Pre New Year

This week I got back into doing more exercising. Admittedly, I am one who takes exercise out of my schedule when I get busy knowing that is BAD for me! It's usually bad for everyone - but most of us stop exercising when we have other things to do.

I started feeling more tired even tho I get sufficient sleep - so I felt too tired to get to the club and then of course the cycle continued. I was getting there for a cycling class but doing "serious" exercise only twice a week is not the best for me and it led to the tired feeling.....

So today I added yoga back into my schedule. In the summer I do yoga at home to the tapes I have - but as soon as it gets cold - which it did on September, my floor is too cold to stand on with bare feet - and so out went the yoga.

What finally got me back was the realization that we are entering celebratory season - and I love parties. So figured I'd beat the New Year Resolution crowd and be in great shape before January 1...besides I have a birthday coming up in January and I'd really prefer being in a whole lot better shape, and a few pounds lighter, than last year...which was not that bad a shape - but we can always improve on our health and I started on improving mine today..

And I really want to get back to playing squash before my D.C. friend comes in late December - so I don't look like such a dork on the squash court when we play!

Exercise surprises

I have been going to my cycling class with great consistency for about one year now. There were a few weeks I did not get there for one reason or another and a few weeks where one class was missed - but overall it's been 60 minutes of very hard work twice a week on a regular basis.

Yesterday I saw the best of the results - although at the time it was annoying : -)

I got a heart rate monitor a few months ago and learned that what my brain thought of as "hard work" was not hard work according to the monitor. To keep my heart rate at my good level, I had to increase either speed or friction on the pedals - UGH!

Anyway, yesterday I reached some sort of new [for me] levels. I had to work really really hard in class to keep my heart rate up. Why? I assume like all muscles, my heart is now in such better shape than it had been that it now found my "usual" level of work to be too easy.... It's like lifting weights - when once a certain number of pounds were hard to lift, now many more are needed to tire out say leg muscles.

So next week I will start off the cycling class knowing I have to work harder....but I won't be annoyed - I'll be happy that my heart is healthy....

Moral - if you are working out - try using a heart rate monitor. You'll be annoyed but happy with the outcome!