New training approach, YAYOG/Food Journal day 1

Monday, 19 March 2012

Fayetteville, NC

I’m starting You Are Your Own Gym (YAYOG) today. I’ve been back from Kuwait for two weeks and haven’t worked out at all with the exception of morning PT, and that doesn’t even begin to count as a workout. Between living in a hotel for my first week back, trying to find a place, get settled in and unpacked (which I’m still working…as indicated by the multitude of still-packed boxes crowding the living room), and readjusting to the time difference, changes at work, and the culture shock of being around the average American again, I haven’t had the motivation to drag myself to the gym. I’ve thought about it; nearly every day, actually. Then I’ve looked around, seen everything that I still had to do, and didn’t go. Morning PT is practically a joke. That doesn’t mean I don’t struggle with it sometimes – especially the runs, as I’ve never been a strong runner – but it can’t stand alone as my workout. I need more than that, but I realized today that I need something that I don’t have to drag myself to the gym for. As much as I love lifting, I know that when Pikachu gets home, I’m going to be even harder pressed to find the motivation to spend time at the gym if he’s waiting for me at home. So, I decided today that I’m going to start focusing on bodyweight routines. I’m going to work on mastering my own body. If I get the urge to go lift something heavy, I’ll do it. In fact, I may use the two extra hours that I have on Wednesday afternoons (we get off at 1500 on Wednesdays for “family time”) to go to the gym and get my lifting fix. But for now, the rest of the days, I’ll be following the Basic Program in YAYOG. And, now that I have my own kitchen again, I’m going to be very conscious about what I’m fueling my body with. I’m also going to work on keeping a detailed workout and food journal, because writing is something that I care a lot about and haven’t done nearly enough of lately. Hopefully, combining it with fitness and health – two other things I care a lot about – will help me get back into it, full swing.

Post-workout thoughts to follow.

YAYOG Day 1: Push/Pull

YAYOG may actually kick my ass. I’ll admit that I was expecting the program to be easy at first. You know, nothing my prior workouts haven’t prepared me for. I was pleasantly surprised. My arms are shaking, and I have a feeling I’ll be more sore in the morning than I’ve been in a while. The incline push-ups were surprisingly difficult. I need to find a better place to do these though. I’m not sure if I was doing them lower than I should have, or if I’m really just that weak, but by the end of it my palms were on fire and my wrists were killing me. Let me ins took some getting used to. I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t actually feel these in my arms or back at all. Initially, I felt them in my quads, but that stopped after a few of the lower sets. Muscle wise, I probably could have completed higher ladders, but my hands were sweaty and slippery and not strong enough to hold that grip any longer. Bench dips started hurting my wrists again. By the end of the ladder, my whole body was shaking from trying to keep perfect form throughout the set while trying to accommodate my screaming wrists. I had to do the let me ups with an underhanded grip from under my desk. It felt odd doing them with bent legs, but I can definitely see why the program starts you out that way. I think it’s safe to say that I would not have been able to complete the ladders that I did if I had to do them with my full body weight.

So the verdict is, YAYOG may actually kick my ass, and I’m looking forward to it.

Edit: 20 MAR 2012 – OW! So freaking sore this morning! But it’s a good pain! It means I did something right yesterday!