Oww!

Posted Fri Aug 13, 2010 in

It’s 0500 and I’m awake… been awake for about a half-hour. My body woke me about 0400, but I put off getting up to empty my bladder for a half-hour or so. I drink a lot of water, much more than I was, as part of my new exercise regimen. After puttering around with a light routine and having the habit broken, I decided just last week I need a bigger commitment to improving my general condition.

So, I restarted my old Body-for-Life routine. The exercise plan is simple and requires less than an hour. The eating plan is also simple and not very restrictive. The program is simple, but no program is easy.

I think we have a built-in program regarding food and exercise. We can change that program, but it requires a significant input of thought and energy to make it so. The changing requires rethinking priorities, planning actions, and then execution. The thinking and planning are trivial; the execution is not.

I think that is a general truism — the thinking and planning are relatively straightforward; execution is not. It’s tough to buck old habits and to bull through the internal resistance to change.

My preference is to rise relatively early, make coffee, and putter at the computer for an hour or two working through the previous day’s leftovers and organizing myself for my day. It gives me a chance to wake up and I spend the time reviewing my GTD lists, doing what little social networking I do, and thinking about what’s next.

If I’m exercising, I prefer mornings just after I have a chance to wake up. That takes me about an hour, most days. The routine takes about 35- to 45-minutes to complete, depending on whether it’s lower body or upper body. (The aerobics days require about 20-minutes — short but intense.) The training program is built on intensity, like most strength-training programs are. Pushing muscles to failure is the mechanic for forcing adaptation (growth). It works and is independent of age.

This change in routine is forcing me to rethink how I approach my day. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is different and so I need to reallocate some of my resources. My lists still need to be reviewed if I’m going to stay organized and efficient. I’ll have to rethink how I’m doing that, although right now there is only one project that needs attention and every extra moment is being directed to that effort.

The other side-effect is that this week my muscles are sore. It’s a good pain, but is distracting.

Yesterday was seminar day for this month. I was running behind on my preparation (see a couple of paragraphs previous), so the presentation wasn’t as strong as I prefer. It was also about a half-hour short. I wasn’t very pleased, but sometimes I can’t live up to my standards. (Heh! The line from Meet the Sniper where he declares “professionals have standards” just free-associated through my mind!) I did what I could.

The spin off from the build-up for the presentation, the demanding work on two projects, trying to resolve a software issue that is interfering with one of them, and the new exercise was that last night I was toast. I was sore and tired — mentally as well as physically. So, I blew off the cardio for the day (I’ll give myself a walk on that one this week — legs were just too sore), vegged in front of the television over supper (working our way through the first season of X-Files), and then crashed in my workroom.

I wanted to read and write, but just didn’t have it in me. I crashed about 2130. Now I need to ready myself for the day. I should go do my upper-body training in a half-hour or so. I think I’m ready.

Oh yeah… Happy Friday the 13th.

  1. I understand the soreness. Every morning something else is sore with me. I tell the Wife-Beast, “I need a hobby that doesn’t hurt so much.” But, like you said, it’s a good soreness.

    Keep it up. I’m watching you :)

    — Jim    13 August 2010, 05:27    #

  2. I got it done this morning, but decided that my plate changes are too slow for the routine I’m on. Each body part should require about six minutes of exercise to complete. The intent is to maintain intensity during the routine to stress the muscles to the point of momentary failure. I can keep up the intensity if I don’t have to mess around with the plates too much.

    I’m going to rethink my approach over the weekend. I’ve seen dumbbell systems that are fast-switch without a rack of dumbbells. I intend to get a set of them and keep the plates for specialty work.

    I’m glad someone is watching me. I need the accountability of a training partner. I’m tempted to start kicking Young Son out of bed when I go to the garage. :)

    — ruminator    13 August 2010, 08:51    #