Chaz1138’s BodyBlog

Okay … so today as the day where I upped my resistance/intensity because I did a good job last week.  So I went from Level 9 to Level 10 on the recumbent bike.  Now, level 9 offers some resistance, but not a lot.  I was doing 30 minutes with ease.

But Level 10 is a whoooooole different ball of wax.  Pushing the pedals was like trying to drive a Flinstone’s era ATC through a couple feet of thick mud.  For those of you not familiar with how Flintstone vehicles worked, check out this video:

Imagine trying to mud bog with Fred’s car powered by your own two feet.  Most of the time, I barely got over 70 rpms, but I still burned off my 250+ calories for my effort.

I also upped my elliptical to Level 11, but that barely added more resistance.

*sighs*

Well, I weighed myself this morning and, according to the new digital scales, I have gained 10 lbs since February.  But my man-boobs have shrunk ‘way down, so go figure …
Not happy with that (referring to the weight gain, not my shrinking man-boobs) especially since I have started doing an hour of cardio in the morning, in the gym in the building where I work.  I burn off just slightly over 600 calories doing 30 mins of recumbent bike, on level 9, and then 28 minutes on the elliptical on level 10.

Maybe I need to see a dietician … ?

Who have you always dreamed of becoming? What have you always dreamed of doing? How have you always dreamed of living?

There are dreams, and then there are dreams. There are dreams which are merely fantasies and then there are the ones you actually bring to life with your time, your effort and your commitment. The dreams you bring to life are the dreams that have the power to change your life and to change the whole world for the better.

How much life are you giving to your dreams? How much energy do you put into living life on your own terms, into fulfilling the special possibilities that are yours and yours alone?

Take the time and listen to your heart. Invest your time and energy in following your highest and best dreams. They are yours for a reason. Follow your dreams. In so doing you’ll bring out your best while contributing to life, and the world around you, in your own special way.

Ralph Marston

Well … I finally broke a bit of a barrier and got down to 210 as of this morning!!!  WOOO HOOO!!!

I have also made some amount of progress with my workouts, too.

I recently went from 4 minutes to 5 minutes on my Ab Lounge and yesterday morning, because I knew I wasn’t going to do a full workout, I took my ab lounge workout as far as I cold and went for 10:36!  I might have been able to go farther, but the Ab Lounge has some kind of bar or supposrt that started pressing inot my back at around 7 or 8 minutes, so I stopped at the end of the 2nd song on my new workout mix CD.

I have also increased my arm workouts by 1 rep going from 2 x 7 to 2 x 8 for both close and wide grips.  I also take take that last rep and do it very sloooooowly, making sure to let it down over a period of as many seconds as I can handle.

Finally, the new gym where I work will be open within a week or so.  You have to take an orientation course, so I signed up for that this coming Monday, early evening.  I will finally be able to work out with real weights, as opposed to just using my Healthrider and my body weight.

Once I am in there for a while, and I get to know the rhythms of the place, maybe I will be able to make and post some workout videos.

Last week, I got hit by that damn virus that has been going around; it is that time of year.  I don’t have sick time where I work, and I work for one of America’s largest health insurance companies.  They just give you an allotment of Paid Time Off and you have to divvy it up between vacation, personal days and sick time.

The virus was draining me of every last dram of energy and I was a complete zombie driving into work, so I suspended my workouts until I recovered.  I was beginning to feel better after having changed my diet to accomodate large amounts of bananas & OJ to combat  the virus and got my first workout in this morning.

Unfortunately, now I feel drained all over again …

God, I want to get better quickly and hit my routine hard again …

21:10, 1014 reps, 316 calories burned!!!
Also added changed my back workout to 2×15 instead of 3×10 and added 1 rep to my arms for 2×7 close grip and 2×7 wide grip.

BOOYAH!!!

20:04, 890 reps for my legs!!!

This morning:

20:10, 858 reps, 48 reps/min/ave, with bodyweight, 268 calories burned - JUST FOR MY LEGS!

YEAH, BABY!!!

Well … last week I broke 20 minutes on my legs, making 800 reps with bodyweight!!!

WOOO HOOO!!!!!

I also ratcheted up my ab workout from 3:00 (minutes) to 3:45.  I like to take my abs and do them to the length of a song because I don’t have any easy way to monitor my time, like my Healthrider’s performance monitor.  Originally, I was using Vespertilio (2:52 + 8 seconds)  from the Batman Begins soundtrack.  Now, I am using No Such Thing from Chris Cornell’s Carry On.  It is 3:45.

While I am not adding reps or weight to my back and arm workouts, those reps are getting a lot easier each week. 

I made a some progress tonight.  I haven’t added more time to my workout, but I did manage to bump my total reps to 884, burning 278 calories!!!  I have not changed my last set of 6 sets of 10 "curls", so I must be getting more reps in on my back and legs.

I think the key might be that:

a) I am having a small meal a couple of hours before I workout, usually protein and carbs, with some amount of fat, like a meat and cheese sandwich or pasta and meatballs.  And

b) I have some small snack, like a demitasse or two of dark chocolate with a 500 mg taurine pill 20 - 40 mins before I workout.  And I suddenly have much more energy and endurance!

And I think I am building small amounts of muscle …