10,000 Steps

I’m feeling a bit better. I have my final follow up appointment with the doctor tomorrow. I also plan to start a fitness challenge to get myself back into the habit of exercising on a daily basis. I’m not sure when be able to get back into the gym. This is something I plan to discuss with my doctor tomorrow.
Anyhow, I’m going to take the 10,000 steps challenge. According to The Walking Site, 10,000 steps is the equivalent of walking approximately five miles.

With my doctor’s approval, I plan to go back to work on Wednesday. Since I work from home I am going to have to find creative ways to get in a lot of steps during the day. Most of the strategies for getting in extra steps cannot be applied to my situation. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m curious to see how many days it’s going to take before I reach my goal. The highest number I achieved the last time I tried this challenge was about 6,000.
Truthfully, I think my biggest challenge is going to be remembering to wear my pedometer and keeping a log of my steps.
Wish me luck!

Fitness Quote of the Week

“All our dreams can become realized if we have the courage to pursue them in spite of our fears.” ~ Walt Disney

Fitness Quote of the Week

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. ~~ Jim Ryun

Fitness is Learning -- Calisthenics

Calisthenics

When I hear calisthenics, I think military or boot camp. Calisthenics are exercises that use little to no equipment. These exercises are meant to promote physical fitness. Common calisthenics exercises include sit ups, crunches, push ups, pull ups and lunges.

I know most people hear calisthenics and think boring. Not me. Calisthenics isn’t something I would do on a daily basis but it is a great way to check in with yourself. I like the way I can use calisthenics to measure my fitness level. Within months I went from being able complete five push ups to doing two sets of 15. I went from barely doing 10 crunches to completing two sets of 60. This is the way I use calisthenics—to measure how my fitness level is improving.

Fitness is Learning - Isolated and Compound Exercises

Isolation Exercises

Isolation Exercises are exercises that focus one muscle or joint at a time.

These exercises are good for rehab or working out a specific muscle weakness. As it turns out, I already have some experience with isolation exercises when I was working on the problem I was having with my knees. The real problem with my knees had to do with a muscle imbalance with my quads and hamstrings. So, for a while I was doing a lot of leg extensions and hamstring curls to correct the problem. It also turns out that two of my favorites—bicep curls and tricep kickbacks—are isolated exercises.

Compound Exercises

Compound exercises work several muscles at a time. To get the most of your workouts, compound exercises are the way to go. These exercises build basic strength. Compound exercises also help increase your metabolism. Some of the best compound exercises that I like are bench press (works shoulders, chest, and triceps) and squats (works core, glutes, quads).

Fitness Quote of the Week

"It's not what you do once in awhile , it's what you do day in and out that makes a difference." --Jenny Craig

Fitness is Learning --Powerlifting

Powerlifting


The most important thing I learned while researching powerlifting is that it’s completely different from bodybuilding. I had no idea.

According to Wikipedia, Powerlifting is a strength sport, consisting of three events: the bench press, the squat, and the deadlift.



I have to admit I feel I could really get into powerlifting. I, for one, enjoy lifting weights. I like lifting weights so much I purchased a weight bench for my home gym. One thing I notice when going to the gym is females, for the most part, avoid the weight machines. When I started working out with Kimberly, she gave me this long speech about not worrying about getting too muscular, that she wanted me to lift weights because it was going to help me burn fat. I told her she was wasting her time with the speech--I’m not afraid of weights or muscles. As I’ve mentioned in past entries, I love being able to see definition in my biceps and triceps.

In general, weight lifting has many benefits for women—including reducing the risk of Osteoporosis. In fact, my Endocrinologist loves the fact that I’ve been doing some strength training. She says weight lifting helps the body process glucose.

I like what one guy had to say about the psychological benefits of powerlifting. He discussed setting personal records. This benefit is very appropriate for budding athletes such as myself.

I enjoy looking back over my workout journal and seeing how I’ve progressed in reps or weight; it does wonders for my self-esteem and confidence.

During my research, I discovered that powerlifting is growing in popularity among women. I enjoy the bench press and the squat. I haven’t done the deadlift at all. Truthfully, it looks pretty intimidating. Once I’m healed and get my doctor’s approval, I’m going to give it a try.

Surgical Menopause

OMG! I'm starting to get hot flashes! Now, the hot flashes I tolerate. I'm having a tough time with the chills I'm also experiencing. No one ever seems to talk about this symptom. I was talking to a good friend who has been going through menopause naturally. I asked her about the chills. She said she has them. In all the time she's been complaining about going through menopause, she never mentioned the chills.

After trying all sorts of natural and herbal remedies, she finally decided to go to the doctor and get a prescription for hormones. She had it bad--night sweats, insomnia, and the hot flashes.

So far, I think I'm going to ride it out and discuss it with my doctor during my next follow up. I really feel she jinxed me. During my appointment on Tuesday she asked me if I was getting hot flashes. I told her no. The very next day they started.

Fitness is Learning - Mind Over Matter

MIND OVER MATTER


If you quit, you've let the matter defeat your mind. Km

According to Wikipedia, mind over matter is explained as followed:

Mind over matter is a phrase popularized during the 1960s and 1970s that was originally used in reference to paranormal phenomena, especially psychokinesis.[1] However, it has also been used in reference to mind-centric spiritual and philosophic doctrines such as responsibility assumption. It is the belief that the mind is more powerful than the body. Specifically, mind over matter refers to controlling pain that you may or may not be experiencing, such as holding your hand under extremely hot water and feeling no pain.

After reading through a few more sites on the philosophy of mind over matter, I ran across a blog entry by fitness guru Eugenie Jones. I like what she had to say about mind over matter in terms of fitness. Her discussion about self-defeating thoughts and other mental barriers really resonated with me. Attitude is everything. I can’t tell you how many times my mind was telling me something it didn’t think my body could do. I can’t tell you how many times my mind was wrong.

In fact, I have been using the mind over matter technique in other areas of my life. I meditate and pray on a daily basis. One of the exercises I have been doing lately is watching my thoughts. Observing the mind has allowed me to gain more control over my overall outlook on life. I’ve also found that it helps me with my eating habits. Just because I have a thought that I want to eat does not mean I have to act on that thought. I observe the thought coming from the mind and see it if it matches what is going on in my body. Often it’s just a thought that I can let pass away.

Soon I hope to begin training for a 5K. I can use the mind over matter technique to help me when I need to push myself and exceed the limitations of my mind. I want to make it clear that this doesn't mean that the mind can tell me I can run a half marathon with proper training. The technique is simply a tool I can use to help me achieve reasonable fitness goals.

Next on the list is powerlifting. This one should be fun. Lol!