Trying the treadmill

I did it! I tried the treadmill! I was going to LA for a concert, and I needed to leave by 8:30. At 7pm I arrived at the gym, and I needed to shower and have dinner before leaving also, so I shortened up the workout but I feel I still achieved maximum intensity, which is great.

Yesterday was the upper body workout day, which is supposed to take 46 minutes, but for some reason it always takes me nearly an hour to do. I also wanted to get in a bit of cardio, so I planned to shorten the upper body weight training by half. Usually, each exercise goes like this:

• 1x12 at level 5 intensity
• 1x10 at level 6 intensity
• 1x8 at level 7 intensity
• 1x6 at level 8 intensity
• 2x12 at level 9-10 intensity

This not only takes forever, but I feel like I get nothing out of the first 2 sets - level 5 and 6 intensity is just too easy. I shortened each exercise to this:

• 1x10 at level 8 intensity
• 1x8 at level 9 intensity
• 1x10 at level 10 intensity

I also shortened the 1 minute rests in between each set down to 30 seconds. Not only is this more than twice as short, but I got in more reps at higher intensity. In addition, this time I upped my weight amounts. Usually my highest intensity weight would be 10lb dumbbells, but this time I bumped it to 12lbs. I was able to do it (just barely), and I think I got a better upper body workout than I have in the last 2 weeks.

By 7:30, the upper body workout was done! Yeah, I'm still not quite hitting the time mark, but did much better than usual. I opted for 10 minutes of cardio instead of 20, like I would have rather done, because of my tight schedule. I figured this would be the perfect time to try out the treadmill! The last time I was on a treadmill, I was in high school and just tried it for fun, like it was a game. This time, I started out with a brisk walk, and kicked it up by 0.5mph until I was at a comfortable running speed. I've never been able to do the slow-and-steady thing, so I wasn't happy with the running speed until it was at 5.5 mph, which is quite a good clip, at least for me. I did this speed for about 3 minutes, until the dreaded side pain kicked in. I tried Alice's advice and exhaled deeply (and inhaled deeply too, just in case), but unfortunately it came anyway and would not go away. Overall, I spent 8 of the 10 minutes running between 4 and 5.5 mph - a huge feat for me!

I don't think I could go any longer than 10 minutes on the treadmill yet. That must have been the best 10 minute cardio workout of my life. I felt like I had done 20 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical. The thing about the treadmill that gets me and really makes it hard for me to keep going on it is the burning that happens in your legs. You're really forced to move - or you're gonna fall off! At 5.5mph, I'm taking big strides, which is the way I like it, but big strides and going quickly = a lot of moving your legs in ways you normally wouldn't = a lot of burning in the leg muscles = pain. That said, I will try to do 10 minutes on the treadmill as part of my cardio workouts in the future, and hope to build my legs up enough to be able to handle a longer treadmill stint.