Easing Up the Intensity

After a couple of long breaks for vacation and injury recovery, I'm starting to raise the bar a little. I need to get my cardio training back in motion. I've already had to skip two events that I had planned for the summer. During the "limping time" I have made good progress in the weight room though. I want to keep up the pressure there too. Moving forward -- carefully, but always forward -- that's my goal.

Good news from yesterday's weigh-in. A week of Mother P's cooking did not throw me too far off schedule. My weight is hovering around 360, and my lean muscle mass is up 0.7% so I'm still moving in the right direction. My big quarterly evaluation is in a couple weeks. The weight hasn't moved as much this time, but I expect my measurements will have changed quite a bit.

I got back on the treadmill for the first time in June. The legs felt fine, but I don't want to re-injure them. I just walked a warm up/cool down for about 5 minutes each. I'll work up from there.

The weights went ok, but my lower back is a little tender. I'm going to ask for some coaching on squats and deadlifts. I'm still not pulling a huge amount of weight but I don't want to do myself any harm. I cut a couple of lifts from my workout, and knocked the weight way down on others.

I may be trying to do too much or too many different exercises in a workout. I'm going to look at planning my routine a little farther in advance so I can cover all the muscle groups more efficiently.

Today is going to be a rest day. I have some work to do in the yard, so that can be my cross-training plan. I think it's important to do something practical every now and then to remind myself why I spend so much time in the gym.

Peace,
Pennsy