My Exercise, My Weakness

[jmfargo]

My arms are sore, but it's a good hurt.

My back hurts, but not like it did before.

My legs throb, and I like it.

I'm doing an exercise program where I start out doing very, very small things. Push ups against the wall, for example, or sitting in a chair lifting my legs straight up in front of me. As I get better at those very, very small things I "level up" to very small things. From very small things we go to small things, then medium things, then big things!

Big things, even medium things, may very easily be a couple years away. I've been out of shape for all of my adult life; undoing that lifetime of not doing the things to get me in better shape is going to take a while.

I know I've talked about fitness a lot before. I've made grand promises about how much I wanted to get done and all the change I saw coming in the future. Time and time again I've started out all "Rah, rah, rah!" Time and time again I've failed.

Here's the thing:

I've been doing these exercises for over two months now. This isn't the blush of a new love, we've been seeing each other for a couple months now and I'm still happy.

I can even see some changes happening in my arms and legs. Small changes, to be sure, but changes! More changes than I've seen in the past.

It feels good, even if it hurts a little.

Comments

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

i love watching and feeling the changes. I've been seriously working out for around 3 years now: 6 months "prehab" before ACL replacement surgery, and then I have kept going.

I push the goals out and out but still marvel at my successes: this geekgirl body can do what now? =) It is a happiness and an investment in my eldering.

[jfargo.livejournal.com]

I feel ridiculous with how doing barely anything tires me out. I also feel proud that I'm doing anything at all. I feel ridiculous about how proud I feel with the small improvements I've made.

But hey, pride is there, and I'm absolutely okay with being ridiculous. In fact, I pride myself on that too.

One of the reasons I'm doing it is because I want to be around as long as possible for my daughter. I have to lose some weight and put on some muscle to (theoretically) up that amount of time.

Or at the very least I can show her the benefits of being fit, once I find them myself.

i wish you joyful movement.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

I find it most productive to focus on building muscle, increasing balance, strength, and functionality. I also tried using a paid weight loss program many years ago and gained every thing back , actually gained double what I'd lost! Famine setpoints are simply not easy to circumvent, no matter what you do.

I do *look* like I've "lost weight" because muscle takes up less space than fat. And I've lost a measurable amount of fat.

Also: some exercises help you bulk up and get stronger, and others make your muscles lean and strong. Think about exploring a wide variety of movement types so you can figure out what you enjoy and what you want to stick with for awhile.

Turns out that my sport is DANCE. But I never danced before my 20's, so I didn't know how much I loves it till then.

Re: i wish you joyful movement.

[jfargo.livejournal.com]

Thank you; I appreciate your help.

The exercises I'm doing now are intended to bulk up (mostly). One of the interesting things of being a large (fat) guy is that people have always expected me to be strong. I never really have been and I want that to change, so I'm trying to bulk up, every-so-slowly.

I've been wanting to learn how to dance but always feel so uncoordinated. I know that, like everything else, it takes practice; I just hate feeling like I have two left feet.

[kmg-365.livejournal.com]

I've been having a similar affair with that damsel known as exercise, and we celebrated our one-year anniversary last December. When I told my former manager about my relationship six months into it he told me that it will become a part of my lifestyle. And it has.

I have reached a point now where I have plateaued from a weight-loss perspective and, to be honest, regardless of what Wii Fit and Samsung's S Health might think, I do not need to lose any more weight. So the exercise is primarily maintenance now. I did something to my shoulder earlier in the year so I haven't been able to do all of my weight exercises and I actually miss doing them.

And just so you know, if you continue with progressions it will always hurt a little, but it is a good kind of hurt. :-)

[rain-herself.livejournal.com]

Is this some kind of standard program you're using, or did you make it up yourself?

[jfargo.livejournal.com]

I'm using the basics of Convict Conditioning with a few things thrown in and a few things taken out. They have a nice progression to them that allows me to start out with my "I have zero muscle" self and get me to a higher level, even if it's not the "one-armed push-ups" level.

[rain-herself.livejournal.com]

Neat, I'm going to look at it. I have the same problem and it's been hard for me to find a starting place.

[jfargo.livejournal.com]

Convict Conditioning (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XIZN5M/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004XIZN5M&linkCode=as2&tag=fathfail-20)


It's not perfect and the book itself is kinda crappy (it's more about why it's a great book and less about the workout) but the workout itself seems to be helping.

[rain-herself.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks!