Fitness Over 40Something - 145lb Squats!

145 lb squats, butt to the grass!!! Wow that felt amazing. When I first attempted the squat I wanted to warm up with 115. After completing a full set and feeling like it was easy I realized it was actually 125 lbs. Going back to my last posts it proves it was my mind that actually controlled what I could accomplish. A low self esteem mindset equals a low production workout. After realizing this I loaded the plates to 145 lbs. I completed five full reps butt to the grass. Then for the third set my mind started to feel that I couldn't again so I wanted to see what would happen and yes I was right. I had trouble with one. I stopped right there and took a rest. I told myself I could do this, I was stronger then I could ever imagine and hit it again. 5 full reps, butt to the grass, 145 lbs. Then I loaded to 155 and again 3 full reps, butt to the grass!!! I had heard so many times over and over again that your mind has more control over your ability if you let it. Meaning, if you think you can't you won't but if you think you can you will. I thought I could and I did. After this workout and realization I think I like weightlifting more then cardio. It is teaching me more and giving me more and that is what I need now in my life. Not to mention how cool it is becoming to see my body transform into something strong and powerful, something I cannot deny because the results are right in front of my face every time I look in the mirror. I can't wait to see where this takes me not only in my workouts but in life itself.

Fitness Over 40Something - I can!

Great morning at the gym. Well maybe not great but really good. Looking back on all I have written so far there seems to be one thing in common that has gotten in the way of becoming fit at forty something. My mindset. Whether it was me thinking how long I should workout, how much I should workout and/or can I workout. It's funny how a person can talk themselves into not doing something. A friend of mine told me don't let anyone tell you you can't. I see that same phrase in commercials, TV shows and in magazines. For me, I don't have anyone telling me I can't. I have always had a great support system telling me only that I can. So where does this "can't" come from? It comes from me. I guess I am my own worst enemy. So, how did it start and most of all how do I or anyone else like me fix it? Can a mindset be changed? I know this morning when I got up early to workout I said "I can". And I did. I said I can lift weights and I did. I said I can realize that time does not matter and that if I only go today that's cool too. There were a bunch of "i cans" and a bunch of "i did's". Feels pretty neat. I know it won't be this simple everyday but it is a start. A start of finding out what is wrong and fixing it. It's funny but  I don't know if I would have noticed this if I did not write this blog. I hope somehow in some way this blog helps other forty, fifty, sixty,seventy, eighty, ninety somethings and higher to get fit and healthy.  All I know today is that I can, we can be gym goers, weightlifters, cardio doers, and class attenders just like the young ones. Now is when we need it the most and now is the time to try to get rid of the "cant's" and replace them with the "cans" and "did's".

Fitness Over 40Something - 20Something

It has been four months since I wrote. I am hoping that writing about my experience will keep me motivated because I sure do need it now. In the past four months I am now down to 30 assist on the pull up bar! I started a few different schedules until I found the one that worked best for me. I tried six days on and one day off, three days on and one day off, then the winner...five days on two days off. So why do I need to be motivated? Have I gone every day in the past for months? I will be honest and the answer is no. Especially lately it has gotten tough. I do not know if it is because the days are shorter, cold and dreary or am I on the verge of quitting again? I do know that the days are shorter, cold and dreary here in the winter and I also know I do not want to quit. I have to try harder to force the idea of quitting out of my head. That seems just as hard as working out itself but to bad that is not all it takes. I need to think of ways to keep going. One way I was thinking would work is writing in this blog and the other I think is kids. When I say kids I mean the twenty somethings that make the treadmill look like playground, the stair climber look like stairs to Heaven, and the weights look like feathers floating away in the light, free air. Meanwhile the treadmill to me is work, the stair climber is stairs to hell and the weights are like those same feathers dipped in concrete. I wish my body had that same strength and hunger to move as it did when I was younger. This thought makes me sit back and think. Maybe its how I view it. When I was twenty something the treadmill, stair climber and weights were good to me. In age, is it my body or my mind that tells us it's too hard and I can't? I know when I lift weights my body responds the same. I can do the same weight if not more and it feels great. So that tells me it has to be the mind that changes. My thinking is what makes it so hard to lift. If I view it as feathers dipped in concrete then it shall be. So why don't I try to view not only my own body as strong and young but also the workout as fun and easy? That's right, a twenty something mind in a forty something body can only be good right? I want the playground, the stairway to Heaven, and the feathers floating in the light, free air. All I know is Monday nights blog will be pretty interesting!