A personal training & food journal. Read about our weight loss progress at Train With Ron in Chicago, our nutritional habits and the life changes we're making to get in shape and stay healthy!
January 12thI love competition. When I was younger I participated in several organized team sports – a lot of hockey (both roller and ice), lacrosse, soccer, basketball, flag football, baseball, and softball. I sought out good leagues with good teams and players and I loved competing. In hockey I played a decent quality game for an amateur, I was better at hockey than any of the other sports I played. There’s something special about hockey as a player – the game requires so much concentration and draws you in so much, that you simply cannot think about anything but the moment you are in. I loved competing so much, especially in hockey, that I forgot about the amazing workout I was getting while practicing and playing.
Me, turning it up-ice, circa 2001
Then I stopped with all the team sports. I got hit right in the mouth with a slap shot, which is by far the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced – then I moved to Chicago and, not knowing anyone here, lapsed into inactivity. Now, I’ve been working out very hard at Train With Ron for a year and a quarter, and lately I’ve been getting the itch to play a team sport again. I think I’m just about ready. I am going to try hockey, and see how my hips, knees, and especially ankles hold up. Hockey is a sport that really beats on you physically and I don’t want to do anything that will jeopardize my ability to continue with my workout routine at TWR, but I’m going to give it a go and see what happens. I signed up for a local roller league (coincidentally roller hockey is more physically difficult to play than ice). (more…)
December 22nd
Took me 8 months to accomplish this goal!
I did it!
After my third – and abbreviated – Pure Steel cycle, I bench pressed 250 pounds last night and got myself on the board at TWR! This was a major victory and big time progress for me. After my first full twelve week cycle, I was able to get 195 pounds up. After the second full twelve week cycle, I got 237.5 pounds, which would have been 240 except I screwed up and left a 2.5 plate off the bar. That’s a 22% jump, which I was really excited about. Well, that odd number is no longer my personal best… although I now check the bar before every lift since that incident. This cycle was 8 weeks long, but I went up another 5% in maximum weight. The total jump was about 28% over the last 6 months of the year. That’s a lot!
When Matt first approached me about joining Pure Steel, I was excited, but apprehensive, too. I had seen those guys over there, the “real” workout guys who were building muscle and lifting what looked, to me, like extraordinary amounts of weight. I’d seen guys at the gym doing it before, and I’d even lifted some weights earlier in life, but never in an organized, well run, documented, and planned program. (more…)
November 30th
Some of my favorite workout shoes
I’ve been asked, on occasion, about my shoes at the gym. The colors bring the attention but really it’s the comfort that should entice. True, I am magnetically drawn to shoes with bright colors and a bit of uniqueness but I do try them on and make sure they are going to do the job. Our personal trainers have us doing a lot of different types of exercises, drills and moves so versatility is key. I typically look for shoes labeled for ‘training’. Shoes that are good for running, jumping, balance, offer good cushioning, are light weight and have some ventilation. I also want to make sure it’s not going to break the bank since I will want a few different ones to choose from. Each of these is under (if not well under) $100. I had gotten suckered in to the whole MBT phase and spent a ridiculous amount of money on them so I try to be a little more sensible. (more…)
November 4thFor the last 12 weeks, I’ve been working through my second cycle of Pure Steel with Matt and some other friends from TWR. After the first cycle, I bench pressed 195 lbs. This was pretty good, but I fell short of my goal of 200. I made a lot of progress… when we started the first cycle, I was struggling with 155 lbs. – yep, I know… out of shape… but the muscle memory came back pretty fast and I got a respectable gain after my first cycle.
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May 13thThere are days, especially now that I’m in the gym more days than not, that I miss the gym on my days off. It’s like my day feels incomplete. As I move around the house or go out and I feel soreness or fatigue I’m reminded that Oh yeah, I really need the rest. But it’s just one of those things where it has become so much a part of my life that when I don’t have it, I miss it.
Last week I felt proud of myself for going to the gym 6 days in a row but this week I’m taking tomorrow morning off and will only go 5 times this week. I just knew that I needed a rest when I noticed myself getting real negative in my head today. Physically I was pretty tired too. So at the end of the workout I told Ron that I was taking the day off tomorrow and he agreed that I could use the rest. I told him that I felt like a wimp about it but he reassured me that my body knows what it wants and if it’s telling me I need rest than I should listen to it. OK, so I understand and don’t feel AS bad about it but I still kind of feel like I should be in there in the morning pushing through it… you know, not be such a wimp 
. If I don’t, at some point of the day I will get that feeling of Did I forget something? and this time I’ll have to push through that and try to sit and r-e-l-a-x to gather my strength for Saturday and next week.
So, despite all of those mixed emotions I have had an excellent workout week with DB, Matt and Ron, with very impressive sessions from all. My thighs in particular are sore from the squats, the squat jumps, the burpees, biking, rowing, plate pushing, step ups and several other moves that all seemed to latch onto my thighs and take them for a wild ride. It’s funny because as I leave to workout in the mornings, I walk by our small gym in our building and I always see people sitting on a bike or walking on a treadmill while reading a magazine or watching TV. I think wow, there is no time for magazine reading or TV watching where I’m going. I also know the results I got from going to that gym 5 times a week by myself – NONE. Absolutely zero. I did get caught up on my celebrity gossip! I should go in there one morning and ask them if they want to go for a real workout. I may get a Cosmo thrown at me but it’s worth a try. I’m nice, I love my neighbors!
So lastly a quick update on weight and such. I avoided it last time because I have only lost about 3 pounds in the last 3 weeks and I know it’s because Dan and I slipped on our diet a bit. This week we are back on track though and time for some good old fashion discipline. I did have an awesome thing happen today, I put on a shirt that the last time I put on was pretty tight on me and is now loose. Not just fit but loose! So I did a little dance and the wimpy feeling went bye bye! There is a happy ending after all… until next time.
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