Weight Loss VII: The gym-boree
It's been a long time since I've updated this tag!
I more or less took six months off; last October I kind of crashed hard and found myself unable to make myself do anything. It took MONTHS to struggle through that and it wasn't until the end of Marsh this year that I started finding enough willpower to force myself to do things again. This wasn't really just about exercise, either, it was general life stuff too. Lots of things kind of fell to the side for me.
I gained 25 pounds in that time (ugh, that's a horrible rate of gain) and by spring I was feeling pretty wretched about myself. I've since lost 10 of it back, maybe (it's weird, my weight is fluctuating a lot more than it has in the past) and feeling somewhat better. My cardio was terrible for the first couple of weeks, and it was a struggle just to run a mile.
I'm still not back to where I was, but at least I can run 2.5 miles in a go again, and with a walk break I can do 4-5, but I haven't gotten in a full 5K with no break yet.
I've also added a gym routine, which is not super stressful; it's designed to make sure I don't lose muscle weight. I'd noticed that my pecs, in particular, were not as strong as they used to be, and decided I needed to reverse that trend. Back last fall, I had always intended on throwing some weight training in anyway, and that was next on the docket when everything fell apart.
So here's my current routine:
Sun
Run to gym (1 mile), do full routine, walk home. The run is really just a nice cardio warmup for the gym.
Mon
Rest day (it's my regular day in the office, so hard to get anything in this day anyway).
Tue
Medium run (40-50 minutes)
Wed
Run to gym, do full routine
Thu
Short run (30ish minutes)
Fri
Optional: Run or walk to gym, do abbreviated routine
Sat
Long run (60+ minutes)
Things keep getting in the way so I don't quite get to keep my schedule perfectly, but as long as I'm close I don't feel too bad. For example I had to turn Saturday's run into a walk, and Sunday we had busy plans so I didn't make it to the gym (but I did make myself do some body weight exercises so at least I didn't do nothing).
It's warming up, too, so now I'm going to have to deal with my *ideal* running time (around 3pm) often being too hot for an outdoor run. :(
My gym workout is generally 2 sets of 12 reps of the following exercises. I'm doing only machines because I'm kind of terrified that one oops on free weights and the disc in my back explodes. (Ok that's exaggerating but seriously I can hurt myself pretty bad if I fuck up)
It generally takes right around 30 minutes to get through that routine.
I'd started out adding some cardio on the lateral elliptical trainer but decided that the lateral motion wasn't worth the extra time in the gym, and I'm already running plenty. Plus with the run down and sometimes run/sometimes walk back, that's already an hour out of my day and I usually want to get back to work.
I more or less took six months off; last October I kind of crashed hard and found myself unable to make myself do anything. It took MONTHS to struggle through that and it wasn't until the end of Marsh this year that I started finding enough willpower to force myself to do things again. This wasn't really just about exercise, either, it was general life stuff too. Lots of things kind of fell to the side for me.
I gained 25 pounds in that time (ugh, that's a horrible rate of gain) and by spring I was feeling pretty wretched about myself. I've since lost 10 of it back, maybe (it's weird, my weight is fluctuating a lot more than it has in the past) and feeling somewhat better. My cardio was terrible for the first couple of weeks, and it was a struggle just to run a mile.
I'm still not back to where I was, but at least I can run 2.5 miles in a go again, and with a walk break I can do 4-5, but I haven't gotten in a full 5K with no break yet.
I've also added a gym routine, which is not super stressful; it's designed to make sure I don't lose muscle weight. I'd noticed that my pecs, in particular, were not as strong as they used to be, and decided I needed to reverse that trend. Back last fall, I had always intended on throwing some weight training in anyway, and that was next on the docket when everything fell apart.
So here's my current routine:
Sun
Run to gym (1 mile), do full routine, walk home. The run is really just a nice cardio warmup for the gym.
Mon
Rest day (it's my regular day in the office, so hard to get anything in this day anyway).
Tue
Medium run (40-50 minutes)
Wed
Run to gym, do full routine
Thu
Short run (30ish minutes)
Fri
Optional: Run or walk to gym, do abbreviated routine
Sat
Long run (60+ minutes)
Things keep getting in the way so I don't quite get to keep my schedule perfectly, but as long as I'm close I don't feel too bad. For example I had to turn Saturday's run into a walk, and Sunday we had busy plans so I didn't make it to the gym (but I did make myself do some body weight exercises so at least I didn't do nothing).
It's warming up, too, so now I'm going to have to deal with my *ideal* running time (around 3pm) often being too hot for an outdoor run. :(
My gym workout is generally 2 sets of 12 reps of the following exercises. I'm doing only machines because I'm kind of terrified that one oops on free weights and the disc in my back explodes. (Ok that's exaggerating but seriously I can hurt myself pretty bad if I fuck up)
- Chest press
- Incline chest press
- Machine Fly
- Rear Deltoid Fly
- Hip adductor
- Hip abductor
- Bicep curls
- Row
- Leg press
- Torso rotation (I often skip this as I only do it when my back is feeling good)
It generally takes right around 30 minutes to get through that routine.
I'd started out adding some cardio on the lateral elliptical trainer but decided that the lateral motion wasn't worth the extra time in the gym, and I'm already running plenty. Plus with the run down and sometimes run/sometimes walk back, that's already an hour out of my day and I usually want to get back to work.