Hey, guess how many sit-ups I can do?

Zero!

Yeah, I found that out yesterday at the gym.  Atrophied muscles and a sizable gut, hard-earned with ample red meat, cheese, and beer, will do that to you.  Woohoo!

My bud Tom is coaching me through an actual workout at an actual gymnasium every Wednesday.  I feel like I’ve been through a combine on Thursday morning.  It’s all “good” soreness, though; no injury, just awakening muscles (and sheesh, those sumbitches are all over places I never knew I had them).  We’re doing two sets of ten reps on eight different weight machines, followed by an in-between wild-card period (during which I discovered yesterday I couldn’t do a sit-up), and wrapped up with exercise bicycling.

Incidentally, Tom does things like compete in triathlons and ride his bicycle 50 miles on his lunch break.  He’s a great coach to have.

I’m going to add another gym workout to my week soon, and a time slot for the treadmill at home, and that will be three dedicated times weekly.  I’ll add a couple of “fun” things, like geocaching and playing outside with the boys, and that will be my first regimen.  (I say my first because Tom’s going to push once my physical condition begins significant improvement, and said push will contain other activities, I’m sure.)

I can tell a difference in the way I feel already.  Small steps.

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4 thoughts on “Hey, guess how many sit-ups I can do?”

  1. This is me, telling you that a sit up doesn’t have to mean getting your chest to you knees (ESPECIALLY if that means killing your neck by yanking on your head). Start by just trying to flatten out the curve of your low back and tilting your hips into your belly button. Work your way up from there.

    You’ve probably heard it all before, but it took you a while to get to where you are now; it’ll take a while (though likely not as long, if you’re diligent about it) to get where you want to be. It’s all about consistency (something I often have trouble with).

    Just PLEASE don’t hurt yourself….

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  2. Heh! Thanks, Mrs. Chili. I’ll try that. And (hugs) for the concern. I’m easing into it and am considering injury avoidance very carefully. And definitely on board with the consistency thing.

    ‘seester: 90?

    Reply
  3. When I was still working and had access to the gym, there was this lovely little machine that you could do crunches on where the back / head thing-a-ma-bob moved and so did the part that you hooked your feet into (kind of like crunches with extra weight). I’d done this for several weeks and I was feeling pretty good about increasing the number of times I was able to budge this machine. Then one of the roving trainers happened to be in my area when I was on this contraption… he told me that I needed to slide down the bench one inch so that my hip bone was even with “the dot” pasted on the machine. I slid done ONE INCH and could barely move the dang thing. I never cease to be amazed how a small correction can make the biggest difference in your workout. Who knows what I was doing to my body when I was doing it wrong.

    Reply

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