Kicking My Ass

I did one of my P90X workouts at home on Sunday.  Gave myself a little pat on the back for actually doing it.  As I got about halfway through I realized, I'm getting stronger.  Little by little, but I am.  I'm not sprawled out on the floor panting, I am keeping decent pace.  I rock.  This of course was followed up on Monday with incredibly sore legs.  You know you are embracing exercise into your life when your legs are super sore and you think to yourself, Sweet!  I know I did something right.

I think most girls have at one point or another felt like they were a bit of a masochist.  Whether it was a toxic relationship, a grueling program at school, a relentless demanding job, or any negative yet technically optional situation they find themselves in.  Like being pessimistic, or self defeating, making things harder than they have to be on yourself.

Working out is the perfect subsitute for that.  Beat yourself up, literally. 

I've been trying to use up my massage money before the end of the year.  I've always liked an intense deep tissue massage.  My regular girl is good, but I recently found another girl at the same place that takes it to a whole other level.  On my visits to her I find myself focusing on breathing through the pain and convincing myself to suck it up because I'm being a baby.  I even love the pain I feel for the rest of the day because it means something is happening.  Things are getting worked out.  This pain means things are getting better.

Sand Man

I’m starting to get into a groove with working out.  The past couple weeks have been pretty successful as far as going to the gym and going to yoga class.  The days where I had planned to do morning workouts at home have been a big fat fail.  If anything I’ve been coming very close to being late for work, so clearly a far cry from getting up early.

I love the feeling of going home after the gym, getting off the train and walking that last block to my house knowing that my workout is done and I can do whatever I feel like from now until I go to bed.  I would imagine that getting up and working out before work must feel 100 times better than that.  A guy friend of mine that goes to the gym and is a morning person describes morning workouts as something nobody can take away from you, it’s done.

Ah but I still can’t seem to do it.  I’ve tried going to bed early, but my roommates are still up and I can hear the TV clear as day throughout our small apartment.  So I’ve tried going to bed and reading a book, but I really like the books I’m currently reading so instead of putting me to sleep I keep trying to squeeze in another chapter which results in me staying up later than I planned.  Flash is a snorer.  It’s a nightmare.  I have on occasion slept on the couch to get away from it.  It’s not so much loud as it is annoying.  Any wheezing whistling sound you can think of, he does it.  This also adds to the amount of time it takes me to fall asleep.  Usually I just end up getting to the point where I’m so exhausted I can fall asleep despite it.  I guess getting enough sleep is the first step.

I have begun to enjoy going to the gym.  Going straight there after work has increased my success rate.  Flash has been going to the hole-in-the-wall gym in our building to run and he has been going later and later.  Usually he goes around 8 or 9 pm because the gym is empty then.  I know that wouldn’t work for me.  I would hate to be at home thinking over and over about how I still need to go to the gym.  All I used to do for the first hour after work was watch Oprah, or whatever else is on TV now that Oprah is done, so I don’t feel like I’m losing that much of my evening.  On days where I go to a 5:45 pm or later yoga class I do feel like it eats into my evening.  Maybe I’ll start looking into doing yoga on the weekends instead.

My Friend the Gym

This past week I did pretty good with workouts.  Monday was a holiday so I did my core workout during the day.  Tuesday and Wednesday I went to the gym after work and Thursday I went to yoga.  Friday I failed to get up and do my morning workout and I didn't have the living room to myself on Saturday either.  I seem to be the most successful with going to the gym after work.  So as much as I want to use my dvds, if I can't motivate myself to get up in the mornings and use them then the chances of me consistently doing them are slim to none.  I just don't have enough control over who's home and when to guarantee myself the living room.

So I'm going to keep on with the gym and put more emphasis on trying to plan out workouts.  I like my gym.  So far I mostly use the machines.  I like weights a lot more than I like cardio.  The thing I haven't done much of at the gym is non machine workouts.  There is a small area where you can lie on a mat and do whatever, but it's super small.  There's another area in the back of the gym that is bigger where you can also do these things, but sometimes there's a bootcamp class in there.  The gym is quite small so space can be an issue at times.

Time to get out my fitness stuff and plan some workouts.

A Workout Schedule

I meant to post on September 1, as it was the one year anniversary of my happiness project, but I didn't feel much like celebrating.  This long weekend has been lazy.  I've spent most of it sitting in bed reading.

I sat down and went through some of my fitness stuff.  The P90X dvds I have outline workouts to do each week.  

1. Core Synergistics - (mornings at home)

2. Cardio (gym)

3. Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper (gym)

4. Yoga (class)

5. Legs & Back, Ab Ripper (mornings at home)

6. Kenpo (at home)

7. Rest

If I start with Core Synergistics on Monday, then I only need to get up two mornings a week.  The Kenpo dvd is also done at home but day 6 is Saturday so it doesn't necessarily have to be done at 6am.  Yoga falls on Thursdays and I will use my pre-paid classes that need to be done before they expire.

Today, being Monday, I attempted to do my Core Synergistics.  I finally had to kick Flash out of the house when I saw an opportunity to have an hour alone to do it.  I got about a third of the way through and remembered how hard the dvds are.  I'd always been athletic, good at sports, stronger than I looked.  I sat there watching the rest of the dvd playing out realizing how out of shape I am.  This draggy tired feeling follows me everywhere.  I want to work out to have more energy, but it takes energy to work out.  It's a constant battle to motivate myself.