Days 9, 10, 11 & 12: Hitting a Stride

OK, apologies for not posting an entry sooner. No, I haven't fallen off the gym bandwagon. I have been faithfully working out with Ronn for the past week and few days, but the truth of the matter is that I've just been busy as hell. Between my day job, then going straight to the gym, then going home to make dinner and try and squeeze in one or two of my favorites shows--plus all my freelance work on the side--life's been hella-busy as of late. That's a good thing, of course, but it leaves little time to catch up with you folks.

But enough of the excuses and on with the blog.

NOTE: Since it's been a while since I've posted, I've kind of forgotten what exactly happened on each night, so I will do my best to recall...

DAY 9: This was by far one of the toughest sessions yet, probably because I had two days off before I was back in the gym, and I got a little lazy. I skipped my weekend cardio routine on Sunday, and--just as I thought might happen--I ended up paying for it on Monday night. The cardio work on the stair machine (which my friend Kevin has not-so-affectionately dubbed "the stairs to nowhere") was more intense than usual, and it took me a little longer to get back into the gym groove. I think Ronn sensed this as well. The stretching that night was even more painful than usual. In fact, Ronn did one stretch to my calves where the pain was so intense I had to pull out of it, and could not seem to relax. Eventually, we got through that and did some work on my abs, then headed downstairs to work out on some of the machines. Again, I just seemed "off" on this night, and many of the exercises didn't come naturally to me as they had on other nights. There were a few times where I got a little testy, too. It was just one of those nights. I left the gym feeling a little disoriented and not altogether pleased that I had accomplished anything. It was the first time where I felt frustration.

Day 10: By contrast, Tuesday night was awesome. My cardio went well (I even made it up to 10 full minutes on that damned elliptical machine, which had previously been giving me problems in my upper legs), and the stretching exercise upstairs with Ronn was gentle and even a bit tender. We talked and laughed throughout the night, which also included 130 stomach crunches ("I'm amazed!" Ronn exlaimed. "When we started, you had trouble doing 15") and a lot of work on the weights. This is something that I had been missing. Ronn has focused a lot of my workouts on cardio, which has been great for making my sweat (and lose weight; more on that later), but I've been feeling a need to do some lifting to balance it all out. Well, on this night, I got my wish, and then some. It was one of those nights where I really pushed myself to my physical limits, and, as we worked out my arms and chest, I could feel the burn, but I loved it. It was one of those nights where you leave the gym exhausted and drained, but totally content for it.

Days 11 & 12: After having Wednesday and Thursday of last week off so I could cover a convention for AVN Online, Ronn and I were back on Friday and Saturday, and they were two more good days. On Friday, it was all about my shoulders and back, while Saturday was a full hour of ab work. Friday wasn't so bad, though I did wake up on Sunday being a bit sore, but Saturday... well, that was quite the session. I had a lot of trouble with abs in the very beginning of this whole project, but I was able to get through an entire hour of ab work without collapsing. Not that I didn't want to at times, but Ronn pushed me through the variety of exercises (including--again--several different kinds of crunches) with flying colors, and I'm proud to say I didn't do too bad a job at it either.

On Sunday, I did 50 minutes of cardio by myself, including 25 minutes on the stairs to nowhere, 15 minutes on the elliptical (another record!) and the rest of the time on the treadmill at a steep incline. Because I was supposed to have gotten a full hour in, my neighbor Angela and I went up to Runyon Canyon and did a mini-hike. I was surprised, however, that even the smaller hike was hell on my legs. They were sore as can be when I got home later that afternoon. I could barely stand up or sit down.

However, the one thing I've noticed is that the workouts have gotten a little "easier." Ronn has pretty much inducted all of my body parts into the workouts, so I'm finding that, as I'm introduced the new machines and exercises, it's becoming a little easier for me to understand the routine that much quicker. I guess I'm hitting my stride.

I'm already two workouts into this week, and have another tonight, so tomorrow I will update the blog with those write-ups. I'm looking forward to tonight's workout, too. It just keeps getting better.

(Pics by Kevin Cazares)