First Week Back Wasn't Too Bad

As mentioned in a previous post, I started back to my workout and have progressed through may cardiovascular work in 10% increments on the stair master (level 12, rotating programs, increasing from 20-22-25 minutes) and 10% on my 20 minute runs. I should be back to my normal levels in 2 weeks for the stair master and probably back to my 8:30 mile in 5-6 weeks. I will be keeping the same workout this week, composed of a variety of compound moves 3 days per week but upping the resistance by 10%. I am maintaining the long walk/runs in the morning and the yoga sessions in the afternoons as well as my body weight exercises and core exercises 2 days a week. My weight has stabilized closer to 112 lbs. and my thoughts were that eating less and not "working out" on my vacation probably led to some muscle loss. So, I am thinking of changing my diet up a bit (more emphasis on protein) and pushing my workouts to 4/week (2 upper/2 lower) based on a workout on Men's Health Magazine and losing some fat and gaining some lean muscle. I will be previewing this in my weekly audio cast at the end of the week.

Return To Workouts

My return is not as bad as I thought--but still need to get back to previous level and beyond!

Weekly Review September 27.mp3

Stretching Tip #10 Be Careful With Injuries

If for some reason you do sustain an injury, be careful to monitor the area during your stretching. You may find that the injury may prohibit you from realizing a full stretch--this is not unusual and you should not attempt to return to your normal stretching routine until the injury has fully mended. You may also find that your physical therapist or doctor may want you to refrain from certain stretches. Additionally, you may be given some unfamiliar stretches to help in rehabilitating as you recover from your injury. Regardless of your situation, if you feel any pain consult a health professional as soon as possible.

I Have Returned!

As usual, getting back from a long trip is difficult. My strategy is to slowly work back into my workout; eating hasn't been an issue. I actually lost 3 lbs. primarily because it is hard to eat ice cream when camping. The rest of eating was close to normal, except for this one small item. So, ice cream needs to have a place similar to what it had while camping -- rarely. I also made an attempt to monitor my chip intake at lunch (both reduced fat or tortilla) and limited my chips at dinner to the amount of one serving (usually 10-14 chips). This seems to be the ticket for me losing weight. The hiking wasn't as good as I anticipated so I really only got about half of the exercise I planned so getting back into resistance training and cardio intervals will take longer than I anticipated. So, for this week back to the gym I will start with 20 minute cardio sessions at a slightly lower intensity and increase 10% each week until I get back to 30+ minutes. With weights, I am going with combo moves at lower weights and reps and increasing 10% each week. Yoga sessions 5x/week and stretching daily. The run/walks of 60 minutes have become just walking. We will see how quickly I can return to my regular routine and keep my weight down.

On the Way Back!

Weekly Review September 20th