugs so nothing distrubes me.
Ann you are doing great!! I’m so happy that you are enjoying your new gym. Look at this coming weekend as a recovery period. Next week hopefully your body will be ready to go at it again full steam. I’m starting to think I may need a day or two of recovery myself. I have been so tried this week… but I’m not sleeping well. Tonight I may wear ear plugs so nothing distrubes me.
Yes, it’ll be nice to be challenged in a different way this weekend, Catherine. I always get something out of the AVP program myself. I went through the training initially “to make a difference” but it has helped me a lot. That an a book called “Nonviolent Communication” by Marshall Rosenberg. My main issue with conflict is that I tend to avoid it, or avoid dealing with it, and I’ve worked on that a great deal but am still learning.
I’ll need lots of energy for working with the kids, but I think a little exercise will be therapeutic too. I might still be able to get in a bit of a walk Sunday evening too.
I hope you do get a good night’s sleep. Sometimes earplugs help me, but other times the feeling of them disturbs me more than the noise. Some slow long stretches in bed generally relax me. I do much better if I just will myself not to turn on the TV or radio or grab a book, though my current read, The Darkest Dawn, yet another book about the Lincoln assassination, seems to put me out in fifteen minutes.
Thursday, May 1: 7pm Jazzercise class. Wow, Judy’s set has gotten more aggressive. Her aerobic portion is faster than before. I can do it but it’s more challenging. (Good) I did drop way back to the 3# weights tonight, as I could feel in the warmup I was more sore in my arms than I’d thought, though the stretching helped work it out a bit. Hurts a bit when I raise my arms, which I think is from those pec flies and tricep overhead exensions. I also didn’t bop myself with the hand weight tonight by forgetting how light they were.
Friday, May 2: late night at the gym, after a full day’s work and the first leg of the workshop. Some of the kids are far less participatory than we thought, and English is limited for some of them, so we had a quick restructure for tomorrow but the plan’s still pretty vague. They are really nice boys, though, and it was a pleasure to spend time with them.
Gym routine: I kept it short time-wise. Just 10 minutes or so treadmill warmup, then: squats, hip abduct (the adductor was broken I guess with caution tape wrapped around the seat), hamstring curl, leg extension, leg curl. No extra cardio, no sauna, no frills, I was outta there. Food intake a little off today. I had only plain Egg Beaters for breakfast, so I could splurge on a lunch out… had half the pepperoni and cheese stromboli, and a small salad. Yummy. Then a quick sandwich before the workshop with some ‘medicinal’ chocolate (for cramps) and a cookie at the workshop, then a bagel when I got home. Way off the norm, but not too too bad, I guess. I think I’ll be grateful I kept the leg routine on schedule this week. The muscles are starting to feel stronger, and by next week I may have to up the weight here and there.
Sunday, May 4: another brief gym trip. I was really drained after the weekend workshop with 17 boys. But I wanted to get my arm resistance training in. I managed only 10 minutes of treadmill warmup (1/2 mile) then bicep, tricep, delt, and a little pec work. The free weight area was practically empty. In fact, the whole place was practically empty. The desk was not open, which is too bad because I finally realized today that my iPod isn’t in any of my bags, and when I mentally retraced my steps, I believe I might have left it at the gym Wednesday night. After the elliptical, I moved to a treadmill for a few minutes of just cooldown pace walking as I listened to the end of a program on the big screen TV. I had been listening to music all prior. I think I dropped the iPod into the right side cup on the console, and I can’t remember retrieving it. I realize the chances it got turned in, instead of pocketed, are slim, but it’s only a 1GB Shuffle, so maybe to someone who has a better one it isn’t worth keeping. Still, I’m writing it off as lost until I have a chance to check, and I’m irritated I let that happen, even though I know I was punch-drunk tired at the time. Oh, well, it’s not the MOST careless thing I’ve ever done.
Thanks, Eileen. I ate kind of badly over the weekend so it felt good to at least do somehting. Besides, I feel I’m on a tight schedule with the resistance training and want to keep it up. I managed to forget about the iPod after class tonight, until it was too late to zip over there. I’ll have to put a note in my car tomorrow! I suppose I could call but I’d feel better checking in person.
Monday, May 5: Jazzercise class and three-quarters. I was hanging on at work, but left about ten minutes early and joined the 5:30 class just under way. I didn’t have much energy but had determination. The 7p class was a bit tough, high energy aerobic and so forth. I went light on the weights, but got a good workout. Hopefully I can get some extra aerobic time in this week.
I can hardly believe it. Not only was my iPod indeed at the gym (locked in the manager’s desk) but they had about five of them so I described mine: silver Shuffle, black hook-over-the-ear thingies as I can’t use the ear buds. I was so happy. Plus, I found the strap today for my Polar heart rate monitor. It was in the bottom of my closet, masquerading as the shoulder strap to a bag. I’m at Jazzercise now, using the computer to post this, just wanted to share!!
It is your lucky day! Maybe you should buy a lottery ticket.
Ha! I try not to push my luck. Actually started looking over my shoulder for something bad to happen to even it all out, but generally that might be the result of carelessness and not luck. I don’t actually gamble, so no lottery for me.
Tuesday, May 6: 7pm Jazzercise class. Wouldn’t you know, just ‘cause I had the heart monitor on, but someone showed up in the middle of class wanting information, and as the CSR I stopped and walked her through some info about the classes, the schedule, cost, etc. Very nice woman, and I hope she comes back and uses the complimentary class pass I gave her to try it out at least. But I missed the two highest cardio tracks. Still, worked hard throughout the rest of it. I am hoping to find the drive to do a longer session on the treadmill/elliptical tomorrow night after weight training, and then a bit of a stretch/rest in the sauna. I’ll have to remember the deep conditioner pack for my hair.
Ya - two finds in one day!!! LOL about the HR monitor strap!! I got a good chuckle reading that in my email. I’m with you on the lottary tickets - only get them if someone gives them to me. Have won a few bucks once…
Did you get your double session in today? I did a double up day today too… good long session of weights then cardio - but didn’t push hard so I could go for a long time. No Sauna, but a nice hot bath when I got home.
Thanks, Shawn! I found it, and now I’m getting a kick out of using the HRM at the gym.
Jeepers, it’s late. I headed to the gym before 8pm. It’s nearly midnight. I just got home maybe 20 minutes ago, after a brief stop at the 24-hour supermarket.
20 minutes cardio warmup: treadmill. 1.2 miles or so. Five or so minutes at 10% slope, the rest 5-8%.
Stretching - quads, calves, arms, obliques, back, etc.
Chest press (horizontal) - the machine I used backwards last time
Shoulder lift
Lower back extension
tried to use a mid-back extension machine but I couldn’t adjust it and was too short
Free weights: overhead tricep, pec flies (12#), bent-arm shoulder lift thingy, delt lift, trap lift (10#)
Lat pulldowns
Then cardio (ESPN viewing room, Yankees-Indians game on)
25 minutes elliptical
30 minutes treadmill
Had fun watching my heart rate go up simply by changing my arm movement on the ‘mill. Walking a flat 3.1 mph (this was my cooldown) at 3.5% elevation, I did arm swings, uppercuts, jabs, this side-to-side arm thing that works the obliques a bit, and big full-arm crosses. I think the guy three ‘mills over thought I was nuts or dangerous. Okay, big dude, I’m not going to hit you, I’m actually a pacifist Quaker. But the jabs get my heart rate up and really keep the shoulders worked!
20 minutes stretching in the sauna with conditioner on my hair (man, it was hot in there)
shower, change, pull hair in ponytail
On my way out I saw the employee who had returned my iPod to me yesterday. “Have a nice night,” he said. “Thanks, you t-- Oh, my God, is that what time it is?” I had totally lost track. Worked out for well over 2:15, plus sauna, shower, change time. It was after 11.
I don’t think I worked myself to soreness anywhere. I’d already done some back exercises at the chiropractor (he has resistance machines, I do a lower back extension, an oblique twist, and a lat pulldown there.) Upper arms might be a bit sore from the twelve-pound weights, which I’m just easing into. Came home and ate some of my supermarket score: some thin sliced deli ham on a Hawaiian sweet roll (I love those, that was a splurge), a small spoonful of potato salad, and a 4 oz snack size of lowfat cottage cheese. My HR monitor suggests I burned 1094 calories tonight. Woohoo! ‘Night!
Ooh, I lied. I do feel soreness today, in a new place. Muscles of my lower back. That back extension I did at the chiro was at a modest weight. At the gym, I took it up in weight every set of reps. It felt pretty easy till the end when I could tell I was using my legs instead of my back alone. It’s noticeable, but considering it’s the spot where I felt that nerve pain before, it’s not bad. I also feel a small bit of soreness across and between my shoulder blades, which tells me, good, I worked the right muscles when I was targeting the upper back with the dumbbells. Pecs and shoulders and delts must be getting stronger, no soreness there.
Today’s also the one-month anniversary of my gym membership. Of course, the first week I was just getting the feel of the place mostly, but I guess this will be three weeks of the “rotation” of resistance. I *feel* a difference, though last night I was painfully aware, due to the preponderence of mirrors in the place, of how flabby my arms still look and the thigh saddlebags I could see while seated on the chest machine. Wonder how long till I *see* a difference. This morning my weight was finally back down to within a pound of my “low” point. It’s more like a seesaw than a sliding board.
Sometimes we’re our own worst critic. Try remember what you saw in the mirror last year so that you can keep your focus moving forward on how much you’ve already accomplished. Those jiggles and bags will smooth out in time. Be patient and keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll get there. This is not a race. It’s a journey. Happy anniversary and congrats on getting closer to your low point.
Sometimes we’re our own worst critic. Try remember what you saw in the mirror last year so that you can keep your focus moving forward on how much you’ve already accomplished.
I know, it’s weird, isn’t it? I do remind myself how far I’ve come. It’s just that I feel like I’m putting in twice the effort as last year for about one-eighth the return. On the other hand, I’ve also noticed that I get emotional during the day after the more aggressive workouts the night before. I’m not quite sure why this is, whether my body is just stressed. I feel catty and negative today and am having a hard time keeping it from leaking out.
