Woot! So my first time working out at the Y last night went better than I had even expected.They have this system called ActivTrax that is so awesome. It starts you off with a strength test on various machines to see what and how much you can handle. Once you enter that info in the system you choose all these options like what you're goal for working out is, how many circuit sets you want to do, and what areas you want to work on. It then prints out a customized workout for you to do. It tells you which machines to use, how much weight to use, how many reps to do and how much cardio is recommended. You enter the information in the system again and the next time you go, you print out a new workout. You do this each time, and each time you get a different workout to do. I think this is such an awesome thing. It's like having your own trainer without the expensive price tag they come with. It also offers nutritional guidance but I haven't explored that part of it yet.
I do have to say that I've never done circuit workouts before but I always heard good things about them. After last night, I'm definitely a believer in them! I've worked out at gyms before and not even broken a sweat at times. Let me tell y'all, I definitely broke a sweat last night! My workout had me do 5-10 minutes of a cardio warm-up, then like 8-10 machines for two circuit sets that was for a full body workout, then 20 minutes of cardio again. Now I'll be honest, for my warm-up I only did 5 minutes and for my cardio I only did 15 minutes. I'll work my way up though, and I did do everything that it told me to do for the circuits.
When I started this process, I thought I would be going to the gym everyday, but my friend, who is also my workout buddy, thought it would be best if we went 3 times a week and worked our way up. I may go an extra day, but if I don't I'm not worried, because your muscles do need time to heal after working out. So for the most part, we'll be going on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week. If I do add an extra day, I may go on Sunday mornings to get some extra cardio in.
On a side note, I feel like I need to stress how important it is to have family and friends that support you to lose weight and get in shape. The last thing you need is someone wanting to know why you ate when you did or why you ate what you did. There's a way to be supportive and not be a dictator and force your way upon others. Basically, you don't need to be an ass. You're all probably wondering why I'm saying all this, and I apologize, but I needed to vent. I'm not perfect and I don't claim to be. I did wake up around midnight last night and I was hungry so I ate two small pieces of pizza. No, I shouldn't have done it, but I did. My husband thinks it's the end of the world and that I'm not going to lose weight and blah blah blah. Mind you, he's like 100 lbs bigger than I am. Granted, he's more muscle than fat, but he's still got some chunkage going on himself, so it's like he's the pot calling the kettle black. He now thinks that I just don't want to listen to him or anything he has to say on this matter so that he's not going to talk to me at all in regards to this subject. Really? Are you serious? I need support during all this, not be chastised for having a midnight snack, which is something that's rare for me.
Ok, I'm off my soapbox now, thank you all for letting me vent about that. I do want to thank everyone that does support me during this, you're all awesome and an important part of my life. I love you all!
When I first went to the gym years ago they had the ActivTrak system. I immediately scrapped it after getting its suggested work out LOL Not in line with my goals at all! I think its a great program for beginners though, which I wasn't, and I too like circuits and daily changes.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the working out every day thing, yeah, that's not good. Cardio can be done more than lifting, but even that shouldn't be done more than 5 or 6 times max. As you said, muscles need to heal after a work out. That's what makes them grow stronger, the rest period. I do a 3 day work out, then a rest, then a 3 day, so sometimes I only rest once a week, sometimes twice. It's a new program I started last month (Crossfit) so we'll see if that works for me. Every body is different.
I agree that your hubby needs to be smacked up side the head. I know, you didn't say that, but I will LOL To help snack attacks you should make or buy some snacks every week that are healthy. Fruit, nuts, veggies, etc. I try to make a healthy cookie or brownie or whatever every week if I can, and we also have baked veggie chips and apple or pumpkin butter and sometimes coconut ice cream. Yum!