Yesterday I was reminiscing about my old gym routine. It was during the yearlong break I took after my second year in college. I wasn’t planning on taking a break, but It was a new school that I transferred to and I wasn’t familiar with the way they do things. I miss the housing deadline and didn’t have a dorm for the following school year. So after the spring semester I didn’t get to return until the fall after next. During that time at home I spent most of my days in the gym. The gym was my outlet and my therapy. I was there 5 to 6 hours a day. I started my work out routine on the Stairmaster. This was my 15-minute warmup. The Stairmaster is the hardest machine for me, so if I start my work out on that machine everything else was smooth sailing. After my warmup I would get on the high incline treadmill for 1 hour. The incline would range from 20 to 30, and the speed would be set to 3.5 to 4.5 mph. After that I made my way to the cardio cinema and would get on the elliptical for an hour. At this point all of my high intensity training was done. I was on my way to the stepper. I did 10 minutes on the stepper and then 20 minutes on the row machine. I finally ended cardio with a 10 to 15 minutes cooldown on the bike. After a deep stretch it was now time for weights. I know I shouldn’t have done weights every day, but what can I say. I would mainly do machines that worked abs, legs and glutes. I did about 4 ab machines, and about 7 machines for my lower half. I eventually added triceps and chest workouts a couple months later. I was one of the ones who were afraid to lift weight because I thought it would make me bulk up. It was crazy I know, but in my mind, I thought that would happen. I wanted to tone up, and I did. It was the best my arms had ever looked. They were toned, but feminine. I never put more than 40 pounds of weight on the arm machines. I started at 20lbs and eventually went to 30lbs. Once in a while I would do 40. Usually this would be my finishing point, but some days I would go to the basketball court and shoot around after my workout if no one was in there.
I did this routine six days a week. There were also some days I would come back at night for a second workout (I know, I was a gym addict). I didn’t change my eating my habits, but It was like I was unintentionally doing intermittent fasting. I didn’t lose a lot on the scale, but I looked like I lost way more than I did. For the first time in life people were telling me I was too skinny. I never thought that would ever be an insult until I heard it all the time. People thought I was starving myself and not eating, but I was still eating burgers, pasta and everything under the sun. I was just working out a lot and drinking a ton of water. I guess what they say about drinking plenty of water and working out helping your hair grow is true. That was the longest my hair has ever been (all that circulation and blood flow). I haven’t been obsessed with the gym since. I guess I just really needed it during that time. Are you a gym rat? What’s your gym routine?
JustGottaMakeIt 