Lesson

We learn, we all do. Sooner or later we all learn. And when we don't learn sooner, we learn later.

And that is why regrets exist.

Faith

I don't listen to music. I don't recommend listening to them. I have many things against listening to music. But I like poetry. Often the poetry is sung, and sung with music. That doesn't make the poetry bad; the poetry is agreeable if it's not accompanied with music.

Here's some poetry that makes me tick:

So bittersweet
This tragedy
Won't ask for absolution 

This melody
Inside of me
Still searches for solution 

A twist of faith
A change of heart
Cures my infatuation

Not giving the source here.

Mehdi

Here's one quote I really loved when I was reading fitness literature by Mehdi, the stronglifts 5x5 guy. He says:

It is crucial that you understand that training until failure to get pumped and sore are NOT necessary to gain muscle, nor are they indicators of progress.

Box

Not everybody fits in a nice clean box. Not everybody can be given a label.

Wednesday

Tonight (i.e. Wednesday January 24) I did as I promised on my blog I would.

I did:

1 squat, 10 push-ups, 25-60 rope-skips,
2 squats, 9 push-ups and 25-60 rope-skips,
...
10 squats, 1 push-up.

Obviously I was out of breath many time, sometimes so much so that I couldn't go on, there were many 30-second (or longer) rests sprinkled in between. I remember taking a few water breaks too :)

Then I removed rope-skipping and mountain climbers from the circuit mentioned in the link above and it became like this:

1) Side-to-side jumping - 15 reps
2) Alternate Dumbbell Curls - 10 reps
3) Bent Dumbbell Rows - 10 reps
4) Military Press - 10 reps

And I did two such circuits. Only taking a break when I was too out of breath to go on. Since I am not lifting too heavy, and the volume is totally non existence, I could afford to be so hard. After all, I was treating this as cardio, and not as bodybuilding.

Since I didn't give myself any day to rest after yesterday's push-ups, I was kinda weak today after the first 18 or so reps. I resorted to knee push-ups, then gained some strength, and was back to full push-ups, but I didn't go all the way down. Anyway, I am happy with substituting 2 sets of rope skipping and 2 of mountain climbers with 10 of rope skipping.

Let's see what I do tonight. I am planning on doing the same though, perhaps doing curling instead of push-ups in the 55, and doing mountain climbers instead of curling in the circuits.

A week gone by

In Urdu we have this phrase jumma jumma aath din which is often used to condescendingly say that something is very new in the market, so much so that it hasn't even completed eight days, eight days means even the weekday it was started on, hasn't come back around yet. So, today, Tuesday, I it's been eight days since I have been working out. Mujhay jumma jumma aath din hogaye hain! Haha...

For now, my focus has been to just do anything for more than 15 minutes that could be classified as physical exercise. So I had been doing. As discussed earlier, I had been doing a mix of squats with either pushups, curling, or military press, followed by one or two circuits of rope skipping, jumping side to side and mountain climbers. Anyway, it's time for me to formalize my routine a little bit, or at least, note down the quantity I do, so the progress can be gauged. For now, the only progress is doing more exercise with less rest within the same amount of time. I have been keeping any metrics, so I can't comment on those. Though I should. One other improvement I have noticed indeed is that regular exercise automatically keeps you from having a bad diet, and that's what's happening. It won't miraculously make you eat a perfect diet like pros, experts or hobbyists; but it will save you from capital diet offences, which usually go un-apprehended when you aren't working out.  For example, if I am eating right after workout, I won't even be able to pig out, because personally I am too tired to keep eating beyond what's enough to kill the hunger, and also, because the stomach muscles have been worked, I feel like vomiting if I overeat right after exercise. Also, if you are eating before workout, you will eat less, because if you don't, you won't be able to exercise at all. So that's what I was talking about. Automatic fix.

Now, back to the formalization. I have noticed, on all the days, I find 55 to be a very comfortable way of doing 55 reps for any one muscle group, coupled with lightly working my legs daily. And since getting bigger is not a priority at the moment, that's alright. Secondly, I have been able to complete it within 10-15 minutes. Thirdly, I can squeeze in one or two circuits of 3-4 cardio exercises. And that also makes 30 minutes. Also, I learned that I can't do burpees with other exercises, it doesn't leave any energy in me to go on, and that I have gotten good at rope-skipping, I can do them seamlessly for longer if I concentrate mentally. So here's the map for what I am gonna follow, for the next week at least:

Warm up: 2-5 minute of jogging in place.
55: squats + pushups or curling or military presses. Recovery time needed na!

Followed by 1 or 2 circuits of:
1. Rope-skipping, 25-60 reps.
2. Jumping side-to-side, 15 reps.
3. Standing dumbell rowing: 15 reps.
4. Military press or curling depending on what's been done in 55.
5. Mountain climbers, 10 reps.

The original workout that I looked up on the internet didn't have 1, 3 and 4. And it instead had burpees and crabwalking. But I am skipping those for now, as I can't do them properly, may be later, and replacing them with anaerobic exercises, because I find them easier to do.

This shows that my workout is 25% and 75% anabolic. But that's not how it should be. It should be the other way around, 75% cardio and 25% anabolic. In fact, I don't even need anabolic right now, but I do it only to feel quick visible results and stay motivated. So I am thinking what I will do is, instead of just resting 30 seconds in between the rounds in 55, I will do a set of rope skipping. That will give me ten additional sets of rope-skipping. And if I can do that, I think eventually I will get used to doing rope-skipping, which is great because in my opinion it's a very fun and effective exercise. It's not just cardio, but also leg strength, core strength, agility and coordination.

That's all for now!

Seventh Day

Today is the seventh day since I have been working out. I am thinking of resting, skipping it. I actually feel like I am more tired, swollen , even fatter because of working out. I don't know what happened to the feelings of energy and enthusiasm which come with exercising, though I must say I have been feeling happier, more confident since last Tuesday, when I started, but today... I don't know... Whatever.

On Saturday night, papa was giving us a treat. For what? Nobody knows, even he didn't. It was more we bullying a treat out of him, than he giving us a treat. So, all the Saturday, I was under the impression that he will manage the treat all by himself, the menu, the place, the delivery, everything. But as it turns out, the friend that he was depending on to ride with, didn't show up in the evening. So it was all on to me. If I had imagined this would happened, I would have worked out earlier, but since I hadn't, so I didn't.

So, after Isha, I came back home early. Skipped sitting in the taleem after Isha, also didn't offer witr rakaat. Anyway, I came home, did some quick small workout, I was gonna write here what I did, but I don't even remember! But, I kept moving for 20-25 minutes, which was essentially the point. Then took a cold water shower, and set out to Meerath Kebab House.

I wish I had noted down the workout, I am thinking of keeping a diary of the exercises I do. Because I always exercise in terms of time (20-25 minutes), the amount of work done in that time could be a good measurement of performance, hence a good gauge of results. The stamina, the endurance, the strength is the result. Fatloss/Muscle gain can come when they may. The first goal is always to be regular.

Post written on Monday, Jan 21.