It's been more than a month since the result of my health-screening, which the doctor told me I need to have regular exercise, and I need to lose several kilos.
The timing is somewhat fortuitous, since begining July, Snowylad has joined his sister Snowylass in the same childcare. This meant considerable time-saving for me in the morning when I ferry them to one location instead of two, and in the evening when I pick them up again.
It took me a few days though to realise I now could use that time to do something in the morning. What can I say? Haven't been exercising for several years, and the hectic schedule of ferrying my wife and 2 kids had taken a certain toll on me for a while.
As it happens, there is a stadium opposite the childcare and it was only after passing by for the umpteenth time and seeing the joggers in the morning that it struck me I could be out there too.
So went to dig out my running shoes, and one Friday morning, I just hit the track.
Considering my condition, I figured I need a month of preparation before I can get into any serious stuff. Fortunately, I didn't collapse after running round the track several times.
What did collapse was my old running shoes which was disintegrating internally. Whatever made me think this was going to be free?
As I've been out of touched for a number of years, I was shocked to see the prices of running shoes in the market now.
But Snowylady was very understanding and told me to go ahead, heck, she'd even pay for it. Just make sure I get good running shoes, she said. Injuries from poor choice of shoes is unforgivable. She wants me to exercise for my own good, and take care of the family better and longer, not be taken care of from getting hurt.
I've managed to more or less keep a disciplined approach to my new found activity. Alternating between jogging and swimming for about 4 weeks, 3-4 times a week, I think I gave my heart enough cardio warm-ups for the next step.
Which I am still trying to figure out what it would be ...
Need to lose that tyre around the waist, I do ...
Need to tone the arms, I do ...
Need to get fit enough for the biathlon ... I do ... yeah right ... better don't kid myself.
I've been cutting it close coming to work on time, and I first need to work out how to obtain that extra time from the daily schedule to get the additional work out, before I can think of what work-out to do.
D'you do weights? ^_^
ReplyDelete"It's not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years."
ReplyDelete- Abrahim Lincoln
I keep my gym membership to discipline myself to do excercise at least three times per week but recently I was so busy and only went twice a week.
ReplyDeleteNo. Used to include weights in the past when I did exercise, but realised it's quite complex.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I always preferred calisthenics and bodyweight exercise.
For my kind of body, and given my history when I was in training, I think I need to do a lot more groundwork before benefit of doing weights will kick in.
Yeah, you have long muscles, so while weight training will make you strong, it won't necessarily result in bulging muscles. lol
ReplyDeletewhat about walking 20 flights of stairs?
ReplyDeleteTry POWER brand, from Bata.. this brand is good quality yet reasonably priced. My husband goes jogging at least twice a week regularly, he wears this brand. Lasting.
ReplyDeleteand me too.. i wear a black pair for my tai chi class.
What's "long muscles"?
ReplyDeleteYou're right that I gained strength, but not bulk, from previous weight training regimes.
In any case, my weight training programme was designed for strength as I used to swim competitively. Bulk would only slow me down.
I never tried the programme aimed at developing muscles (which would require diet change too), though one gym instructor told me that for my genes, it'd need a lot more work.
I got Asics which Snowylady recommended. She'd know better than me, she was in Track and Field.
ReplyDeleteCertainly not the cheapest, though I got a past season model pair on sale. Provided good protection and support. The thing now is I can't bear to get it dirty so soon, so when it rained, I hit the pool instead.
Up or down? :-D
ReplyDeleteI should have done that when I was preparing for Outward Bound in Australia.
hehe walking down will be easy... what about up..? i worry too much of this climbing will give me bulky legs? true?
ReplyDeleteBecause of the nature of step exercises (walking up), I'd be less concern about bulky legs and more about injuries from too much climbing. But if you're planning on going trekking, that's the way to prepare for it. Carry a backpack, firmly fitted, with a few phonebooks inside.
ReplyDeleteOne article I read has it that most women, except for genetic reasons, could not develop bulky muscles even if they wanted to. Exercising the muscles just make them toned and strong, which will help make the woman look firmer and tighter, a body less prone to injuries, better flexibility, and stronger physique.
Men tend to have shorter muscles, which means that they bulk up faster when on a weight regimen, as compared to women. (Discounting the obvious difference in testosterone levels, of course.)
ReplyDeleteHowever, guys like you and Kit Meng have long muscles, so while I'm sure you guys are strong, you aren't muscle-bound.
One good way to tell whether your muscles are long or short is to flex your dominant arm at a 90 degree angle, then see how many fingers you can fit into the joint between your forearm and bicep. If one finger, you have short muscles, and you tend to bulk up easily.
Two fingers means that you're in the middle. Three fingers means that you have long muscles.
yes, woman can only toned up their body if they excercise. There is not way a woman can make her body muscular unless they take pills.
ReplyDeleteSome of them take male hormones to make them muscular.
Cool, I learned something new today.
ReplyDeleteWhether you have 'long' or 'short' muscles depends more on the type of exercises you do. Swimmers have long muscles which explain why they have such beautiful sleek physiques. Whether you bulk up easily or not depends more on your genetic disposition.
ReplyDeleteI must buck up too, cycling on weekends and Taijiquan twice a week just isn't even enough. I was able to jog 3 times a week last year, time to pick it up again.
ReplyDeleteActually swimming would be excellent all body exercising but I am just not too keen on heavily chlorinated water.
Try to look closely at those women with solid muscle, especially at their face, they look more like a men,
ReplyDeleteI saw one of those big and muscular at the T gym --her face looks more like a man and I haven't hear her speak so I don't know whether there's a voice-change in her.
maybe its a "him" that looks like a "her"...
ReplyDelete