Training Update

Wanted to give you a quick update on how my working out is going.

I met up with my trainer friend, Kimbo, last week and she gave me a written routine to follow. Overall the routine freaked me out because it included LOTS of cardio. As many of you know cardio is NOT my forte. However, after discussing it with her I realized it wasn’t going to be as bad as I expected.

I tried her program for the first time last Thursday, which encompassed 60 minutes of cardio in upper Zone 2. Zone 2 pretty much means that I’d be walking for a longer period of time at a lower intensity. I handled it very well. Friday, I tackled 45 minutes of cardio in intervals between Zone 3 & Zone 2. It was interesting but totally feasible. (Actually, I kicked butt!!! I set the treadmill to a 6.0 incline and my walking pace ranged between 3.0 & 3.6!!) Now, because I did less cardio she gave me circuit training example to follow. The circuit was pretty much all core exercises that were to be done in 4 continuous rounds. It too was manageable but certainly by round 4 I was pooped.

So, this brings me to today. 45 minutes of cardio in zone 3 followed by more circuit training.
Here’s the circuit training schedule that was emailed to me:
500 meter row
40 squats
60 crunches
20 push ups
10 pull ups

The row machine was occupied I had to skip that portion. I usually do the squats with a stability ball behind my back as I lean into a wall but because of last night’s frog attack my knees were sore so I hopped on the leg press. I racked the weight at about 200lbs and maxed out at around 30 reps. After that I got on the floor and got started on the crunches somewhere around 30-40 crunches my entire core was on fire!!! I kept going until I couldn’t go any longer and honestly…. I lost count. The push-ups (modified – on my knees) were easy. I could bust out about 16-18 without hurting to badly. I got on this pull up machine that I’d never been on before, adjusted the weight to assist me with 200lbs which meant I was left with having to pull up about 109 pounds on my own. I got through about 6 before I had to put my foot on the foot plate to help myself get back up in position. Those were pretty cool and fun.

So, because I did 4 rounds on Friday I assumed I was supposed to do another 4 rounds today. By the end of the 3rd round I was hurting. Hurting badly…. I felt defeated because I couldn’t muster the energy to finish the 4th round. As I headed out the gym I see Kimbo! She was having a meeting with one of the managers regarding a possible training position at North Lakes.

Kimbo asks “How did it go?”
I answered “It was ok. I don’t think I ate well because I couldn’t get through it all.”
She then asks “How many did you get done?”
I replied “I did 3 rounds of everything.”
Her eyes widen a little and she replies “You know you only had to do one round, right?”

To my UTTER dismay I had no idea!!!!! I’m sure I’ll be hurting tomorrow.

Lesson learned: read directions carefully & if directions aren’t clear ASK!!!