Getting in shape : The First Workout

Okay, so now you’re (hopefully) all geared up and ready to go. Now, the first thing you need to do, assuming you’re planning to workout in the morning, is a good alarm clock. You should ideally try and wake up around 5:00 AM, because by 6, most parks get crowded, and the suns starts to warm up the air. At 5, parks are mostly empty, and the weather’s nice and cool. Now, I know that there are very few people out there who can successfully wake up in the morning without causing any lasting damage to the alarm clock. If you count yourself as one of these people, I suggest you keep multiple alarms in different parts of the room, or maybe use Sandman. Also, you should lay out all your stuff on the night before, because you don’t want to be hunting around for your socks in the morning, waking up everyone and wasting valuable morning time.

<beep beep beep>…mffph…<beep beep beep>…groan…<beep beep beep>…what the f…<beep beep beep>…what time is it…<beep beep beep>…what the hell is making that annoying racket…<beep beep beep>…someone please turn it off…<beep beep beep>…goddamit, turn off will you…<beep beep beep>…<rolls over and snoozes the alarm>

5 minutes later

<beep beep beep>…not again…<beep beep beep>…oh to hell with it, who needs a workout plan anyway, I’m in perfect shape already…rounds a shape isn’t it?…<beep beep beep>…<roll over and a) switch off alarm or b) smash it against the wall, silencing it for evermore>.

Now, I know that this is how it’s going to work for a good number of people, so I suggest you keep multiple alarms or something. You should also use your mobile phone or something and/or Sandman, because that way you can wake up to music, which might work better than some beeps.

Also, before you think of rolling over and snoozing the alarm, just try and remind yourself about what motivated you to take up the challenge in the first place. Think of what a wus you’ll be if you just give up before even trying once. Mull all this over in your head, without falling asleep, and trust me, you should ideally be all charged up to get up and go.

Okay, so now, get off your bed, go brush your teeth. Now, I know this might sound weird, but see if you can try and erm…uh… go empty your bowels i.e. take a crap. You should do this, because in case your workout gets a bit strenuous, you shouldn’t feel like crapping in the middle of your run. Trust me, this does happen, and it’s one of the most unpleasant feeling in the world.

Anyway, now that the nastiness is behind us, get dressed, grab your mobile/PMP, and sneak out of your house. If you have a bunch of house keys, like I do, take them along, it’ll let you sneak in and out, without disturbing anyone. Don’t forget to drink a little (not too much) water before you leave.

I’m assuming you’ve made your workout playlist by now, so now play it. Will help you pump up till you get to the park. You should ideally have chosen a park relatively near your place, and nice and airy, with a jogging track, if not, tough luck. Only as a last resort should you run on tarmac or stone, because unlike sand and grass, they offer no cushioning.

One more thing – try and avoid and parks occupied with dogs, unless they’re nice ones, because although it’ll do wonders to your average speed, you will be bitten.

Okay, if you have a workout tracker on your mobile/PMP, turn it on. If it’s a GPS based one, like Sports Tracker, give it a while to get the required GPS fix.

Now because this might be your first time on a planned workout schedule, you should start off easy. It’s not advisable to plonk yourself straight into a rigorous workout, because you’ll most likely end up with muscle cramps, loads of lactic acid which will make your entire body ache and no energy for the rest of your day.

On the very first day, you shouldn’t really be setting a target at all, because you plan to estimate how much your body can actually take. So, just run/jog till you feel you can’t take it anymore.

Now while you run, don’t try to speed up too much on the first day. Try to maintain a consistent speed. If you’re workout app gives a real time speed readout, try to maintain it at a comfortable level. Another reason why you should workout in the morning is because you’re body can run cooler, and because there are less people in the parks, there’s less traffic, which means less of swerving and avoiding people on the jogging track, who shouldn’t be there in the first place.

When you feel you’re strength is flagging, just remind yourself of your motivational factor, which should give you a burst of stamina.

So once you’re done, slow down, and keep walking for a while. DON’T SIT DOWN ON A BENCH, EVER. The reason for this is simple. As soon as you sit down, the lactic acid starts to build up in your muscles. You need to keep moving for a while, before you can rest. Shake your legs and arms, do a little jig. If you absolutely must rest, just stand with your legs at shoulders width apart, and bend over to rest your torso and legs, but don’t sit down. You’ll regret it the next day.

Rest on the exercise in the next post.

P.S. You can follow my training schedule on Sports Tracker. Here’s the link. It only records running, but it’s something right? Just realised that Nokia’s made an amazing app.