So, I will be the first to admit that I am absolutely horrible at working out consistently. I’ll do a really hard workout one day, and then be “too sore” the next day to work out so I’ll take a day off…which leads to like a month off. Repeat cycle. See I used to swim and row competitively and I was in amazing shape. But that was back when I was on a team…and I had motivation to be moving every single day. Now that I’m no longer on any sort of team, I find it to be near impossible to motivate myself to work out regularly.
I’ve tried many gyms and work out regimens, the latest being Jillian Michael’s DVD bundle that my old roommate brought home. We never lasted more than a week before fizzling out…and repeating week 1 again the next month. I really want to get back into shape, and I really want to be healthy and active. So this is my new thing…and I’m tightly crossing my fingers that it isn’t just a “phase” and one of my unsuccessful exercise attempts.
I’ve downloaded the NTC (Nike Training Club) and the Nike+ Move apps on my iPhone. Nike+ Move is an app that utilizes the new and improved accelerometer technology in the iPhone 5s to track your movement throughout the day. However, instead of tracking steps or calories burned, Nike has developed their own set of criteria. They base the NikeFuel points awarded to each person based on the movement that would be given to any person as they complete an activity (instead of basing it off weight, height, etc…). I don’t know how I feel about this particular app yet because I feel like I have to take my phone with me *everywhere* I go, even if I’m just moving to a different room in the house. I’m not sure how accurate the fuel points awarded are either. My biggest complaint is that the app only tracks your daily movement in detail, once the day is over you can no longer see your results (its on to the next day), so you have nothing to really compare your day to.
On the other hand, I am really like the other app that I downloaded, Nike Training Club. This app gives you a ton of workouts to complete. You can choose whether you need a beginner, intermediate, or advanced workout (I obviously chose beginner haha). You can then choose what your aim is (to lose weight, to get toned, to gain muscle, etc…) and the workouts will be geared towards that goal. You can then choose to do individual workouts or start a “program”. A program consists of a 4 week plan with 3 or more different workouts per week planned out for you.
All you have to do is download the particular workout and click “start”. The time will start ticking away and the Nike coach will guide you through the workout. Each exercise and movement is displayed on the screen. You can look at pictures of how to do the movement, or even watch a video of a professional performing the action.
I chose to do the “Get Toned” Beginner workout program. Here is my progress so far:
Monday 1/20
I downloaded and completed the “Body Flexor” workout which was 30 minutes long and consisted of strength building exercises. In the end, I was pretty tired but I felt great!
Tuesday 1/21
The app suggested that I go on a “3 mile Steady Run”. So I also downloaded the Nike+ Running app to help me track my distance, pace, etc… I really like this app because it gives you motivation, tracks your movement, and at the end of your walk/run gives you a GPS map of exactly where you went.
Since I haven’t worked out in so long, there was no way that I could’ve ran 3 miles. To be honest, I couldn’t even make it a mile. So I decided to compromise and build my way up and walk my 4 year old black lab.
I walked at a steady pace for 3.18 miles. It took forever (1 hour and 9 minutes) because I was out of shape AND I had to constantly stop to pull my dog away from the millions of stops he made to smell and mark his territory. But after I was done I still felt tired and accomplished.
Wednesday 1/22
This was a “rest” day according to the app., so I did not exercise…which was a blessing in disguise because I was incredibly sore from the previous 2 days of working out.
Thursday 1/23 (Today)
I downloaded and completed the “Tighten Up” workout which was 45 minutes and consisted of strength building and a little cardio. It killed me. Haha! But I felt so good after I was done.
So that is 3 days down. My ultimate goal (at least for now) is to complete the entire 4 week workout program and move on to another one. I read somewhere that if you do something everyday for 21 days straight it becomes a habit. I don’t want to absolutely dread working out anymore, I want to look forward to it! So we will see what happens :).
Chat Soon!
Rhi