My own worst enemy

[lost180]

Chest is not 100 percent but it doesn't hurt. I plan on just doing some cardio today and tomorrow I'll start up again with a back and bicep day. I'm not sure what I should do when I do chest again. I don't know if this first work out was just my body giving me a hard time or if I should go lighter for a little bit. I think I'll go the cautious route and go a little lighter on those chest flys even though it pains me to do so.


UFC tonight! But I don't really care who wins.

[lost180]

I forgot what it was like to be sore after every work out. Thankfully no one noticed me gimping at work the past couple of days. I did my chest on Thursday but had to stop less than halfway through the work out because I had a massive headache and I felt off balance. But surprisingly enough my chest is slightly sore. I'm still adjusting to those chest flys I think. It had been a long time since I had done them. Today will just be cardio and tomorrow will be back and biceps.

I've gotten too lazy with my cardio. I love lifting weights but I've never loved cardio. I need to find ways to fit it in more. I'm toying with the idea of maybe doing a weight set and then sprinting on the treadmill for a minute or so before I move on to the next exercise. I need to maintain my running endurance indoors because of winter and all but doing long runs on the treadmill is not my idea of fun. I found when I was doing cardio circuits of burpees and jumping jacks that it maybe even improved my running a bit. So I'm going to stick with doing that and HIIT on the treadmill. Just gotta find the motivation again to get on the treadmill. I went a long time without it.

[lost180]

I did pretty good today. I did chest and triceps but I got on the treadmill and ran for a minute in between sets so I got some cardio mixed in.

I feel like my push ups are getting worse. My triceps start burning pretty bad. Maybe they're just over worked because my triceps are usually sore after I work my back because negative pull ups make them sore.

[lost180]

And I've had about 2000 calories today but right about now I'm feeling kinda .

[lost180]

Back and biceps today. And I again ran between most of my sets. Five miles an hour is for the most part not very challenging so I'll probably increase the speed a bit as I go along. And increase my sets.

[lost180]

Been gone longer than I realized. Finally broke out of the 180s that I was in for soooo long. It was a nice victory because it's been much longer than I even want to think about. It was getting very discouraging. And I didn't gain anything over the holidays. I freaked out that I did but it was just water retention for various reasons.

I've tried to slowly increase my work outs instead of trying to jump head on into something and I started changing up how I was eating. A while back I switched to four meals because it was easier it seemed but when I think back on it I was really planning my work outs around when I was going to eat and sometimes I felt really stuffed from trying to get in all those calories. So a week and a half ago I went up to 5 meals and I like it much better. Mentally and physically it's better. I feel like I'm eating more than I really am and I'm no longer looking at the clock willing another hour to go by because I was eating every four hours and it wasn't time to eat yet even though I was after 3. Now I'm eating every 3 and I think this works much better for me. Six meals would be pushing it. Five is just enough that it lasts my typical day.

[lost180]

I weighed myself tonight just cause I tend to do that to see how it fluctuates and I usually estimate that by morning I'm about two pounds lighter. If that's the case then I'm already down another pound this week which is crazy considering I haven't really worked out super hard. I'm still a big ol' slacker in the cardio department. If I am down another pound then the only thing I can attribute the weight coming off again to is simply changing my meals to 5 a day instead of 4. I'm hoping that's the case. I'm not going to get too comfortable until I see results for longer than just a 2-3 weeks though.

[lost180]

Going to a late Christmas party tomorrow. Will do my best to not get out of hand with the food since I've been seeing progress now for the last 3 weeks. I already know my gift will be a Visa gift card and I think I'm going to invest in a stability ball and a little mini blender to liven up my protein shakes. Water and powder gets a little old and a little lumpy.

[lost180]

Thursday I'll be going with my cousin to work out at the recruiting office. Wee bit nervous. I've read stories online about how grueling these workouts can be. I may be losing weight but I'm not in great shape cardio wise. Too late for regrets now though. Pray for me.

[lost180]

Okay the workout turned out to be nothing like I expected. Basically they just gave us a free pass to workout at the YMCA and we just did our own thing. The lady at the front desk "made" me and my cousin do the Zumba class because the other kids from the Marine office were in there. That was pretty awkward.

Afterward me and my cousin just kinda floated around not really sure of what to do because neither of us are used to being in a gym and we didn't plan but we ended up doing a circuit routine with the other people there with us. Before that I had done some bench press, leg press, and assisted pull ups. With them with did more assisted pull ups and a whole bunch of other stuff. I can already tell I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

[Brian Ayers, CSCS]

They made a bunch of Marines do Zumba??!! That's a youtube video I would watch

[lost180]

I'd pay to see the actual Marines from the office in that class. For now the Marines to be must pay their dues I guess? It wasn't their first time in that class which is pretty funny. They knew all the moves. We only got in there for the last half hour but when it was done I hadn't even broken a sweat and I wasn't breathing hard at any point and I doubt the extra half hour would have been any worse. Not something I'd want to do again but it was funny at the time. Tuesdays are kickboxing so hopefully we can make it to that.

For now I'm thinking about how to go about maximizing my time in an actual gym while I have it. I don't really know if one days rest is enough to do a full body workout since we go Tuesdays and Thursdays so I'll probably end up splitting upper body and lower body. I don't really know all the machines and I'm still learning where everything is. They have a leg press machine and it's pretty neat because it has this sensor that tells you your range of motion and if you're going too far in either direction. Pretty sure that machine's to blame for the mild soreness in my booty.

They also have an assisted pull up machine so I plan to take advantage of that. And a bench press of course. My cousin was my spotter and I think my max rep range is about 95 because I couldn't do more than two. I don't think my form is right though because my chest isn't sore but the front of my shoulders is a little. Judging by that description would you be able to tell what I may have been doing wrong if anything? Maybe I didn't have the bar far enough down my chest?

Would you suggest splitting upper body and lower body between the two days?

[lost180]

Okay this is my tentative work out plan I've devised now that I have a gym for a while. Subject to change of course.

Monday- Either running or the bike and a few sets of non consecutive push up sets because my push ups are sad. I'll space out my sets and focus more on form then on how many I can do at once.

Tuesdays will be leg days. I'm going to do the leg press, leg extension, leg curl, calf raises, lunges, an ab routine and I'll do some form of cardio. Either the kickboxing class they offer or I'll use the elliptical.

Wednesday will be just light cardio because I know I'll be sore and I don't want to wear out my legs but it's good to get some blood pumping through the muscles to promote healing.

Thursdays will be upper body. Bench press, chest flys, push ups, pull ups, dips, ab routine, and some cardio on the elliptical.

Fridays will be my rest day

Saturday will be cardio. Running or bike depending on the weather. Once the weather improves I'd like to focus on my running more. And I'd like to fit in my yoga dvd in there.

Sundays will be shoulders and biceps. Shoulder presses, shrugs, and bicep curls. And for cardio I'm going to do some calisthenic exercises.

I ate like crap today so for the rest of the week I'm going to do my best to eat really well and get plenty of sleep.

[lost180]

Well like I said things are subject to change. They just changed faster than I thought. The plans to workout at the YMCA fell through and I found a gym right by my house that just opened. I went down today with my cousin and we signed up and got right to workin'. Did a leg and shoulder workout. I wonder how sore I'll be in the morning. It's my first time testing myself like that. I did 190 on the leg press, 105 squats, and I did some leg extension, leg curls, calf raises and I did shoulder presses and front raises. I'll adjust things when I figure out just how sore I'm going to be over the next few days.

I just need to acclimate myself with working out in a gym. I don't know where everything is yet and I'm unfamiliar with a lot of the equipment. I'll fall into a routine though.

[lost180]

Been quite a while since I've been here. Bout a month or so ago my brother bought me a session with his jujutsu teacher who was formerly a personal trainer and is really into health and fitness. He's got a bunch of certifications like RKC and he's a functional movement specialist. In addition he's also a certified Z Health trainer. If you don't know what it is I highly recommend you check it out if you care about your joint health, mobility, overall performance or if you're having any pain. A lot of his clients are actually doctors. He's located in West Hartford so if you check out Z Health and are interested in getting assessed I can refer you. Z health is kinda hard to articulate. But basically your joints through years of misuse, lack of use or injury get "jammed" and sends signals to your nervous system to shut down muscles to prevent injury. But it also prevents you from reaching your full potential. He would have me lay on my back and raise my knee and resist against his hand and he'd push my leg down with ease. I did a few drills using just my ankle joints and we'd do the test again and he wouldn't be able to push my leg down. It sounds like a bunch of craziness that a few movements with your ankle could make you stronger everywhere but I promise you it's no gimmick. I'm thinking of eventually buying the initial phase DVD to do more of it on my own.

Anyway first session he went over some Z Health drills to improve my over all mobility and it's only been a month but I can tell my hips are better. I was able to turn my hips out but I could barely turn them in. And when I did I was pushing my foot in to try and turn it more. Now I can turn my hips in more easily and I don't tense my feet anymore. All I do is a few hips circles a day. It wasn't that I thought I had any issues but trying to do some of the things he asked me to do and was able to do himself with ease that I've realized how immobile I am.

I went to him a few weeks ago for another session and he wrote up a workout plan for me mixing heavy lifting days for strength and medium lifting days for endurance. He also has me doing viking presses with a kettlebell for cardio. I did it once at home but I haven't since because I need these arm guards so I can focus less on the bell slamming my arm and more on my form. I'm anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Also he's got me doing some weird drills for core stability. Like laying on my back with one arm above my head and taking my other arm and touching my elbow to my opposite knee and then rolling to one side using just my core. It's supposed to help with my core stabilization and help me finally achieve those d**n pull ups.

And I'm thinking of going for another session strictly for nutrition since nutrition is number one in any weight loss plan.