That was hard...but not impossible.

I got to the gym yesterday (Sunday) and started off with c25k Week 4, Day 1. Whew! It was hard. Here's the lowdown:

warmup walk
3 minute jog
90 second walk
5 minute jog
2.5 minute walk
3 minute jog
90 second walk
5 minute jog
cool-down walk

I had to take my headphones off during the runs so I could hear myself breathe. I do best when I take one breath for every two steps, so in four steps I've breathed in and out. The rhythm of the breathing really helps me to maintain. When I have the headphones on I can't hear myself and it's hard to regulate my breathing. I felt a little silly taking them off and on but I got through it! During the final run (5 minutes) I took a read of how I was feeling and my legs felt heavy but didn't hurt. The hardest part at that point was feeling like I didn't have the cardio endurance. I tried to remember if Week 3 was this hard to start - I don't think it was. But the good thing is, I did it. And hopefully I can keep doing it for a couple of weeks or more until I am ready to move on.

After c25k I did chest and triceps with core work mixed in. I wrapped it up with 5 minutes on the stair climber. That stair climber is a perverted sort of fun but I like it. And it was on the easier side today so maybe I'm getting better?

I got home and for some reason started thinking about the body parts I strength train together. Currently I do Chest with Triceps, Back with Biceps, and Legs and Shoulders. I do core work every session and have been going 6 days a week so I cycle through each routine twice. I was reading and essentially found a few schools of thought.

1. Work muscles together that are the primary and secondary muscle, i.e. when you are working your chest as primary your triceps come in as secondary.

2. Work muscles that are entirely isolated. The theory here is that if you work chest and triceps together, and do chest first, your triceps don't get a full workout because they are already partially fatigued by helping out the chest lifting. Makes sense I guess.

3. I didn't read much about this but I found some who separated their workout based on pushing vs. pulling. Some days they did pushing exercises, others they did pulling.

It was all interesting, and while I'm not sure any of it even applies to me (I suspect I'm not "lifting" in the manner to which these nuances apply) I kind of like the reasoning in #2. The other thing is all these routines had rest days and I don't really do those for the most part.

I have a real-life training session scheduled for tomorrow so I'm going to ask Ken what he thinks. I say real-life because I have a new resource - a virtual coach! My work has a wellness program and I signed up for some coaching. Her name is Noelle and we are figuring out a time to talk. I can ask her about the strength training too. And rest days. And about my back. I suppose since she's a real person it's also real-life, just not in person. Anyway, I'm glad to have someone to talk with about this stuff and get more support.

So I broke down my current routine into a new one with this all-primary idea and this is what it would look like:

CHEST with BICEPS/FOREARMS
DB Chest Press
DB Flys
Inverted push-ups on Smith Machine
Bicep on bosu

BACK with TRICEPS
Triceps on bosu
Back extensions (currently on hold)
Lateral pulldown
Seated row

SHOULDERS with TRAPS*
Shoulder raise front on bosu
Shoulder raise side on bosu
*Dumbbell shrugs (this would be a new thing, I don’t currently work my traps – but I like saying “traps”)

LEGS with CORE*
Squats
Lunges (one set)
Calf raise
*I don’t currently work my core separately on a specific day, I include them at every workout.

Blah, blah, blah. Back to reality. I took a day off from the gym today. Mostly it was because my back was complaining. Darned back. I realized that the only day I took off from the gym last week was Sunday, when I went swimming. I suppose I was due for a break. Well, another Monday in the bag. Here's to a great week ahead!

p.s. I had a burger and onion rings for lunch today.