Back On The Saddle

The past week, as expected, was another roller coaster ride of sorts. From the time of my last post, it took me three more days before I actually set foot on the gym. It wasn’t for lack of enthusiasm to go. This time, I was just so busy with work; it was impossible to squeeze it in. I was also probably the longest stretch, since I started therapy, that I’ve been without any form of workout or exercise. Paranoia started creeping in again such that I thought I was regressing without my usual drills.

Finally, on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007, I walked back into the gym. The first person I saw was my friend and trainer, Joms. I showed him my battle scars from the operation and we discussed the program given by the clinic as well. I didn’t have a session with him though. I thought, I’d try to do the routine myself first and get a feel of things. I found the usual exercises a bit tougher since I was working with real weights now as resistance. But the drills were less than what I was asked to perform in the clinic so that allowed me to give it more effort. The funny part was that I still did 250 reps each on my leg presses and leg/hamstring curls only to find out that I was supposed perform just three 20 rep sets each. It’s funny now after the fact; but I guarantee you, I wasn’t smiling while I was doing it. My legs were really burning. In fact, I called the clinic the day after to ask my therapists if I was doing anything wrong. As they were correcting me, they thought I was crazy as they could probably imagine how I struggled but still forced myself to finish. Since then, I’ve gone back to the gym two more times. My routines are smoother now and I’m beginning to enjoy myself again. Today, Joms introduced an upper body workout routine as well. Now I’m looking at a full body workout!

I should mention though that the constant highlight is my lone cardio workout. I’ve mentioned in my past blog that I’m now allowed to use the stationary bike. It’s far from ridding on the road or even a spin class but right now it’s pure heaven for me. I miss biking (and running) so much that I really look forward to this part of my workout. In fact, it’s more a challenge for me controlling my brain to stop myself from pushing too hard. A lot of times I get the urge to speed up or increase the resistance. I constantly have to tell myself, “Stick to what’s allowed and be patient. You’ll get to that phase eventually.”

I’ve set a new goal to help me manage mindset. I tell myself, “The goal is to strengthen my knee further and not to work on building my fitness.” Not yet at least. hahahaha

But it really feels great being back in the gym. I feel it’s a big step forward. I’m back to things I’m used to doing. I’m back to seeing old friends as well.