Weekly: train with weights 3x (Happiness Manifesto Declaration #1)

Maybe in 2009 …

back to this and work it in as I can.

I have been hit or miss since my last entry. Beginning tonight I begin again and will stick with it for as long as I can, so hopefully it becomes a routine. It is especially important between now and the end of July. I have let this slip for long enough and now I am faced with a friend from high school _{back in the olden’ days} I haven’t seen since ‘78. _{yes that would be 1978}...oh whoa is me…

I want to look my best, whatever that happens to be. I had been looking for something that would truly motivate me and I have been presented with it. I know we all change, but I want to be the best I can be…whatever that might be…for this American Hero. (and most importantly me and getting this elephant off my chest!)

Dropping out – travelling around a lot and not able to access a gym right now….

Today was quite amusing at gym…will keep this short and sweet…

1) tripped over step doing chest curly thingys, and young trainer guy had to catch old lady :-O

2) he wanted me to use my left foot on same exercise later and couldn’t figure out; kept going to right foot…sheeesh…much laughing on that one.

3) Buff man around my age was working out and we made eye contact while I was having to do a squat type exercise….ok…eyes…smiles…keeps looking….I laugh and tell him no fair watching…he laughs and says sorry…OMG so embarrassing…

4) tried to cheat on treadmill and he made me get back on….hahahahahahaha … not really just lost track of time…really…really…I wouldn’t fib…

5) Grouchy lady who couldn’t find tv remote so she could watch her favorite soap while walking at level 1 gave me a dirty look…guess she was jealous of how fine I looked…or would that be wiped out and dripping with sweat…

hahahahahahahhaahaha

no trainer says I look really good added weight, I will be working by myself for a little bit and then we will meet back and do measurements and change it up…so that’s cool…

The personal trainer experience…

Ok where do I begin….oh yeah….hahahahahaha or would that be OUCH!?
oh my gosh…

first, I need to get comfortable with the environment again, haven’t been to the gym in a while…great people watching that is for sure and now I will be bringing humor to someone or would that be many… and the fact that my trainer is WAY young.

second, I need an ipod so I can get lost in my music..juggling my clunky cd player just won’t work…could be considered dorkish…have to be the essence of kewl old lady ;-) while:

I have to lay on the floor while he watches me

I have to stand and step and twist opposite with a medicine ball and not fall over while he watches me

I have to (ok this one is good) sit on an exercise ball…roll forward until I am laying flat with head and upper back balancing on ball while holding 10 lbs weights (good thing one in each hand or for sure would tilt over and ball would go bouncing) and doing chest presses while he watches me and adjusts me….ya know I know am just gonna roll over one of these times…it is just enviable … I have the ditz factor…have i told you that?

I have to do these weight pully thingys and not get tangled up in it while he watches me and people watch if they want the machine or “so cool man” comes over striking up a conversation about new ladders and how he donated to a High School and how they almost won state but it wasn’t because of him….yada…yada…yada…gosh I’m “soooo great and wonderful” rich guy. (Gave him the snicky eye roll)

and then yay!! in the end I get to run on the treadmill or do the elliptical thingy I can do those ‘cept he is still watching sne…worried by this time has deodorant failed…and potentially less than friendly smells mixing with forbidden perfume I accidentally put on out of habit and let’s not forget the sweat just dripping off of me while he is watching me….

I am not even gonna talk about trying to find my heart rate with him watching and trying to watch the clock and count and run the threadmill all at the same time…OMG

OMG that is not right!!!! and to think I am paying him to watch and give me these horrid exercises…I won’t even talk about the squat exercises and my bad knee raising its ugly little head…hmmmmmpf….I will beat the knee…

and I must say OUCH in sooo many ways

hahahhahahahahahahaaaa

for several years now…I walk 3.5 to 6.5 miles daily to every other day. I have finally stepped it up and got a personal trainer and have added weights so I thought I would join in with this goal and share my experiences and read about others. It is important that I stick with this and hope I can by adding this goal and keeping up on others doing the same… :-)

I didn’t think that 5 minutes of push-ups would be that big of a deal, but three weeks of this regimen and the pushup day is still the most excruciating. I feel like such a weakling (please don’t kick sand in my face-a reference for all you 70s comic book readers) because I have yet to do this for 5 minutes “girly-style.” Today, however, I was able to do 3 full sets of 12 reps, up from 3 sets of 10. These sets take me about 4 minutes, so I’m almost there. Thank goodness for baby steps.

One of our fellow 43T-ers has a great goal

Don’t you agree?

Sometimes though, I am perverse. What is it about those that know how to play hard to get very, very well that makes them irresistible? Like Deltoids for instance. I remember the first time I approached them to weight train. Even with the itsiest dumbbells they refused to budge. The trainers at they gym who spotted for me, would laugh out loud at my eager efforts to woo my Deltoids to no avail. But I persisted like a suitor of the middle-ages who knows that the lady means “Yes” when she coyly says “No”. I still will not claim I have a fabulous relationship with my Deltoids. But I am fascinated enough to keep trying to break them down, to the extent of dedicating an entire strength training session to them every so often. When I discovered Yoga though, Deloids took a bit of a back seat. Those Yoga Asanas can outdo Deltiod training on exquisite hard-to-get-playing. Deltoids probably felt some yielding was called for in the face of competiton. They have become surprisingly stronger since those Surya Namaskars.

It never pays to be too easy. My cardio capacity zips in response to my slightest exertion. Sure, I spend time with cardio. But I never fully appreciate what a special relationship this is because succumbing came too quickly and too soon. My priority is yoga, weight training and only then cardio, although responsiveness is in reverse order.

Then there is the type who may or may not be reciprocous, but you never know because there is just not enough chemistry for either side to really make an attempt. My Abs fall in this category. Every so often I guiltily make an effort because they are a neglected part of my muscle family. But it is a sense of duty rather than a real passion that characterizes the relationship mutually.

There are those that are moderately responsive. They are good fun to be around on a regular basis. Both sides know this is just a good friendship, and neither hopes for more time or attention than the other is willing to dedicate. The rest of my upper body – Back, Chest, Triceps, Biceps falls in this category.

My passion? My responsive, reciprocous lower body. The Glutes, the Quadriceps, the Hamstrings, the Calves and all the other smaller, supporting muscles. I read in a US fitness Magazine once that women have a disadvantage versus men with upper body strength, but it is possible for them to lift almost as much (weight lifted in proportion to own body weight) for lower body. My legs manage to be both reliable and exciting. They keep the interest alive by pulling out a surprise response when not anticipated on endurance or strength. And I reciprocate by looking up new challenges to surmount together.

One of my allies in this pursuit is http://www.cathe.com/">Cathe Friedrich She has the best tough Leg workouts ever on DVD. (She has the best any-body-part, Kick box and Step workouts on DVD actually.)

Yesterday, Balaji worked with me. I borrowed some parts of the routine from memory from Cathe’s Gym Style Legs DVD. First she does standing weight training with weights – conventional weight training exercises like Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts, Calf Raises. But she varies tempo to create what she calls “bonus burn” (by using super slow reps, holding the peak contraction, or by pulsing).

Then she does floor work on the stability ball and dyna band to focus on the glutes, outer and inner thigh.

I especially like this exercise.

Cathe calls it “One Legged Rollout on the Ball”. You start in “table top” position on the stability ball, and then raise one leg off the floor. You roll forward so that your butt comes closer to your knee, like it would when you execute a squat from standing, and then push back to the starting position. You feel the work like a standing one-legged squat (with greater emphasis on the glutes). Also it develops stability.

Music:
Kajra ReDum Maro Dum remixChaiyya ChaiyyaOm Shanthi Om remix
Bubblegum Western Pop

Working to the beat of the music makes such a world of difference on the fun factor when I weight train.

I wrote yesterday that Balaji outlifted me on Chest and Back poundage yesterday.

It happened quietly. One of the trainers at the gym was spotting for him. We would swap exercises – he would do Chest flys while I did pushups and then vice versa. I do not even think he realized he was lifting more than me, he was simply accepting the weight the trainer handed him.

Today we worked shoulders. We did the exercises together. Balaji automatically reached for weights lighter than mine on every occasion. I tried handing him my weights, but he refused to use them.

Balaji’s body knows it is stronger than mine.

Balaji’s mind has yet to learn.

We also worked Abs.