improve my fitness

i want to improve my fitness

I’ve been doing yoga everyday, so far, and a Tai Chi video four times a week. I’ve noticed a big difference already in how I feel. I also hop on my stair stepper to get my heartrate going.
I can’t wait for the weather to cool off and be able to excercise outside again. As long as my neighbors don’t keep burning their trash, anyway. Asthma sucks.

As usual, I fall out of the habit of maintaining this, as with many of the things I wish to improve. I will probably be moving soon, and I have looked into gym facilities there. They have a gym/swim membership for the same price as just gym where I was recently, so I’m going to sign up for that.

The picture is unfortunately not of the pool at the new place, but apparently it is all very modern and has been renovated recently. I just liked the look of this pool though :)

for 20 minutes again last night after doing my weights :)

Running
Do AM and PM running workout (ranging from 25-85 miles week) On an average 4 miles AM and 4 miles PM.
Running drills.
Cycling
Cycle twice a week. One long cycle (between 60-90 minutes). One pyramid/hills interval (45 minutes)
Bodybuilding
Work on circuit train M, W, F.
Lift stats for bench, squat, deadlift, bicep curl, etc.
Calesthetics
Work on situps, pushups, and squats
Flexibility
Alternate Yoga and Pilates. Also Parkour and Bboy.
Sports
Play tennis, basketball, other sports every once in a while.
Swim
Prepare for crew/rowing team swim test: 50 meter continuous swim, swim 5 meters under water, tread water for 10 minutes. Do lots of running an core work and run 90 minutes a day.
Take swim classes once a week.
Core
Daily Ab Work: 7 minute abs, planks, etc
Ab Work: twice a week (hard)
Friends
Go running with friends once a week.
Go cycling with friends once a week.
Do cheesy workout DVD with friends once a week.

I wish I was 104 pounds like Deena Kastor. We’re the same height, but I’m 115.

I’ve been back in the gym for a while now (the date marks on these entries aren’t quite accurate I’ve noticed!) and I completed my ‘jog non-stop for 20 minutes goal’ so was quite pleased with that.

So far I’ve lost a lot of weight since I started and gained muscle definition in my arms and muscle mass in my legs which is good news for my knees. I’m toning the exercise routine down a little bit now, doing cardio one day and resistance training the next…could do with toning up my abs actually, still have tummy flab =P

I guess you could say I’m fit…but not as fit when I did sports conditioning and played on a sports time for basketball (or all the other sports I did). I’m fit, but not fit enough (according to the MensHealth Physical Fitness Test)

Things to Improve
5 Pillars of Fitness
Speed
Strength
Endurance
Power
Agility

I’m currently on the Abs Diet For Women but I’m not sure if it’s working.

I want abs like Dara Torres

has been really hard because I’ve had bad sciatica in my right leg and a painful knee preventing my exercise regime. I’ve had treatment for it but its slowness at recovery has been really getting me down (mind-sabotage was hard enough to overcome, let alone body sabotage!)

I’ve been aiming for at least being active everyday trying to go for a walk somewhere and went swimming once last Friday too. Tonight I tentatively went back in the gym and all seems to be well which is a HUGE relief. I’m going away for 6 days starting tomorrow so it’s a great comfort to know that when I come back I’ll be able to make the most of my summer membership, even if I have to change my routine in there a bit.

My college summer gym pass runs for a month, and I’ve slightly changed my routine to keep me interested with it. Now I’m doing:

5 minutes on the seated arm cycle
20 minutes on the bike
6 minutes on the step machine
20 minutes on the treadmill

The gym guy said I should see results from the step machine pretty quick which would be good since now I’ve lost a bit of weight I really want to focus on toning my glutes and thighs etc. Hopefully in a month’s time I’ll have something to show for it!

Hmmmm.

Basically I have two aspects of fitness: food and exercise. Being a bit of a dichotomous thinker, I can’t eat badly and exercise a lot, or eat well but do no exercise; the two have to be balanced so I’m doing well in both areas.

This leads to two critical points:

1. The first is with food- there comes a point when cravings for sweet things make me want to tip right over the edge and go completely over the top on them rather than just eat them in moderation. Of course, if I end up sucumbing and act on that, then the whole healthy routine is annhilated as soon as the first taste of sugar reaches my bloodstream.

(On a positive note, I just overcame one of those very same critical points recently, see the eat healthier goal.)

2. The second critical point usually kicks in about two months or so after exercising everyday. Almost all of a sudden I realise how much slimmer and fitter I am and begin to increase the level of resistance or intensity at the gym, and then also all of a sudden, it seems like I’m not making progess quickly enough. I start to worry that my current workout isn’t intense enough and that I won’t continue losing weight.

However, I have to remind myself that

• Losing weight isn’t my only goal, increasing all-round fitness and muscle tone is.

• Compared to 3 months ago I’m literally doing 90% more exercise. Something is waaay better than nothing.

• Working out everyday for 35-50 mins is quite an intense plan anyway. It makes sense that I’m going to feel tired sometimes or have days when I don’t fancy going to the gym!

• Change happens incrementally and has already occurred very quickly. When I was less healthy I wouldn’t check my weight for 3 weeks- it’s only because I’ve become so focussed on my fitness that I expect results in a week.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I hope to offset the anxiety about critical point number 2.