Strength Training Tracking

I have been strength training for a week now. And if my "gut" feel is correct, I'm already starting to see some benefits. It's really hard to see incremental change, though. I think this is a principle in general .. if you're disconnected from something for awhile and you get connected again, you'll observe much more changes. This is analogous to not seeing family members (say, distant cousins) for a long time and seeing them again after many years. There will always be change.

To help myself view progress on the training, I'm starting to keep an exercise log of weights that I use for the working set (3x5 in most cases). Through the log, I should see the amount of weight asymptotically approach numbers that match a nice, strong build. When I get more data points, I can display a graph to visualize this progression. Which will help me see whether I'm on track with my goals. My end goal is not of a massively ripped body, but of strength, endurance, and excellent tone.

My short-term goals are establishing a routine (discipline), and correct form (fundamentals). Whenever doing anything new, this is the most important part. One must exercise patience in progression during the beginning stages of any new skill. It's impossible to be natural at anything. 90% of the time someone comments on another being "natural" at a particular skill it's due to the phenomenon I addressed in the first paragraph. Outside observation of incremental change at ever wider time points increases the intensity of wonder. Or, mathematically, intensity of wonder is inversely proportional to the frequency of observation over time.

Began Strength Program

Exercise program stats summary

	Target	Today
Weight (kg)	75	77.6
Training Heart Rate (BPM)	140	-
Heart Rate Recovery (BPM)	100	-

On Saturday, I began the strength program using Workout A: squats, bench press, deadlift, and dips. You can see most of these in the program definition page found in the link on the left hand side of this blog. (Though, I may need to move it at some point since Google Page Creator is going away in favor of Sites.)

I worked with Coach Max (second from the left on the gym page) to make sure that my stance and posture were correct while doing the exercises. He only had a few minutes at a time since he was the only employee looking after the front desk. But those few minutes were very important as he showed me and evaluated me on performing the exercises. The most difficult out of the four above to get down right is the deadlift.

The deadlift is simply: pick up a bar from near the ground and take it to your hip. However, it's really easy to use your arms and quads to get the weight up. But, you're not supposed to! This exercise is focusing on the lower back muscles. Arms have to be relaxed, legs in the right position, and you have to get the angle of your body just right.

I did get it right after awhile, as my sore muscles testify. However, I can tell it'll take some more time to get the posture perfected.

The next difficult was the bench press. The challenge is to get even on both sides of the body so that left and right can get an equal amount of weight. Almost lost it on the last push, so I have to be careful without being spotted.

For the dip, I just used my body weight. I will add weights later on.

For squats, it was made easier since I didn't use free weights. It was attached to a machine that managed the bar along with a safety hook implement. It worked as effectively and allowed me to bail at the right moments without anyone spotting me.

Another funny thing was when I tried to get the scale working, the aerobics teacher just came out of his class. I asked him about it and then it started working. As I weighed myself, it came up as 77.6 kg .. he remarked, "In the 70s?!" .. I responded, "I've gotta heavier bones." .. he said, "Yeah, huh uh..." :D

Need to get a body tape measure to get a better picture of fat percentage...

Techbody Treadmill

Exercise program stats summary

	Target	Today
Weight (kg)	75	76
Training Heart Rate (BPM)	140	160
Heart Rate Recovery (BPM)	100	120

Yay! Signed up for the techbody gym mentioned earlier. I went for a 5 km, 40 min. run. Speed range from 7.1 to 9 km/h with slope. An older lady down a couple of treadmills from me was booking it at an insane angle for 20 min. straight. Energy that can be admired. Almost superhuman. ;)

I have an informal appointment with one of the coaches on Saturday at 10:40am to go over my strength training program. The critical thing is to get the posture correct and pay attention closely to my right leg (the previously broken one). Goals are: strength, endurance, energy, and fat loss .. oh, and simple.