I love exercising! It hurts so good… I can’t believe how much more training my mind needs than my body. NEVER GIVE UP!!!!

-Mark

OK, so I am not a fitness expert and I don’t have a lot of extra time to do research or educate myself so I rely on the advise of my brother and a few friends who are into fitness.  I am new to this game but am always interested in learning…  Todd tells me that a very intense 20 minute cardio workout is better than a more moderate 40 minute workout.  I suppose heart rate is the only way to measure that intensity.  My heart rate usually gets above 140 in first 10 minutes and then gradually increases to about 153 or so by the end of my 45 minutes…  Today, I chose to try the more intense 20 minute workout so I got on the recumbent bike and warmed up quickly and then went straight to level 14 and cranked hard and fast…  My heart rate this time went above 150 fairly quickly and I saw it as high as 166.  I have seen lots of charts that put this rate in the “anaerobic zone” (for my age) or some other term that I don’t understand…  It was hard and fast and I had to lower the resistance for 30 seconds a couple times to get my muscles to recover, but I felt good after.  I am just trying to be fit and healthy and weight loss is part of that of course…  I suppose doing both types of workouts would be the best but I don’t understand how the target heart rate affects the results of your workout…

OK…  I didn’t work out for almost 2 weeks.  I had an overdue deadline at work and lots of pressure to get it done.  I got up at 4am for many days in a row and worked until kid pickups and then back to work after dinner and the weekend in between.  Whew!  I got it done last Friday and had a nice weekend and even went on a bike ride with Brock and his friend Kiernan.  I am back now!  I worked on a machine called a “Total Body Cross Ramp” yesterday which felt awkward at first but I actually liked it by the time I was done.  This machine kind of simulates running up a ramp but you can also go in reverse which feels like you are running backwards.  As you probably know, running backwards is very difficult and is a great workout if you do it for a while…  I did the last 10 minutes of my 45 minute workout backwards…  Today I did the Elliptical for 50 minutes but totally wanted to stop after 10 minutes.  I did not feel good and was dreading the next 40 minutes….but then some good songs came on the headphones and I started feeling good and by minute 30 I was in a groove like I had not found before.  I felt like I could pull a tractor across a football field.  What a great feeling and I kept it up until the end…  I will keep working this week and next…  Cheers and GO BRUINS!!!!

OK…  I haven’t written in a while but I have been exercising.  I did 45 minutes on the Elliptical today.  Last Friday I tried to run in the Vibram 5s again but my groin hurt so I stopped after 20 minutes and moved to the Elliptical for 25 minutes more.  I did 45 minutes on the elliptical on Tuesday or Wednesday of last week also and the previous Saturday ran for 30 minutes and walked briskly for 1 hour the same day (or night).  This was part of a fundraiser called “Relay for Live” to support the American Cancer Society.  We had a team that walked/ran for 24 hours to raise money for Cancer Research.

I have been eating well with lots of salads, veggies, and fresh Salmon thanks to a 22 lb hog we got early Saturday morning on my friend Jeff’s boat…  🙂  Jeff brought him in and I netted him…