Weak
I've been fairly weak-minded for the last 36 hours. Last night I skipped lifting to go look at houses. Not cool. The house looking could've waited until the weekend, but I got excited and justified it to myself. I have to learn to stop making justifications for skipping lifting. Sure its routine now, but I don't want it to feel that way. I want to consistantly be excited to go to the gym, alert and ready to work. Tonight I have to do the lifts I missed yesterday as well as 45 min of cardio. Should be fun. No! It is fun! I CAN do it. If it was easy, any one could do it. And I'm not anyone. I'm Alex, and I'm going to be the best that I can be. Am I in the Army?
My Secret Blog
He he. This is my little secret blog. I'm not going to tell a soul about it, and see how long it takes for someone to notice. Hmm...
Today was a good day in the gym. I've settled on a warm up routine which gets my blood flowing and allows me to put up some decent numbers right off that bat. I've found that its more important to get the blood flowing in my body before I lift than to stretch. Sure, I'll stretch a little bit, but if pressed for time, its better to go for a 5 min jog than to do 5 min of stretching. When I have time I'll do 5 min on bike or treadmill, followed by 10 min of stretching, which is strategically designed to target the area of the body I'm going to work. I lift twice a day (at lunch and after work) so I try to put Bench in one section and Squats in the other. No point stretching my legs when I'm not gonna use 'em! Anyway, it sounds like I'm lifting too much, but its really only about half an hour at each go, so, its manageable.
E-town says that he wants me to design a program for him for the summer. That's easy. The hard part would be making sure that he sticks with it. He's been lifting for awhile, so his core strength is solid, but lifting is really only 1/4 of what it takes: Cardio, Diet, and Mental. I don't doubt his ability to do cardio, but Diet and Mental will be an issue. Especially by yourself. This is a difficult lifestyle to lead, though it certainly gets easier.
Onset
So, I have been studying Tom Venuto's "Burn Fat, Feed Muscle" for about 2 months now. I bought the e-book and read the entire thing in one night. It completely changed the way I thought about my fitness. Until that point I had been drifting, insanely expecting changes with the same routine over and over and over. Fundamental to BFFM is that everyone is different, and thus, must have a customized workout/diet. Tom doesn't tell you what to do, he helps you understand how to analyze your body. How to chart your progress. How to think positively. Setting realistic goals, and adhering to them. I have joined a Yahoo! group for support. This is the most fit I have ever been. At least, combining my strength and cardio, it is. In high school, I played soccer, and had a bit more stamina, but nowhere near the strength. My goals are set. They are in my wallet, and I can do it.
Today I ran 4 miles during lunch. I didn't really want to do it, but I made myself, and as always, I felt incredible afterwards. Tomorrow is a lifting day. I am currently adhereing to a Hypertrophy Specific Program (HST), but only for 8 weeks, at which point I'll mix it up a little.
Miles Since 4/24/2005: 13
