Blog Fourteen - Stepping Up My Game

Well it's been several months now and I'm starting to go through cycles of "into it, not into it". I'm told it takes six months to really build a habit but I fear that this habit is going to take longer. However I'm still seeing a lot of results. I've lost another two inches from my waist (now 46" pants) and all around my body muscle firmness, and mass, is returning. These accomplishments I think are the easy wins.

Given how out of shape I was I'm sure that diet and exercise is going to work first on easy to lose fat. I figure that it might take me twice as long to lose another six inches off my waist - from my starting point that is. As to the strength building, I do have one area that I would like to improve but I don't yet know the right exercise to target it. I will though and when I do I will be doing it daily.

As for my cardio, I'm starting my days with a 15 minute bicycle routine and, time allowing, closing my daily workout with 15 minutes on a step climber. When I can get both in, and my strength workout, my rough calculations put me at burning up to 400 calories in a 90 minute time window. That's about 25% of my daily intake... Not only can I live with that but I wonder, can I actually live with that?

We'll find out together won't we?

Blog Thirteen - Iron Hand in a Velvet Glove

Or not.

Okay, did the bike today for a 20 minute workout. Averaged 14.5 mph but my ass still hurt a lot. I presume that as I strengthen up my glutes my endurance on the bike will improve. Have no evidence, yet, that this theory is going to hold up however. After 15 minutes or so I can totally feel some sort of pain start to go down my legs. So as much as I want to really do long cardio workouts via bike, seems I'll have to go for short(er) burst ones in quantity instead of one long quality exercise.

Speaking of gloves, I guess this is another area where age is starting to rear its ugly head but I need some weight lifting gloves. Not that my hands are not "toughened" up from use, though I do try to lotion them!, I'm finding that my hands are starting to show compression marks after lengthy sets. Given that a large part of my routine is low weight/long repetitions this is likely to be a problem unless I take it seriously.

Additionally, not sure if this has a cure, after a really good upper body workout the lower half of my hands (ring finger + pinky finger half) develops some serious ache. I've always suffered some level of repetitive stress with my hands and wrists. I worry that I might be adding to that problem with all the upper body work I've been doing.

Blog Twelve - Hair of the Dog

It is interesting to note that my masseuse is also an outdoor and fitness junkie. We were talking and she admitted to me that she prefers partnering for exercise because no one ever really pushes themselves as hard as they can alone. Must be something weird about me as I only keep from pushing myself too hard when I'm flying with a wingman (or wingwoman as it were).

Speaking of which, been pulling muscles like crazy. A week or so ago over extended my back. Boy that was fun! My left elbow/wrist is continually sore and this week I started working on my inner and outer thigh muscles. OUCH! This past Tuesday I overworked the groin muscle and was walking like an old Tim Conway skit. Took Wednesday off (totally!) and then Thursday I decided to work on it some more even though it still hurt. Would you know it, working it helped to reduce the pain.

In closing, this week I've been getting in almost two hours of exercise. I do my morning visits but with the Missus temporary schedule she can't join me. So we go later in the evening so that she too can get in some exercise. (The gym account is mine and she's considered my allowed plus one.) So this means I get in 45 - 60 minutes in the morning and 45 - 60 minutes in the evening.

It is really starting to show as well.