I’ve been hitting the weights again a couple of times a week in an attempt to get myself back into some semblance of shape. I’ve been huffing and puffing for far too long, I’m blowing out the arches on my feet, and to be honest, I’ve just been feeling really unfit for far too long . It’s bugging me.
I don’t like machines all that much, they just don’t feel right to me – almost sterile. One of the things that makes lifting interesting for me is the concentration that goes into getting the form right, and the machines just don’t offer that. Just balancing uses a lot of muscles that aren’t brought into play on the machines.
The fact that they loom about like silver and black torture-bots doesn’t help their cause either.
So I’ve been leaning towards the more traditional forms – dumbells, benches, cables, and body-weight. I’ve only got two machines left – the lat pull down and the assisted dip. I’ll be dropping both of those as soon as I can, but I’m far to heavy for doing either dips or pull ups unassisted right now. I’ll probably be talking more about this over the next bit.
I’ve also been wanting to get into the habit of commuting to work by bicycle. It’s only about an hour in (12 Km), so it’s not too bad. If I can learn not to push myself too hard (I have a tendency to be a bit competitive when exercising – it ends up being a giant interval run) I can make it in without bonking.
I’ll also have get used to the saddle again. My mass makes for an ass that pains me mightily.
The short term goal is riding twice a week and lifting twice a week. That alone should get rid of the fitness issues. I’ll also feel better getting out of the bus. In the long term I’ll be trying to ride in every day.
I’ll probably be writing more about this later on – this is here to keep me interested in the process. I might even start up another log somewhere so I can keep track of this.