Feeling the Burning Sensations

This week has been a totally anaerobic one for exercising. The knee pain has subsided markedly, the layoff from pounding the pavement has allowed for healing.

That comes at a price of course, the endurance is surely taking a beating from this enforced layoff. Guess it boils down the the cliche of having no free lunches in the real world, everything comes with its own sticker price!

What has been good though, is the ten minute mini (micro?) workout in the mornings (and lesser the evenings). Consistency is a good word, and the virtuous cycle built up there is visible. Concentrating on the abdominals, butt and upper body and resulted in a more toned body shape- albeit one hidden (still) by all those flubbery blubbery!

One thing is for sure in these workouts: the number of repetitions has gone up, each rep is better controlled ANDDDD.... the burning sensation in the muscles is THERE!

Which is a good thing, it shows that the muscle tissues are being forced to work harder, breaking down in order to continue holding the body through the reps and subsequently being repaired during the rest cycle throughout the day.

So in yet another paradox of this real world, pain is good! At least to an extent, as it shows the body adapting. BUT.. at the same time, if the pain becomes unbearable, STOP and listen to your body. It is the body's way of stopping you from damaging your own body!

On a 'High'...

Gotta motivate myself. I am feeling good about my jog yesterday.

Left the office on time (for once in a very long while!) and did a run that to me was a person best. Not in terms of speed, but in terms of duration. I ran for (personally of course: incredibly) 45mins! Nothing to be sniffed yet by anyone who is a running junkie, those can go on for hours. But for me, phoaawww, that was a personal best!

Distance-wise, I guess it was not much more than 4.5-5km, but it sure as heck feels a lot longer. Indeed, I gave up only after my feet hurts! I really wanted to finish it, but did not also want to take the risk of injuring myself and having to take an extended rest period again. Like what happened a month ago when I was down with this incredibly long flu bout, it wasn't intense, but it was sure dogged!

Last night's run felt like an accomplishment. It left me feeling very good, although the mood of the significant other dampened it (a lot!). SO was on a roll- spoiling for a fight and was cantankerous on everything! Sheesh! But enough of that.

I can only hope that I can keep up the momentum. Also, the strategy was for time, not speed. There's a reason, and I am going to share this tip with anyone who is trying to lose weight.

Physiologically, our bodies uses blood sugar to power our exercises of short duration- typically below half an hour. It is only after that time, when the body depletes its short-term cache, that it taps into the fats for energy. And that is the main reason why cardio exercises should go on for longer than that, if our exercise goal is to lose weight! And although, I knew that principle, it took a paradoxical situation to remind me again of it.

Two weeks ago, I brought my kid to her paedetrician (sp?) for a nasty eye infection. He was his (unsual) chatty self and we talked about gaining weight and trying to shed it. In a long convoluted way, we came around to the fact about duration, not speed. And it then struck a chord, as I was at that time also trying to kick-start my exercise.

So, my present strategy now is to aim for duration. The only constraint is paradoxically, time itself, something precious that I do not have much of in any given day.