Thursday 23 January 2014

In the Moment #4: That thing you do at the gym

(Unfortunately photos in this post were lost due to The Great Deletion of 2014. Some efforts to re-do photos will be made but not all posts will be redone.)

There was a lot of interest in the Fitbook that I showed in my Pre-Xmas Haul post so this post is on it and my fitness routine.

The primary reason I started going to the gym was because I couldn't carry more than one big bag of groceries home. Seriously. The bf started worrying about me because I can be clutzy. That with the fact that I was generally weak made him worry that one day I'll be barely middle-aged and break my hip from a fall. He urged me to start going to the gym to get stronger and to protect my bones. 

I signed up for Snap Fitness. They give you an assessment every 3 months to track your strength, endurance and flexibility. They tailor a workout for you and I was just following those for a while. I'm been at it for a little more than year now, and was going about 3 times a week. I've moved from 24% body fat to 20%. (I don't really worry about my weight since I know muscle weights more than fat does.) If my pants fit and my body fat composition is low, I'm pretty happy. I feel stronger, have more muscle and am more fit than I have been in a very very long time. 

I got the fitbook to help me keep track of my exercises. I use to do the same routine (more or less) for the last year but now that I'm more than just a beginner, I'm trying to switch things around and am generally exercising at 3-5 times a week now.

The Fitbook starts off with a 12 week calendar where you can broadly plan your workouts.

Then it's segmented off into individual 12 weeks, where each has a one week plan, followed by a page per day for your specific workout and your food log.

I don't use the food log at all. I was clued in by Larie about My Fitness Pal which helps you track the calories you eat. I didn't think I would keep up with it, but adding the foods and calories onto the app is pretty easy and it works.

In general, I think the fitbook is a great tool but I'm really not using the majority of it. I think I'll just use a regular spiral notebook next time and lay it out in a similar fashion. Having templates for all your charts and plans is a real help though, so this is a good tool for that.

On top of going to the gym and doing my regular routine, I have the p90X videos for at-home workouts and an account on Tribe Sports which has amazing workout infographics. Here's a couple below. The great thing about Tribesports is the challenges they have and the community of fitness enthusiasts. I don't take part fully in the community but it's a GREAT resource for workout ideas. If you like, you can find me @jarafst on Tribesport and on My Fitness Pal.



The super beginners workout I started off doing: 
keep in mind that you should slowly increase the weight and number of reps, but no more than 12
20 mins cardio, usually on the elliptical
10 Arnold Presses (I started at 5lbs but am on 15lbs now)
10 pushups


x3

10 goblets squats (I forget where I started but I'm onto 30lbs now)
1 min plank
20 twist sit ups (10 each side with feet off the floor)
x3

Now I switch anything from the above with:
lunges with weights
hip raises
pull ups
various arm things
step ups
or anything else I could think of.

So there you go. Don't hurt yourself. 
How do you take care of your body?

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