Listening To Your Out-Of-Shape Body

So remember when I chose my work-out?  Man, did I overestimate myself!

A couple of months ago, I was good to go with the Les Mills program.  This week, not so much.  As much as I’d hate to admit it, but I really do need to stay consistent with exercise.  Otherwise, I get weaker, my body gets bigger, and starting over gets harder.

An important part of working out is listening to your body; Knowing when something is still challenging without being dangerous to your current level of fitness.  Making sure it’s not too easy that it gets to the point of being boring. 

I had to postpone the Les Mills Combat program.  As much as I would have loved to start it up, my body simply isn’t strong enough for it yet.  I knew I had to find a way to build up my endurance and strength before attempting it again.  Les Mills Combat is a high intensity program, but I don’t want to hurt myself just because I jumped in too soon.  It is frustrating though.  A couple of months ago, I was totally rocking the daily work outs, but since I did absolutely nothing for a long period of time, all that hard work was cancelled out.

So what now?  It’s simple: Find a routine better for my current body state.

I’ve been slightly stressed lately, so I thought Pilates would be very beneficial to add to my weekly schedule.  I’m a big fan of the Winsor Pilates series.  I love weights, so I also added kettle bells.  This is what my week looks like:

I didn’t give myself a “rest” day because I actually like Pilates.  It’s so relaxing and doing it every other day will hopefully help balance my mood.  Yes, I do break a little bit of sweat, but not to the point of what running does.  So in a way, I consider my Pilates days the “rest days”. 

And while I’m being honest, not having a technical rest day will keep me on track.  I tend to have a hard time getting back to the routine once I get a day off.  I know I’m supposed to let my body rest, but that’s if I’m doing hard core, strenuous work.  I’m not doing that here.  Every week, I spend 40 hours sitting behind a desk and 15 hours sitting in LA traffic – my body NEEDS the extra movement every day.

There it is!  My own personal schedule.  I’m hoping that after a couple of weeks like this, I’ll be ready to increase the level to ATHLEAN XX.  But that’s another blog waiting to happen.

What routine did you do to start your journey?