So……. you know I’ve been back to working out regularly. This once a month or even once a week thing was never going to work. You know that. I know that. It’s almost a waste of time, but a combination of a lack of time plus sheer lack of inertia was preventing me from making progress in losing the weight. Now back at Gold’s Gym at almost 3x a week, I’m unfortunately not finding a lot of time (or excitement?) in doing a lot of strength training. From a priority perspective, I need to lose the flab. ASAP.
So for the past month, I’m doing what I think is a decent job watching what I eat (with minor cheating) and either running or using the stationary bike for 30 – 40 mins. It’s okay.
I decided I want to speed things up. Time to kick it up a notch. I am back to tracking my diet through my MyFitnessPal app once again, and am trying to keep it at around a net 1200 calories a day. I say “net”, because if I work out, I’m eating slightly more to regain lost nutrients or eat extra protein. No crazy high calorie Gator ads here – just energy bars.
Question – are my workouts as efficient as they need to be? Should I renew my Gold’s Gym membership next month, or try to save some money at the new Retro Fitness that opened in town? Or how about the new Orange Theory Fitness place I spotted opening up last November on the way to the train station? I drove over to check out Orange Theory Saturday afternoon with Joshua in tow, after we all went shopping in Princeton earlier in the afternoon.
Turns out, Orange Theory is not your traditional gym. You don’t just walk in at 10pm and start working out. It’s only classes led by an instructor. And not just Zumba or something. It’s circuit training – that thing I’ve heard other people more serious than me do on their own. Quick rotations through strength training and cardio. Uh…. not what I expected.
I got the requisite tour of the small facility, but it seemed decent. Their gig is that it’s kinda advanced. During each class, each participant is assigned a heart monitor that you strap to your chest over your heart. For the entire duration of the class, your heart rate, level of exertion, and estimated calorie burn is posted with a bar graph.
I was offered a free session to try out, and since there is no time like the present, I signed up for Sunday’s 7 am class session. Figured I could knock out a workout before church. Somehow I woke up on my own around 6:30 am, dressed quickly, and showed up 10 mins before class. It was an interesting workout with intervals of jogging, running, rowing, weights, pushups, and other exercises.
I liked it so much, I signed up for one of their month-to-month contracts. My plan is to use them for the next few months, and really kick the exercise regimen into high gear. I can let my Gold”s membership run out next month, then switch over to Retro Fitness only after I hit my goals.
This should be an interesting (and wearing) few months for me.
