Happiness Experiment #14: Muscle Work Day 7

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Feb 262012
 

I’m 7 days in to this adventure, and I have come up with a number of conclusions.

1. I need to plan my experiments better. I still learned things from this one, but it was a last minute choice, and I think I could have done it better if I had planned better.

2. You get what you give: I’ve been doing low-intensity strength training this week. It’s felt good. I definitely feel like my body is happy about getting the muscle groups a good workout. However, I haven’t had any major changes in weight, tone, measurements or anything else. I suspect that if I wanted to see quick changes in weight or measurements, I should be going the route of higher intensity training.

3. Not all results are measurable, so you’ve got to listen to your body. This experiment felt good, and perhaps that’s enough. In the long run, I KNOW that I’ll be better off for regular exercise, even if it’s low intensity.

But, before I go further, I do love to give the opportunity to catch up on how the week went, so here are the results of the last 6 days:

Muscle Work Day 1

Muscle Work Day 2

Muscle Work Day 3

Muscle Work Day 4

Muscle Work Day 5

Muscle Work Day 6

So, was this experiment worth doing? Yes, very much so.

However, the tone of this experiment evolved to something very different. This became an experiment doomed to failure and success all at the same time. I think, with few exceptions, it’s unlikely that anyone will see a major change from a week of low-intensity strength training. However, moving your body is a good thing. Exercising your body in a low-intensity way can feel good, and it has mental impacts as well. As I found, it can help you relax out the tensions of a long day.

Essentially the failure is in creating a measurable change and the success is in the fact that I think this is something I should adopt into my regular life.

Truly something to think on, and hopefully something I remember!

Happiness Experiment #14: Muscle Work Day 6

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Feb 252012
 

This experiment is beneficial, but less than revolutionary. Things are looking up, but not in any substantial way.

The benefits to stress relief are already evident. That much is without question. However, those benefits are not related solely to strength training and muscle work. I have experienced similar stress relief in the cardio and yoga experiments.

Weight loss wise, I’ve maintained the same range that I ended up in after my paleo diet experiment. No better, but no worse at least.

We’ll see more as the situation develops. Tonight I get to work more on my legs!

Happiness Experiment #14: Muscle Work Day 5

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Feb 242012
 

Well, I think I pushed the envelope last night on the upper body training. I was working on upper body last night, and now my right back muscles are distinctly displeased with me.

I’m liking how this experiment is feeling for me. However, I think that if I try any other experiments that are based on strength training, I need a more organized system.

Perhaps I’ll experiment with a more organized strength training system at some point in the future. I must confess though, I like the low stress system I’m currently working with. I can spend an entire night slowly working out the muscles in sets while I can watch TV.

I think that if I experiment with this again I’ll have to do the opposite. Maybe I’ll play around with some high intensity interval training. However, after a week like I’ve had stress wise, I don’t think I’m up for that kind of energy next week. That’s something for the future.

Now, it’s Friday and there’s a good weekend ahead. I’ve got a lot on my plate, including perhaps getting started on a bit of blog redesign.

Anyone have any good blog designers?

Happiness Experiment #14: Muscle Work Day 4

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Feb 232012
 

Let me start this with a bit of a confession.

I started this experiment because I didn’t have any better ideas at the moment. This was on my list, but I think I grabbed at it out of desperation rather than a plan.

This happiness experiment really took root for me last night. I was stressed and feeling pretty rough, but I spent the evening doing stretches and lower body work. I wasn’t rushing, I just did my thing and let my body work out all the kinks. It turns out, when I gave it time, it knew what I needed far better than my brain did.

I probably burned more stress than I did calories. At no point did I really hit a good sweat, but I don’t think I’d change it for any reason.

In a very small way, I’m reminded of “Iron and the Soul”, the essay by Henry Rollins. Here’s a link to it on The Art of Manliness, the site that introduced me to this essay.

This essay is a kick in the pants combined with a kick in the brain. It gets you thinking and it gets you moving. My thought for tonight: “There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength.”

How do stop thinking in your life so that you can get to doing what needs to be done?

Happiness Experiment #14: Muscle Work Day 3

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Feb 222012
 

Another day, another workout.

I’m a bit sore, as I can’t completely isolate all of the muscles then I do end up hitting some of them more than once. Working the different zones is definitely a decent strategy though.

Today was a day of working on my legs. That was a bit of a bother as my knees were sore, but it worked out surprisingly well. I was definitely stressed today, and the muscle work helped me work off the stress in a productive way.

As an interesting side note, while my earlier paleo eating experiment dropped my weight to a recent low, I haven’t put the weight back on. I’m bouncing up and down in weight, but no permanent gains.

My happy thoughts list for today:

1. Time with my wife. We get to spend Wednesday evenings together and it’s something to look forward to every week.
2. The feeling you get when you finally relax. It can take a lot of work to get to that point, but it’s a beautiful feeling when you get there.
3. Staying on top of things. It feels good to be on the ball instead of under it.

Happiness Experiment #14: Muscle Work Day 2

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Feb 212012
 

One of the things that has plagued me through life is my unbalanced muscular development.

That’s something that’s highlighted so far with this experiment. After day 1 of working the upper body, my back muscles are sore from managing the weights. Thankfully, I had the chance to work them out somewhat today.

This is a surprisingly mellow experiment so far. Rotating the muscle groups is reducing the individual strain on each muscle group. Of course, this is day 2, I might be singing an entirely different song by the time day 7 comes along.

The downside of a simple experiment is that there’s less to talk about. So, I’ll leave my core work to the side and add in a happy thoughts list to close tonight’s entry off.

1. Finding what you want on sale at a store right when you need it. In this case, we needed to stock up on kitty litter.

2. Remembering your value.

3. That sweet sweet pain in your muscles. I might move like a 90 year old at times, but it reminds me that I’m alive and that’s a pretty amazing thing.