Tag: Fitness

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Weight Loss Exercise

How hard to push when starting exercise



I always worry about how people get started or restarted doing exercise. The trouble is that we are all excited to get started and run or workout and feel tired but the next day for a week wake up in excrutiating pain and do not want to ever go through that again.

I know this because I have done that too.

I find that for the first week or two that you start or restart serious exercise it is best to ramp yourself up. We all want to be instantly fit but you have to  work up to it or you will never get there without giving up because of muscle soreness (Biggest Loser never shows this). I was thinking about this yesterday in the gym and how it is nice to push as hard as I can to make gains knowing that I will be in fantastic shape in a month but also knowing that day to day for the first week I will be making gains mostly in building mental toughness and improving my agility, balance, and joint strength.

Don’t get me wrong, I am working hard but my weight workouts are to failure with fewer sets so I am still a bit sore but not enough to slow me down at all. Excitement is great but overexertion will really hurt and if you pull something or get joint or back pain it can really set you back.

So if you are starting out, or are sore today remember that the pain goes away and you should not be sore day to day after the initial bit of pain. Get through it or just work your way up.

If you do get sore there are a few things you can do to get rid of that muscle soreness.

A warm bath is always nice. You can use a  heating pad alternating with ice on your muscles. Also I have taken aspirin in the past to just dull the pain, and finally stretching, stretch those muscles lots whether sore or not to get rid of the lactic acid buildup and to help your flexability.

Constistency is key. make sure you are getting some kind of exercise everyday even light walking or biking and if you are doing weight workouts make sure you are giving a day in between. I try to get at least two to three hard cardio workouts a week and two to four weight workouts a week as well.

Here is an article I wrote on starting Weightlifting http://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/getting-started-weight-training.html

And here is another on starting exercise itself http://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/building-up-in-cardio.html

I want to dive into more detail but sometimes that more you know the more confusing these things can be. Just get out and get some exercise, ok?

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Weight Loss Exercise

Day 2 and Go to food and exercise



Well I seem to have somewhat snapped and made this blog about me as much as you…maybe even more me. But today is day 2 of my 30 day fitness challenge and I want to keep you up to speed so that you can glean some of the things I am doing and hopefully they will help you too.

What did I do?

First of all yesterday I ate quite well except for an ice cream cone. Smoothy for breakfast, left over chicken and asparagus for lunch, and chicken and a veggie stir fry for dinner. And lots of fruit and water throughout the day.

And for exercise a long bike ride to just chill and get myself ready for the week this week.

Today I am back to Oatmeal for breakfast (steel cut oats just take too long) and I had some home made pizza for lunch before a killer chest, shoulders, triceps workout. I am feeling pretty good and am really tuned in to everything to make sure I don’t slip at all. I hope you didn’t notice but I never made any goals for these 30 days even though I will ramble on and on about how important they are. I think my motivation is really strong since a few thousand people arrive here at the blog every day to keep me in check.

Go to Foods and Exercise

One thing I was thinking about today was riding and oatmeal, and yogurt. I always have my go to foods of oatmeal, protein powder, and a fridge full of fruit so I never have an excuse not to eat well. I hate yogurt but most people really like it and it is a super easy and fast meal replacement if you add some fruit, try the Greek yogurt since it is higher protein and stay away from the yogurt high in sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

For exercise I always fall back on riding or weight lifting. I know there are a lot of types of exercise out there and some people may have another goto exercise like tennis or swimming but a couple is good enough.

I know that everyone runs into eating and exercise problems and when you get lazy or tired or just busy you don’t want to have to think about it you really just want to have go to foods and exercises that you can fall back on.

If I get stressed out I tell my bike I am going for a bike ride. If I am stressed out at work I go down to the gym and have a weight workout.

Same with food. There is no thinking in the morning for me, I don’t go to a coffee place so I know that it is Oatmeal and tea that I make and I do not get strayed off to bad eating decisions.

So try to think about these things. What can you rely on and what do you always have to fall back on?


Day 2 and Go to food and exercise, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

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Weight Loss Exercise

30 Day Fitness Challenge



Today I am starting a 30 day fitness challenge. I know that it may seem strange that the owner of a blog dedicated to fitness is starting a fitness challenge with himself but it is high time.

We all move forward in lurches, making changes small and large and then coasting a bit until the next go round and I am the same as anyone. This Summer I have been doing a lot of coasting, exercising randomly, eating only so so and just letting myself enjoy Summer in a somewhat lazy way.

Not Anymore

We got back from camping a few days ago and now I have decided that it is time to do a 30 day fitness challenge to get myself back in tip top shape. I weighed myself last night and I am sitting at 203.4 pounds and my daughter took before pics of me (not sharing those till later) and so today I am getting everything cleaned up as far as diet and exercise are concerned.

30 Day Fitness Challenge Starters

Preplanning meals – I will be preplanning the weeks meals so we don’t eat take out as much

Portion control – This is a big one for me. My wife cooks very healthy stuff but I don’t always say no when I should

Junk Food – I am not very good lately. I have more than my one allotted treat per day but at least I have given up the coke and coffee that were such a problem over the years

Everyday Exercise – I am not exercising daily and I can feel it in my strength, agility, energy, and concentration on tasks. Also I get tired easily (sleepy tired I mean)

Prioritize Rest and Fun – I have not been prioritizing much lately and it is starting to show. I need the “To do” and “Not to do” lists to come back into my life

Keep my mind sharp – I have to start trying new things and getting my mind sharp by doing the things that I am not familiar with, maybe a new sport but at least changing a few things up in my regular daily routine.

So that’s me. how about you? Are you interested in following along or taking part? I will be posting lots of my findings, feelings, and frustrations, so we can all go through this together.

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