rpearcemoses

I second jeremymboyum! If you're going to working out alone, consider podcasts. They've made a huge difference in my workouts. I used to listen to music, but the beat was often off my physical routine (I'm clumsy enough as it is). Listening to the news was, frankly, depressing. I really recommend RadioLab (WNYC), The American Life, and TedTalks. Interesting, entertaining, sometimes very moving. I often get ideas that I incorporate into my work. Although I couldn't listen to the one about a woman having heart surgery! You'd think someone programming since 1968 would have figured it out sooner, and I suspect you know how to do this. But what clicked for me to make it practical was using my phone, rather than a separate player. I download them when I'm connected to wifi so I can listen to them anywhere without hitting my data plan. Keep going. You're one of the ones inspiring me to stay on target. Not because you're perfect, but because you get in the game. (Today is a day I'm going to need that inspiration.)

Haven't posted much, but have been following my routine and making slow progress. I'm not sure what to call the next level up from "I suck," so I'll say "Doesn't suck." Hardly something to aspire to, but by comparison - an improvement. Doubled my endurance on the treadmill from ten to twenty minutes. As I said, "Doesn't suck." I'm sleeping much better. (No surprise.) And, I'm sleeping more - including naps. One of the reasons I haven't been posting. <g> Going to try doing two sets of the BBWW starting this week, and will continue to add a few minutes to the treadmill each day. Thank god for podcasts to keep the walks and treadmill from being deathly boring. RadioLab, This American Life, and Ted Talks.

Cleatorus, part of the challenge of exercising the past several years is that I've very much put the job first. Major time investment, major commitment. All good, and I'm really proud of what I've accomplished. It was (except for my husband) the single most important thing in my life. A big sourec of stress, and unfortunately food is my comfort. The end of this challenge is also the beginning of my retirement. I'm already slowing down at work, so it's easier to make exercise important. One my big retirement goals is to get in much better shape. Not impossible or unrealistic. Before this job, I was in decent enough shape.

Tues, Week 2: B+ Did the walk to the clubhouse and fifteen minutes on the elliptical.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm really struggling with the lunges in BBWW. A big part of the problem is that I'm out of shape - the first time I did the BBWW, I was really sore. I assume I'll become more graceful with practice, but in the meantime my form is pretty awful. Any advice on balance and coordination when doing the lunges? -- R

My wife was thrilled with the work done . . . but I am a bit disappointed that its yet another project of mine that is taking longer than expected. Let "my wife was thrilled" balance the fact that the project is taking longer than expected. Happiness in a relationship is not to be underestimated. Estimating time to do something is tough, especially if it's not something you do on a routine basis.

Didn't do my full workout Sunday. Did the walk, but not the elliptical. Realized I was still tired, and I may have tackled more than I can handle at the moment. That would be a C, but I'm okay with it. Monday, did the BBWW. Better than last week. Still really uncoordinated on the lunges. Added some crunches to compensate for my problem doing the plank; I know my core muscles are still really out of condition. Gave myself a C+ for today. Overall for last week, a C for the BBWW and a B for the cardio, so a C+ for the week. I'm okay with that. It was my first week, and I was starting from really out of shape. I've got five more weeks to get in better shape. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Took today off as a rest day. Felt like I needed it, as I was really tired. I was feeling run down, in spite of a good night's sleep. At some point, I realized I was just plain sore from the workouts. (Duh.) Took a couple of Tylenol, and the aches went away. Ready to get back in the groove tomorrow.

Eskcanta, I read through your post last night and don't have time to respond at length. Also, a full response would veer more into pedagogy than fitness. As a preface, note that my comments relate to a graduate program, not high school. And, I can't speak to your specific experience. (I had my own adventures in HS.) Grad programs are voluntary, something students elect to do; so I expect them to enter the program fully aware of the commitment. (And I tell prospective students how much work it's going to be before admitting them to the program.) HS, and to the extent that an undergraduate degree is becoming more a requisite for many jobs, is less voluntary. Also, I'm committed to seeing my students succeed, and I provide lots of office hours and I customize their courses to the extent I can. At the same time, as a professional program, students are going to have to have mastered some key concepts, or they won't succeed in their jobs - if they can even get past the interview. Having said that, the hardest thing I have to do as a graduate professor is grade students. It's hard because there are a number of factors to consider. First, did the student actually master the content? (That's what I care about most.) This isn't black or white. They may get the gist, they may get some parts well and miss other parts entirely, they may do great, they may do miserable. I've even had students turn in brilliant work that was completely different from what the assignment asked them to do. (I've had them all.) Second, how much effort did the student put into the assignments? I'm not in the 'A for Effort' camp, but I do recognize that students who invest a lot of time mastering difficult material is different from a student for whom the content comes easily. (A lot of the former have little or no experience in the field, so it's all new to them; the latter often have significant experience, so they're already comfortable with a lot of the ideas.) Third, how are students being graded? Relative to each other, or relative to some explicit expectation? If the former, some will always fail because the results have to conform to a bell curve. If the latter, everyone can make As if they all meet the expectations. I go for the latter: do the students meet reasonable expectations for a professional program? What's interesting is that even using that standard, grads typically follow a bell curve. Some do outstanding work, some don't do at all well, and most are in the middle. Grading is about judging people. Ick. One of the hard lessons that I've had to learn is that I'm don't do poorly performing students a favor by coddling them through early courses, only to see them bomb out at the end. Most take out loans, and they'll have debt (even though we're an inexpensive program). Worse, they won't have the professional job to help them earn a good salary to repay that debt. The longer they're in the program, the larger the debt. (I hate student loans and encourage students to go to school part time and work so they can pay as they go.) Many students really want to get a job in the field, but just don't have the chops. Part of the trick is to not be mean, help the student to recognize for themselves that they're not doing the work. Grading is also about being honest with the students. I think most of my students agree with the grades I assign. A great student got a lower grade, but he also knew that due to his work schedule he didn't have the time to commit to the coursework. You're exactly right that grades shouldn't be about bullying students, and no doubt some instructors may do that. (Likewise, students shouldn't bully their instructors, and that happens occasionally, too.) Honesty may be painful sometimes, but that doesn't mean it's bullying. I don't feel like I'm bullying myself with my grades. I'm being honest with myself. I'm in horrible shape. That's not an exaggeration, and it's not me being hard on myself. I'll take responsibility for sitting in front of a computer (teaching my students) for five years, with almost not physical exercise. So, like the student whose job got in the way of coursework, I understand why I am where I am. The fact that I can't do the exercises today doesn't mean I'm a bad person or won't be able to do them tomorrow. I'm just not kidding myself that I'm something I'm not. And, my expectations for A work are realistic, so I can get there by the end of the "course".

You mention that you're "morbidly obese." Just so you know, when I'm struggling, I'm thinking of a colleague in Sweden. A few years back, she would have been considered morbidly obese. She's running marathons now! She's my inspiration. You should know, though, that she's not a super skinny track star. She's still pretty heavy - especially when compared to others who run marathons. Given who she is, she'll probably always be heavy. She's really proud of herself - and she has admirers around the world (and should, too). Go for happy and healthy. Focus on what you can do to increase your happiness and health. At the end of the day, remind yourself of everything you did that day towards those goals and promise yourself to do more the next day. (This self-talk can really help.) And you thought I was being hard on myself! You go!

Eskcanta, thanks for the encouragement! Maybe I am being a bit tough on myself. At the same time, I'm trying to think objectively about my performance relative to my goals. Today, I may be doing C/B work, but that's because I'm new at this. In a couple weeks, with practice and perseverance, I'll be doing much better because I'll be closer to my goals. Maybe I need to give myself two grades. One for the level of exercise and another for effort. So far, I'd be pulling an A for effort because I've done work every day. Also, thanks for the reminder about rest. This morning, I was really clumsy doing the lunges, in part because I was tired.

Looking back at how you're going to grade yourself, your goals are for the week, not each day. (Smart, if you ask me.) Don't waste energy beating up on yourself for missing a day. Find some way to channel that energy into making sure you do a bit more the next day. Did you do other things that work towards your overarching goals, even if not the specific goal? I say that like it's easy. The biggest challenge for me is to just do it. So I give myself credit for even starting a workout of some sort, and I'm (trying to be) patient when I don't do a particularly good workout - at least I did something.

According to my schedule, I'm supposed to take Thursdays off. I forgot and did the cardio stuff, not that an extra workout is bad. Because rain was threatening, instead of walking to and from the clubhouse, I did the same amount of time on a treadmill. Then I did a full ten minutes on the elliptical. I'll give myself a B+ again. Caught the ball with a tiny bit of forward progress. I'll be much more willing to give myself an A when I get to fifteen minutes on the elliptical without a break. Other fun facts for the day. The doc put me on a seven day heart monitor to make sure a couple of blood pressure oddities are, in fact, just oddities. Here's the challenge: the treadmill stress test got moved up three weeks, so I have three less weeks to be in shape for it! Talk about motivation!

Eskcanta, thanks for the note. Read "I such" with a grain of salt. I suck now, but I expect that I won't have to say that at the end of six weeks. I may not be a superhero then, but I'll be in much better shape. By the way, the grading rubric is based on how I grade my students. Many of them are accustomed to getting As as undergrads. I tell them that in grad school, just mastering the material isn't enough. They have to engage it, embrace it, and play with it. I use a football game analogy. If you just show up at the game, but are unprepared or don't participate, that's a D. If you make an effort, but are fumbling the ball or lose ground, that's a C. If you catch the ball, that's a B. I also tell them that a B is a good, solid grade in grad school. But, to get the A, they have to catch the ball and make forward progress. A touchdown is doing something really interesting and novel with the ideas. Getting a B+ the day before was easier. I biked extensively as a younger man, and I still have most of my strength in my legs. That day's routine was an elliptical, and I made my simple goal plus a couple of minutes. So, caught the ball, and a bit of forward progress. The Cs come from the days I do the body weight workout. Never had much upper body strength, and sitting at a desk with minimal activity for five years means that I don't have a lot of endurance beyond typing. (If only typing were aerobic!) So I'm showing up and putting in effort, but not really catching the ball. I did ten minutes (yes, just a measly ten minutes), which is barely catching the ball. When I can get to twenty minutes, I'll be happier. But I was happy that I did a couple more minutes than the first day.