[872] Exercise Update

Due to the sudden surge of record breaking new Covid-19 cases, my wife and I had decided to stop going out on morning walks. Now we're back to working out at home, and I decided to not do my previous HIIT/Tabata routine.

The reason why I chose not to do that was because I was gassed when I tried to do my usual four cycles. I only made it up to the start of the second cycle before stopping. So I decided to try other forms of exercise that involves kettlebells.

I saw some good videos on youtube about kettlebell complexes that I used as basis for my new exercise. It's still taxing and so far the most I can do is three sets, but I'm hoping I can improve the quality of my motions and eventually increase the number to four or five.

Each set (or cycle? complex? circuit?) usually involves doing 10 goblet squats, 10 swings, 10 deadlifts, and 10 kettlebell upright rows (at least that's what I will call it). My goal is to do maybe four or five of these everyday. I take at least a one minute break after each set.

It is a totally different experience versus going around walking. Also it's disappointing for me to stop walking because I've already gotten back to my old pace of around 9:50 to 10 minutes per kilometer. Working these kettlebell exercises involve totally different muscles and a different kind of stamina. Still, at least I'm exercising.

Stay safe everyone. Out.

[869] Walking

 After almost one whole year I finally did another three laps around my usual walking route earlier this morning.

It has been very challenging for me to get back to working out, and the high intensity interval training I was doing wasn't something I was looking forward to. I decided to finally stop making excuses and try walking around the subdivision in my usual route I used to take.

Of course I was wearing a mask because the pandemic is still around. I was initially worried about any difficulty of engaging in strenuous activity while wearing a mask but it wasn't really bothersome. It was more bothersome that my feet and calves weren't used to the strain and pace that I used to have.

I managed to average around 10 minutes per kilometer during my walk. It was around twenty to thirty seconds off one of my last walks around March last year. I believe I averaged around 9:37 per kilometer then. Today I think I was around 10:05 per kilometer. These stats are off of my adidas Running app. I was able to do one more set of 10:01 per kilometer last year before stopping totally because of the quarantine and the lockdowns that happened.

It felt interesting to go walking again. My calves were aching during the inclined climbs up some of the streets but I was happy that I was able to push myself to a pace I was happy with. Wearing a mask was almost a non-issue except for the times I was breathing through my mouth and the smell was noticeable when I breathed through my nose.

Will I continue walking again? Most definitely. Summer is closing in and the earlier sunrises, coupled with the hotter weather will drive me to wake up earlier and hopefully have no excuses to not exercise. The dark early mornings and cooler weathers during these past few months were really not conducive to me working out.

My plan moving forward will probably involve going on walks on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be my HIIT/Tabata sessions. I can do four five-minute cycles that involve 8 20-second workouts, 8 10-second rests, and a minute recovery per cycle. I usually do two cycles of cardio, usually jumping jacks, kettlebell swings, and running in place. Then for the other two cycles it's either a combination of deadlift variations and bent over rows, or squats, lunges, and calf raises for the third cycle. For the fourth it's either shoulder exercises or biceps and triceps exercises. All using one or two twenty-pound kettlebells.

Consistency has always been a big issue for me with regards to working out. I had managed to drop to 86kg during the middle of 2020, but gained weight and am now hovering between 87kg to 89kg. As I wrote before, this is nothing serious because that is usually my trend in weight. I lose, gain, hover, and find the inspiration to lose again.

Out.

[854] Routines

I've started figuring out my routine these past few weeks. I'm constantly tweaking and adding new things once I manage to successfully incorporate things in my routine.

I'm going to try to do my Tabata workouts Mondays to Fridays. I've found some good combination of workouts that I hope will help me improve my health. Right now I'm doing 3 cycles of 4-minute cycles. Each cycles is made up of 8 alternating 20-second exercises and 10-second rests. After each cycle I have 50 seconds of recovery before moving to the next cycle.

After doing some stretches to warm me up, my first cycle is now pure cardio. Alternating jumping jacks and 20-pound kettlebell swings. This is to get my heart rate up for the next cycle.

Second cycle is also the most intense with regards to effort. For legs it will be alternating goblet squats with a 20-pound kettlebell and calf raises with two 40-pound kettlebells. If I'm focusing on the back it will be deadlifts with a 20-pound kettlebell and bent over rows with the same 20-pound kettlebell.

The last cycle will be a bit of the cooldown cycle with relatively easier workouts. I'll be doing 20-pound kettlebell hammer curls and tricep extensions for arm days. For shoulder days it will be standing 20-pound kettlebell pull-ups and left/right oblique exercises.

I know those work outs aren't perfect but I'm looking for stuff I can do in my room without making any excuses not to do it.

Originally I was doing random exercises every Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Now that I've gotten the habit of doing it regularly my goal is to work out different sections everyday and leave the weekends for rest.

I originally did legs and backs one day, but it was too draining and I dry-heaved a lot after the exercise. While that isn't a bad thing, I honestly think I should just distribute the effort evenly.

And don't worry, I've read about these exercises and watched different youtube videos to find the best form for me. Hopefully I can continue this even after the quarantine is lifted.

Out.

[750] My Health

By now you all know I go walking / jogging one to three times a week. I've been doing this since early January and I have seen the benefits.

I've lost weight, my blood pressure is okay, and my pulse rate is hovering in the low 70s.

Does this mean I love to jog? Not really. I haven't even been able to do non-stop jogging. I'm at a 45-second jog and 30-second walk which I try to do fourteen times every time I go out.

It's a challenge. I had gotten used to doing the 30/30 jog/walk combo and I thought it was time to extend it. But I still feel I am forcing myself to go out.

And that's how it should be. In my case, I really doubt I will achieve anything if I don't force myself. And I really don't think going for walks / jogs will become second nature for me. I just have to always force myself to do these things. That's how I'm wired, I guess.

Don't get me wrong, though. There will be days when I am looking forward to my morning ritual. It's happening more often than before. And to be honest as my body adjusts to the longer active time and less rest time I feel that I will eventually need to increase the duration again.

Hell, I've even started to add some 20lbs kettlebell squats after my jog. And I've been trying to exercise my arms to get rid of my unsightly arm flab.

It's the food that's the problem. I honestly doubt I will be able to live a life eating healthy food. I live to eat, and exercising is one way I can take care of my body so I can continue to eat what I want.

I did notice I am eating less portions nowadays. But when I encounter good food I am less guilty of eating to the point of gluttony.

Out.

Biking

I actually rode a bike for the first time in a long time last August 23, 2014 at Panglao Island in Bohol. We were staying at Amorita Resort and they had four mountain bikes you could borrow (for free) and take out to the island for bike rides.

I convinced myself to go with my dad, and off we went. It was very tiring, for me at least, because the last time I went on a bike was in high school, around 1994. I specifically remember because I had a bad wipe out during a bike ride and after that I only rode one more time.

How bad was the wipe out? A friend cut me off and his rear tire hit my front tire, locking it at a 90° angle and sending me flying off my bike. Not knowing how to fall properly, I land on the right side of my face. Fortunately the accident happened just one house away from where I lived. Unfortunately after that I became afraid of biking.

Fast forward to this year. Maica's been asking me to go biking with her once in a while, and a few weeks ago I gave in. I couldn't last too long, my knees got sore and I was severely winded.

Now that it's the Holy Week holidays, Maica and I went biking yesterday in the village. I managed to bike longer because I wasn't forcing myself to go 15kph. This morning I again went for a quick bike ride. I'm not going past 2 - 3km for now, since I want to get my legs and stamina up first.

My legs are killing me. The good thing is I'm not as winded as when I went biking with Maica a few weeks ago. Moderation is probably the key thing, since I now don't try to push fast speeds. I'm perfectly happy going 9 - 12kph depending on road conditions.

I need to learn to balance better since I can't bike straight. Practice will handle that. I also want to be able to bike with no hands, something I used to do a lot when I was younger.

Who would have thought I'd be going biking again? I certainly didn't, but the itch is back. I want to get myself a proper helmet, since I now know how important safety is. I also want to get some glow in the dark stickers for my bike rims, so I can still do a quick circuit when I get home from work.

To be honest, I just hope I can maintain biking long enough to make this a healthy habit. My current short term goal is to keep biking. My mid term goal is to be able to go maybe 5 or 6 kilometers per circuit. And my long term goal is to be able to join my former officemates from Anino Games, who have their small bike group where they go biking to different places.

One step at a time.

Out.