Thursday Night Zumba

We had a substitute for Zumba last night. Class was led by a male instructor and his routines were more like Tuesday's instructor. A lot of arm movement. Totally felt like drill team. :)

I seem to be getting the hang of it as I was actually able to follow along sometimes and was actually in sync with the class a few times. :) :) :)

I almost didn't go to class last night because I felt a little weird all day and my tummy felt weird, but I sucked it up and went. I'm glad I did.

I really wanted to see if I could handle 2 classes of Zumba with my 3 days of training. We'll see how I feel tonight after training, but so far so good. So much so that I'm seriously thinking of taking the 9:45am Zumba class tomorrow and then hitting the pool. That sounds wonderful, doesn't it? :)

Wednesday Workout

On Wednesday I was on my own again and I did a better job of keeping track of my time. Since we did a lot of chest work on Monday, my trainer said I could focus on my legs for Wednesday (even though every workout should be a combo of both). So I did just that, focused on my legs for my 30 minute workout and then did 20 minutes on the bike.

I did have to push myself a little to finish the 20 minutes on the bike. I really try bopping to the music on my iPod and sometimes I close my eyes to really focus. But mostly, I'm bopping along to the music as I people watch the others in the gym. That really does help get me through my time on the bike. ;)

Tonight, I have a session with a different trainer. A little concerned because I heard he's tough. I really like the trainer I've been work with. I'm back with him on Monday, but then I have a session with the master trainer and the female trainer I first worked with to round out the month.

I think when I schedule my sessions for September, I'm going to schedule them all with the one I've been working with. He gets me.

Dinner Time

The only hiccup with my new workout routine is the time I eat dinner.

F told me I shouldn't eat before my workouts and to wait until after. When I have my sessions with the trainer (or on my own) over here by work, it's not a huge problem because I don't really get out late. A few times I've been able to stop by Trader Joe's on my way to the gym and grab a salad. I end up eating it on the train home. More often than not, though, I don't stop and when I get out of the gym, it's a direct line to the train station and it feels friggin' far to walk back to Trader Joe's. Plus, even though I don't get out Zumba late, it still is later and even 20 extra minutes to catch the train could mean waiting an eternity for my last bus home from the blue line. So then I'm not eating dinner until 9pm or so.

And on Zumba days, well....last night I didn't get home until 10pm and I wasn't done with dinner until almost 10:30, which then meant I had to force myself to stay awake until 11:30pm because I need to check my blood glucose an hour after I eat. Which is also hard to do on my workout days if I eat on the train going home because I'm still on my way home an hour later.

So really, that's the main problem. I need to eat dinner at a reasonable time so I can 1) take my evening meds and 2) check my blood glucose.

I know I'll figure it out eventually. I just need to get on a schedule.

2nd Zumba Class

I did the 8pm Zumba class at the gym by my house last night. This class was led by a different instructor with a completely different style. Her routines incorporated more arm movements and I felt like I was in drill team. ;)

Still had difficulty following the steps, but I just kept moving. I really cannot do the traditional Latin dance steps. :(

In addition to the different instructor, I also only recognized 1 person from last week's class. Maybe people go to classes depending on the instructor and not the time like I do.

I liked both instructors. Last week's routines were high-energy. This week's were a little more mellow. Don't get me wrong, I was still sweating a ton and my t-shirt was completely drenched and I totally knocked out again as soon as I got home.

As I was changing after class I thought it would be a great time to get in the pool, if only it wasn't already late. This past weekend, I didn't do anything because I was so tired, but I think I was so tired because it was my first full week of working out. The last time I did any kind of working out was probably October of 1993 in my 10th grade gym class. OK, no wait, I did have to take swim classes in college to learn how to swim for the swim requirement. I took two quarters of swimming my sophomore year. Still, it's been a looooooooong time, so of course I was going to be tired last week.

Remember how I wrote that I just felt tired on Friday, even before I went into my workout (that I over did)? I was able to walk normally and go down the stairs without any pain, but I noticed how tired I was just walking and going about my normal activities. And then I did my workout and I couldn't even do my regular 15 minutes on the bike (I stopped after 5 mins) and I was sore & achy. My body was just tired, period.

We'll see how my workout goes tonight. I'm on my own again and this time I'm going to keep an eye on the time and limit myself to 30 minutes of training (not including the bike) like I do with the trainer. But I don't think I'll be tired like I was on Friday.

Going back to the pool thing....seeing as I feel like I was so tired and achy because it was my first real week of working out in 20 years, I think I'll try at least one morning Zumba class this weekend and then get in the pool. I bet it's going to feel great! :)

I was also looking at some of the other classes, like Step Plus Abs and Body Works Plus Abs. I watched the videos linked for them and maybe I'll try one or two classes. But, ugh! I hated step aerobics in school.

It's hard not to get turned on when I receive these kind of text messages from F in the middle of the night. ;)

"I'm having you this weekend. I need you."*

*Not full message.

Monday Workout

I had a good session last night. My trainer had me work out on some new machines and I did variations of some exercises he's had me do before. The highlight of my workout last night, though, was that I made it to 20 minutes on the bikes. Actually 22, but don't tell the master trainer. He doesn't want me doing more than 20 minutes of cardio right now. The only reason it got to 22 minutes is because I hit cool down at 19 and that's 3 minutes.

Those 2 extra minutes took me to 4 miles on the bike. Woo-hoo!!

For me, though, the best part is that in terms of sweating, I cooled down quickly. Yes, my t-shirt was drenched in sweat, but I only had to sit in the locker room for a few minutes before I changed and when I left the gym, I wasn't sweating anymore. :)

Last summer, when I was walking a lot playing Ingress, I noticed that I wasn't sweating nearly as much as I used to, even when I was walking all over my city in the middle of the day. I kept equating it to my stamina being improved. :)

Tonight I have Zumba again. Eventually I'll get the steps. For now, just gotta keep moving.

Over Did It

I am so sore and tired today.

I knew I had overdone it last night as I left the gym. I just felt really tired and I was achy.

I felt loss working out without a trainer telling me what to do and how to do it. I used some of the machines he recommended it, but I hadn't used them before so I felt like a dork looking at the little pictures and reading the "instructions."

I did 10 mins on the bike to warm up - and yes, there was totally something wrong with the pedals on the bike I used Thursday night - and ended up doing my workout for about 45-50 minutes. Then I tried to do my usual 14-15 mins on the bike to end my workout, but I couldn't make it past 5 mins.

Just kept thinking, "yup, I over did it!"

When I left the gym, I decided I was going to totally take it easy this weekend and not do Zumba or anything. It popped into my head to maybe go swimming and then I remembered I was supposed to volunteer this morning, but I was just too tired. Still tired. I've mostly just been lying in bed and napping.

That's probably bad, right? I gotta keep moving so I don't tighten up....but I have to rest, too, right? :)

Tomorrow I'll move since I have to do all my errands. 

No Rhythm

Zumba was hard. I just tried to keep moving last night because I couldn't catch on to the steps. I would kind of get them, but had no rhythm whatsoever.

The class was an hour long and I was exhausted when it was over. I was also drenched in sweat. The front AND back of my t-shirt was one big sweat stain. It was almost 9:30 when class let out (the instructor arrived late) and I didn't want to wait another half hour for the bus, so I took a Lyft home and knocked out.

It's funny because on Monday & Wednesday, when I had training, I would come home and I was wide awake. Those days I didn't fall asleep until Midnight (which is bad because I have to get up at 5am). But with Zumba last night, I fell asleep quickly. Just rolled over and I was out.

Today, my legs aren't sore and I can walk up and down the stairs normally, but they do feel tired. Yesterday, too, though, before Zumba class I did 10 mins on a bike and it was so friggin' hard. I think it was partly the bike - the pedals seemed off - but I had to force myself to finish the 10 mins. My legs felt so tired, I was worried about how they would handle Zumba, but I was good.

I think I'll take it easy on my legs today and do more of the chest exercises, or we'll see how I feel....

Originally, I thought I would take a Zumba class this weekend (even though they're so early in the morning!), but I think I'll take F's advice and not overdo it and just take it easy this weekend. On Monday I'll be back with the trainer. Now I just have to decide if I'm up for Zumba on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

3rd PT Session

I was worried about training last night because my legs were still sore. In the morning, I had mentioned to F that it really hurt to walk down the stairs and he said to focus on the steps and push through the pain; that's what he does when he's sore. So I did and the stairs were more manageable. In fact, I noticed, that as I walked around more, my legs hurt less. They were the worst each time I got up from sitting at my desk.

Still, I was worried, I mean, it was difficult just to sit down on the toilet seat (it's too low in my office).

Of course, yesterday is the day my boss decides to ask me to pull some information for him that I've never had to do and am not completely sure how to do so it took me awhile and I ended up leaving slightly later than I intended. At my second session, the trainer said I should do at least 10 mins on a bike or elliptical before our training session as a warm-up, so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to change and get in at least 10 mins.

I ended up doing 6 mins and the good thing was that as soon as I started pedaling, my legs felt fine. No soreness or pain. :)

For my workout this time, he had me different exercises and I used 2 new machines. The lunges did hurt, though, but I just pushed through the pain; like F suggested. When our time was up, I mentioned that the master trainer said he would tell me what I should do for my next workout since I'm on my own on Friday. I mentioned my legs and he said that if they still hurt on Friday, then not to do many of the leg exercises and focus more on the chest.

But like I said, my legs were fine as we worked out and didn't hurt much. Heck, I practically ran down the stairs to continue my workout on a bike. Yup, that's how good my legs felt. I did another 14 mins (2 1/2 miles) on a bike before going home. I would like to try the elliptical, but as my friend keeps reminding me...baby steps.

After sitting 40 mins on the train, another 20 mins on another train, and 15 mins on the bus, my legs were back to being sore. Inactivity is a killer. :(

They're not so bad today. While I'm not running down the stairs today, I can walk down normally. Uni cancelled on me for Zumba, but I'm still going to go by myself. I'm going to try to make it to the 8pm class at the gym closer to home, instead of the 7pm class by work.

F doesn't want me to overdo it, so he just said to be careful. We'll see how tonight goes and let's hope I can remember all the exercises to do on my own on Friday.

I can't walk down the stairs and I'm actually walking kinda funny.