This month saw me returning to weightlifting and weight-loss in a big way. I returned and resolved to work out nearly four hours a day. I chose to do this because I wanted to try out two-a-days (I’ll go into this more in-depth in another article). Two-a-days are when you go to the gym and work out twice a day. Essentially, one time is solely dedicated to cardio and another is solely dedicated to lifting. My two-a-days were pretty extreme. I’d go to the gym in the morning and do an hour of cardio and half an hour to an a hour of lifting then I’d do the same in the evening. Needless to say, I was drained. Each day was rigorous and I rarely had breaks. Another thing I changed was what workouts I was doing. Instead of simply doing machines, I also did body weight exercises that way I’d still be able to move/use the muscle that I was building. As far as cardio is concerned, I decided to finally give the elliptical a try and fell in love with it immediately.
This is what my regimen looked like:
Morning Upper Body Day:
60 minutes of elliptical.
15 minutes of pectoral flys (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
15 minutes of chest press (3 sets of 10).
100 sit-ups.
15 minutes of bicep curls (3 sets of 10).
Evening Upper Body Day:
60 minutes of elliptical.
15 minutes of tricep curls (3 sets of 10).
15 minutes of shoulder press (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
100 sit-ups.
15 minutes of pectoral flys (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
Morning Lower Body Day:
60 minutes of elliptical.
15 minutes of leg press (3 sets of 10).
15 minutes of outward hip abduction (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
100 sit-ups.
15 minutes of inward hip abduction (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
Evening Upper Body Day:
60 minutes of elliptical.
15 minutes of calf raises (as many as I could do).
15 minutes of leg press (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
100 sit-ups.
15 minutes of outward hip abduction (3 sets of 8, 10, and 12 respectively).
My regimen was quite tough. This was probably the hardest part of my journey and keeping with it was extremely difficult. At the end of the month, I resolved to adopt an easier regimen as this one was too much to handle. As far as nutrition goes, I was trying to eat upwards of 150 grams of protein a day to build muscle along with a decent amount of fiber to go with it.
I ended this month at 142 pounds for a monthly weight-loss of 7.5 pounds and a total weight-loss of 67.7 pounds.
Right: I’m glad I was able to do the rigorous workout I’d made for this month. Although not sustainable, I’m happy I was able to do it for any time at all.
Wrong: I shouldn’t have started with this level of rigor, it would have been much easier to switch the regimens of this month and the next. It could have even led to being able to sustain this regimen for longer.
