1. Rushing through routines.

   No one really wants to spend five minutes doing a routine they don’t like. This can lead to pushing and rushing to get it over with. In fact, many people just rush through their entire workout, which can be very disastrous to your muscle and joint health. The key is to relax and take the time that it takes to get everything done. Don’t rush in without stretching and take the time to cool down afterwards. If you don’t like the routine you’re doing, look for a new one that is more enjoyable.

2. Doing your exercises wrong.

   From a simple sit-up to complex cardio and lifting routines, it is all too easy to get it wrong. If you don’t have someone helping you, the chances of performing an exercise wrong are very high. If you can’t afford the services of a personal trainer, we recommend getting at least one lesson to learn the proper form for your exercises. You can go back from time to time to make sure that you’re still doing it properly. This is the easiest way to work on your form and reduce the potential for injury.

3. Pushing way too hard.

   If you’re already working out and starting to see results, the natural inclination is too work harder to see more results. However, this makes it very easy to get injured. Use the 10% rule as a guide to how you should amp up your workout. For example, if you do 10 push-ups a day, you can start increasing this by adding 1 extra push up for two days, two extra after four, etc…

4. Too much repetition.

   If 10 reps are good, then 20 must be really good, right? Wrong! Repetitious exercise can be very dangerous if you are doing too many. Find out how many reps you should be doing and stick to it. Add to it slowly if necessary, but realize that there is a balance and overdoing it can only lead to injury.

5. Improper stretching.

   You wouldn’t think that something like a stretch could incapacitate you, but it is also too easy. One of the most common stretch related injuries is a hamstring pull. Make sure you are stretching slowly and never, ever bounce during your stretches. This can lead to various injuries that are quite painful and slow to heal. If you can’t quite make the stretch complete, don’t push it. Work on your flexibility instead and gradually get into stretching further.

While there are many ways to hurt yourself in a gym, there are just as many techniques to use that will prevent injury. If in doubt, always ask for help before going out on your own.

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Creatine is already present in your muscles, but as we age, the levels of this naturally occurring substance start to go down. The purpose of creatine is to supply your muscles with the energy they need for your workouts and for basic daily use. As you lose this, you may find it harder to keep up and your workouts may suffer as a result.

Supplemental creatine can lead to increased muscle mass, but you should not expect too much. While it does add lean muscle mass in small amounts, it is not a steroid and it will not bulk you up. What it will do is provide your muscles with that vital fuel so that they can function properly. If you are participating in any form of strength training, creatine can be very useful.

Creatine is available in many different forms, ranging from powder that can be dissolved in water to actual pills that you can take. It is always important to read the directions and make sure that you are getting the right amount of this supplement. Although it is generally considered safe, ingesting too much may be harmful to your health.

In 1912, the first studies were conducted on the benefits of creatine but it was not until recently that it became widely available in the United States. The main side effect that many users experience is cramping, but this is typically only present if the subject has not had enough water. Always remember to increase your water intake if you are taking creatine to avoid this side effect.

Although long term studies have yet to produce any additional findings on the effectiveness of this supplement, many lifters have seen some great results. Related studies have found that creatine may also increase mental capacity. However, these results are still preliminary and it best not to jump to conclusions. Those on restricted protein diets, such as vegetarians were also involved in this study and it was found that they experienced similar benefits.

There is no magic supplement that will replace the hard work that it takes to reach your strength training goals. While creatine is useful, it should not be looked at as the end all and be all. The key to getting great results is making sure that you are eating right, doing your exercises properly and adding the right vitamins and minerals to your diet.

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What I like the most about the idea of doing 100 pushups is that it’s very much high repetition, low weight training. High reps, low weight is the same idea behinds Body Pump so the two are very in tandem. I know a lot of guys prefer to do low rep, high weight in order to build muscle mass so it’s a bit incongruous to work on your stamina. As much as I respect larger muscle mass, I don’t see the point. The one benefit of more muscle is that you have a higher metabolism but outside of that I don’t see the purpose.

One thing to note when you’re doing these pushups, the period of rest as the days progress increases. You’re supposed to rest 60 seconds between “sets” on Day one, 90 between “sets” on Day two, and 120 seconds between sets on Day Three. Keep that in mind if you’re doing these.

Anyway, Day Two was a success with only minor soreness and clicking in my elbow so we’ll keep going. On the last max-out set I was able to do nineteen pushups.

Today, I did the first day of exercise which consisted of more and more pushups. According to the tables for Week One, I had to do 10, 10, 8, and 6 pushups, with sixty seconds rest, followed by a “pushup until failure” phase of at least 7. On the “pushup until failure phase” I was able to get out 12.

The 10, 10, and 8 pushup rounds were pretty casual. I didn’t feel particularly fatigued but near the end of the 8 I was starting to feel it. The round of 6 was less nice and then the maxout round really took whatever I had left out. I think the last three pushups were barely “good” and then I stopped. I didn’t want to do bad form pushups just to get the number higher, because that’s not particularly useful.

So, day one is in the books and already I’ve done 46 more pushups than I would have today.

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)… Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

What happened? Oh boy is this a long story (to be told over multiple blog posts)… I played full court basketball for the first time this week. Great! What a workout! My week was going great full court on Saturday, more basketball on Monday, and playing volleyball on Tuesday when it happened…

My teammate passed the ball to the setter and I was backing up to position for the approach for the spike… When I changed directions (not even a very athletic move) there was loud pop and I thought who just throw a rock at the ground at my foot. I stopped playing and spent the rest of the week figuring out what had just happened… But this being the post about my weigh in I will stop there…

And I ate a little too much the night before the weigh-in and I did not exercise for the remainder of the week after the incident at volleyball…

I am sticking to the diet, but I am reducing my expectations (4.8 pound goal for next week aka end at the same goal weight as last week) given that I will not be able to work out at the same intensity…

So with less chance to work out my new plan is to continue to stick to the diet and to look for opportunities to work out… Given that I am currently non weight bearing and on crutches I am hoping that crutches alone will be good exercise….

In addition to adapting, your brain also gets bored. When you first start doing a routine, it’s fresh and new and exciting. You look forward to straining that muscle, feeling the pump, and then stretching it afterwards. It makes you feel alive as you feel the sensations in different muscles. After a while though, you recognize the feeling and it’s not so fresh and new anymore. The routine becomes… well, routine.

That’s why it’s important to vary your workout regime and introduce new types of exercise.

The prime example is in the twice-weekly Body Pump classes I’ve been taking. Every few weeks, they begin varying the motions you go through for each body group. They introduce new exercises or new positions along with new songs. While it’s a little tricky to follow along, the variation does keep you continually interested in the class.

This can apply to nearly anything, just give it a little change, work that muscle a little differently, and you’ll see dividends. This isn’t some novel idea I came up with either, people have been saying it for ages!

Photo: Alexpgp

It turns out I should count my lucky stars because some people get it a lot more seriously than I do. These two Ask Metafilter (1, 2) have some crazy stories from other people and links to things that are downright scary. A lot of the answers amount to links to conditions such as Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (as in Exercise-induced anaphylactic reactions, or allergic reactions) and cold urticaria. Being allergic to the cold seems a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it? I, like many, always thought it had to do with sweat coming out of pores and just being mildly irritated.

If those seem a bit outlandish to you, as they did to me, other explanations include:

• Reaction to detergents – It could be that my body doesn’t like the detergent I’m using, though my itchiness is only in the legs and I wash all my clothes.
• Blood circulation – Some have said that the itchiness just comes from blood circulation, that it goes away after the first mile. To be honest, I don’t really notice if the itchiness starts in the beginning and goes away, or persists for a long time. I have always ignored it and kept on going because it wasn’t that bad.
• New to exercise – Another commenter stated that it happened a lot when he first started working out but less so now, I can’t remember if it was worse when I was younger… dang my memory is going too.

Oh well, either way I’m not taking any drugs for it because it’s only mildly irritating, so I guess I’ll just power on through.