It's been a week since my last post and I'm thinking that's probably the rate my posts may come for a little while unless something exciting and newsworthy occurs. Seems that with treatments and babies and exercise and work etc, etc, etc life is very busy. That being said though I'm doing my best to avoid falling into a rut and keep up with my mission/plan. I've gotten back to the gym a couple times this week which is great and I haven't had any problems with my surgery site which is even better. I've actually really enjoyed getting back into lifting weights and I've been doing a better, more well rounded and generally more honest workout than I did when I was younger. It used to be when I went to the gym when I was in my early twenties I was going more for the vanity aspect of trying to put some muscle on my frame and to say I could bench press so and so amount. That being the case I completely ignored lower body exercises and would at times try to lift more than I should in lower rep situations and cause myself injuries which would really set me back in the long run (Especially since I seem to have inherited my fathers shoulder joints, thanks for that dad : D). As a result my workout program itself has changed more than a little. As opposed to doing High weight/Low rep sets on free weights, I now do at least 3 sets of ten or more at a lower weight. I've also mostly foregone free weights entirely, knowing that I have weak joints that are prone to strains it makes a lot more sense to use a machine that will limit my range of motion to a healthy movement. The final change to my program is that I'm now working all the major muscle groups Legs, Arms, Back, Back, Chest, Shoulders etc evenly. The biggest change I've already noticed though is how much this has helped my Cardio. The biggest problem that happens when you lose 20lbs off an already thin frame is that you have next to nothing when it comes to muscle mass or strength. On the pro side though you have a body fat percentage to die for : ). What would happen to me as a result of this though is the following:
Todd gets sick
Todd goes on antibiotics
Todd's lungs clear out
Todd tries to exercise, lungs feel great, legs get tired
Todd stops exercise
Todd gets sick, wash, rinse, repeat.
As odd as it may seem, my lack of muscle and general body strength was limiting me way more than my lungs. By focusing more on my diet and caloric intake, in combination with the new workout regime, I now actually have the strength to do 30-40 minutes of hard cardio without my muscles being the limiting factor.
On the horizon of things to work toward is the great strides walk in 3 weeks, followed by a clinic check up at the end of the month. Also, since I clearly didn't learn my lesson last month, I've also agreed to do another 10km run coming up this fall.
I'd also like to congratulate every one that was a part of Cinema for a Cure that happened last night. I wasn't able to make it into town myself, but from what I've heard the evening was a complete success. There are a lot of people that put a ton of time and effort into putting on this event and they deserve a huge round of applause.
No comments:
Post a Comment