Tag Archives: Cardio

Second Week of My New Morning Workout Routine: Day 9

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4:59am. That’s what time I woke up. I had set my alarm at 5am. But it didn’t even have the chance to go off. I was up. A little tired and that evil little voice was telling me to lay back down. Go back to sleep. Just close your eyes for a few seconds. I was about to give in, when another little voice said “just run through your routine and if after that you still want to go back to bed you can.”

So I turned on the light. Walked to the kitchen. Poured a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar into a glass of cold water. Put on the electric kettle. Drank the water. It’s supposed to be good for you. [Side note: I don’t know, but I do remember that when I was wrestling, had to cut weight, and wasn’t eating – drinking a teaspoon of vinegar would stop the hunger pains. Must help suppress appetite or something.] Poured coffee in the filter.

Went to the restroom. Washed my face with cold water. Only problem is that the water at my place is never icy cold. At least it doesn’t feel that cold. Went back to the kitchen. Poured the boiling water over the coffee. Put on my workout clothes.

It was 5:13. I still wanted to get back in bed. But I thought to myself, “If I want to be in the gym by 5:30am I can’t lay down right now. If I do, I won’t make it.” Instead, I decided to do sit ups while my coffee cooled. 3 sets, done. Drank my coffee and I’m out the door. Made it to the gym exactly at 5:30am. Yes!!!

Today is a cardio day. But first I have to do my rehab work. Resistance band training for my hips and shoulders. Also, snuck in a few sets of decline bench press and preacher curls. A set of lunges and 3 sets of calf raises.

Treadmill running for lower impact.

Then 20 minutes on the elliptical machine at level 10. And finished off with a 20 minute treadmill run. Tempo run today. Started off at 5 mph for the first few minutes. Then gradually increasing throughout the run. Finished off at about 6.3 mph for the last 3 minutes. It was slightly tough the whole way through. Meaning I was uncomfortable the whole time. But just constantly reminding myself to relax and settle into the run. Never huffing and puffing. Never breathing through my mouth. Breathing always under control and relaxed. To me that’s been the key to improving my running.

Weighed myself. Not bad. 205 lbs. I’m hoping to get under 200 lbs by the end of the week. That means that the next few days I’ll have to ramp up the intensity of my sessions. Not too much, just a little. I’ve been losing a little less than a pound a day. Probably closer to a pound every 2 days. Still it’s been pretty good progress.

Walked back home. Did 3 more sets of sit ups. A few push ups. Made my lunch ( arugula salad with cashews, cranberries, feta cheese, hard boiled egg, and tuna salad. Balsamic vinegar and a little bit of olive oil). Wrote this up and now its time to get ready for work.

Shave. Shower. Get dressed. Walk to work. Fight for our clients. You know the drill.

Second Week of My New Morning Workout Routine: Day 8

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That was tough!

There were a couple of points in that workout that I just wanted to quit. That weak little voice was starting to get the edge and in the past I probably would’ve cut my workout short. But then all of a sudden I remembered that all I had to do to have a successful workout is finish it.

It doesn’t matter if it sucks. It doesn’t matter if it feels great. It doesn’t matter if I do less weight or less reps. As long as I finish my routine, it’s a win because all I’m doing is building the habit. And the only way to build the habit is by repetition. Doing it over and over and over again.

Once I remembered that, the workout actually got easier. It took the pressure off of having to feel good, or being a “great” workout based on how I feel. What I feel is irrelevant. The important part is to get the work in. Get the job done.

Mission accomplished. It was a lift day with a little bit of cardio. I worked chest, shoulders, lats, arms, and legs. Calf raises, squats, and lunges. Then finished off with cardio. Ten minutes of elliptical at level 10. Then treadmill. I ran 1 mile in 11:29. That’s my fastest in a long time. So ended strong!

Starting A New Morning Workout Routine: Day 5

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Walking back from the gym.

First week of my new routine is in the books! Today I woke up at 4:30am. I didn’t mean to wake up that early, I just did. Drank water. Used the restroom and tried to go back to sleep. No luck. So I decided to meditate, which I find is almost as restful as sleeping. So by 5:10am I decided to get up. My alarm was set for 5:15am. It didn’t even have the chance to go off. I guess I should be proud, I beat my alarm.

Then I ran through my usual ritual. Drank water. Boiled water. Put coffee in the filter. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, when I say coffee… it’s actually decaf. Ever since getting covid I’ve been trying to drink less caffeine. Washed my face. Put on my workout clothes. Did a couple sets of sit ups. Grabbed my keys, phone, and badge. Walked to the gym. Got to the gym by 5:55am.

Today was a weight day. But I decided to start by doing some light cardio. Elliptical for 15 minutes at level 9. Then treadmill for 15 minutes. Ran 1.13 miles. Nice and slow pace. But I’m getting the steps in. And I’m feeling stronger, faster, and definitely getting lighter.

So a quick note about my motivation to start this new routine. First, I’ve been an athlete my whole life. I always feel better when I’m in great shape or making progress toward getting into good shape. It helps with mental health and definitely relieves stress. Absolutely recommend it for anyone dealing with either of those two things.

Second, the last few years that hasn’t been the case though because of Covid and so I started getting all these pains and aches in my body. My wrist. My shoulder. My hip and low back all started acting up. So working out first started by rehabbing each of those injuries. Had to start super slow. Very light weight and not pushing myself too much. Just focused on getting a tiny bit better everyday. Then it became maintenance. Make sure that the injuries and pains were really gone. Now I’m in the process of improvement. Building strength and getting leaner. Pain free. Just sore a lot, lol.

Third, I made a goal to lose weight. I love the way it looks when I can see my abs. Well technically to change my body composition. Reduce fat and increase muscle. Weight is just a proxy for being lean and healthy. I gained about 30-40 pounds during covid. So I wasn’t feeling very good. Low energy. At my heaviest I was up to 230lbs. This week that I started my new routine I’m already down to about 210 lbs. But my goal is to get back to about 170 lbs. At that weight I’ll be very lean and ready to run a half or full marathon, which I would really like to do.

Lastly, the dark side of my motivation. As you’ll see above most of the motivation is positive. But some of it is a way of channelling all the negativity that is thrown at me into something positive. All the haters, all the envy, all the people that wish me ill, and all the people that talk shit, don’t believe in me, want to see me fail, or believe all kinds of evil shit about me. I take that hate and turn it into fuel for my success. So when I’m tired or in pain from running or lifting, I remember the haters and I use that as my fuel to get stronger, keep going, and accomplish more.

Anyway, back to the routine. Finished lifting (shoulders, chest, arms, squats, and calf raises). Weighed myself. Without shoes I weighed 206. Not bad 4 pounds down in 1 week. But I bet a bunch of that is water weight. Walked back home. Did my 3 sets of sit ups. Drank water. Talked to my honey. Talked to my daughter. Shaved. Showered. Got dressed. Wrote this. Now just got to grab my things and I’m off to work.

Ready for a great day! If you’re reading this I hope you have a great and blessed day too.

Starting A New Morning Workout Routine: Day 3

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Up early again this morning. 5:30am, quick meditation. Got up drank a glass of water. Turned on the hot water and put coffee in the filter. Restroom, washed my face. Put on my headset and started listening to positive motivation. Poured hot water over the coffee and put on my workout clothes.

For some reason, time seemed to be moving faster than usual this morning. Grabbed my phone, keys, and badge. By the time I headed out the door it was already 5:55am. Walked to the gym.

Today was all weights, no cardio. Although I do feel like I should get some cardio in during lunch or something. We’ll see if I have the energy later. I put in a hard session. Today was leg day, so lots of squats and calf raises. Next will probably start adding in lunges. Also, did chest, lats, shoulders, and biceps. Again, time seemed to go by really fast. By the time I looked it was already 7:30am. Time to get going.

Walked home. Did 4 sets of sit ups. Heated the coffee up. Drank water. Lunch is already made so don’t have to worry about that. Ate a small breakfast. Drank coffee. Shave, shower, and got dressed. Now I’m ready to go. Have a great day!