A Day at the Gym

Because of recent thumb and wrist injuries I have suffered, I haven’t been lifting as much as I like to. Instead, I have been focusing on running and walking. About halfway through my goal of 10,000 steps a day for 365 days, I’ve started adding more running days, both with my children on the streets and by myself on the treadmill.

Treadmill running was one of the first gym exercises I ever learned. Back in junior high school, my family joined a gym and I worked with a trainer for a few months. The trainer had been a college (American) football player and knew that I was going from 8th grade to 9th grade and planning to join the high school football team.

At the time I didn’t know what HIIT (high intensity interval training) was, but that’s what he was training me to do. As I ran on the treadmill, he increased or decreased the incline and/or speed manually. By doing this, my heart rate would elevate and rest. It is one of the single most important fitness lessons I learned, and I really didn’t think much of it at the time.

Recently I read an article on 538 recommending 25 minutes of running at 5-7 (8-12kmh) mph, three times a week. I haven't reached that level yet, but it is a good starting point for me to get back into running.

Today I started out walking 6kmh at a 6 incline for 5 minutes. After that, I managed to maintain 25 minutes of running between 8.2 and 10kmh. My soundtrack of 4/4time hair metal power ballads helped me keep rhythm, and changing up speed and incline helped me tackle the 25 minutes in smaller intervals.