No more cobwebs on my home gym

So that's what my home gym looks like underneath the cobwebs and the dust.  Not a bad looking set up if I do say so myself.

After nearly 8 full months of working out regularly in the gym, I think I'm at that level where I no longer need the external motivation provided by a gym to keep up on my workouts.  It's time to get reacquainted with the fitness equipment I've accumulated over the years.  

There is the 300 + olympic barbell set with the squat rack and the adjustable bench.  I bought that back in 1999 or so when we bought our first house.  Those were the days when lifting heavy was still the preferred workout.  The set's held up very well over the past 11 years.  

Oh, and hello dumbbells!  It's good to see them all - from the 10 pound dumbbells up to the 50 pounders.  Hey there Hoist "all-in-one" machine weight system!   What’s up?  This "V4" system is a newer addition to the Afeef fitness collection but it too shares the noteworthy, if not flattering, distinction of rare usage.  

The old gym couldn’t be revived without a few tweaks and upgrades, right?  Of course not.  So, in recognition of all the running I’ve been doing, the Afeef fitness collection just added the new True PS 100 treadmill to round out the equipment!  These first rate pieces of equipment, plus the stationary bike, the heavy punching bag, the jump rope and the sit-up bench all make for an excellent home gym.

I’ve already started working out a the home gym this weekend when the treadmill arrived.  On Friday I ran 3 miles and did strength training for my chest, shoulders and triceps.  On Saturday I ran 4 miles and worked on legs and back.  Today I ran 2 miles and did 20 minutes on the stationary bike.

All of these workouts were at home.  That’s good news for me and for my family since working out at home means I'm not away from the family for any extended period of time.  Even though XSport Fitness, the gym I use, is only a few miles away from my house, the time it takes to drive over, park and then drive home adds up.  Plus, when I'm at the gym the kids don't really understand what it means when by "Daddy's working out".  Over the last 3 days the kids played in the basement while I worked out.  That was good for everybody - I got to work out a bit longer, the kids got to play without as much concern over making a mess (its an un-finished basement and I’m not such a neat freak like the boss upstairs) and the spouse gets to take a nap without kids bothering her.

I know that I’ll be motivated to get downstairs to workout regularly between now and about the end of January 2011.  That’s because college and pro football is gearing up and I love working out while I watch games!

Welcome to Afeef Fitness Den!

20 lbs down and feeling better

While I haven't written on the blog in a while - that will change soon as I just bought a MacBook Pro today and now will be able to write more regularly - I have been keeping up on my workouts and on my eating habits.

First things first: I set a goal for myself several weeks ago. My goal was to get down to 225 lb by April 15. Well, I'm sorry to report that I only got to 227 lb as of the 15th. While I set my goals with the intention of achieving them, I'm not completely disappointed. I've lost 20 lbs since I began really working out and eating better near the end of January. That's not bad!

While that's only about 2 lbs per week, I know the accomplishment is more significant because in those 10 weeks I had a lot of bad weekends where I ate very poorly. I give myself credit for hanging in there and staying committed despite my own failures in self-control.

I feel better than I have in quite some time. This evening I went out for a 3.4 mile run. It was 1/3 up hill, 1/3 down hill and 1/3 flat. My early pace was a 12 minute mile or better but I slowed down as each mile passed by. I finished in 43 minutes. It may not seem like a lot in absolute terms (it isn't) but relative to where I was in mid-January of this year, this is a solid accomplishment.

In mid-January I could only jog 3 minutes on the treadmill before I had to slow down to a walk for at least 1 minute. I've built up from there, first on the treadmill and then more recently on the road, by adding resistance (inclines) and distance. Once I build up my strength and endurance for this distance (3.4 to 4.0 miles) I can then focus on getting a bit faster.

It's a Sunday night and I had another well balanced food weekend. There were no binges. While I definitely had some night food each day, I did not succumb to bread, rice and sugar.

It is easier now to avoid the junk food and the starchy, empty calories because I've had a few weekends of good eating and I can now look back on those and see the impact good eating has on my physical well-being. When I am tempted to eating unhealthy food I try to remind myself of how crappy I will feel shortly thereafter. It doesn't always work, but if nothing else, it does keep me from indulging more often!

I wanna run but it hurts!

I've been running (I call it running and will continue to do so but keep in mind that I use the term very loosely) on the treadmill now with some consistency for the past 3 or 4 weeks and I feel good. In fact, the running makes me feel so good that I want to run more. I want to run longer and harder and more often.

The problem is (damn it - there's always a problem when it comes to getting healthy for me) my legs are not keeping up with the heart and lungs. For example, this afternoon I ran for 40 minutes at a steady pace of about 4.5 mph. By the time I got to 40 minutes my knees and my right ankle were hurting just a tiny bit; I could feel the slightest bit of pain (more like a tickle) and I knew I had to stop. The thing is, I wasn't gasping for air. My heart rate was at 150 but I felt strong in that sense.

I'm so nervous about doing anything to screw up my legs and feet that I'm taking it slow right now. My primary goal is to get my weight down and the running and other exercise is helping me feel better which, in turn, is helping my diet (I am more motivated to eat a bit better knowing that I've exercised). I hope that, as I get my weight down, my body will hold up better to the running.