Not my OLD old self, but the self that I was from about March through September of last year, once I had settled into my groove of working out and eating right, seeing results, and feeling great.
Today at the Y was probably the best workout that I've had in a while, not in terms of effectiveness or effort, but in terms of attitude. Instead of wondering why I was even bothering, I felt like I was supposed to be there. I wouldn't say I was enjoying myself, exactly, but I was a lot closer to that end of the spectrum than the dread and failure I've felt recently when I try to work out.
Backing up for a second to that effectiveness and effort comment, my "best" workout in the new year is without a doubt the spinning class I forced myself to last week. The only reason I was able to get through the entire hour is because I was doing WAY less output than was recommended by the instructor. He wanted us to do 60 rpm's minimum for the entire hour; that was about what my sprints were at. My average was probably about 50, and recovering after a high-intensity interval was probably more like 40-45.
(And at this point I started to go off on a tangent about heart rate zones, but it would probably be worth it to devote an entire post to that subject at some point. So, suffice it to say, I was wearing a heart rate monitor, and I would have been uncomfortable -- that's "afraid for my health" uncomfortable, not "I don't want to sweat more" uncomfortable -- pushing myself much harder.)
Anyway . . . despite my "low intensity," that's definitely the longest/hardest workout I've had in a long while, and therefore likely the most calories I've burned in a while, but there was just something different about today. It wasn't the longest or hardest workout, but I actually felt like I was accomplishing something, rather than going through the motions.
Woohoo! I love spinning classes but I didn't always push myself the way the instructor was doing. I also love zumba, although I can't do the high-impact portion of it.
ReplyDelete