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I did a bazillion bicep curls today. How many did you do? None? That’s what I thought.”

Posted by Candice on August 20, 2009 at 9:07 am

I think the internet ate my last post. Did anyone read a post from me a few days ago about my workout adventures? It seems to have disappeared into oblivion, so this post will repeat some of the same things. My apologies if you’ve already read them.

So, my workout adventures. With the stress and craziness of moving and then being on strike I experienced some (rather disheartening) muscle atrophy during the first half of this year. I was still managing to get a fair bit of cardiovascular exercise in, but I barely had the strength to carry our groceries home or even push the old lady cart when we bought heavy things - like potatoes and milk. (Okay, so I probably did have the strength to push the cart, I just prefer when Tom does it because he doesn’t hit the other pedestrians and light posts with it like I do).

Anyway, after putting it off and making (bad) excuses all year (”how can I strength train when I should to be writing blog posts for our loyal readers?” or “How can I strength train when I’ve already scheduled this hour for eating cookies and doing the sudoku?”) I decided to suck it up, invest in some weights (oh, and getting 60lbs of weight home on transit was another fun adventure) and start a training program. I tend to do well with assigned programs of strength training. That’s actually the only thing that has ever worked for me. Without them I tend to think that doing four or five bicep curls and a few crunches once or twice a week is adequate.

Because I have really enjoyed the “Turbo Jam/Turbo Kick” program for cardio, I decided to try a strength training program (called ChaLEAN Extreme) developed by the same person. The program was very sensible and followed all the guidelines I have ever read (though never employed) about effective weight training. It is a four month program that changes every month to focus on working your muscles in different ways. Each week there are three days of strength training and two days of cardio interval training. I began doing these workouts in addition to the cardio I was already doing back in mid-April.

Last Saturday I finished the fourth month. It was a great sense of accomplishment - I followed the entire program without missing one day. And while I didn’t see the dramatic results I was hoping for (likely because my body is just not designed to build muscle quickly or efficiently) I have certainly noticed a difference and feel back to my “old self” and by the end of the fourth month I could get through most of the workouts without wanting to throw up or die. And, as an unexpected result, it has also done a lot for my confidence. Even though the workouts were very hard and often times made me want to cry I never stopped. I told myself that I could get through it and always did. I always finished the day’s session, and then the week’s plan, and finally the full four month program. Now I feel that I can take on any kind of physical challenge that comes my way and, even more unexpectedly, practicing that “I can” mental attitude every day has transferred into aspects of my life beyond fitness.

Alright, so this post has gotten too long and is starting to get to inspirational. The point is, this is what I have been up to physically and mentally for the past 1/4 year. I’ve taken this week off from weight training (seriously, I deserve that) but am also in search of a new fitness goal. Inspired by some of my NL friends who have recently become superstar runners I’ve been half-heartedly working on a new running program, but it’s a little too painful for my feet. Hopefully I’ll come up with something in the next few days and be ready to start something on Monday!

(Oh, and the post title is one of the lines that the program host tells you can can say to your friends after you do about, well, a bizillion bicep curls.)

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