Increase one set of reps

8/20/13

Boy am I tired! 

Today, strength training day, increase one set of reps.  
moving up from one set of 15 reps to two sets of 15 reps.  In my mind it was "no problem, I can do it" 
in real life it was " OMG I can't get through this" 
It hurt, it burned, it was tiring. 
I huffed and puffed and pushed through until number 15 came up and then pushed some more until done. 

Completed the cycle of all the machines, worked the upper body as well as the lower body.  cooled down while walking around the gym, and wobbled away with my legs all shaky.  

This drained me, I was tired and in need of a nap.  
I pray that I can push through tomorrow's aerobics class.  

You like this, you do,  keep saying this to yourself and you'll believe it.    I'm waiting for the liking to happen.  

Cynthia 

I found my niche

8/19/13

Woke up at the ungodly hour of 7AM today to prepare myself for water aerobics, I had planned on trying out this class which is offered three times per week.   

I am in the pool by 8:20 looking forward to comiserating with the others.  I quickly find out that I was the new one and they had all been coming to the class for weeks.  Looking around me, I was not encouraged by their physical progress, but then was comforted by the fact that I am the youngest one.  Ha! finally!  

Feeling apprehensive about doing aerobics for an entire hour, I was beginning to have triple and quadruple thoughts; after all I've never lasted more then 3 minutes before. I console myself that I'm in cold water and that I would not feel heat, nor sweat.  Besides I'm here now and I'm already wet.  

The instructor arrives and promptly begins to shout out moves.  He demonstrates out of the water what I'm suppose to do in the water.  

Wait!  does he not realize that he's being grounded by gravity whereas I am gifted with few buoyancy aids?  I have anterior and posterior floating devices and they ain't contributiong to keeping me on my feet. 

He said "side kicks" and I go floating off to the side, he said "arm pull and push"  and I'm thrusted forward into my neighbor.  FUN if only she was a hot, handsome hunk... 
After few pleasantries and "excuse me" I proceed to adopting a serious disposition.  

I give it my all; I push, pull, kick and twist, I sweat and get out of breath, but I'm still cool.  I love it.  

I thoroughly enjoy the workout and before I know it time has passed and I've been at it for a solid 45 minutes.  I do believe I have found my niche in the exercise world. 



Cynthia 

glued then broken again

8/15/13

Having recovered well enough after my first strength training session, I ventured out again today for more weight lifting challenges.  Thought I'd push myself a bit more.  w r oooo n g. 

Energized enough I managed a good workout; started out with cardio then moved over to the weight machines.  I increased my reps, and on some machines, I increased the weights.  Ok fair enough, I got a good enough workout to go home and clean my house, prep dinner for some friends coming over, etc...  Halfway through my thought process, I fell asleep exhausted and unable to lift a finger.  I mean how in the world was the TV chanel going to be changing itself if I can't lift a finger.  I felt SOooo tired.  I felt like I was broken again.  

I ate a protein meal, had more coffee and prayed to the energy Gods, I think they sort of heard me.  I dragged myself around the house proceeding to vacum, sweep and make Kafta patties.  What's that you say?  I say google it I'm too tired right now to explain.  

Cynthia 

A little difference appears

8/14/13

I was actually looking forward to going to the gym today. 

No, no, nothing is wrong, I'm fine really.  

A little bit of elliptical to start the heart... maximum crossramp, 
medium intensity and here we roll.  
I felt I was a bit stronger, I felt that I had a bit more endurance, just a tiny bit.  
That's the difference that appeared today.  

Went to the pool afterwards thinking I was going to cool off, but ended up doing more laps than I thought I could.  

My mind is conditioned to stop after one or two laps because that's what I've always done in the past, but my body was saying go, go, I need to move, I have energy to expend, get going, and so I continued swimming.  Huffing and puffing I completed 12 laps, with some leg kicks in between.  

 Are you impressed? I know you are.  I was.                  (That's counting each way as one)

 Yeah, right! I bet you thought I was qualifying for the Olympics. 



Cynthia 

The day after the train collision

8/13/13

I should have started this post earlier in the day.
I woke up this morning amazed at the fact that I had parts and pieces to my body that I didn't know about.  I mean 50+ years and I'm still discovering muscles I never knew I had.  They never hurt before so they were ignored...

The day after strength training is like the day after a train collision.  Did I mention that train collided with me?  yes, I was aching in places way up, way down, way god knows where.  I couldn't stand straight, I could not move my neck, and I was so sore, so tight, and so in pain.  My friends tell me "oh that's good, that's good pain"  are they crazy? what good is there in pain?  I wonder if they collided with a train before.

Needless to say there was no excersise today, even if I wanted to I couldn't.  I had visions of going to the gym, doing some slow elliptical (as you're suppose to switch from weights to cardio) and perhaps some laps in the pool then pretty much park myself in the hot tub, but none of that happened.  My living room couch happened instead.  All day long...

I am optimistic, NOT, that tomorrow will find me doing some cardio, some swimming and some hot tubing.

Cynthia

What just happened?

8/12/13

Woke up today not feeling so great. 
I felt obligated to go to the gym however considering membership, guilt, expectations and all... 

My friend told me about a "pre-workout" powder that she recommended.  It gives  you energy to get through a workout, has vitamins, etc...  I had gotten a sample from my local GNC store.  I drink my green apple flavored mix, which tasted real good and off I go.  

Today was strength training day.  I was concerned that I would hate the burn, would hate the exertion, would have a hard time figuring out the machines, all the excuses that would keep me away from the gym, yet I went with the high hopes that the powder mix would work for me.  

I warmed up and began with the circuit training; upper body, lower body, and all muscle strengthening exercises.  I watched other people before me found the machines easy to use.  I was pretty sure that a degree in physics was not required to make any adjustments.  I am now feeling gooooood.  I am feeling motivated, I am happy to be here, I have energy, I don't want to finish, I want to do more.   
WHAT'S GOING ON???  OMG I'm on drugs.  

I finish my routine, cool down on the treadmill and leave the gym all smiles.  

Today was a good workout day, today is going to be a great day.  

Cynthia 

There's hope

8/9/13

Got to go today, can't skip or I'll lose motivation. 
On to the elliptical beast.  

The gym is not too busy at 3pm in the afternoon, more machines are open and less people to notice you struggling.  I keep forgetting to bring earphones so I can hear what's playing on TV, so I stare at the screen trying to lip read, I quickly figure out it's golf because I'm sharp that way.  

Five minutes into my moment of "I hate sweating" a lady takes the machine next to me, I can't help but stare at her as she provided much visual entertainment.  She was small on top with a very pronounced bottom, I mean emphasis on the pronounced bottom (she was of the African/American persuasion).  She moved so slow as if dragging herself, she wore black sparkling Tom's which were not the first things I noticed.  Without being obvious I attempted to steal more looks; that lady was entertainment all on her own.  She wore a flower printed shower cap, no she was not old, she was a young lady.  She had eyelash strips fit to land an aircraft carrier; thick, long and faker than a three dollar bill.  She had acrylic nails 2 inches long decorated with bling and bows.  She kept my discreet attention for approximately seven minutes.  Thank God for her, otherwise I might have gotten off the elliptical sooner out of sheer boredom.  

Back to my business.  Got to get the maximum out of it for the least time; I crank up the crossramp to max (20) and the incline to about 7 and pedal away for 20 minutes.  Hard, serious, uninterrupted pedaling.  

Cooled off in the pool, and here's goes another day with another workout out of the way.  

Cynthia