Two and a half years ago, I
weighed 160 pounds and was well on my way to reaching my personal physical
goals. That all changed when Ashley and I started dating. That has nothing to
do with Ashley. In hindsight I see that my physical discipline was one of many
responses (and perhaps one of the healthiest) to the heartache and depression I
suffered in the wake of everything with Mandy K. Now I can finally say I’m
“over” what happened, and my desire to get back into shape is motivated more by
a desire to be the best me I can be than an attempt at escaping despair.
This desire became paramount a
couple weeks ago when Ashley was picking up some of Chloe’s medicine at the
Kroger pharmacy and I decided to pass the time on one of those BMI and Blood
Pressure machines. My BP came in as pre-hypertension, and though Ashley assures
me it’s nothing to worry about, I’m not so sure. I’ve been wanting to get back
into shape for a long while, but it’s hard when you spend so much time being a
husband and a father, but that poor BP reading may have been the catalyst I
needed.
As it stands, I am 178 pounds
(nearly twenty pounds heavier than I was in the autumn of 2014). A few weeks
back I started with a simple fifteen minute workout each day, but since then
I’ve been able to build up into an actual workout regimen. Twenty percent of
being healthier comes with physical activity; the other eighty percent is how
we eat. Thus I’ve modified my diet (which had started to consist of a lot of
Chinese food and processed goods) so that I’m taking in a healthy balance of
protein, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables—all the while cutting out soda
(Diet Coke is the bane of my existence) and drinking copious amounts of water
each day. My exercise regimen consists of two workouts (Upper and Lower body)
that I do twice a week:
MONDAY
– Upper Body
Arm Workout
Pull ups x10 (and build)
Bicep curls (3-8 sets of 10-15)
Lying tricep curls (2 sets of 15)
Sitting tricep curls (2 sets of 15)
Tricep kickbacks (2 sets of 15)
Standing tricep kickbacks (2 sets of 15)
Forearm curls (3 sets of 30)
Chest Workout
Push ups x15 (and build)
Lying press (3 sets of 10)
Lying fly (3 sets of 10)
Around the World (3 sets of 10)
Shoulder Workout
Sitting press (3 sets of 15)
Alternate shoulder press (3 sets of 15)
Lateral raise (3 sets of 15)
Rear deltoid raise (2 sets of 15)
Front raise (2 sets of 15)
Upright row (2 sets of 15)
Shoulder shrug (2 sets of 15)
TUESDAY
– Lower Body
Legs Workout
Weighted squats (2 sets of 30)
Wall sits (2x 30 seconds)
Back leg lifts (2 sets of 30)
Side leg lifts (2 sets of 30)
Leg rotations (2 sets of 30)
Butterfly lifts (2 sets of 30)
Back Workout
Pull-ups x10 (and build)
Wide rows (2 sets of 15)
Bent over row (2 sets of 15)
Kneeling one arm row (2 sets of 15)
Dead lift (2 sets of 15)
Abs Workout
30 sit ups (and build)
30 bicycle crunches (and build)
30 knee crunches (and build)
30 second plank (3 sets and build)
Rinse and Repeat until Exhaustion!
WEDNESDAY
– Rest Day
THURSDAY
– Upper Body
FRIDAY
– Lower Body
SATURDAY
– Rest Day
SUNDAY
– Rest Day
In addition
to muscle-building, I’m implementing night-time pilates on days when I can
squeeze it in with everything going on. My pilates regimen is as follows:
The Hundred (100 counts)
Pilates curl (10 reps)
Single leg stretch (10 to 15 reps)
Crisscross (30 reps)
Double straight leg stretch (10 to 15 reps)
Shoulder bridge (5 reps)
Swan (5 to 8 reps)
Double leg kick (5 to 8 reps)
Leg lifts (2x 20)
Roll up (5 reps)
Side leg series (2x 20)
10 kicks & 10 rotations
I’m writing
all this down because when I tried to recall the exact regimens from 2014, I
was at a loss since I didn’t write them down anywhere permanent. This way I can
look back and reflect on the strides I’ve made (or, at least, get back on track
if all this falls through). I’ll be posting updates every month or so (six
weeks sounds like a good timeframe), and hopefully by the end of this year I’ll
not only be back to where I was in 2014 but beyond it!
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