This Is My Life

Thinking "out loud" here about my trips to the gym and how folks say that if you just do one exercise over and over again your body doesn't burn Calories as effectively as when you vary your routine with different exercises/machines. I trend toward the elliptical machine at the gym and want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to get in shape.

To this end, here is my plan at the gym, let me know if you see any flaws:

1.5 hours per day Monday through Friday.

Monday: 1 hour elliptical, all ab and thigh machines
Tuesday: 1 hours treadmill, arm/chest machines
Wednesday: 1 hour stationary bike, calf/leg machines
Thursday: 1 hours elliptical, arm/chest machines
Friday: 1 hour stationary bike, machines that work any muscles that aren't feeling sore at this point

Saturday and Sunday are "extra." Anything I do is good on these days. Otherwise, if I go there for Maria (I have to be there for her to work out as my guest) then I'll make sure to take advantage of the massage chair and tanning booth*.

I realize that 1.5 hours seems like a lot but I'll take it easy when I need to, especially on the treadmill. The treadmill day will actually end up being a minimalistic workout due to my plantar fasciitis which makes it dangerous to push myself too hard on something like that (I could snap some muscle/tendon thing in my foot) and the elliptical, well, I actually enjoy doing it.

Am I crazy? Maybe. Can I do it? Probably. Will I try my hardest and push myself until I some day fall gasping to the floor? Most likely.

*No, I'm not a big fan of tanning. That being said, I'm kind of tired of being the guy who is either snow white or lobster red. I'm going to get a base with the tanning beds then use it maybe once every week or every other week for a while.

So, tonight I started doing sit-ups. Well, crunches I suppose, but in my mind I still call them sit-ups, so that's what I'm going to call them here.

I can't do a lot of sit-ups, on account of two things:

1) I have a large gut that gets in the way.

2) I have a large gut with few muscles underneath it.

The best way to get rid of these two things, of course, is to do sit-ups. Well, that's just the way it is, so I'll have to deal with it.

Tonight I did 10 sit-ups. No, that's not very many, and to be truthful it's not the most I can do. My plan is to add one every night. 11 tomorrow, 12 the next day, etc, constantly pushing myself to do "one more."

Eventually, obviously, I'm going to hit a wall that I can't pass right away. It might be at 15, it might be at 50, but it will be there. All I have to do when that happens is keep pushing myself until such a time as I can do one more. Then push myself past that, and on, and on, and on.

Why sit-ups? Well, it's something I can do without any equipment, in the privacy of my own home, and it uses muscles I want to strengthen. For that same reason, I'm working on push-ups in the same manner, only even slower.

My upper arms are very weak; I can barely do wussy push-ups with my knees touching the ground. This will obviously require a lot of work. Still, the best time to start is now. I'm not even letting this horrible sore throat and chest-wracking cough get in the way.

Okay, maybe I should let that get in the way, but I'm not. If I come up with one excuse, I'll come up with 100.

Time for no excuses.

I hope.

Over at my fitness blog I've just begun measuring my waist (hips, really), stomach, and chest, but I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly. I have a wider audience here that might be able to help me out, so can any of you explain the best way to measure oneself and make sure that it's being done properly each time?

I mean, technically, I don't even know where I'm really supposed to be measuring. I just know I need a second matrix to help me figure out whether or not I'm getting in shape.

Thanks!

So, something non-Disney related:

I finally found the Wii Fit, at a local Toys 'R Us.

I bought it, ostensibly for Maria, the day after coming home from Disney on the 5th. Since then I've logged two hours worth of workout time, unlocked a bunch of pretty interesting stuff, and made my muscles burn in ways the gym never has.

I like it!

Now, I can't say it's the most fun game I've ever played, because really it's a workout. Quite literally. Most of it is just flat-out workout moves to build strength, flexibility, core muscles, etc. Sure, they add a bit of scoring to what you do and keep track of how well you balance yourself during each exercise, but that can't disguise the fact that it's a workout, and that if I had purchased it thinking it was going to be a really kick-ass, cool, fun game to get in shape with, I'd be disappointed.

However, I'm not disappointed. I knew pretty much what I was getting into, buying this for Maria*, and fully expected it to be hard work. What I didn't realize was that it was going to focus on lots of different things. I expected push-ups, and while they're there, I also get Sun Salutations**. I thought I'd see things like crunches, and I have, but I've also played some little game where I'm in a bubble going down a river and I can't touch the sides.

I think the thing I like best so far is that I can go from one thing to another. If I get bored doing Aerobics I can switch over to Yoga, or have some fun with the games that I mentioned. Strength training is hard, and if I feel like my leg muscles are getting ready to give out on me (I pushed a little too hard a little too fast) then I can move over to balance, where all my legs have to do is hold me up.

It's really nice, and I'm hoping it helps me in my attempt to lose weight. Now that I'm back from Disney, that's my next big challenge, one that I've taken seriously in the past, but never seriously enough, long enough.

Hopefully Wii Fit will help.

Now, pardon me while I go shower. Walking for hours in Florida heat didn't make me sweat as hard as a half hour on this game does.

*Have I mentioned this belongs to Maria yet? She walked to and from work yesterday, so gets a reprieve for not having logged as many hours as I have, but today I'm hoping to convince her to get up there and do some hula hooping.

**A yoga pose that I haven't quite mastered yet, but do well on.