I’ve Been Working Out
- June 22, 2006
- 8 comments
Back when I was in college, I was in pretty decent shape. I had a nice GT mountain bike and rode it all over the place. I even went on a 9.5 hour long, 130 mile bike trip in Hawaii. My butt and legs hurt for a while after that one. And my pinky fingers on both hands were numb for days. Probably not good, but it was fun and something I’ll remember forever.
When depression hit me a few years later, my health took a nosedive. My bike got stolen and I stopped doing any kind of exercise. I left Hawaii for Germany and eventually kicked my depression, but because I was using computers all the time my health never was what it used to be.
When I moved back to the States, I tried to exercise, but never had the self-motivation to stick with it. A friend and I would go hiking in the mountains every now and then, but my poor health always kept us from really doing any serious hiking. It was fun, but we always limited our hikes to a couple miles at most.
One thing I wanted to do when I moved down here to Austin was to get back in shape. Luckily, my cousin’s husband owns a physical therapy clinic in Cedar Park. They have a lot of gym equipment there too with a fair number of people choosing to workout there instead of mega-gyms like Gold’s. They invited me to start working out there at no cost, so I would’ve been a moron to turn the offer down.
The first day I went, I warned them how out of shape I was, but I surprised myself how bad I really was. I could barely do 50 crunches. Just riding the exercise bike for 10 minutes on its easiest setting winded me. I was frustrated and embarrassed but ready to get back in shape.
For a while I was going three times a week, but have started going every day this week. I’m still nowhere near the shape I want to be in, but I’m definitely getting better. There are guys there who put me to shame, but instead of making me feel like a loser, they push me to do better. And it’s working. I feel better during the day and have more energy for chores around the house. Now that I’m going every day, I’m really noticing the difference.
It should be interesting to see where I’ll be in a couple months. I doubt I’ll be going on any more 100+ mile bike rides, but I hope to be able to have the endurance and stamina to have fun again in sports.
I hadn’t heard about “the diet”, but it sounds interesting. A weight-loss diet is something I definitely should NOT be on. If anything, I need to gain a few pounds, like 15 or so. I’m hoping to gain that weight by bulking up a little bit. Nothing huge, just get some definition going on.
Good luck with the weight loss though.
Yeah, the title is a bit misleading. Really it just about changing our lifestyles to reach whatever goals we’ve set for ourselves — it just happens that a lot of us geeks and bloggers want to lose weight.
It’s great that you want to gain weight. All we do with that little group is motivate each other to keep at it. Thanks for stopping by and checking it out though. I wish you luck in the weight gain.
Go for a gram of protein per pound of weight that you currently are. And try not to eat more than 30 grams in a meal / snack – any more is too difficult to digest and could be wasted.
If you are exercising, your muscles will be hungry, and it sounds like a lot of food (might need whey to get the full amount), but that’s the juxtaposition of an active body. If you under eat while exercising, your body will fear that your expenditure will burn all of your available energy, and will go into a self-preserving starvation mode, and actually store calories instead of using them as fuel for energy and growth.
Hi Chris,
I’ve been in the same situation as you and not half as fit as when I was in Germany – playing football, tennis, hiking etc. I’ve been thinking for a long time what I can do to get fit again – fitness that I can enjoy, rather than endure, as that way I won’t give up after 2 weeks when my good intentions fail. Finally got myself a really nice Specialized Mountain Bike and even after two weeks of lightweight excercise can feel the benefit. Not only that, I seem to have much more energy and a more positive outlook, which is helping me in my work and family life too. Wished I had never given up biking!
Walking… that’s how my getting back into shape began. The amount of fat I had on me prevented me from really doing any super-physical working out that I used to because it would hurt my joints. So I just started walking a mile almost everyday. Two months later I’m almost 20 pounds lighter and ready to start jogging on a regular basis. Its also time to go find a gym I’m comfortable in. Having a place where people are encouraging is really helpful.
It’s great that you’ve started exercising, and that it makes you feel better. Unfortunately, I’ve never really found it to make much difference for me in terms of energy level whether I exercise or not. And energy’s something I courld really use more of.
I spent the last 4 months in Germany (that seems to be a pattern in this group, weird) and stopped exercising. I only found that it gave me lots of free time. However, my lifestyle was a bit less sedentary there. In the US, I mainly jog to counteract the ill effects of hours of sitting at a computer (poor circulation, less-than-ideal posture, etc.), and to keep in shape for ultimate.
I completely understand what you are going through. Since I started working at a computer 60+ hours a week for the past 5 years, my health has taken a serious nose dive. I never would have guessed how the lack of physical activity could take such a serious toll on a person’s health.
Depression has been the most serious thing to hit, and it hit hard. My blood has gone way up, my cholesterol has jumped quite a bit, then last year, I found out I have some weird-ass heart condition that is causing my heart to work against itself. Basically, the doctors have told me that the best cure for all of these problems is exercise, and lots of it.
I still don’t exercise anywhere near as much as I should be, but I did buy myself a walk-behind lawnmower, which I use when it’s not too hot and humid.
You are doing the right thing Chris, by taking up the offer to start working out at no cost. If I run across a deal like that, I know I would take them up on it up quick.