Six Weeks Into the Game

This blog will be a record of my attempt to rediscover the joy of exercise and hopefully improve my mental and physical well-being. I used to be an exercise freak, but somewhere along the way, I lost all motivation. That was more than five years ago now.

I could/can see and feel the effects of the layoff, but I couldn't find the energy to try and turn it around. The more time went on, the worse I felt. The worse I felt, the less I wanted to exercise. It was a vicious cycle. I'm still at the point where I have no desire to join a gym or lift weights again, but I did purchase a Lifecycle C9i last November:



Finally, over four months later on 25 MAR 2007, I started using it. I began my sixth week today, and I've noticed some difference. My wife says there is a clear improvement.

I also started doing sets of pushups the day I began the Lifecycle. My eventual goal is to do 2X25 before cycling and 2X25 after, 100 total. One set is close grip (no more than shoulder width, and the other set is wide grip. I started with 10 reps per set and now am up to 15 (I'm adding one rep per set per week). I'm not rushing the pushups, and will stick to adding four total reps per week, even if I could do more.

The bike goes from Level 1-20. I will mostly do the Hill Program, but I may try other things from time to time. Times shown do not include the five minute cool-down period; calories burned do include the cool-down.

Here is my exercise history to this point:

WEEK 1
Level 7 10 pushups
20 Minutes
25 MAR (158 cal)
25 Minutes
27 MAR (200 cal)
28 MAR (210 cal)
29 MAR (214 cal)
30 MAR Level 12x15 minutes (146 cal-no cool-down)

WEEK 2
Level 8 11 pushups
25 Minutes
02 APR (225 cal)
03 APR (234 cal)
04 APR (237 cal)
05 APR (244 cal)
07 APR (253 cal)

WEEK 3
Level 9 12 pushups
25 minutes
09 APR (260 cal)
10 APR (260 cal)
12 APR (262 cal)
14 APR (266 cal)

WEEK 4
Level 9 13 pushups
30 minutes
16 APR (313 cal)
19 APR (316 cal)
20 APR (319 cal)

WEEK 5
Level 9 14 pushups
30 minutes
22 APR (324 cal)
23 APR (323 cal)
25 APR (327 cal)

WEEK 6
Level 9 15 pushups
30 minutes
30 APR (322 cal)
01 MAY (328 cal)
02 MAY (325 cal); Fat Burn (65% HR)--55 minutes
03 MAY (332 cal)
04 MAY (344 cal); Cardio Burn (80%HR)--40 minutes

WEEK 7
Level 10 16 pushups
30 minutes
06 MAY (341 cal); Cardio Burn (80%HR)--40 minutes
07 MAY (346 cal)
08 MAY (354 cal)
09 MAY (353 cal); Cardio Burn (80%HR)--40 minutes
10 MAY (352 cal)

WEEK 8
Level 10 17 pushups
30 minutes
14 MAY (353)
15 MAY (356)
16 MAY (376); Cardio Burn (80%HR)--40 minutes
17 MAY (358)