Entry tags:
Gym Progress
The best advice I received when I started my body improvement/gym adventures began was to take photos at intervals. I keep a spreadsheet of lifting and body measurements stats so I can see my own numeric progress, but photos give me a better sense of what's working and what isn't.
My primary objective at the time was to build up some overall body strenth, not only to help heft 40lb servers over my head for racking as needed for work, but also to reduce my periodic back pains, build up some endurance and, hopefully, stave off the ravages of old age just a few years longer. I was 46 and my natural youthful indestructibility was clearly fading off rapidly. And hey, if I could get some bigger arms & chest for purely cosmetic feel-good reasons, why not? Vanity isn't a bad thing if it simultaneously fuels health goals.
I typically run a three-part schedule: leg & core day, arms & chest day, back & shoulders day. I prefer free weights over machines wherever possible so the core typically gets a workout every time anyway. Leg day used to feel the most productive, but since my legs were already in pretty good shape anyway, it was an easy, low-set bar.
I haven't done bench presses. Since I go to the gym solo, I don't have a spotting partner so a bench press would have some risk should I need assistance. I'm not certain I would need a partner for encouragement anyway as my own determination is enough to get me to the gym three times per week as well as dig deep for the last couple of reps. Several friends have given me the support & encouragement in the longer run and reminding me of the larger goals.
Over time, I've found that the 8:30-10am window at my gym is ideal. The conventionally-employed folks have been & gone in the early morning and many of the classes haven't started yet so there's room in the locker rooms. I get to breeze in and rarely have to wait for my turn at the equipment, and never for the cardio workout following. I have gone in evenings periodically but try to go after 9pm, again to avoid the worst of the crowds.
( Photos below the cut... )
The biggest revelation is that I don't so selfies worth a damn: angles, lighting, etc.. *sigh*
Hefting servers around the data center is so much easier than it used to be. I was seeking a chiropractor in late 2013 for some back issues but those pains have vanished completely. And as I said, I can follow the numbers to see I can squat, press & curl much higher weights than I could at any time earlier in my life.
Regrets? That I didn't start sooner --like when I was 20. That while LA Fitness is all over the greater DC area, there's not a single one in the SF Bay area so I have to pay extra for guest privileges at some other chain when I travel, and that hotel gyms aren't better equipped so I wouldn't have to pay at all.
Oddly, the gym schedule has affected my career activities a bit. I'm not actively job hunting, but if an opportunity arose, I would have to consider seriously how it would impact my gym schedule. Who knew that such a thing would ever be a consideration?
My primary objective at the time was to build up some overall body strenth, not only to help heft 40lb servers over my head for racking as needed for work, but also to reduce my periodic back pains, build up some endurance and, hopefully, stave off the ravages of old age just a few years longer. I was 46 and my natural youthful indestructibility was clearly fading off rapidly. And hey, if I could get some bigger arms & chest for purely cosmetic feel-good reasons, why not? Vanity isn't a bad thing if it simultaneously fuels health goals.
I typically run a three-part schedule: leg & core day, arms & chest day, back & shoulders day. I prefer free weights over machines wherever possible so the core typically gets a workout every time anyway. Leg day used to feel the most productive, but since my legs were already in pretty good shape anyway, it was an easy, low-set bar.
I haven't done bench presses. Since I go to the gym solo, I don't have a spotting partner so a bench press would have some risk should I need assistance. I'm not certain I would need a partner for encouragement anyway as my own determination is enough to get me to the gym three times per week as well as dig deep for the last couple of reps. Several friends have given me the support & encouragement in the longer run and reminding me of the larger goals.
Over time, I've found that the 8:30-10am window at my gym is ideal. The conventionally-employed folks have been & gone in the early morning and many of the classes haven't started yet so there's room in the locker rooms. I get to breeze in and rarely have to wait for my turn at the equipment, and never for the cardio workout following. I have gone in evenings periodically but try to go after 9pm, again to avoid the worst of the crowds.
( Photos below the cut... )
The biggest revelation is that I don't so selfies worth a damn: angles, lighting, etc.. *sigh*
Hefting servers around the data center is so much easier than it used to be. I was seeking a chiropractor in late 2013 for some back issues but those pains have vanished completely. And as I said, I can follow the numbers to see I can squat, press & curl much higher weights than I could at any time earlier in my life.
Regrets? That I didn't start sooner --like when I was 20. That while LA Fitness is all over the greater DC area, there's not a single one in the SF Bay area so I have to pay extra for guest privileges at some other chain when I travel, and that hotel gyms aren't better equipped so I wouldn't have to pay at all.
Oddly, the gym schedule has affected my career activities a bit. I'm not actively job hunting, but if an opportunity arose, I would have to consider seriously how it would impact my gym schedule. Who knew that such a thing would ever be a consideration?