Working Out

Today marks the end of Week 4 of my new daily workout regimen. This is pretty major for me - I've never had a regular workout before. I've been a member of a gym before, but did not have a set schedule for when to go. I'm a fairly active person anyway, but have never done anything so organized.

I decided to do an at-home workout, and the one I found has been great - ie, kicked my butt and had results. I like the workout because I don't need any workout equipment to do it, just balance! It's from Women's Health mag - check it out.

I'm doing well at most of those exercises now after four weeks, but the hardest one is that stupid bird-dog push-up. Sure, it might look do-able on paper, but just try it. You will immediately look and feel like an idiot, plus you might injure yourself as you crumple to the floor. This regimen has made me realize how poor my balance (and strength!) is, but thankfully it's improved the more I've done it. Except that I still can't do more than one bird-dog push-up at a time. So I've modified it to be a bit easier but still get results (the knee is on the floor).

The rest of the exercises are challenging, but I can do them. That first one is similar to the bird-dog one in that it may look easy on paper, but go ahead right now and try to do that without falling down. It takes a bit to train yourself to do it, and it clearly works the core muscles.

Another challenge to add to these exercises is this: a cat. Tuesday just loves to come visit me while I'm doing this workout, and she's clearly given herself some challenges:

• How many times can I get in the way?
• In how many different manners can I get in the way?

She is also succeeding in her challenges. It's fun to do push-ups (normal and bird-dog style) when a cat decides the best place to lay down and take a bath is right under you. It's fun to do sit-ups when a cat lays down next to you and puts her head on your arm and drools. She has learned to not get in the way of the windshield wiper exercise, because she's gotten kneed in the head several times now. I'd incorporate her into the workout by lifting her, as she'd be a 12.5lb weight, except that I don't want a weight that's quick to use its teeth and claws.

Anywho, I do those exercises MWF and thanks to the wonders of Craigslist, I do cardio T-Th. Craigslist found us a cheap recumbent exercise bike just down the street from us. We had a good workout just getting it to our basement, but now it's down there permanently and it's nice to bike for 20 minutes each morning while listening to the radio.

I've started doing this workout regiment with the hopes of training myself to be a healthier, more fit person. This has come to me as my 30th birthday looms and I keep having friends tell me that once you hit 30, your metabolism moves out and fat takes over its lease.

The first two weeks were easy on this regiment, minus the soreness, but I was very motivated to stick with it. Since then, it's been amazing - I can actually hear that voice creep into my head each morning (I get up 20 minutes earlier now to do this) that says, "You're tired, stay in bed, one day missed won't matter." My willpower and my laziness have gotten into fistfights over the past two weeks, and thankfully my willpower is winning the battle. I hope to keep it that way.

Anyone else sticking with a workout plan?