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Thursday, March 26, 2015

Couch to Fitness

A long time ago, I can even tell you exactly how long ago (it was January 31st this year) I was doing a lot of couch training. I could do 8 hours and more of sitting-down, watching TV show marathons, pushing-off the couch to do laps to the fridge and cupboards then cooling-back down on the couch. Oh those days, I was so fit as a captive TV audience! It wasn’t just TV shows, I also watched Hockey games, so you can see I was a well-tuned athlete.

All those years of intensive couch training now going down the fitness drain, what a waste. I now spend over 4 hours a day working on building a leaner fitter me. I can barely watch one hour of TV without falling asleep.

In this previous post, I had debated about walking versus running. I had decided to walk. In my plan’s first step, I only walked. I lost over 20 pounds in less than 2 months. 

I’m convince that I could walk all the way to my weight goal. However, my ultimate goal is to be healthy. My weight would be down but my general fitness would suffer. 

So in step 2, I have decided to add cardio training in the form of running. I started a program called C25K which stands for Couch to 5 K run. It’s an 8 weeks program leading up to be able to run 5 K. It alternates jogging and walking for specific length of time. I don’t want to run too much, my weight would just put to much stress on my knees, so I’ll repeat the first week training until I reach my step 3 (180 lbs). The first week is:

  • Brisk five-minute warmup walk.
  • Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
I’ll do that 3 times a week.

If you want to learn more about C25K’s training program, you can just go here. 

On another subject, we are really excited, we found a place where to play Pickelball. If you don’t know what Pickleball is, it’s a great game played on a court and is a cross between tennis and ping pong. After 15 minutes of play, sweat was coming out of every pore, but what fun we had. Yesterday we played for 2 hours. Wants to see what it’s all about? Check it out folks…



So my training priority has shifted, in order of priority:
  • Pickleball – When you exercise, fun should always be number 1.
  • Walking – Can be done any time
  • Running – Speeding the cardio fitness

My schedule will be:

- Monday: 15 k Steps and Pickleball
- Tuesday: 20 k Steps combining walking and running
- Wednesday: 15 k Steps and Pickleball
- Thursday: 20 k Steps combining walking and running
- Friday: 15 k Steps and Pickleball
- Saturday: 15 k Steps combining walking and running
- Sunday: 15 k Steps


I’ll proceed with caution, if I see a problem, I’ll modify my schedule. But as long I can keep it up, this will be my routine. This is not a long term plan, it’s for the next month or so and subject to change without notice :)

What about you, are you keeping up with your schedule? I hope you are all doing great.

16 comments:

  1. After the terrible flu I finally defeated last week, I'm slowly getting back on my exercise schedule. Pretty much any exercise makes me cough a lot, so I'm taking it really easy!

    But even though it's a pretty pathethic intensity compared to where I was before the flu, it's good to be allocating the time to exercise again. I was in danger of losing my good habit!

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    Replies
    1. Tough it up girl! You just had a "small" flue... Strangely we didn't get one this year!

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  2. WWE you should do more weight training, soon you'll have to lift so many boxes...

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  3. What an exciting life you have keeping busy by getting healthier day by day.

    Not much on my side, still waiting for the hospital to call me for my test.

    Lately I wake up with a rash on my chest, this rash come and goes wonder what it is.

    The doctor's office called and he want's to see me on May 20.

    The date is far away, probably because he want's to make sure that all of my tests are in before seeing me.

    Keep up with the good work I am impressed.

    Choco



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    1. Thank you Choco, I haven't heard for you a while, I was starting to think you were hiding from me so that I didn't ask you about your walking! LOL

      Hospitals and their waiting game... nothing we can't do about it.

      I can't keep up the work... I'm retired! ha ha ha

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    2. No no, I read you every time you put a post, just that compare to you my life is very boring and every day is the same. I will keep in touch when my day is different and when I have some developments concerning my health issues.

      So don't worry, I am there behing the scene watching you.

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  4. Just came across your blog today and I love your humor... Thanks for the smile ;)

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    1. Welcome KajunDee, look at that if I was looking for someone in my age group with about the same goal, I found a match :)

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  5. When I finished the C25K program, I was running for over 30 minutes at a time, but I wasn't near a 5K. Have I mentioned I'm sloooooow? :) I also find that I can't sit in front of the tv like I used to. I guess that is a good thing!

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    1. I used to run a lot so what I really need was a way to slow myself down. I'm like a spring, once release I start to bounce all over, that's how you brake the machine :) So just doing the first week of C25K over and over should keep me in a straight line. Running 30 minutes it's pretty good, that is really all you need to get the cardio going.

      It's terrible for the TV, I have recorded over 100 shows, I still tape 5-6 per night, but I watch only 1 or 2... I'll asked my wife if she would mind that I instal a TV by the toilet, this is about the only time I have free lately ha ha ha

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  6. That is a great idea! And a gradual transition is so much safer to avoid injury. And all that couch training gone. Yes, truly a waste :)

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    1. You just can't start running marathon when all you did is walk away from workout!
      I was showing so much promise on the couch training... if there had been couch Olympic, I was front runner for the Gold!

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  7. Hats off to you - you are doing great

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thanks Jan we are doing great and feeling great too :)

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  8. I love your plans! It's so important to me that I have a plan of attack. For instance--- Wednesday is cycling, Thurs is yoga, Fri is weight training, Sat is walking. Those are a few of my days each!

    Get it, my friend!

    Sarah
    www.thinfluenced.com

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    Replies
    1. Sarah I'm going to slowly added more cross training in the next months. Yoga and weight training are 2 that are going to get on my list. But I don't want to get too fast. I already trained for over 4 hours every day... I'm 55 not 25! LOL

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