Thursday, September 06, 2007




A Day At The Gym....


Well, we made it to the fitness center today. We were there at 5:45 am waiting for our appointment at 6:00 am. I took a chance and wore shorts. And I met a whole bunch of people I know who have never seen me in shorts. I felt a twinge of embarrassment, until I realized, THEY WEREN'T LOOKING. They were too busy doing their thing and sweating. After all, we are all there for the same reason, right? To get healthy. :-)

The trainer said that we were doing great, and to keep up with the diet, etc. He showed us how to use the weight resistance machines, the cycles and the treadmill. Those were the things he suggested for me since I have knee and back problems. He said, "I don't recommend you do the step machine." I was happy to agree. :-) The nephew, however, loved the step machine. :-) We were able to work out about 20 minutes before my sister picked us up, so I rode just under 1 mile. Then we went back this afternoon and got in a full hour.

I am amazed at how much I am hurting. I know I haven't worked out in about 3 weeks, but my goodness. My muscles are SORE. I did 2 repetitions of 12 on 7 different weight resistant machines, and then I did 15 minutes on the cycle and 15 minutes on the treadmill. I "upped the resistance" on those too. All together I rode right at about a mile.

I guess that makes almost 2 miles counting both sessions. Maybe that explains the soreness. :-)

The trainer showed me the neatest thing. All of the cardio equipment comes with these handles on the side. These handles actually tell you what your rpm and heart rate are. That way you know if you need to step it up or slow down. He said I should stay around 102 for my heart rate to start. OK, I am for that. I got on the cycle machine and at the end of my 15 minutes my heart rate was 98. I then got on the treadmill. after about 7-8 minutes I realized I was breathing kind of hard. I put my hands on the handles and waited for the number. 158! Yes Ma'am, I was going at it. :-) I then lowered the resistance on the treadmill and tried to bring my heart rate down slowly. After my 15 minutes I was still around 130, so I just sort of walked around the floor for a few minutes. It came out fine. :-)

We hope to do the water aerobics in the morning, if the little girl I babysit doesn't come tomorrow, otherwise we will go tomorrow night. :-)

So, I survived my first day "at the gym". LOL... never thought those words would come out of my mouth. :-)

The nephew kept saying, rather loudly, "I have never worked so hard in my life! I love the exercising." :-) Glad to hear him say that, and I hope he keeps liking it.

Oh, and it really helped to have the TV. We brought our headphones and just went to town, he watching "Kim Possible" and I watching "Fox News and Rachel Ray". Which made me wonder, "Does it really make sense to be exercising while watching someone cook fattening foods?" Hmmmm........

Love,
Wendy Darling

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