Month: January 2016

#Fitness – The Stair Machine #CardioMode

Whats this new fancy thing

Table of Contents

    Stair Machine

    My work recently added this new fancy stair machine to our work gym.  It has directly influenced and changed the way I proceed about my gym life and activities.  Before I avoided the dreaded word Cardio, but now I am more focused on it than ever.  With the stair machine I find I get an amazing workout before I even get to my weight training.

    How Long

    I focus on doing the maximum amount of time the machine lets me go for, it does 30 minutes before entering into the 5 minute cooldown phase.  This has been an amazing choice as my warm up before I get into the core part of my workout, which is the weight training.

    Intensity

    The intensity I use (or speed) for the stair climbing is incremental.  Every minute that goes by I increase the level by 1 until it gets too fast for me, this usually happens around the 11-12 minute mark. Then I start lowering the intensity down but on the way down I never go below 5 and from there I will go up and down in intensity until my 35 minutes is done.

    Cardio it up

    For those whom know my mantra of the gym its that Cardio Sucks and Kills my Gains.  And anyone reading this can call me on it, but for me if I train straight cardio I find that my muscles get wrecked by it quickly.  I would rather work with the weights than ever touch cardio.  But this machine is changing my view on that.  The benefits of the stair machine is great and whatever musclemass I would lose from cardio I know I’ll gain back or prevent loss of during my next phase of my normal gym routine, which is my weight training.

    Killing it

    Lately since this machine entered my life I have been killing it, the cardio that is. Which I never do, I gave up running a while back because of the pain in my knee’s it caused. I find the stair machine quite a different entity, my knee’s don’t hurt from doing it, so I am encouraged by that to keep at it. And as a result I’m burning a lot of calories and enjoying every minute I get on that machine.

    What about the Weights

    Well if you know me, or read my blog you know that I ain’t giving up the weights, I love lifting, pulling, dragging, curling and pretty much anything else that has todo with weight training, they ain’t leaving my life anytime soon. In fact I May just kick it up a notch now especially if this cardio helps me lose some fat, which I am still struggling with, but thats another story for another blog post.

    #Fitness – Oh the feels of an Empty Gym!

    Going to the gym is always a special feeling, I especially enjoy it when I get there and it is empty.

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    Its something kind of special being the only one in the gym. I miss this. The cold iron everyday.

    Some day I will get to enjoy a nice empty gym like this again.  For now I am stuck with one that always has people in it, dirty people who don’t clean the machines when they are done.

    It is a terrible feeling getting into the gym and seeing people sweating all over the equipment and not cleaning it up before they leave.  Something I cannot stand.  I’m a larger man, overweight, and the last thing I want to do is have to clean up some fit persons sweat off the equipment before I can use it, its like they see me, an overweight man entering their gym, and they want me to be uncomfortable and leave.

    I won’t let them win.  I will always work out, even if I have to clean up the equipment first.  But still.. I prefer an empty gym.

    And with that said,  it is new years, the resolutioners that normally plague my gym aren’t here this year.  Perhaps they are just late bloomers, or perhaps they decided their way to make their goal was to adjust their eating habits instead of their gym time.  Either way it is very odd.  Very odd indeed.

    I’m finding it quite abnormal to see an empty gym this late into January. Perhaps my manliness is scaring them away, or maybe they forgot how to get into the gym, but this is a tad bit out of the ordinary.  Maybe it is because it is a leap year, or that it was a full moon on christmas.  But something is extremely off with regards to the gym activity this year.

    But I digress.

    If you are hitting the gym hard this new year and beyond, whether before new year or after, hit up the comments below and let me know why.

    #Fitness – Happy New Year #Gym Goers!

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!

    Always being hungry is an issue for this man, especially after a really good workout.

    Lately I have been looking back at my time in Masset BC, Canada.  I was eating 3 meals a day, 1800 calories a day, and losing crazy weight.  Sure the life style was a bit different, and I wasn’t starving either.

    Now the complicated thing happens, I come home to Ontario from Masset and my weight plateau’s out.  And I find it harder and harder to move around, constantly drained.  Its the different style of living that I have at home, its far more restricted but it is acceptable for why.  But still.

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    It took me a few months to figure it out but I finally got it on lockdown.  My eating habits while different started to go back to the original ones.  Which is terrible.  Aiming to control that will yield the best result.  Then I will be able to enjoy my baby birdie sandwiches again.  With it being New Years, my resolution is to get my eating back on track.  That means I have to take control of my diet again and really hammer down on it.  I already goto the gym daily and work out, now its time to get my diet squared off again.

    I also expect people to have new gym resolutions, but I think they need to look at their lives and think to themselves, is this what I really want, or is it I want the convenience of a gym without rarely accessing it.  That is a terrible way to live and it is truly a terrible way.  At least in my opinion.

    I look forward to seeing people in the gym for the next 2 weeks then never again.  As per every year. (This is a terrible joke, but I really am looking forward to seeing some new faces)

    If you want to be helpful to the new resolutionsers, please see my blog post on how to welcome them, and if you are new to the gym, you should read the post as well, its got my basic rules for gyming.  Its nothing special, but its just some helpful hints for all, you can find the link right here: Welcoming New Years Resolutioners.

    With that said, to all my new friends who have taken up the call to change your life, whether it is to get fit, or keep fit.  To lose weight or bulk up, welcome to the gym, and I look forward to seeing you all there.

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