Good Morning

It has been 10 months since I first joined the gym - here you can read more about why I joined.  Honestly, I may love going to the gym even more now that I originally did :-) Yes, I've lost some weight and lowered my BMI but that was never my main goal.  I've taken my second fitness test and I'm happy with the results.  My muscle strength improved from 'poor' to 'average', muscle endurance went from 'average' to 'excellent', and my flexibility is now 'superior' instead of 'poor' - I'm stoked about that!

I'll admit that in preparation for my second fitness test session I had spent some extra time working on the exercises that the trainer had had me do at the first session.  Then for the second session the trainer chose different exercises - sneaky trick.  When he asked if I do squats I replied 'No' because they are not part of my gym routine.  Yet, during the test I found them surprisingly easy to do.  In the days since the test I've realized that I do squats all day long - every time I pick up a toy off the floor while carrying a baby.  :-)

Over time I have made some changes to my gym routine.  I have different preferred gym locations than I used to hence my 'home' gym is different now.  Some of the machines or programs that used to be my favourites I now rarely use - in part because they are no longer challenging.  Some of the machines that I used to find intimidating - like this one;

are now exhilarating.  This makes me happy that I didn't choose to buy exercise equipment to use at home - I probably would have quickly lost interest.

However, probably the biggest change I've made is when I go to the gym.  Originally I chose Monday, Wednesday, & Friday evenings as well as Sunday mornings - this gave me four weekly workouts that were spaced roughly 36 - 48 hours apart.  It was during my summer vacation that I first made the change - going to the gym in the morning on weekdays too.  Wow, I've always been a morning person - morning workouts are soooo much better for me.

I thought the biggest problem was going to be that on weekdays I already get up at 5:00 am so to add a trip to the gym in before my day with the children would mean losing sleep and getting up at 4:00 am instead.  Interestingly I've discovered that I actually get MORE sleep at night now since the long wind-down period after an evening workout meant I was never able to get to bed at a decent time and my schedule was messed up.  A morning workout is a great way to greet the day!

Also interesting is that although there are fewer people at the gym at 4 am  than at 9 pm there are still a surprising number of us there.  Not surprising is how chipper they are - these are my peeps - cheerful and eager to meet the new day even without coffee.

Good Morning!  I'm ready to play, are you?