Freedom Log

No matter how fast you accelerate from 0 to 100, at some point you're still only at 1.

[freedomlog]

Back at it

I didn’t think I was going to come back to this blog, but here I am. I ran into problem after problem during my first attempt at a fitter life, not the least of which was severe depression. I also had some problems with my body that I needed help to fix, like unstable shoulders, elbow pain, knee pain...you get the idea. Not that those issues are completely fixed now, but I’ve been seeing several professionals and I have a much better understanding of the role of stretching and massage in exercise, a much better understanding of my own body, and much less pain and discomfort day to day.

Most importantly, I’ve finally cleaned up my nutrition and eating habits. I recently went vegan and so far I feel pretty damn awesome about the decision. I’m eating tons of fruits and veggies and overall just feeling great. The best part about my conversion is that I discovered some awesome vegan youtubers who’ve given me some great fitness advice. So I’m ready to get back to my fitness goals and hopefully make fewer mistakes and start actually reaching some of those goals.

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Day 8 Gym

Did a 10 minutes cardio workout on the elliptical, which I'm pretty proud of. I upped the resistance once while I did a one minutes sprint, to help me keep my balance, but otherwise I kept it at 15. Did 3 one minutes 'sprints' (not 100%, morely like 75% of my max).

Skipped the ab workout like I said I was going to. I tried their overhead press machine but didn't like the way it forced my arms to move so I won't use that one again. I did 3 sets of 8 pull-ups and noticed some pain in my elbow so I think I'll try using the neutral grip handles next time. It's probably just a case of really weak stabilizer muscles, so hopefully once I'm actually strong enough to do unassisted neutral grip pull-ups, the rest will follow and I'll be able to do wide-grip ones too. We'll see. Did the same number of tricep dips. For pull-ups I put the assist at 13 (which I think is around 70 lbs) and for dips I put it at 12 (which I think is 64 lbs). I'll double check those numbers next time.

Next I did 3 sets of 8 seated rows at 4 (no idea how much weigh that is, there wasn't a chart on this machine), 3 sets of 8 overhead presses with 15lb dumbbells, and I finished the whole routine with a 5 minute cool-down on the elliptical. All in all it was a good workout and I felt great afterward. This all happened yesterday so I can happily report that my muscles feel great today and I doubt I'm going to have any soreness at all, so I might push myself a bit harder next time.

I'm a little bummed that I haven't been working out every day, but I think starting with 3-4 times a week is more realistic for me, especially in the winter when it's so hard to motivate myself to pile on all those layers just to go out the door. I'm proud of the changes I'm making and I can't wait to see all these numbers rise (or fall, in the case of the assisted pull-ups).

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Day 5 Gym

Went to the gym again (took a while for my muscles to stop hurting, I overdid it a bit on day 1). I'm still working on setting a real routine for myself. I keep trying the elliptical but I think the treadmill is my best bet for a good cardio workout. It's really hard to stick to cardio with no music though so I've just been using it for warmups and cooldowns. Did some ab exercises but my upper body gets tired of holding me up before my abs really good a solid workout so that's a bit of a pain. I think I'll skip it for now, as long as I keep my core tight for my other exercises it'll get some benefit and I'll focus on it more later. So now my upper body routine is pull-ups, tricep dips, and push-ups, and I do push-ups at home not the gym, so I feel a bit pointless being there. I know I'll get to a point eventually where I start needing to add weights to my routine and then the gym will come in handy, but until then I'm starting to wonder if a membership is worth it?

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Day 3 Lunges and Squats

Did 12 bodyweight squats and 10 lunges (both legs, so 20 in total). Just did 'em while taking a break from cleaning, so I'll probably do some more throughout the day.

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Day 1 - First day at the gym

Finally made it to the gym yesterday and it was actually pretty great, even though I went at a pretty busy time. I really think I can make a habit of this. Just got to find a time that works for me. I didn't keep track of anything I did, I just wanted to make the rounds and try things out, but I've got a better idea what I want to focus on now. And they have a machine for assisted chin-ups/pull-ups! So I can easily track my progress and train for pull-ups by actually just doing them! I'm pretty excited. Also it's 24 hours, so I can go early in the morning the way I like :)

[freedomlog]

Got my gym pass (FINALLY), but I won't be going until Monday to officially sign up and get started. Going to start my counter back to 1, since I've slacked off SOOOO much. It sucks, but being more than a month with zero results is pretty discouraging, so I'm wiping the slate clean.

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Day 27 Push-ups

Did 8-4-2 push-ups and 8-4-2 tricep dips with my bar. Still no gym card today and I'm getting REALLY impatient.

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Day 25 Push-ups

Did 6-2-2 push-ups and 6-2-2 tricep dips. Still fine-tuning my technique for the tricep dips since I'm using a bar, but since it's saving my wrist it's definitely worth a little extra effort.

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Day 25

So it's almost the one month mark and I haven't posted anything for a while. I haven't done much working out for a while. I've really lost motivation since getting that gym membership - I'm tired of working out in my tiny apartment, I want to go somewhere I can get stuff done, but I still haven't got my access card :( In the meantime I've been doing a lot of practicing and reviewing for my scuba lessons. Seeing how hard it was for me to carry that air tank was really discouraging, so I hope my access card comes on Monday and I can get started at the gym asap.

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Day 22

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Day 21

My first scuba diving lesson and it was more than enough workout for one day. Carrying around equipment that was too heavy for teeny little me, not to mention swimming 8 laps continuously and treading water for 10 minutes to prove that we're decent enough swimmers to become divers. Whew. Long night.

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Day 20

Even sicker today and still lots of errands to do :(

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Day 19

Experimented a bit with different tricep exercises, using dumbbells or my bar. I'm coming down with a cold so I didn't want to do too much. Waiting for my gym membership has kind of stalled me. I hope the access card comes quick.

[freedomlog]

Joining a Gym

I signed up for a 30 day trial and the 24hr gym near my apartment. I was really against it for a while, and I'm still not super optimistic, but my apartment is just too cramped for me to want to do cardio (plus it's the middle of winter so outside isn't really an option) and now that my chin-up bar is broken I've lost the most fun and motivating part of my workout. So it's time to give the gym a try. It was only $9 for the month, but since it was an online only deal I have to wait for them to ship my access card, which kinda sucks. Odds are I'm not going to be doing any cardio in that time because I just can't motivate myself in this tiny space, but I'll keep up with the push-ups at least and start core training. Once I get to the gym I'll be able to use the stationary bikes which'll be awesome because I really miss cycling and I want to be in good shape for it come summer.

Ok, maybe I am a little optimistic about this after all.

[freedomlog]

Day 18 Push-ups

Did 6 sets of 2, and 5 wall tricep push-ups but I couldn't seem to get the positioning just right so my elbows and shoulders just felt really unstable. Even doing 5 was tough. Oh well, I'll try again tomorrow.

No chin ups today. My bar fell (it never fit my doorframe quite right but it was sturdy enough at first) so now it's useless for chin-ups and pull-ups. Grr.

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Day 17

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Day 16

ANOTHER skip day. Just too much going on, an unusually jam-packed day. The good news is I really WANTED to work out, so I know it's not a motivation thing, just timing. Back on track tomorrow.

A bit sore today from yesterday's push-ups but nothing debilitating. Gonna keep track of my pain and how long it lasts so I can better plan my workouts in the future.