Tag Archives: workout

Starting A New Morning Workout Routine: Day 4

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Photo by Dom Gould on Pexels.com

Best day so far in the new routine. My new healthy habits are starting to stick. Got up at 5:25am. I’ve been setting my alarm earlier and earlier each day. Not by much, only 5 or 10 minutes earlier each day. I’m going to try to keep getting up earlier. Let’s see how early I can push it.

Today, it wasn’t easy to wake up. I woke up from an intense dream last night. Thinking of loved ones who have passed. It was a cool dream. Just intense. Got up. Drank water. Used the restroom and went back to sleep. Luckily, I was able to get back to sleep easily. But still I was pretty sleepy when I woke up at 5:25am.

I REALLY wanted to go back to sleep!! But I told myself I would after I went through my morning ritual. That shut that nagging little voice of weakness up. Ran through my routine. Drank cold water. Today I added a teaspoon of vinegar. I heard that it’s good for you. Put the hot water kettle on. Put coffee in the filter. Went to use the restroom. Washed my face. Got my workout clothes on. [Oh, side note. I heard that if you put your workout clothes out the night before, it makes it easier to put them on first thing in the morning. And that gives you one less excuse for not working out. I started doing that this week and it has made a big difference.]

Then something strange happened. Once I had my workout clothes, I wanted to workout. So after pouring the hot water over my coffee, I pulled out my mat and did a set of 30 sit ups. That’s been one of the hardest things for me to do in my new routine. I hate doing sit ups. But it felt easy today. I could’ve kept going but I decided to keep it easy and stopped. Hopefully, my mind-body will remember that tomorrow and it’ll keep getting easier!

Finally, I took a sip of coffee. Now I had run through my morning ritual and laid back down. But instead of doing that to go to sleep, I did a three minute meditation. Got up mentally refreshed and ready to go. Grabbed my keys, badge, and phone. Out the door.

I jogged a good portion of the way to the gym. Not fast. Super slow. But it was the first time I did that. Even more importantly, today was the first day that I got to the gym before 6am!!! The security guards have been rooting for me for weeks and gave me props for finally getting it done. I guess my new morning routine is actually working. Now I got to do the same thing for my afternoon/evening routine! But that’s a different story.

Today was cardio day. Only a little bit of weights and resistance training for rehab and strength. Then 20 minutes on the elliptical machine at level 9. Then 20 minutes on the treadmill. Ran 1.65 miles. Mostly ran at about 4.5 mph to about 5.1 mph. Getting better!

Walked back home. Talked to my honey. Did 4 more sets of sit ups. Drank coffee. Lunch is already made. Took care of that last night. Shaved. Showered. Got dressed. Now writing.

Alright, I’m off to work. Have a great day!

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!

Starting A New Morning Workout Routine: Day 2

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Okay! That was much better. Woke up at 5:35am, but felt a lot better than yesterday. Still went to sleep WAY too late, 11:30pm. But I had taken a nap from about 7:30 to 9pm, so I think that helped. At least I was productive last night working on a project that I have to turn in asap.

Anyway, back to my workout this morning… I was sleepy and tired but not groggy like I was yesterday. I can overcome being tired and sleepy, no problem. I’m used to pushing myself and working hard. Got up, washed my face, put on the hot water kettle, drank a glass of water, and got dressed. Walked to the gym. Left around 5:52am, got there about 10 minutes later.

Today was a cardio day. I started with 10 sets of back and forth side steps with elastic bands across the gym. I do that to rehab my hips. Old wrestling injury aggravated by sitting so long at work and in daily life. Then even though it’s a cardio day I still had to lift for about half an hour.

Then it was time for my treadmill run. Not too fast and not too slow. Nice and easy pace, especially to start. A little over 4 miles per hour. Then I built it up slowly until I was at about 5 miles per hour at the end. I ran for a total of 20 minutes, 1.5 miles with incline. Got a nice sweat going, but wasn’t exhausted and out of breath. Felt great afterwards.

Next, it was time for a quick elliptical session. Only 10 minutes at a resistance level of 8. Easy work. Weighed myself… Not where I want to be, but on my way.

Walked back home. Drank water. Did my sit ups. Made coffee and came to write this entry. Now it’s time to get ready for work. Have a great day!

Starting A New Morning Workout Routine: Day 1

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Today (August 1, 2022), I started a new early morning workout routine. Woke up at 545am. Ouch. It was TOUGH. Went to sleep after 11pm, so less than 6 hours is probably not enough sleep. I wanted to go back to sleep SOOO bad.

But I didn’t. Instead, I got up still groggy forced myself to turn on the lights. Kept my eyes half-closed. Went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. Went to the kitchen and drank a glass of water. Put on the hot water kettle. Drank hot matcha tea with almond milk.

Put on my workout clothes and running shoes. Grabbed my keys and phone. Walked to the gym. Hit the weights. Squats, deadlifts, shoulder press, bench press, curls, and one-arm bent over rows. Then a little bit of cardio.

Walked back to the house. Talked to my honey. Meditated. Did three sets of 30 sit ups. Shaved and showered. Got dressed and ready for work. Then remembered that I wanted to start keeping an online journal of my new routine for accountability.

So, here I am writing up what I accomplished this morning. Off to a good start. Feeling great. Ready to take on the day. Time to fight for justice on behalf of our clients (SD Public Defender Post-Conviction Relief)! Let’s go!