OK… This is becoming a habit! I am actually exercising every day (almost) without thinking too much about it. 🙂 I must write more so I can remember the workouts better. Today, I took a video “spinning” class… It was great! I started off with a warm up to soft music with a very “fit” guy on his bike guiding me through a meditation type warm up and ended up riding through the clouds to new age music with his soft, encouraging voice saying “keep going” and “your doing great”… I think I am in love with this guy! 😉 I felt kind of silly and looked over my shoulder a few times to see if anyone was watching me enjoy his soothing voice. However, the groove I was in was soon eclipsed by the pain in my butt… I did not have any riding (padded) shorts on so the mounting agony forced me to say goodbye to “Mr Wonderful” and move to the recumbent after 25 minutes. Maybe I’ll get some serious padding and try a real spinning class soon at the other gym.
So, I finished with another 25 minutes on the recumbent and kept the Watts between 233 and 245 with the heart rate varying between 137 and 145. Also, I did 3 sets of 10 reps on all the upper body machines which are set up quite nicely to get through quickly. I had a little shoulder pain from the chest/shoulder reps but I can reduce the pain significantly by lifting more slowly and doing a few less reps. Let’s see if I can recall the previous week:
Yesterday (4-26), Hard skating for 45 minutes at the ice rink with a few rests. (Training for a return to ice hockey soon)
Tuesday (4-25), Elliptical machine for 45 minutes.
Monday (4-24), Elliptical machine for 45 minutes.
Friday (4-21), Went surfing for 2 hours. Lots of paddling but not sustained heart rate training.
Thurs (4-20), Elliptical machine for 45 minutes. 3 sets of 10 reps on most of the upper body machines.
NEVER QUIT!!!
OMG, I love that guy on the spinning video! He’s so calming even when he’s got you up on a steep hill burning your ass for over 3-4 mins. “Just a little more, keep focused, you’re doing great”, and then he plants a big cute smile and looks you deep in the eyes. Meditation time.
Hey, what ever gets you to spin is what matters! -C
You might be able to get one of the trainers at the gyms you work out take your body fat %. Or you can get one of the electrical impedance devices like a scale or a handheld one. I have this one – http://www.rehaboutlet.com/Images/hbf306.jpg. If you enter “electrical impedance body fat measurement” into google you will see a bunch of products that do this.
I haven’t measured % body fat. How do I do that? Also, I lost 12 lbs immediately in the first 2 weeks but haven’t lost much since… I have been eating well but not denying myself things I like….like beer! I am definably moderating but working on consistency and rewarding myself…
Great work Mark! In the spin class ya gotta STAND UP!! No sitting! WORK THOSE LEGS!!! But seriously, I do spinning sometimes also and I’m usually sitting only about 50% of the time. Don’t wear padded shorts as this will encourage you to sit – use that butt pain to motivate you to stand back up! Just adjust the resistance in the standup so it spins slower and work that hill climb. Also Mark, what is your progress in terms of fat loss? What percentage and weight are you now? Let us know!