Adventure of the Week: Returning to the Gym

Well, my gym date with a friend helped get me back to the gym. I'm still not going every day, but I think I'll finally start getting into a routine. The other night I went with Dan to meet with the trainer and setup a new workout routine. This was the first time i met with this particular trainer, and he made some serious changes to my workout. For instance,  I'm now going to be doing only about 10 minutes of cardio each day. That doesn't sound like enough to me, but he assures me that weight and core training are equally, if not more, important to my weight loss. He emphasized the importance of holding a position during core exercises and frequently varying the core exercises I do. He showed us how to properly use the machines and how others are often doing the exercises wrong. Take, for example, the elliptical. Did you know that most people use it wrong?! If you are not using it properly, your head will go up and down, defeating the purpose of a low impact machine. When we tried using the elliptical properly, it was much more difficult!

Going to the gym with Dan was great. Having a buddy not only makes you feel obligated to go, but it mean you have to wipe the machines down less because you can switch with each other, and you can correct each other's form (especially during weight training).

On days I don't go to the gym, I try to do some yoga using On Demand (sports & fitness-- Exercise TV). My favorite workouts on there are the ones by Yoga Works. Their Body Slim yoga routine is a great workout! I even saw the DVDs on sale at Target. I think I could get into this yoga thing. I can tell it really works my body, and I think it revitalizes me and helps relieve stress.