Roseyland

I worked out tonight. Please… Please.. hold your applause. I want to be the type of person that works out regularly, and I manage to do so for months at a time, but I also manage to go months without working out. Let’s take a trip back in time. When I was in high school, I was on the swim team. I used to swim fairly intensely for 2 hours a day 5 days a week for 10 months of the year. I was in great shape. When I think of how many calories a day I must have burned then versus what I burn now, I cry a little.

In college, I didn’t work out much, but I was still fairly active. For one, I walked all over campus every day, and I rode my bike a little. I gained a little weight in college, but honestly, I probably needed to gain that weight. After college, things got a little worse. In grad school, I spent more and more time in front of a computer, and when I had to start cooking for myself, I ate less and less healthy. At one point, I weighed myself and found out that I had gained 40 pounds since high school. This was a little alarming, so I started going to the rec center on campus, and after a couple months I got myself back to a healthy weight.

Then I entered the working world. My job requires virtually no physical activity whatsoever. Unless you count typing. The most exercise I am forced to get is the two and a half minute walk from my car to my desk. Yes, I have timed it. When I first moved to St. Louis, I joined the Edward Jones YMCA, which is awesome. Seriously, if you live in Maryland Heights, you should check it out. When I moved to Brentwood, I joined the YMCA just down the street, but it wasn’t as nice, and I stopped going. This led to a long period of no exercise. Then a couple years ago, they opened a fitness center at work. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s very convenient. I got into a good habit of working out regularly for nearly a year, but then I got distracted, and I quit.

The problem is, the gym just isn’t fun. You end up doing the same thing every day, and day after day it gets old. I have a new plan though, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to stick with this plan a little longer. Here it is:

• 10 minutes on the elliptical machine doing some form of interval training. This means you go fast, then slow, then fast, then slow.
• Around 15 minutes on the weight machines. I’ll do 1 set of 12 reps on 7 different machines. I’ll alternate which machines i use on different days.
• 10 more minutes of interval training on the elliptical machine.

This is different from my old workout, where I would spend 30 minutes on weight machines, and then 30 minutes on the elliptical at a constant speed. I’m hoping the new plan will be faster paced, and thus less boring. I’ve heard that it’s better to split up your cardio, so that your pulse is elevated during your entire workout. I’ve also heard that doing some form of interval training for your cardio burns more calories than going at a constant speed.

I tried this new plan tonight, and it definitely went faster. It was nice not having to drudge through 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, and I have to admit, the interval training felt more intense. Plus, it was a lot more fun. The biggest benefit to this new plan is that I’m in and out of the gym in less than an hour. This makes it much more likely that I’ll stick with it, and more likely that I’ll start up again if I miss a few weeks. Wish me luck. And, um, you should probably get back to working out too. You can’t fool me, I know how many hours a day you sit there reading blogs. Go for a walk.