Gym Is Open (Wednesday)

Well, I made it back to the gym after 4 days off.  Wow, it felt good!  I really sweated today.  Amazing how a few days off makes it hard again.  I did 40 min on the treadmill, then stretched for 10 minutes. What did you do to move your body today? Lori

Hi, Lori, and welcome back to the land of the sweaty!  It is amazing how hard exercise can be after only a few days off.  Luckily, it won't feel so hard after a few days back in your normal routine.   Today's a 2-a-day for me - lifting weights for upper and lower body at lunch, then 50-60 minutes of cardio after work.  I was off my routine last week and am pushing hard to stick to the plan this week (lift weights 2x, cardio 5x).  So far, so good... Kellie

Good for you Kellie!  I'm hoping to go home and do an exercise DVD devoted to abs tonight.  I got to the gym too late this morning to do more than my cardio.  I feel like I've slacked on abs, so I'm gonna do this for now! Lori

Hi, Lori! I did 30 minutes of in-line skating machine, and 30 minutes of strength training on the various weight machines (20 reps each machine @ 30 lbs).  There was one older dude who kept resting on the machines -- I wanted to taser him to get him out of the way.  I'm not sure why he rested on the machines when a chair was available not twenty feet away.  My sibling and I are going to the Rockies baseball game at noon today.  It's an outing with her work group.  Since disabled parking is at Gate A and our seats are near Gate E, I expect I'll be doing a bit of walking at the ballpark.  I'm not complaining, though, at least I can walk now. Some day, I will tell you about my experience riding on a float in the Pioneer Day Parade.     In those days, it was called "The Days of '47": and not "Pioneer Day." Kix

Kix, I think the parade and rodeo are still called "Days of '47" in celebration of Pioneer Day.  Since I'm not LDS, I don't really have the skinny on all of it.  I just enjoy the day off! Sometimes I see guys resting on our machines too.  They say that gym etiquette is that you can go up to them and ask them if they will be much longer.  I haven't tried it, but, I have had to skip some machines when I had to get going and they were being used by someone watching the tv instead of working out.  Particularly at 5 am as we are all zombies anyway. You are doing so great!!!!  You weigh much less than me now!!!  Did you ever think it????  I'm so proud of you! Lori

I sometimes handle the people "resting" on the machines by asking if "Can I work in with you?"  I've seen other people do this and it works sometimes.  It can also get people moving that are otherwise inclined to stay inert.  And as long as you don't mind swapping a little sweat by alternating turns on the machine with another user, it can help speed your workout along.  If you're so inclined, give it a try! Kellie

You know, I have noticed that too - if I don't work out for a few days it's like I practically start all over again. Weird. I am doing the whole interval thing every other day and today was what I am going to start to call "Kill Pam" day.   It does a serious number on me - let's hope I see the results! I did 27 minutes on the elliptical, 20 on the treadmill and 15 on the bike, doing the whole heart rate up and down on all but the bike.

PJ, I love "Kill Pam" Day!!!  Good for you.  It will give results, I promise! Lori

Wow, you're doing intervals every other day?  My fitness guy suggested I do them maybe once a week.  He said they are hard on our bodies and you want to make sure to allow sufficient recovery time between interval sessions.  If you're doing this every other day, you will definitely see results!  It should also help push your anaerobic threshold higher which will be helpful on your hikes at higher altitudes (having a high anaerobic threshold makes your body more efficient at using oxygen, which is helpful at higher altitudes where there is less of it)!   Keep up the great work :-) Kellie

Just once a week? Huh, I 'm gonna have to ask about that. I never really asked if it was suppose to be once or week or every other day, so I think I will have to throw that question out there. It is  suppose to help me get ready for my hike, so you may be right about the anaerobic thing - the whole altitude thing is really an issue. A friend told me she trained for a month at higher altitudes and even with that, she struggled the last 1000 feet to 14,000 - she was pretty surprised by the difference. Although I did just find out I might not be doing my hike - my hiking partner just got engaged and is getting married in September. Her schedule is a little crazy now, so we may have to wait until next year. This is one hike I won't do alone so I might just be putting it off. I have another friend who I hike with but he gets tired just hiking a couple of miles, so I don't think he would do it with me. (the wimp - and he is 16 years younger than me! )