Hard Ass
While in Houston, my friend Rebecca took me to the gym with her. She’s the most hard-core person I know about fitness. An hour of cardio 5 days a week - no exceptions, no excuses. Acknowledgement and knowledge about every calorie taken in. (Is this worth the extra 100 calories?) Weight lifting and muscle building one body area (there are three) at least once a week for half an hour. Of course, I was taking notes.
Mainly, what I noticed was you don’t die from too much exercise. You look hot and feel great.
So I’ve been amping it up a bit myself. This is what I’ve learned about myself so far: I can only tolerate 50 minutes of cardio before the boredom becomes unbearable. I will have to download a podcast or something because VH1, The View and Kelly Ripa can only keep me interested for 50 minutes maximum. Plus, usually after 50 minutes I seriously have to pee (and due to birth I sometimes leak so I can’t just hold it).
Also, it’s very difficult to determine the threshold with weights. I did the walking lunges with a 25 lb bar bell over my shoulders and the squats with the exercise ball and I seemed to be fine while doing them. I was a little sore the next day and today, the third day (another hour cardio and weight day) I am really sore. How do you determine how much is enough? Or is kinda sore the goal? Is sore the goal when you’re working the muscle group?
Right now I’m off to the gym. I’m going to test this theory my dad has that the only way to become unsore is to exercise it out.
Tags: BlogFabulous, empowering-women-with-exercise, exercise, kelly-ripa, podcasts, so sioux me, the-view, tracee sioux, vh1, walking-lunges, weight-trainingRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Fabulous Beauty Editor, Fabulous Body Image, Fabulous Health
5 opinions for Hard Ass
Rebecca
Jul 11, 2007 at 8:29 pm
your dad is exactly right! if you don’t stretch and exercise again it will be just the same or worse next time. there will be no improvement. Soreness is just an indication that you’re damaging your muscles, which sounds bad but is actually GOOD, b/c you’re making the muscle fibers knit together STRONGER (and more shapely for those of us that are quite vain) than they were before.
And i’m sure you already know that there’s a humungo difference b/t “soreness” and actually “pain”. If you experience any pain you completely heal before working out again in that area, and then (as you always should) you make sure you’re really warming up before working out. But alot of people including me find some measure of soreness almost pleasurable, b/c it means we really challenged our muscles and they’re shaping up.
You’re doing so awesome! Keep it up!!!
Rebecca
Jul 11, 2007 at 9:24 pm
And I forgot to say, if you’re so sore that you can’t move, then you overdid it. Honestly, I think the walking lunges with the 25 pound barbell was too much. I think you should have done the lunges with no added resistance. Sorry about that! Slight soreness is fine. And your *goal* is not to create soreness. If I were you, I would get really comfortable doing squats and lunges with no weights at all, and then gradually add some weights as soon as you can do them easy with no added resistance. I feel bad about making you do those lunges! This is why I’m not interested in being a trainer!
Tracee
Jul 12, 2007 at 5:53 am
I knew you were too hard core for me! But, I’ll catch up eventually.
I’m seeing how exercise can be addictive. Best addiction I’ve ever had. Perhaps no one will insist on rehab this time. Ha ha ha.
Tracee
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