I’ve been reading up on exercise. I don’t mean to imply I don’t exercise, but I haven’t felt like I was getting anywhere. I’ve got damage that results in a migraine if I bounce or lift, so I bought a rowing machine that does a good job of providing aerobic exercise . . . when I use it. I like to eat, so chubby and I are closer acquaintances than me and exercise <wince>.
In my reading, I have learned weight training changes the body’s metabolism. Okay, maybe I didn’t mean exactly that. If you do weight training, the effect to your metabolism lasts for hours longer the boost achieved by aerobic exercise. I could sure use a bunch of that! Programming is a sedentary profession and I have the butt to prove it!
So instead of leaving my rower set at a low resistance sufficient to allow me to row for 15 minutes without wimping out, I cranked that sucker to the max and rowed for as long as I could. The day before yesterday I rowed for 2½ minutes. Yesterday I rowed for 3 minutes. Since last night I have sore butt muscles. My sore butt muscles may be a direct result of rowing at the highest resistance two days in a row. Oops.
The other tidbit I gleaned from my reading involves the frequency of weight training. It should be restricted to three days a week. That doesn’t mean three days in a row. A day between each session is necessary for the muscles to recover.
From now on I’ll drop the resistance back to the lower setting and do my 15 minutes of aerobic rowing between the high-resistance rowing.
I have noticed my brain works much better when I exercise, and rowing lets me exercise regardless of the weather without bouncing or lifting. I see it as the perfect exercise for me. Weight training in addition to boosting metabolism reduces cholesterol and high blood pressure. Sounds good to me.