The Glade 4.0

Joined Lifetime Fitness again. Maybe if I exercise regularly, I'll hate myself a little less.
<Eeyore> I'll probably end up hating myself more for failing at my goals. </Eeyore>


Elliptical 1 mile 19:47
Abdominal crunch device 40 lbs 15x4
arm curl thing 25 lbs 10x2
Chest press 40 lbs 10x3
shoulder press 40 lbs 8x1
Bike 2.10 miles 20:00
Dead

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Elliptical 1 mile 18:35
Bicep curl 20 lbs 8x4
Elliptical 0.40 10:00

I suck

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Just keep it up Mookhow, these things take awhile. Rome wasn't built in a day and most folks have to work it for awhile before they start seeing substantial results.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Take frequent rest days early on. It'll keep the soreness down, reduce injury potential,and hopefully reduce the burnout factor.

What Midgen said.

The key is to stick with it long enough to see some results. In, say, 2 months you'll look at yourself and say "Damn.. I look good!"

You may not look fantastic by the standards of the media (I sure as hell never do) but you'll look and feel better compared to how you did look and feel.

Hang in there.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Exercise definitely works as an anti-depressant for me and just makes me feel better in general. Well that and eating good food which I've been rather lacking recently.

My advice is to find something you enjoy doing to get your exercise.

Good luck!

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Like others said, keep at it. If I learned anything as a guy who weighed 120 lbs and would frequent several different gyms with other strangers a LOT bigger and stronger than me, it's that the mere fact that you are there and working out that gets you their respect and camaraderie. I remember one dude who was benching over 300 lbs asking me to spot him. My reaction was "Uhhhhh........." But he was cool about it, and just needed a little extra help and that little help went a long way for him.

When I first started, I could barely benchpress about 80% of my weight. But after a few months of going about twice a week, I was easily pressing more than my bodyweight (at least a 110% increase in the amount of weight pressed).

Strength will come. It's all about adding more weight slowly as you progress, pushing your limits, and making sure your muscles heal in between visits. I would alternate muscle groups on different days.

So, to sum up: You'll get stronger, and don't worry about not being able to lift/endure as much as others.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

Had a fitness assessment thingy this evening.
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 183 lbs.
BMI: 32.4 kg/m^2 with a big X through it
Max VO2: 38.7 ml/kg min
Bicep Strength: 32 lbs.
Sit and Reach: 11.8 in
Body Composition: 33.7% fat
Overall Fitness: 29.2 percent
Body Age: 45

My goals are 14.7% body fat, 150 lbs body weight (128 lean mass, 22 fat mass)
And they say I can reach my goal in 33 weeks.

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I think you can do it. That doesn't sound unreasonable at all.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Elliptical 0.60 11:18
Foot in agony
Bicycle 1.61 8:36

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Friday:
Spoke to trainer for 2nd free session. Recommend I eat better, nutrition is 70% of fitness.
Established my AT is 130. Not confident about that number.
Gave me a 45 minute long cardio workout regimen.

Sunday:
Cycled 30 minutes. I'm going to need to build up to this 45 minute thing.

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AT?

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Anaerobic threshold

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Exercise Bike 30 minutes. Don't remember how many miles it said, but oscillated from level 4 to level 7 resistance, per the exercise plan given to me. Still not up to 45 minutes, but at least I didn't have to stop in the middle.

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You should be able do 45 min with less resistance or at a slower pace, no?

Are you monitoring your heartrate?

I dunno. Maybe. I am monitoring my heartrate, with some chest strap thing that talks to the exercise bike.

On a side note, my ankle hurts today

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Make sure you ice and stretch.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

My friend wants to start a free weight routine, so he suggested I do it with him. Last night, we did bench press, squats, military press(?), and deadsomethingorother. 3 sets of 10 each.

Bench Press: 45 lbs (bar only), 55, 65
Squats: 55, 65, 75
Military Press (bar only): 5 reps, 6 reps, 6 reps
Deadlift(?): 50 lbs x2.5

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All good lifts to be doing.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

My friend wants to do some sort of abdomen thing, too, if you have any suggestions.

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Deadlifts and squats will work your core, so will the presses since you want everything to be tight when you're doing them. They support your spine and keep everything in place. So I'd put all my energy and effort into the above lifts.

If you wanted to a bit of core/abs work anyway, I'd say do something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfgjWFKP5Mo

but dont over do it. Abs are a small muscle group, easy to beat up.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Bench 55x10, 60x8, 65x6
Squats 65, 85, 95
Military bar only 8, 4, 4 reps
Dead lift 65, 75, 85 (x8)
Captain's chair/free hanging/sit-up machine/exercise ball random undignified flailing. At least the exercise ball I could feel was my abdomen sucking rather than my knee or my arms or whatever.

Overall I think I improved a little in some places and did worse in others. Hopefully I will recover faster this time.

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As with most things consistency is key. Keep plugging away!

As for the lean part of "Lean Bheef" make sure you're putting effort into eating good food too.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

More weightlifting. What happened to all the cardio I'm supposed to be doing? **** slacker.

Bench 65 70 75 (x5)
Squats 85, 95, 105
Exercise ball situp-ish things 3 sets of 10
Military bar only (x10), 50 (x7), 55 (x2)
Dead Lift 75, 85, 95 (x8)

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Military 50, 55x6, 60x4
Dead lift 85, 95, 105x6
Exercise ball sit ups 10x3
Bench 75, 80x6, 85x0
Squats 95, 105, 115

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