Fitness Training Begins

Today I met with my new fitness trainer Patti at Snap Fitness. We did a fitness evaluation which gave me the following starting results:

Jan 20, 2018
Weight: 199 lbs
BMI = 33.1 (30 or higher is obese)
Body Fat Percentage = 49.1 (almost half of me is fat)
Skeletal Muscle Percentage = 21.9 (low)
Resting Metabolism = 1611 (pretty much what I had as my daily calorie goal - between 1400 and 1800)
Visceral Fat Level = 12 (high)
Flexibility scale = 0

... and my calculated Body Age = 69 Yuk!

We also took my measurements but I forgot to get a copy of that, so I will fill that in later.

We did the circuit using a bunch of machines to find out what settings to use, and what level of weights/reps I should start at (but I forgot that too lol).

We meet on Tuesday to start my routine. It will consist of warm-up, strength training and cardio. After the 2 weeks are up, I won't be using the machines and will be using a routine I can do at home.

It was a good day. Later this afternoon I went for a long walk and ended up at the grocery store buying fish for dinner tonight!


 

New Year - New Start

After last Friday's workout, I ended up with a lower back pain that stopped me from doing any more workouts. It's not the first time, but it made me realize I need to work more on form and posture than finishing the workouts.

So, I decided to hire a Personal Fitness Trainer to help me get started on my journey.

This is what I asked for:

I am looking to get some help setting up a fitness routine for myself. I would like to have a work-out plan to do 3x a week that includes strength training. I do alot of walking (about 1hr each day) so am looking for other exercises to build my core and strength in my back, arms and legs AND lose weight!! Preferably things I can do at home with a mat and hand weights - nothing too fancy.

I really need to learn the correct posture for the exercises, so for the first couple of weeks maybe we can work together and you can show me the right form. Seems every time I set out to do exercises on my own, I injure my neck or lower back. I think once I have a good set of exercises to do on a regular basis, and am doing them correctly, I should be good to proceed on my own. Maybe have a followup session with you once every couple of months (or something like that).

Here's my stats:

age 56

weight 210 lbs

height 5'5"

This Saturday, we meet at 10am at a local gym in Brockville called Snap Fitness. My trainer is Patti Easter and she also teaches Aquafit at Tallships - which I attend on Thursday.

Looking forward to the initial assessment and having her prepare a suitable workout for me to do on my own.

Woohoo!

Day 3 - JM 30DS

Yesterday was the third day of the Level 1 workout. It is definitely getting easier, however I still have a hard time with the push-ups.. Grrr. They are hard! I have lost 1 pound which is great.

Today is my day off. I woke up this morning with a tinge of pain in my left hip. I'm not sure if that was because of the exercises, however, I took a couple of ibuprofens and am stretching it. I might go for a walk thru the snow later today.

Day 2 - Jillians 30 Day Shred Level 1

I wasn't sure I should do the workout today as I was still quite stiff and sore. But I went out and got all the ingredients to make my delicious protein smoothie. Once I was back home, I decided to go ahead with Day 2.

It actually wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I was able to do the modifed push-ups. The secret is to keep my core straight.

In addition to the JM 30 DS, I did a 32 minute walk thru the snow as well as 10,000 steps.

Feeling good.

Jan 9, 2018 - Other Exercises

Today's exercise consisted of a 1 hour (5 km) walk through the snow on the Brock Trail in Brockville. This trail winds along the St. Lawrence River, through Hardy Park and then along the Buell Creek across woodlands to centertown Brockville. The trail is snow-packed. This exercise burned 364 calories. 

In addition, I also reached my 10,000 steps by 1:30pm .

And to cap off a beautiful day, I went to a 75 minute yoga/meditation session tonight. So relaxed.

Looking forward to tomorrow's Level 1 - Day 2 workout.

Jan 8, 2018 - Day 1 of JM 30DS Level 1

It is now 2018. I am officially retired and loving it. However, with retirement comes a lapse of structure and a lessening of physical activity. Although I have been maintaining an almost daily walk, it is not the same as the daily movement involved when I was at work.

My typical week included the following forms of physical activity:

• daily 1hour walk outside at a leisurely to mid-impact level
• once a week Aquafit classes
• trying to keep a 10,000 daily step total

 However, this is not enough activity to keep my weight down and following New Years' Eve, my weight was 211 lbs. This is the highest it has ever been. 

So......I have started the Jillian Michael 30 Day Shred DVD and yesterday I completed Day 1.

There are 3 levels to this - Level 1, Level 2 and (guess what) Level 3. I am starting at Level 1. Each level is done 10 times before moving on to the next level.

Jan 8, 2018  - Level 1 - Day 1

The daily routine consists of a 2 minute warmup, the 3 segments which include - 3minute strength, 2minute aerobic and 1minute abs - repeated 3 times with different exercises in each segment.

Exercises: First segment included push-ups which I cannot do at all. Just kind of did the movements.
Second and third segments I was able to do (in the easy mode). I used 3lb weights for these exercises.

Results: The following day my legs (quads) are SORE but in a good way. My shoulders/neck are also sore. I feel very pumped and positive about the workout.

Actions: I have to be very careful because last time I did an exercise pgm like this I hurt my neck and had to go to physio. So I will be adding in stretches afterwards to ensure my shoulders/neck stay healthy. I also realize that at my age and physical shape that I am better to skip 1 day between work-outs in order to allow my body to grow. There is no way I could have done another workout today! I would have hurt myself for sure. Maybe, as time progresses and I get stronger, I can do these workouts daily, but not yet.

Day 26 of 90

Last time for workout #4. I gave it my all today and pretty much did all of the exercises. It felt great after I was done - sweating like crazy which I love.

We're going away for the long weekend tomorrow so I had to plan how I will fit in my exercises. I will do my last cardio1 before we leave tomorrow morning. Sunday is my rest day so that works out good. However, Monday we may either be at the trailer or down in Brockville. Hopefully we'll be in Brockville where we'll be staying in a hotel room so I can take my computer and the dvd and do the workout there. If we're still at the trailer it will be pretty hard to do it. Worst case scenario, I wait until Monday evening when we check into the hotel and do it then. I'll see. I just don't want to miss a workout. Especially because I'll be starting the new workouts and I'm excited about that.

I ate pretty well today. Jillians blueberry  muffin for breakfast. Salmon sandwich and soup for lunch. And then I got really lazy and just had the rest of the salmon and soup for dinner. Hmmm. Not much variety in there! Add in a couple of glasses of wine and 1 Smirnoff ice and I'm all set for the weekend!

Have a great weekend everyone!