Fitness notes

Ah, it’s good to be working out again.

Things that make it a lot easier to hit the weights in the morning:

• Having all the equipment I need, instead of faking it and either injuring myself or becoming exhausted just from getting set.
• Warmup clothes.  Wow, why didn’t I think of this before?  One of the biggest barriers to exercising is facing the cold basement at 6AM.  Easily removable warmup clothes make that prospect a lot less daunting.

Now to schedule a doctor appointment so I can get asthma medicine so I can start running again.

I’m reevaluating my fitness goals.  Building muscle bulk and building strength are two different things; but most men’s fitness books, even while acknowledging this fact, make the assumption that you naturally want to increase both, and structure workouts accordingly.  Because of this, I had gotten the idea that building strength was contingent on bulking up.  I’ve been doing some reading and asking around, and what I’m hearing is that this isn’t true; it’s possible to build lean strength without going the bodybuilder route.  Real strength, too; not just endurance like you get from lots of cardio.

I never really wanted to bulk up, I just thought of it as a means to an end.  I think I’m going to stop following the diet advice of books like Scrawny to Brawny, and instead just eat enough for maintenance.  I’m going to keep up the low rep/high weight/compound lift program, though; the consensus seems to be that that’s a good way to gain strength, bulk or no.  So basically this means I’m going to keep doing what I was doing, only without all the guilt for not eating enough.