Long-Overdue Update:
I've been doing strength exercises at least once a week for the last 3 or 4 weeks now, mostly upper body since my legs are freakishly strong already; my objective is to increase muscle mass and my metabolism, for the following reasons: to be stronger, beefier, and most importantly, to lose a bunch of fat.
My first workout on this new initiative was good, but left me feeling very, very sore and left me with limited mobility in my arms for a couple days. Every subsequent workout has been at least as intense, but my recovery has been easier every time. Lately, it's only left me a little sore, with virtually no decrease in mobility for any length of time.
Eventually, I want to do about 4 workouts a week, two upper body, two lower body. I'll probably feather in some core-specific work and some cardio at some point, but that's currently not a big concern for me. Give me a few weeks.
I'm trying hard to (a) build up a reliable good habit, and (b) keep it not too hard, so I can keep it up indefinitely, while gradually improving my performance.
Hopefully I'll have further updates in coming weeks. :)
Friday, February 7, 2014
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Week 3
Week 3 has begun, as of yesterday.
I'm currently doing 60 reps a day, still the same plan, MWF for push-ups, TuThSat for sit-ups. I sometimes am about a day late on my exercises, but I've made it up every time so far. I'm really liking my new approach, not caring how many reps per set or how many sets I do, and only caring about the quantity and quality of the reps.
Jenn (my wife) says she can already see results, so that's encouraging.
The push-ups are starting to feel more challenging, but the sit-ups are feeling easier. /shrug
Next week is 80s. ;-)
I'm currently doing 60 reps a day, still the same plan, MWF for push-ups, TuThSat for sit-ups. I sometimes am about a day late on my exercises, but I've made it up every time so far. I'm really liking my new approach, not caring how many reps per set or how many sets I do, and only caring about the quantity and quality of the reps.
Jenn (my wife) says she can already see results, so that's encouraging.
The push-ups are starting to feel more challenging, but the sit-ups are feeling easier. /shrug
Next week is 80s. ;-)
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Exercise, Revisited
As of last week, I've gotten back on that horse. Yep, that's right, I'm exercising again.
It may or may not end up as ambitious as last time, but right now, I'm trying to be sure that I can stick with it.
The routine right now is push-ups Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and sit-ups on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I get Sundays off. I also squeeze in time on the elliptical, currently only 6 minutes at a time.
Last week, my objective was 30 reps a day, in whatever sets I like. Check. Done.
This week, the objective is 45 reps a day, again, whatever sets I like. I fully intend to do my reps in whatever sets feels right at the time. I'm hoping to continue increasing the number of reps, every Monday, by at least 15.
If my joints give me trouble (that's what stopped my routine last time), I have elbow and wrist braces to help lessen the strain. I'd really like to reach at least 500 reps a day.
We'll see.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
New Beginnings
It's been a while since I last did any sets.
By this time, according to my original schedule, I should be doing 9 45s. I might be able to do a set of 45s. :)
Anyway, this isn't a post about whining, it's a post about starting anew. A post about getting back up when life has knocked you down, just like Rocky. :D
Yesterday I bought some gloves with wrist support. I'm hoping they'll do what I need for my wrists to be happy. Between the gloves and the elbow support I got earlier, I think I'm ready to try again.
Since it has been so long since I first fell off the push-up wagon, I'll have to retool my schedule. Tonight I'll do however many sets of however many reps as feels natural, and decide on my schedule based on that. I still have a pretty decent amount of residual workout muscle, so I think I'll still be able to do 40s, though the number of sets will prob be lower, like around 6, at first.
By this time, according to my original schedule, I should be doing 9 45s. I might be able to do a set of 45s. :)
Anyway, this isn't a post about whining, it's a post about starting anew. A post about getting back up when life has knocked you down, just like Rocky. :D
Yesterday I bought some gloves with wrist support. I'm hoping they'll do what I need for my wrists to be happy. Between the gloves and the elbow support I got earlier, I think I'm ready to try again.
Since it has been so long since I first fell off the push-up wagon, I'll have to retool my schedule. Tonight I'll do however many sets of however many reps as feels natural, and decide on my schedule based on that. I still have a pretty decent amount of residual workout muscle, so I think I'll still be able to do 40s, though the number of sets will prob be lower, like around 6, at first.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Challenges Abound
I have a confession to make: I've barely done any push-ups for the last week, aside from yesterday.
But I have a reason. My joints started protesting (aching and creaking), which caused me to have to stop and rethink things. It also got me really depressed. So I didn't do much about it for a couple days. Then I talked to a friend who told me I really should have been wearing braces for my elbows and wrists. A little while after that I got some for my elbows. I still haven't gotten any for my wrists, though I fully intend to.
Last night I did 6 sets of 40 push-ups, which isn't quite up to what my schedule says I should be at, but considering I haven't been keeping up with the schedule, I'd say it's pretty good. I'm gonna shoot for the 9 40s tonight. Hopefully I'll have the wrist braces before I start. :)
But I have a reason. My joints started protesting (aching and creaking), which caused me to have to stop and rethink things. It also got me really depressed. So I didn't do much about it for a couple days. Then I talked to a friend who told me I really should have been wearing braces for my elbows and wrists. A little while after that I got some for my elbows. I still haven't gotten any for my wrists, though I fully intend to.
Last night I did 6 sets of 40 push-ups, which isn't quite up to what my schedule says I should be at, but considering I haven't been keeping up with the schedule, I'd say it's pretty good. I'm gonna shoot for the 9 40s tonight. Hopefully I'll have the wrist braces before I start. :)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Complications and Progress
Yesterday (July 4, 2011), I did 8 sets of 35 push-ups. I almost forgot that yesterday was Monday because I had the day off, and almost only did 7 sets. :)
Coming along nicely. Still challenging, as always, and still able to keep up (so far).
Challenges, present and future:
I've noticed a snag in my whole plan. These days, I do my sets in the late evening. This isn't normally an issue, except when I'm taken on an unplanned outing at that time. When that happens, I don't have time to do my sets early (because I'm not notified until it's too late to do them beforehand), and I have no time left to do them when I get back (because it's late and I'm very tired by then). I'm not sure how to deal with this; my body is best prepared for exercise in the evening, and frankly I don't wanna change my schedule. I like it. On the upside, missing a few sets here and there (no more than once a week) doesn't seem to harm my ability to keep up, but I like completeness (my OCD is showing there).
Anyhoo, there's a bigger issue on the horizon: starting on the week of August 15th, I'll be increasing the sizes of my sets every Monday. This is a change to the pattern of alternating it with increasing the number of sets. But I figure that 10 sets is a good number, and that too many more would make the exercise occupy too much of my time and provide diminishing returns.
My reasoning behind changing the routine at that point is that once I'm doing 10 sets of 50, my body should be muscled-up enough to be more quick to adapt to increased load. This theory isn't based on anything more than a feeling that I'm right (call it intuition if it turns out I am :). Hey, you gotta start somewhere.
Keepin' on...
Coming along nicely. Still challenging, as always, and still able to keep up (so far).
Challenges, present and future:
I've noticed a snag in my whole plan. These days, I do my sets in the late evening. This isn't normally an issue, except when I'm taken on an unplanned outing at that time. When that happens, I don't have time to do my sets early (because I'm not notified until it's too late to do them beforehand), and I have no time left to do them when I get back (because it's late and I'm very tired by then). I'm not sure how to deal with this; my body is best prepared for exercise in the evening, and frankly I don't wanna change my schedule. I like it. On the upside, missing a few sets here and there (no more than once a week) doesn't seem to harm my ability to keep up, but I like completeness (my OCD is showing there).
Anyhoo, there's a bigger issue on the horizon: starting on the week of August 15th, I'll be increasing the sizes of my sets every Monday. This is a change to the pattern of alternating it with increasing the number of sets. But I figure that 10 sets is a good number, and that too many more would make the exercise occupy too much of my time and provide diminishing returns.
My reasoning behind changing the routine at that point is that once I'm doing 10 sets of 50, my body should be muscled-up enough to be more quick to adapt to increased load. This theory isn't based on anything more than a feeling that I'm right (call it intuition if it turns out I am :). Hey, you gotta start somewhere.
Keepin' on...
Friday, June 24, 2011
Still Going
I'm doing 210 push-ups a day now: 7 sets of 30.
Thursdays really do seem to be the toughest. My body is just starting to get used to the current amount of demand I put on it, but the accumulated soreness of Monday through Wednesday makes it very difficult on Thursdays, even on the early sets.
Sometimes I think of what I'm shooting for and wonder if it's even possible for me. Even one set of a hundred seems daunting, and I want to do ten of them one day. But I have to keep in mind that is about three-and-a-half months away, and I won't even be doing 500 push-ups a day until August 8.
So I have to just keep doing what I've been doing, and have faith that I'm clever enough to make up a schedule I can actually keep up with.
In technical news, I've started timing my breaks between sets. A set usually takes about a minute right now, and the spacing of my sets generally varies from 15 to 25 minutes, and is usually 20 minutes. I'm working toward keeping it around 15 minutes, but I want to be sure that I can actually complete my sets. I've had troubles in the past actually doing the entire set without collapsing when I didn't space them far enough apart.
Also, this past Sunday I only did 3 of my intended 6 sets. It was a really long weekend, and I was exhausted. It doesn't appear to have seriously harmed my progress, so I figure as long as things like that are rare, it shouldn't be a problem.
Still going...
Thursdays really do seem to be the toughest. My body is just starting to get used to the current amount of demand I put on it, but the accumulated soreness of Monday through Wednesday makes it very difficult on Thursdays, even on the early sets.
Sometimes I think of what I'm shooting for and wonder if it's even possible for me. Even one set of a hundred seems daunting, and I want to do ten of them one day. But I have to keep in mind that is about three-and-a-half months away, and I won't even be doing 500 push-ups a day until August 8.
So I have to just keep doing what I've been doing, and have faith that I'm clever enough to make up a schedule I can actually keep up with.
In technical news, I've started timing my breaks between sets. A set usually takes about a minute right now, and the spacing of my sets generally varies from 15 to 25 minutes, and is usually 20 minutes. I'm working toward keeping it around 15 minutes, but I want to be sure that I can actually complete my sets. I've had troubles in the past actually doing the entire set without collapsing when I didn't space them far enough apart.
Also, this past Sunday I only did 3 of my intended 6 sets. It was a really long weekend, and I was exhausted. It doesn't appear to have seriously harmed my progress, so I figure as long as things like that are rare, it shouldn't be a problem.
Still going...
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