[Chameleon]

Originally Posted by jacentk2

This is uncertain. I will only ride a bike for about 30min to 1 hour every other day....(once I get my new bike that is...old one broken)....and why I try to stay on a heavy Cardio routine and light Weight Training. I am picking up the pace some on the weight training since I have my
"new" home gym up and running....in fact my arms hurt right now. I think this is why the last 20-25 pounds are so hard for me to lose....I am not trainign hard enough....yet. I just recently conquored my fear of Bikes....if you know what I mean. I also don't train hard since I do it alone....solo....I have yet to find a friend wiling to train with. Some of the excuses I get: "I don't feel like it." "I have a bad knee and can't do that" "I am sick" "I am tired right now." Just to name a few.....I have lame friends....soem say they wanna loose weight, gain energy, get in shape, yet they are not motivated enough to push harder.

that's a hell of a story man... I'm glad to hear you're getting in shape and moving away from the health problems associated with your weight *clapping*

one thing about working out and 'pushing yourself' is that there are only a few moves where it is unsafe to try to push to your max without assistance... those would be a bench press w/ a bar, and squats... just about everything else you can do with dumbells and push as hard as you want/can... if you need to dump out of something because you can't get that last rep it's pretty easy to just drop a pair of dumbells... I would bet that you'd be supprised at how much you can do on your own... our minds create limits that aren't really there... open your mind, envision yourself lifting the heavier weight and then 'just do it' I agree that it is easier to do when you have someone there pushing you... but you CAN do it on your own... I would suggest keeping a log or journal of your workouts... write down what move you are doing, how many sets and how many reps per set... for example if this was in my book (actuall entry ):

Deadlift:
set 1 - 90 lbs, 8 reps
set 2 - 90 lbs, 8 reps
set 3 - 90 lbs, 8 reps
set 4 - 90 lbs, 7 reps

and then the next time I workout I'll try to get the full 8 reps on the last set... then assuming I get all 8 reps I'll raise the weight to 95 lbs

by keeping track of what I've done in the past, and trying to improve on that in each workout I'm pushing myself.... if you aren't keeping track this way... I would start.. I used to think I was doing pretty good keeping it all straight in my head... buy you know what... I wasn't... I wasn't making any progress at all, every time I went in I'd pick up the same weights and do the same number of reps and was wondering why I wasn't improving or progressing but now I KNOW if I've lost a rep or two on something, or if I'm progressing and getting stronger and better

my motivation is wanting to compete (in Figure) and wanting to look good in cute clothes... I competed back in 2003 and I LOVED how I looked in just about everything... I want that back BAD... any time I feel 'tired' or dont' want to get up in the morning I just remind myself of how good I felt when I was in such great shape.... AND I remind myself that I'll feel better all day if I actually get up for my cardio... I fell like a slug when I don't get it in.

I'm at the end a week of slacking and I'm glad I saw this thread.. it's reminding me why I do what I do... oh and I'm studying for my personal training certification through ISSA right now... and I wanna look AWESOME by the time I get certified... no one wants to hire a out of shape trainer