Winter exercise

[Tambudzai]

Hi Everyone!

I'm new to the site but thought I'd jump right in with this 2 week challenge. Just a little background about me: I biked and walked a lot over the summer and got in better shape than I'd ever been in my life. As the weather's been getting cold here in Ohio, I was looking for a way to stay motivated to keep exercising and found this site.

My goal for this challenge is to make exercise a habit. Here's my plan for the next week and a half:

-At least one 30-minute toning workout (with dumbbells) this week and at least two workouts next week

-On days I don't do the toning workout, one of the following:

   -a 30-minute walk

   -A short yoga session (just the warmup stretches), with 1-2 longer sessions during the challenge

The strategy here is to do something every day, even if it's just for a short amount of time, and to always make exercising inside an option, because it is super cold outside! I want to do everything I can to set myself up for success. Any tips? Please comment.

Peace!  

 

[Kishi]

Doing a thing every day is a great place to start. Also, building walks and yoga into your routine is a great way to have some form of active recovery in place. Your body will thank you for that.

 

There's really not a lot to do at this point as far as tips go. Maybe, if you wanted to make your walks more intense, you could drop and do a set of burpees every mile or half mile or whatever, but really, no need to get complicated. Just do it!

[Tambudzai]

Thanks for the comment, Kishi! I'll have to look up what burpees are and try that sometime.

 

I got sick Christmas night and tried but did not do any exercise.

 

Today, I took a 30 minute walk at a brisk pace, got my heartrate up a little, but nothing like intense.

 

I'm planning to add an extra workout this week to make up for missing a day; I'll do yoga and toning tomorrow and a walk Saturday, since it's supposed to warm up. 

[Kishi]

Well, exercising whilst sick isn't always a smart move. Depends on where the sick is. If it got in your stomach, then not working out was the right idea.

 

And don't worry about intense walks. Walking isn't something you do to bring the intensity. It's mobility work, and the better calorie-burning aspects occur on account of the fatty acid mobilization that occurs naturally during a walk. It's not a straight matter of energy expenditure; it's a matter of hormonal shift.

 

Anyway, if you find the extra energy, do work out. If not, no big deal. Life is heavy enough, right?

[Tambudzai]

Today I did a very short yoga session and was going to do a workout tape later. Instead, got invited to use a friend's guest pass at the gym and spent about 20 minutes on the elliptical, then did a little bit of upper body lifting.

 

I didn't record the number of reps I did, but I could tell I'm not as strong as I used to be, especially in my arms. That will probably be my focus in the upcoming 6-week challenge.

[Tambudzai]

 

 

And don't worry about intense walks. Walking isn't something you do to bring the intensity. It's mobility work, and the better calorie-burning aspects occur on account of the fatty acid mobilization that occurs naturally during a walk. It's not a straight matter of energy expenditure; it's a matter of hormonal shift.

 

Anyway, if you find the extra energy, do work out. If not, no big deal. Life is heavy enough, right?

 Thanks for the information on walking; I've learned so much about fitness from people on this site! It makes sense that walking would fall into the fat burning category of exercise.

 

Thanks for the encouragement!

[Kishi]

All around strength will help you. If you want to get strong arms, all you need is a pull up bar and a floor to do some push ups. It's really that simple.

[Tambudzai]

Last workout of the week: walked for 30 minutes in the beautiful weather today!

[Tambudzai]

Yesterday I did the Beginner's Body Weight Circuit Workout from this site for the first time. It was great, and I think I'll keep going with it, but those lunges kill!

I was really sore today, so I did some yoga stretches.

[Kishi]

Mm, good active recovery there. Keep the muscles moving and circulating nutrients.

[Tambudzai]

Yesterday, I did the body weight circuit again with a big improvement over Monday's workout. On Monday I couldn't get through all the lunges and was sore immediately afterward. Yesterday, I got through 2 circuits with no soreness at all!

Today I did what's called an "energizing flow" in my yoga book. It's a combo of stretches, balancing poses, and some strengthening. I went easy on the strengthening poses since yesterday was the body weight circuit. All together it only took about 20 minutes, so I'll be working toward longer yoga sessions. Still, it felt good; I was just in too much of a hurry to do a longer session.

[Kishi]

Heck yeah. anything that leads you to feeling energized is probably good in the long run.

 

Also, way to level up on the bodyweight work! Finding new reps is fun.