My Gym Life – Week 3

I joined LA Fitness two weeks ago, after having gone through a free week previously giving myself and the gym a test run. I can’t believe it’s been three weeks already. Wow! And it’s already starting to pay off. I wish I could say I already looked like my picture to the left, circa early 2002 … but I have lost 8 lbs already.

Way back in August of 2001 I started back to the gym “the first time.” Well at least the first time in Seattle. My weight then was around 242 lbs. It was the heaviest I had been at the time. My goal then was to be under 200 lbs by my 45th birthday, January 20, 2002. With the help of a great trainer, whom I worked with for a few months, I reached my goal weight. I was 198 lbs by my birthday.

This time around I have a similar goal … but who knows if it’s possible to lose almost 80 lbs in that same amount of time & do it safely. Right now I can’t afford a trainer. So I’ll give it another month using all the knowledge and routines I picked up from my old trainer. Plus I have books and Men’s Health to augment and improve on that knowledge. But it is kind of nice to have someone to help motivate you.

Since I started back this time around … I have been going 3 times a week … Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday is cardio, chest, back, abs. Tuesday is cardio, arms: tris and bis. Friday is cardio, legs and shoulders. My workouts are planned out. Being the geek I am … I have a Filemaker database set up with layouts for each workout routine. The fields for exercises are editable so as I add more, or replace others, I can change things up as my workouts evolve. I don’t ever add my workout stats to the database. I just carry a pen with me on my workouts and fill in the date of the workout, weight used, reps per set, and settings for any machines I use. I still have all my Bally’s sheets to look back at too. The workout sheets are also printed double-sided. So exercises can be split between front and back. I also print them on heavier 8.5″ x 11″ card stock, so they will endure their 3 month gym lifespan. You can download an editable PDF version of my sheet here.

One would think that I’d use some sort of iPhone app while I was working out. But I get way too sweaty to use my iPhone like that. Though I would if I could. There is also the unspoken code of the gym. Using one’s iPhone might not be “manly” enough. Carrying around a pen and paper, is kind of on the border … but still within acceptable parameters. Real men, of course, don’t keep track of there progress. I don’t want to upset those pretty muscle boys too much. It would make it harder to ogle them. Woof!

It sure does feel good to be back. It feels better, because I’ve been able to do 50 minutes of cardio. I break that up so I do 25 minutes for warm-up, then another 25 minutes at the end of my weight workout. I even started adding intervals on Friday. Which in the long run will shorten the amount of time I’ll need to do cardio. You’ve got to love that!

And with my trusty new iPod Nano that Chris bought me … I’m ready to go. I just pick a tune from my nanoGym playlist hit play and it shuffles through 400 + songs. It’s especially great when it plays songs I love and I’m doing cardio, because I can keep pace with the beat. I have to use all the tools at my disposal to keep me engaged. I also cover the time readout on the cardio machine, so I’m not clock watching. I wear my heart rate monitor, and that’s the only readout I watch. Then again … there are all the muscle boys to distract me too! What’s a fledgling gym-rat to do?

So that’s my week three gym report. Don’t know if it’s will be exciting to do this on a weekly basis. But like everything else … we’ll see.