Quitting actual smoking or the patch has helped my exercise program in the last three weeks greatly. I noticed with my skateboarding sessions all the sudden I did not take breaks like I did as a smoker. On my once or twice a week sessions I would skate uninterrupted for three to four hours. I’m skating better. The proof is that I got half-cab heel-flips and in general better pop on all my tricks. Also at my gym workouts, I’m working harder on cardio by switching to the elliptical from the stationary bike, and I’m lifting the weights with more ease. Even without an increase in time or weight, I feel the potential to get in good shape.
I’m very self-absorbed in my goals and now I’m going to lay out a revised workout plan for this winter. The key to my success will be to never smoke cigarettes again, and if I stick to this a successful workout plan would be gravy. The old workout plan that I posted a couple of months ago included the gym three times a week, and full days of skateboarding once or twice a week. The gym portion for each workout was light cardio (stationary bike), light weights (2 muscle groups per day), and finish with hard cardio (elliptical machine.) This irked my knee somewhat about a month ago, so my plan for the gym altered. The skateboarding part of my workout is basically the same, to have full days of skating as much as possible. The difference now with my skateboarding goals is that now I’m confident I will progress, in august I was not sure.
For the gym, I’m going to try to average more days per week. Basically 2 days in a row, then a day off, then 2 days in a row, and keep repeating as my schedule allows. If a couple of days lapse I’m going to make sure weeks and then months lapses of gym time does not happen. For cardio I’m going to work up to 30 minutes on the elliptical machine from the current 20 minutes. Once I get up to 30 minutes, I will work on going faster, and when I can not go faster I’ll increase the pressure on it. After I perfect the 30 minute elliptical workout I’ll increase the time or start running if my knee allows. But for now I think 30 minutes all out on the elliptical 4 to 5 times a week is a good cardio goal. For lifting, since that is not the focus I’ll keep my simple routine. Day 1 will be chest, and triceps. Day 2 will be biceps, back. Day 3 will be shoulders. Also every other workout I’ll do legs. After thanksgiving vacation I’m going to do this and make it part of my routine. The most important thing is consistency.
With skating I’m happy with the sessions I had in the past couple of months, and I’m having fun. I don’t know what I should expect from myself with only being able to skate once or twice a week. Also I’d like to skate through the winters, but ice and slush may make the sessions less consistent. I guess on my days off I’ll set time aside to skate so I’ll be able to weather permitting. On my sessions I’ll just try to skate, and maybe try new things. A week ago I tried and did (sloppily) that half cab heel-flip in a game of S.K.A.T.E, a trick I haven’t tried since I started back. So when I’m getting frustrated with repeated attempts at tre flips, I should step away, and try other tricks to see what I’m capable off.
After tomorrow I’m on vacation, and I have three days off before my trip back home for thanksgiving. If it doesn’t rain I plan to skate all three days. Also on thanksgiving break I may try a slow jog around my old neighborhood with my eldest sister. When I got into running and my failed marathon training spurt in 2001 I ran my parents’ neighborhood so much, that it would be cool to do it again. I don’t have much time but I might bring my board to Toledo, and briefly skate the Highland Park.
Exercise and being active is a positive change in my life that I want to make happen. It’s exciting too, and I’m sure I’ll post more blogs documenting my athletic prowess as a non-smoker.
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