I had an impromptu workout pledge on Facebook yesterday. For every new Facebook friend I received yesterday I promised to do one minute on the treadmill last night. I wasn’t disappointed.
While I probably shouldn’t have announced the campaign only to my existing Facebook friends, afterall, they’re already my friends and can’t personally add to the total. But, with their help I gained 33 new friends yesterday and lost over 300 calories in the process.
I neglected to mention half of that time would be spent at max incline (15).
Let me tell you a little bit about the max incline on a treadmill. It hurts. It makes you sweat. The steep is so much that you can’t possibly do the max incline without holding onto the treadmill in front of you. I’ve tried to be a tough guy and literally try to hike the incline, but that only lasts a few seconds before I have to resort to reaching for something to grab.
I love the max incline. It’s helping me reach my goals.
I’m determined to reach my goals. I’m losing weight for a wedding in April. I’m losing weight so I can get on television again (another news segment lined up when I hit my goal weight). I’m losing weight for myself.
I’m losing weight for you.
I haven’t stepped foot on my beloved elliptical machine in over a month.
I’ve been addicted to running and keep pushing myself more and more to see what I can handle. Currently, I’m following the 2:30/2:30 ratio. Simply put, that means I walk briskly (3.6 mph) for two and a half minutes, then run (5.0 mph) for two and a half minutes, repeat 6 times (30 minutes) on a 2.5 incline.
That’s an improvement from the 4/1 ratio I was doing in June.
With this current ratio I can run over 2 miles in 30 minutes. To put that into perspective, to pass the physical fitness test and become a South Carolina State Trooper you must be able to run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes.
I plan to start running outdoors more and more to train for the Cooper River Bridge Run. By the run on March 27th I hope to have long-since abandoned the 5-minute ratio system and be able to run a solid two miles continuously without slowing down or running out of breath.
Not bad, considering walking two miles in January was a stretch.
With that being said, spending 30 minutes on the treadmill isn’t my only daily cardio at the gym. I also spend 10 minutes on the StairMaster after every running session and burn around 100 calories climbing 30 flights of stairs.
I wouldn’t exactly call it a cooldown, though.
Would I recommend this cardio workout routine to someone just starting their weight loss journey? Absolutely not, I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do it 9 months ago, let alone 3 months ago. But, as you become faster, more agile, and more physically fit, you will realize, just as I did, that you have to stay ahead of your body’s resistance level to keep burning calories.
Unfortunately, the days when I could just hop onto the elliptical for 20 minutes and lose 5 pounds a week are long gone. I have to earn every pound these days.
Hopefully, pound number 121 comes tomorrow.
I went through with the most recent workout pledge on Friday night.
Due to recent media attention this was the biggest workout pledge by far. I was forced to stay on both the treadmill and elliptical for 93 minutes (plus two for cool down) — putting me in the gym for 3 hours and 10 minutes Friday night.
This was the first workout pledge I tweeted while I worked out. It was a new experience, a positive experience I’d do again; the support I received kept me going for the last hour when my legs started failing.
A few Twitter followers that provided support Friday night:
30Days2ANewLife
JackedDragon
JeffSarris
lsuaimzgurl
willwalters
theantijared
emilytate512
Recap of Friday night’s workouts
I started out on the treadmill machine a little after 7 PM Friday. I maintained a speed varying from 3.4 (when I took pictures) to 4.0. Incline levels varied as well, ranging from 1.1 to 5.1. It was a brisk walk with some hills thrown in.
The 95 minutes on the treadmill were easy compared to the 95 that were soon to follow on the elliptical. While I was on the treadmill daydreaming, fighting boredom, I realized I needed to make a bigger workout playlist for pledges. Other than realizing I need to bring a book for “next time” and needing to urinate for the last 30 minutes, I had a smooth workout.
I burned nearly 1,000 calories and walked over 5.5 miles in 95 minutes on the treadmill. Other than stiffness in the legs, I finished the workout unscathed.
It wasn’t until I stopped stretching and went to the rest room did the scary reality sink in: I’m about to start the hard part. I had only done 95 minutes on the elliptical before once (when I did 99), but that wasn’t following 95 minutes on the treadmill. I was sore, tired, and wanted to go home.
The only place I was going, though, was on the elliptical.
I started my workout on the elliptical machine after a short break used to go to the restroom and fill up my water bottle. After typing in level 20 (out of 20) into the machine it turned on and I immediately knew I was in trouble. I got onto twitter for some support and found Lethal Weapon 2 on television (the one with Joe Pesci), settling in for a long, painful workout.
Looking back, I have no idea how I managed to keep going.
Around the halfway mark on the elliptical, about two and a half hours after my current cardio session started, my legs began to buckle. I had to lean against the machine’s console so I wouldn’t fall down. This was the moment I wanted most to quit and say “no thanks” to the remaining 45 minutes, but I didn’t.
I got back on twitter and looked for support — I found it and kept going.
With about 20 minutes left my water ran out and my cell phone battery was dying, which meaned no more twitter updates. I turned off the music application on my phone (G1) to conserve the battery and simply ignored my water problem — I wasn’t about to quit now. Luckily, the battery in my phone lasted long enough to snap a final picture and I was able to wipe the machine down, stretch, guzzle down 20 ounces of water, and walk out of the gym alive.
It was easy to fall asleep once I got home. My legs were sore and stiff, but I could walk. I was a little sore Saturday and only did some light cleaning, but hit the gym Sunday hard and did 30 minutes on both the treadmill and elliptical.
I’ll be back at the gym tonight fully charged.
Hopefully, in a couple of days, I’ll be reminded why I do these workout pledges and why I felt the need to workout for 190 minutes Friday night.
I want the 230s.
