Day 111 - Good self workout

Yesterday, Mel was supposed to do our December reprogram to see where we are. This would have been our first session with her however she was dog sick so Patty & I did our own thing at the gym so as to keep ourselves on track.

We started with our cardio warm up. I did 20 min. of cardio and then we decided to go upstairs to work on the exercize ball and some of the routines that Keith had us on. We did our stretches and then we did our leg lifts, ab crunches and got some of the free weights. We did some curls and then did some chest presses as well. We ended with the ball curls with our legs and were going to go to the jacuzzi but Patty forgot her swimsuit. We have a party this evening for New Year's Eve so we finished and called it a day.

Our first session with Mel will be Monday at 2:00 pm for our reprogram. Things are still looking up.

Day 108 - Unimpressive Workout

Patty & I decided to go to the gym tonight and do a routine on the circuit machines. I started out with 20 min. of cardio for a warm up and then met Patty to do our Level 1's. One thing I can tell you is that it is a good thing we are using a trainer as this set was most unimpressive. We increased on all the weights but it just wasn't the same as with Keith.

We completed our routine and then headed to the jacuzzi as our muscles are still very sore. We saw Keith tonight as he was saying goodbye to everyone. He is leaving to work his new company which manufactures and installs indoor and outdoor fireplaces. He has been doing that part time along with his training instruction at the gym. I guess he is pretty successful and we wish him the best of luck in his new endeavor.

Mark, the training manager at Pure Fitness, has informed us that our new trainer will be Mel. We met her on a number of trainings we had with Keith and she was training some other folks. It will be good to mix up the system with a new point of view. Patty & I have clicked with Mel over the past few weeks and we look forward to working with her.

Our reprogram session is this Friday. It was going to be Thursday but with Keith leaving, Mel was available Friday. I hope that I have made some progress. I will let you know.

Peace!

Personal Progress & Sadness As Well

Patty & I are a little dazed. Keith called us tonight to say that his last day at Pure Fitness is Wednesday. We are a bit heart broken as we have been with him since we got introduced by Cameron, the fitness coordinator at the gym. Cameron left about a month ago and now Keith is leaving. I have come to respect his leadership to us and guidance in helping us get on a path to reaching our goal.

Mark, the new head trainer at the gym will be calling us to tell us who our new trainer will be. Our new session will be a reprogram session to see what our progress is up to this point. The really cool thing about Pure Fitness is that they have these personal trainings once a month that has a trainer help refocus your workouts so that you are not doing the same thing over and over and you are constantly shaking up your muscles to avoid falling in a plateau. This is why Keith is changing up our routines constantly. I can't remember the names of each of them but I know what he has shown me and we are learning many new things.

The good news is that I was able to put on a pair of jeans that I haven't been able to close in over 12 years. Size 44 jeans!! We had also went to Target for some after Christmas sales and I am now able to wear an XL shirt. Not 1X, 2X or 3X but XL! This is so huge for me as I wasn't sure that progress was being made in myself. Others have said that they see it in me but I know my true self and I see myself daily. I had noticed in the mirror that I am looking a bit better but didn't think I had gone down that much. I really feel blessed! I can't wait until we have our reprogram to see if I lost a couple of pounds this month. I hope so!!

Day 106 - On the way

Well, 9:00 am was really early after the craziness of the holiday cleaning and getting ready for Christmas but Patty & I were ready for action! I kept trying to call the gym to make sure that the jacuzzi was working and operational but no one was answering the phone at 7:30 so we hoped for the best.

We got there a little before 9:00 to warm up and then Keith rolled in right at 9 for our training. He did get us to do another similar session to last Friday's session and this time, it was better than ever. We again started with the toe touches and then the free weights and also leg lifts. He really shook up our system with a bunch of new things. We went back to the leg press and again, Patty was Ms. Exhuberance and wanted to do more. Keith had me on 230 lbs. and Patty wanted more so she was doing 280 lbs. and then 305 lbs. and then 355 lbs. I had a real struggle at 230 but she has a very strong lower body. I konked my head on the bar and had a bit of an anger issue with the second rep but did it much better than the first set.

We dinished up with some weight bars and free weight curls and then hit the jacuzzi for muscle therapy which I was really needing. After this weekend, my neuropathy in my feet and legs was at an all time high and every 5 to 10 minutes, it keep feeling like someone was sticking needles in my toes and feet. The jacuzzi was great to relax in and sooth the sore muscles. All I needed was a glass of wine (to go with my whine) and I would have been all set.

Merry Christmas!!!

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all! I hope that the coming new year will be as blessed for you as this has been for Patty & me. God has richly blessed us this year. Pray for the peace of all mankind and that our troops come home safely.

As Tiny Tim would say "God bless us, everyone.".

Day 103 - He Kicks Our Butt

Patty & I took Friday off from work for the Christmas break and decided to do our workout early in the day so that we could finish up cleaning the house and finalize our shopping for Christmas. Keith wanted us to remember him all weekend so he did a complete change up on our workout schedule and it really kicked our butts.

Normally, we are upstairs at the gym and working with the exercize ball but today, Keith had us doing free weights and using some of the other machines which we don't normally do. He also upped the ante on a number of them. For instance, I had been doing 25 lb. weight bar for curls but he moved me to a 40 lb. bar. He also had us doing something different on the scapula lifts where we are raising our arms from our sides to center (eye level) and then above our heads before going down. This little extra move is killer but good for us. We also did leg lifts on the machine today and for the first time, Patty is getting more weight than me and doing better at that machine. I topped out at 230 lbs. which I could barely handle and Patty wanted more so she did hers at 280 lbs. and was wanting more. Keith didn't want her to over do herself so he said that was enough.

After the workout, we went to pick up our neice to help with the cleanup for the Christmas party on Sunday. I am absolutely sore and the jacuzzi at the gym was down so no therapy today. Our next workout is Monday at 9:00 am. Looking forward to crying again!!

Day 99 - Another Great workout

Tonight was another great workout. We did pretty much what we did on Friday. I am progressing quite well with the Skull Crushers and curls. Keith has upped my weights and I am on the 25 lb. bar for curls and crushers. Doing quite a bit on leg lifts and lunges as well.

Our next workout is Friday morning at 7:00 am. Patty & I took the day off so we decided to do the workout in the morning. We'll let you know how it goes.

Day 96 - Great Workout

Well Patty & I finally did another workout together. The past couple of weeks have been a bit chaotic with us fighting the sickness bug but we were there together ready for it.

Keith had us doing our new shake up routine. We are still focusing on core routines with the new thing being the ball curls. This is one that I feel that I can do! We are on our backs and we are using an exercize ball underneath our calf. We then lift our butts off the ground and balance on the ball and curl the ball with our legs. This sounds somewhat easy but it really works the abs.

I am still having a struggle with the ball squats with the scapula lifts. He has me on 8 lbs. for each arm with this one. We have the ball against the wall and do a squat. We then do a scapula raise and then lift from the squat. 18 times is our standard routine but after about 6, I am struggling. I have been doing 3 sets of 6 to make up my 18. It's not yet perfect but I will soon be able to do 2 sets of 9 and then a 12 and 6, 15 and 3 and eventually a complete set of 18.

Next workout is Monday.

Day 95 - Another Softball Outing

It was freezing (or close to that for Phoenix) tonight. I was so cold that I didn't really want to play. Patty & I had an event at the gym earlier and then I warmed up as I knew I would be playing and it was in the low 40's out there. I had my coat on but it didn't seem to help very much.

The first game, I kept score for the team and we got beat pretty bad - something like 33 to 6. The second game wasn't much better. I came in as one of the players had to go home and they put me in at 3rd base. I didn't do too bad there even though I was a bit apprehensive. I had been playing catcher for the past 2 seasons but it was still fun being out there. I missed a few grounders that I should have gotten. I was walked 3 times, got 3 runs and 1 hit. Not bad for this old man.

Day 92 - I am getting there

Patty was out tonight with her migranes really bothering her. This started last night at the concert. We were really close and it was quite loud and that really bothered her. She made it to work today but it was only a half day for her and then she went home to take a Relpax and lay down to try and sleep it off.

I made it tonight and it was kind of weird doing the workout without Patty there. It was a really good workout. More focus on core/abs. I'm getting better at that. He also had me doing some side planks which I am really struggling with but it is still new to me. I can only get about 7 or 8 seconds on this but I will get much better with more training.

I also did curls with the uneven bar and standing curls with 20 lb. free weights which I also struggled with. I then did 20 lb. weights on the chest press which I barely made it through. Keith had me then work with the exercize rubber bands and I did okay with that.

After all this, I hit the jacuzzi as my legs were aching. My next workout will be Thursday night and then softball on Thursday. Looking forward to a circuit session as we haven't done that in a while.

Day 89 - Good workout

We got to the gym at 4:30 so we could get our warm up in. Keith's 3:00 and 4:00 appointments today had cancelled so he was wanting to get us in earlier to sped things up. I could tell that I hadn't worked out since last week as I was really tight in a lot of areas. It was a good workout but I am still struggling with a few things. My balance is not anywhere close to what it needs to be but I am a work in progress. I have to be patient. I still have an unrealistic expectation of my abilities and performance. Overall, I gave myself a rating of 7 on a scale of 1-10. I don't know if I will ever give myself a 10 for effort but I am striving to do the best I can.

This weekend is going to be really busy with our Notary Loan Signing class on Saturday and then my mother's birthday on Sunday and the Christmas Concert on Sunday Night. This concert is with MercyMe and Steven Curtis Chapman at the Glendale arena. I'm looking forward to that as I haven't been to a concert in a very long time.

Day 88 - Softball game

Well I felt good enough to finally do something and tonight was our softball team's first game. We didn't do as well as we all anticipated. Our team is playing in the Mesa Winter "D" league and many of the players on our team have not played before or for a while so "D" is a good place for us to be in.

We really got crushed tonight. Our first game we lost 22-0. Ouch! The second game, we were still feeling the pain from the first game and didn't get our groove in until about the 3rd inning. We lost 24-12 but we did score 12 runs. I played the first 2 innings at catcher and got 1 at bat. Not much exercize tonight but it was still fun being out with the guys.

Our next workout is Friday with Keith. I feel that I will be up to it.

Day 85 - Jerry has the flu

I came down with the stomach flu on Saturday evening and was out all day Sunday and Monday. We rescheduled our workout with Keith for Tuesday. I hope that I will be able to make it through.

Day 83 - Softball Scrimmage

This morning, it was softball time and I was ready for some fun! Went to Freestone Park in Gilbert for the scrimmage and JD had me start off as a pitcher. Boy, did I suck at that. If this is where they want me to play, I will need quite a bit of work. I did 3 innings there and then to right field for the remainder of the scrimmage. I hit pretty well but need some more work at the batting cages before Thursday night's opener.

Day 81 - New Routine

I can't believe that we're at day 81 already. This week has been really hectic with Patty being sick all weekend and I'm still fighting the head cold thing (going on 4 weeks now). Patty was tired of doing the same things so Keith had us mix things up a bit tonight. We did our standard 10 minutes of cardio warm up and then we went upstairs to stretch out/warm up exercizes. Keith then had us laying on our backs with the heels of our feet on the ball and try to balance while lifting our butts off the ground. This looks easy but I kept falling off the ball with my feet. We really worked up a sweat on that one. After that, he had us with the elastic rubber band routine. This is where our feet are in a fitness club rubber band and we use the strength of our legs to move from one end of the room to the other end. At first this didn't seem to be too tough but it really worked the thighs and hamstrings! After 2 sessions of that, I was pretty much done. We did 4 sets of ab crunches and some isolinear crunches as well. Again, focus on the core to break down the fat and have it work from the inside out. I gave tonights effort level a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. I will never give myself a 10 but I've given myself 8's and 9's. This is to remind me that I can always work harder. It is not a demotivating factor to me but the stick I need to keep me trying to do better.

Blessings,

Jerry