Blah Blah Cardio
I took Toni's advice to pust myself harder. Well, at least partially. (I'm referring to the comments of the previous entry in case you have no idea what I'm talking about.) I hit the gym last night and ended up on one of the ellipticals with arms. (The gym was pretty crowded.) I decided to try and see if I could get my heart rate up higher than my previous average (131-134) and sustain a workout at that rate.
With the arms, I was able to quickly get my heart rate up. In fact, I ended up at about 155 after a few minutes of warmup. I wondered, can I keep this going for a whole workout? I kept it up until the clock hit 25 minutes. I noticed I was sweating a lot more than usual (using the towel in the middle of the workout) so I could definitely feel the difference. And then I did a five-minute cooldown, which ended up being about 137 bpm. Higher than my previous average. I ended up with an average of 145.
Last night, I had to stretch a lot before getting to sleep. Today, my muscles are a little sore. I definitely feel like I worked out harder. I'm not sure if I could do this every time; I might have to work up to it. But I'm going to aim for the 140s next time and see how it goes.
This week I won't be going to the gym; I'll be going to my parents' house and using their pool. I'll definitely be mindful of the need to keep up my working out--do laps and so forth. But I love swimming so much that it feels like a total treat; not a workout at all.
With the arms, I was able to quickly get my heart rate up. In fact, I ended up at about 155 after a few minutes of warmup. I wondered, can I keep this going for a whole workout? I kept it up until the clock hit 25 minutes. I noticed I was sweating a lot more than usual (using the towel in the middle of the workout) so I could definitely feel the difference. And then I did a five-minute cooldown, which ended up being about 137 bpm. Higher than my previous average. I ended up with an average of 145.
Last night, I had to stretch a lot before getting to sleep. Today, my muscles are a little sore. I definitely feel like I worked out harder. I'm not sure if I could do this every time; I might have to work up to it. But I'm going to aim for the 140s next time and see how it goes.
This week I won't be going to the gym; I'll be going to my parents' house and using their pool. I'll definitely be mindful of the need to keep up my working out--do laps and so forth. But I love swimming so much that it feels like a total treat; not a workout at all.
5 Comments:
The more you do it the better you'll get and the more awesome you'll feel. I remember the first time I ran a whole mile I was like, "OMG!! I just ran a f*$&ing mile!!" And now if I only run a mile I feel like I'm slacking off, though I haven't been running at all lately due to an injury.
I love your posts on BFD so I had to read this blog. Being from Louisiana your crawfish experience is too funny. I really think you have to be from the South to really love eating them. The cardio blahs are common. One way to overcome this is to work out only 10 to 15 minutes on a different cardio machines. When boredom strikes I will do 15 on the bike, 10 climbing stairs, 15 on eliptical. Pastaqueen is right the more you do the better you will feel and suddenly you will be hooked. I never in a million years thought that I could be a gym rat but now the gym is my biggest social outlet.
Added to the comment on the previous entry: I wouldn't worry about pushing your heart rate too high, unless you have a medical condition which makes it silly to do so. You'll feel when it's too hard.
These guidelines are a bit one-size-fits-all anyway. When trying to work out what we should be aiming for, my husband and I took resting heart rate tests (adjusted for sex, age etc). He is a fast runner and much fitter than me, and also not overweight.
He came out as only just within the healthy range, and I came out as "professional athlete". Most amusing. I must have good genes!
Well done, Mo! Keep it up; it gets easier, trust me!
ahhh...i am inspired to go workout....hope it last til after 5pm....i've been sucking at getting into the gym lately.
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