Week Two – Session #4

• Three sets each:
  • Jump on and off of a Bosu Ball, to sides – 15 repetitions
  • Mountain Climbers using Bosu Ball upside down – 30 seconds
  • Jump on a 10″ stool and climp down – 12 repetitions
• Three sets each:
  • Heel and calf extension : with your fore arms on the exercise ball which is placed on a table, roll forward while keeping your body straight and lifting heels
  • Supine Hip Extension with Ham String Curl on Fitness Ball : lay on your back, place your heels on the ball, slowly bring the ball and your legs closer as you raise your back. Then bring the ball away until your back and your thighs are in a straight line.
• Three sets each:
  • Sled Hack Squat
  • Ab Crunch on machine
  • Run a lap

This session was short and took only about 40 minutes. But the workout was intense and felt good. I was little late and Rudy had another appointment soon after, that’s why it was short.

Week Two – Session #3

After three days gap, I went back to gym for my third session. No lingering pains going into the session.

• Three sets each:
  • 12 Pushups
  • Stand in front of Bosu ball, facing away, slowly sit on it and stand back up – 10 times
• Three sets each:
  • Chest Press
  • Run a lap
• Three sets each:
  • Back Row
  • Run a lap
• Three sets each:
  • Lateral Raise
  • Run a lap
• Three sets each:
  • Back Extension
  • Run a lap
• Three sets each:
• Seated Crunch
• Run a lap

It is too soon to tell if it is working. These workouts are exhausting. The muscles that are worked as well as the whole body are tired at the end. Real pain doesn’t start until 24 hours after the workout. It is important to keep one or two days gap between the sessions for recovery and rebuilding.

Week one – Session #2

Day after the session 1, my whole body was sore. After a days gap to recover, I was put through this routine.

• Three sets each:
  • Triceps Extension
  • Pushups
  • 30 seconds jumping jacks
• Three sets each:
  • Crunches, on a bench, leaning back on hands
  • Standing Knee Crunch – bring alternating knee into chest while focusing on abs
  • 30 seconds jumping jacks
• Three sets each:
  • Barbell Shoulder Press
  • Squat Thrusts
  • 30 seconds jumping jacks
• Three sets each:
  • Bosu-ball Crunches – leaning back on the ball
  • Dumbell Elbow Kickback
  • 30 seconds jumping jacks

The jumping jacks between rigorous sets give body needed oxygen and gets the blood flowing. Drink water and stay cool. Just try to do as much as you can. You will be OK.

 

Week One – Session #1

This is the free one-on-one personnel session the gym offered after witch they sold me the 16 session program. This is the workout that Rudy (my trainer) put me though in this session.

 

 

• Three sets each:
  • 10 pushups
  • front raise – circular disk (30 lb)
• Three sets each:
  • crunches,  on a bench leaning back on hands
  • ball exercise squats while keeping the ball between your back and the wall
• Three sets each:
  • jog a lap
  • Triceps Extension
• Three sets each:
  • jog a lap
  • Seated Leg Curl – hamstring
• Three sets each:
  • jog a lap
  • Leg Extension
• Three sets each:
  • jog a lap
  • Chest Press
• Three sets each:
  • jog a lap
  • Vertical Leg Press

This was a 45 minute workout with 5 minutes warm-up and cool down running on the treadmill. I think it is important for beginners to add the jogging or some sort of light routine between intense routines. This lets your blood flowing and gives the muscles much needed oxygen and some rest.

 

Need for the survival

I am 38 and I have a good life. I don’t want to beat my self up or beat my own drum here, but I think I have a potentially good life. How do I know it is a good life? I feel good about it most of the times. I feel it is worth saving or improving it. So, I would say, my life is good.  Does it feel good all the time? I don’t know. But this is my attempt to feel good or great. Am I too ambitious? May be. I am not hurting anybody by trying. I hope I am not hurting anybody or anything.

 

Am I middle aged and hit the mid-life crisis? I am 38. These are my most productive years. By my age, it is not mid-life yet.  If you know my life, probably you will consider it mid-life. My daughter is turning teen this year. That is probably a sign that I am at my mid-life.

 

I can’t afford a mid-life crisis. No, I am too cheap to have a mid-life crisis. Even though I am talking about “life” here, it is not about my life I am worried. For now I am worried about body. So, I should just focus on the age, and that’s why call it an attempt to survive middle-age. There, since we get the life out of the way, we can now focus on the problem at hand.

 

One day I came home from work with a bad pain in my right arm. I took painkillers and hoped to get better. The pain came back the next day, and the next day, and on. You see, it only bothered me on work days and that too towards the end of the day. I sit all day in front of a computer and it might be something with my work. So, I witched the to my left hand (got used in couple of days) and placed a wrist pad in front of my keyboard. But my right arm still bothered me.

 

I can say I am in OK shape. I can run for 5 miles in 50 min. I did that every Saturday for few months last year. For me that was a big thing. I felt really good that I am not in a bad shape. Later, for various (convenient) reasons, I stopped running.

 

Now, I have this really bad pain in arm. I told my wife about it. As usual, she listened. She listened carefully. You see she cares. Then she suggested that may be I should start exercising again. She tells me that every time I don’t exercise for a while I complain about aches and pains. She tells me that I don’t complain when I exercise regularly.

 

OK, now I am back at the gym. I signed up of this kick-boxing class twice a week. My intention was not to learn kick-boxing or any other type of martial arts. I don’t know if one can learn martial arts from these classes at the gym. But for me these are good flexibility, aerobic and endurance workouts. And it is fun with music and all that.

 

My pain in the arm still there, doing it’s job everyday, bothering me every day. I can say, I am not 100% at work with this pain. I went to my doctor, he suggested PT. The PT gave me some shoulder strengthening exercises. (More exercise. Am I really out of shape? Why is everybody hinting me that I need to get in shape?) I followed the PT advice and pulled on the green band in the directions he told me for few weeks. The pain is still there. I am still going to the kick-boxing workout classes. Let me just call it aerobics class.

 

One day, at the gym, on my way to the aerobics class, I saw a signup sheet for a free one-on-one personnel training session. I wanted to go for it and learn some exercises to help my arm/shoulder. I told the trainer (Rudy) that my goal is to get strength in my upper body and improve my overall strength. He took me around the gym and made me workout really good. It was sometimes painful, but very good. At the end of the workout he pitched me a 24 or 16 workout sessions program that would cost $1500 or $1000. I was totally surprised. It was supposed to be a free workout.

 

I discussed the experience with my wife. She said, if it makes the pain go away, may be it is worth it. And, guess what. I signed up for a 16 sessions (8 weeks) program. That is the biggest about I spent for myself ever. I still can’t believe that I fell for it. I am now going for these classes.

 

Since I am spending that much amount, I am thinking about ways to make most of it. I wanted to blog my experience to track progress. So, stay with me, we will see how it works out. It’s been 3 classes since I started working with Rudy. I will post the exercise routines class by class and post my pictures so you can judge if it worked out.