Day 22

Today was my first day working out at the gym. Oh. My.

I think my weight bench has been deceiving me because I couldn't lift the same amount of weight at the gym. Which REALLY made me want to cry. Because the poundage I'm using is pretty pathetic. That explains why I have hardly any muscles, I guess.

(all exercises are 3 sets of 10 this week)

I was so excited to hit the squat rack that I didn't even notice it wasn't first on the list. Oops. That's ok. I got there, loaded the bar with with 80lbs. Um...no. That felt just way too heavy. I couldn't get low. So I went down to 70lbs. That was really tough. I eventually just had 50 on the bar so I could get down as low as I wanted and still be able to push back up again. I probably should have done at least 60 though. Live and learn.

For leg extensions, I was up to 80lbs. So I started cranking out reps and suddenly...it got really really hard. My quads were burning like crazy! It was really unbelievable. But, not really any surprise considering when I do extensions at home my bench wobbles back and forth and is at a different angle.

Instead of walking lunges, I tried the leg press for the first time ever (not counting orientation). Fun! I think I was on 80lbs with that too. I tried 90 but that felt like it would be a bit much for 3 sets.

Hamstring curl. I was teetering between 35 and 40lbs. I got to try the curl machine where you are sitting upright instead of lying on your belly. THAT was HARD! The proof that my hamstrings are weak was like a bright neon light flashing over my head. Pathetic!

I did single leg deadlifts with a 40lb kettle bell. I really liked that. It seemed a bit easier for me to do the single legs with the kettle bell than the barbell. Pleasantly surprised. But I worked up a good sweat from it!

Then after all this was done, I did standing and seated calf raises. I hate calf exercises. They seem utterly useless and annoying. Although I wouldn't mind having some calf muscles. By this time, I had wobbly jello legs so the raises were hard. Seated I did 70lbs but standing, I started at 50 and ended up at 25lbs. Ouch.

I was going to do shoulders too, to make up for a sick day I took last week but my mom was with me and I figured she didn't want to go on the bike another 40 minutes. So, I'll just take the skip and try not to feel guilty about it.

My mom came with as a guest today and left with a membership! I am so proud of her. I just hope she will learn to feel comfortable enough with the equipment that she won't need my help eventually. Not that I don't like to help her, but when I'm working out, I want to be focused on MY game, not worrying about her.

So, that was how my first gym experience went, more or less. It was a tad busier than I expected but I got over it. It will get easier every day, I'm sure. People there are super nice and helpful. It's going to be like a second family. I'm grateful.