Rick’s Rants and Raves

When last I wrote about exercising, I was contemplating joining the exercise facility at my employer. I joined shortly after that post, and for the most part haven’t returned to our local YMCA since. I’ve found it just way too easy to squeeze a workout in during the day, in between meetings, instead of eating lunch with co-workers. I also had big dreams of what frequent weight lifting would do for my appearance.

It has now been nearly a year since I started at my work gym, and I’ve been able to work out 2-3 times a week. Some weeks I’ve been able to exercise 4 times, some weeks none (due to illness or crazy schedules). I weigh myself nearly every time I change to exercise, and about once a month I use their body fat calculator machine thingy. The most depressing part about the last year is that my weight and body fat haven’t changed significantly–I’m still 185, and 18% body fat, give or take. The best part about he past year is that through either gentle peer pressure, or general positive encouragement, all but one of the folks on my team have joined. A couple of guys seem to look to me for guidance in lifting and exercise in general, and I don’t mind answering their questions the best I can. The unfortunate part for them is that right now, I’m really not sure what I’m doing.

I know the basics. I know how to execute a number of lifts. I know how to design a super-set (or circuit, or straight sets) based whole-body workout with undulating periodization. But what I don’t know how to do is get results over the long term. Yeah, I can improve my strength in a lift over a couple of weeks, but I don’t ever feel like I’m building muscle. I’ve tried a number of programs and variations to the best of my abilities, but since that first 6-8 months of real progress (newbie gains, as they’re called) I’ve hardly budged in anything significant.

Though I enjoy exercising, I’ve become apathetic in my programming. I used to print out a sheet with my routine, sometimes even penciling in target weights, prior to a workout. Now I just take a blank sheet with me, and compose the routine on the spot. Sure, I keep in mind all the basics that I’ve learned, so I’m not completely aimless at that moment. But I don’t know what I’m doing week-to-week.

I think the biggest problem for me is that I don’t really have a solid goal in mind other than “gain muscle”. So what I thought would be a dream opportunity–working out 3-4 days a week with easy access to all kinds of equipment, without having to get up early or lose time with my family–has turned into something I just do. I like doing it. I just wish the results were more obvious to me.

A few other random bits: one of the trainers/employees of the facility commented to me one day that I must have been a trainer in a past life. When I asked for clarification, she explained that they (multiple trainers) had heard me talking with folks about exercise, and that my advice and information was spot-on. This was nice to hear. It was good to know that I wasn’t being a total idiot in counseling my coworkers. I asked the trainer to please correct me if I ever said anything incorrect, or gave poor advice.

We’ve got a guest trainer at the gym right now: Andy Katzenmoyer. He teaches a “LIFT” class twice a week. I was able to take that class today. It was an interesting departure–he had designed a 6 exercise whole body workout, and after a “power warm-up” we broke into groups of three to start lifting. Andy then wandered around providing advice, helping with form, adapting exercises to individual needs, etc. I couldn’t help but brown-nose a bit after we were done with all our sets 45 minutes later: “OK coach! What’s next?” He probably saw me as a pissant who should have pushed himself harder.

And maybe that really is my problem–perhaps I’m not pushing myself hard enough. Exercising has become comfortable, routine (pun intended). I’ll try to take Andy’s class again next week and work hard enough so that “What’s next” is the furthest thought from my mind.