Gettin' Fit

The dreaded workout, the 10, 20, 30 more than 30? minutes each day that so many people wish would happen by just watching their favorite workout video.

Well, call me weird, but I really am enjoying my workouts now that I'm back into them.  Of course, I'm trying to keep variety and trying to keep the workout reasonably short (I go longer when I have the time).  The longest I've done is 45 minutes.  I think that is pretty good, it's 'nearly' manageable to get it done in the morning before going to work and it typically makes me feel good for the rest of the day.

So, what do I do?  Well, mostly bodyweight exercises, I do have some resistance bands that I picked up from Target and a TRX style device that I made myself following some of the points from these two YouTube videos: Vid1 Vid2.

Here's a quick look at my 'TRX':


It ain't pretty but it get's the job done.  All in it cost me about $15.

I use a couple of phone apps for my workouts.  One is called Updown Fitness, this is by far my favorite app.  You can set up your exercise area dimensions, add in what equipment you have and set your intensity, then the app will generate a workout for you on the fly.  It will do cardio, strength, cross (probably crossfit without having to worry about getting sued) and core.  Let me just tell you that these workouts can and will kick your tail end if you want them to.  I did a 45 minute core workout not too long ago that had my abs tense for days.  It was great.  The other apps I'm still in the process of testing, so I'm not ready to endorse those just yet.  However, do yourself a favor and download updown fitness, you will not regret it.

Currently I'm 'working out' six days a week.  It's not as intense as it might sound, I'm basically doing 3 days of strength training and 3 days of yoga to stretch out.  I'm not a trainer nor am I in super fantastic shape, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but ultimately I think you need to do what will work for you that will also help you to achieve your goal.  I'm thinking about switching this up so I can get some cardio in to help burn fat and increase my overall fitness, but I have to figure out what that will look like.  I'm thinking probably a triple deuce.  Two strength days, two cardio days and two days of yoga to get me limber.

Yoga is a spot where I'm struggling, I'm finding it hard to find a program that I like that provides me with what I'm looking for.  The last one I just deleted off of my phone was called Yoga Monkey and I was pretty good with it until it started telling me that my body isn't mine and I don't exist or some strange thing like that.  Uh? No thanks, just here for the workout and the stretch you can keep your mysticism.  Anyway, trying out a couple of others and will update here when I find something useful.

So, the take away from this is that I think it doesn't matter too much what you do (to a degree) so long as you are doing something.  If you only can carve out 10 minutes each day for a workout, then rock those 10 minutes and get yourself moving, you may find that you want to increase the time you work out as you begin to see results.  I started off at about 15 minutes and now 45 to an hour is what I am trying to shoot for.  I love it and it has definitely improved my mental and physical state.

The Very First Post

Well, before I came up with a name for this blog I totally knew what I was going to write for this first post, now that I'm actually here, I'm struggling.  Go figure.  Did you read the name?  

Who am I?  Nobody special, just some guy who has an opinion on almost everything.  Who doesn't right?  I like to write things out, it seems that I communicate better that way.  My hope is that this will be a place where I can offload some of the hundreds of things I think about on a daily basis.  Some will be interesting, some won't.  I'm 100% certain that some of the things I will likely write about and my stance or opinion on them will make some people angry.

For the last decade or so I've been working in the IT field, while it is very good work and pays extremely well, I find myself struggling to remain focused in my work.  It is also very difficult to remain interested in the copious amount of training and studying that must be done to stay relevant in this field.  All of that to say that my hope is this shotgun approach to offloading things that happen inside my cranial cavity will help me to see where I should focus the bulk of my energy in regard to my path forward.  Maybe I'll find that I gravitate toward politics, maybe homesteading, theology, history, entertainment, law and so on.  Perhaps writing will create a recognizable pattern that I can then use to regain focus in my career and make a change if necessary.  You're fully welcome to come along for the ride, that is all.