get in shape

I was doing great at this until I had an auto accident at the beginning of July. The injuries, extra time I need to take care of the family, and stress have taken their toll on my exercise. I’m starting to ramp back up, though.

I’m definitely toning up a lot and losing body fat. Kung Fu plus hip-hop and Zumba seems to be a powerful combination of whole-body workout and cardio.

I’ve found the Tricord resistance band kit from GAIAM (I got it at Target) to be pretty effective. It’s fairly cheap, doesn’t take a lot of room to use or store, does not take a lot of time, and is adaptable to different fitness levels in two different ways. You have a choice of three difficulties of band, and the DVD with the workout has three simultaneous difficulty levels.

I hadn’t realized how much Kung Fu would contribute toward getting me in shape, but it seems to be working. I’m glad I had been working out for over a year before I started, though!

Did the warm-ups from my personal training sessions, then the Tricord workout, using the medium resistance band and the full motions, rather than the beginner motions. Might drop back to the low resistance band, since I can’t complete all motions with the medium.

Inspired by yungkangaroo’s choice of using the Army’s requirements as a goal, I have decided I will set a goal of meeting the minimum satisfactory requirements for my age if I had stayed in the Navy.

For now this is: 40 curl-ups, 33 push ups (each over 2 minutes), a 1.5 mile run in 14:45, and 22% body fat.

If I don’t reach my goal before I turn 40 next year, these drop to 37, 29, 15:15, and 23%.

I haven’t updated this in a while, but it’s coming along nicely. I’ve got a mix of exercise going on now: Zumba and hip-hop aerobics, training with a personal trainer, just started Kung Fu, cycling occasionally, and some exercise DVDs with ball and resistance bands.

I’m definitely getting stronger all over. I don’t know when I’ll call it “in shape” and done. I guess I should establish some kind of concrete goal.

I’ve been wearing the same belt for a while now, and moving between the same 3 holes for quite a while. Yesterday I found I needed to tighten things a bit, and was startled to find I’d moved in from one of the main three into a previously unused hole. Now I’ve only got one more hole left, and I’ll need a new belt!

I lost more than a week due to illness and travel, but I had my training session last night, and it’s off to zumba tonight.

Got a second resistance session in by myself on Saturday, but never did manage cardio over the weekend.

Oh, well. At least I hauled my butt into the gym on Saturday.