Stepping Back into the Gym

As I stated in a post about my weight struggles, I started the first of the month returning to the gym. But due to the length I had not stepped into a gym I chose to do something what I considered easy instead of immediately doing resistance training. Yet, when I say “easy,” I do not mean an easy task, but an easy workout for me to pick up without much thought. That being said, for me working out on the treadmill is what I considered a beginner friendly exercise for me due the fact I already walk. Plus, on the treadmill I am not overstimulated by lots of people and noise all around me at once, at least in the gym I go to.

Granted I had already been walking from doing errands and I walked to the gym from my home. So I was already pushing it for the day, but I promised myself I needed to get back to working out no matter what. And so at the end of the day, I technically pulled off 4 different walking sprints.

As you can see from my Fitness app log, I walked more than I did on the treadmill, but don’t let that fool you. This is only half of the story. For my treadmill workout, I used the same playlist I created to encourage me to get through the hurdles that come with working out. That hurdle is typically motivation, fatigue, and wanting to quit before you start.

I set up my playlist in 2 blocks. First block, getting started and giving it everything I got. The second block is helping me recover and stay in motion. I designed it this way because this playlist is supposed to mimic my energy levels throughout a workout session. At the start, I already don’t want to work out, but I need to. So I start with something fun. Then it transitions into something to keep me going before giving everything I got. After reaching that peak, the songs are meant to slowly bring me back down to baseline before I start the second block. Pretty much like a Bell Curve.

For example, here is my Heart Rate during my treadmill workout. As you can see my playlist is helping me hit these marks because of how I structured it to keep me going into pushing to my limits before coming back down enough to catch my breath, but not quit.

This is my playlist. I set it up so it doesn’t shuffle, or else I lose my drive to continue. As a bonus to myself, I used my favorite anime duo as its cover. The first block of the playlist runs from “Confident” by Demi Lovato to “Fear My Roar” by Peyton Parrish. Making the peak song for me to give it my all is Adrenaline by Shinedown. Because to me, at least, the whole goal of pushing past quitting early and stopping my momentum is to get to the point of pushing myself into an adrenaline rush. For me, the best part of any exercise is the adrenaline rush from giving it my absolute all.

During this gym session back, I didn’t reach the second block, but that’s ok. I don’t expect to get back into a full hour-long workout session after a long period of not exercising. Hence why I chose the treadmill as my easy entry point. I got the max out of my workout by sticking to one block of my playlist.

Speaking of which, each song on this playlist has a certain purpose behind it. I like songs that gets me hyped, but it’s very hard to start from zero. So, the first song always has to be a song that I can sing to and laugh along. If I can’t immediately sing and dance to the song, then the song shouldn’t be the start of my workout. After that, the next song has to encourage me to start the process of pushing myself. Making the first song a sense of “crawling” and the second song a “walk”. After that, the 3rd song needs to keep me focused and get me closer to reaching peak. So when I get to the fourth song, I’m already set to “run”. Running is the ultimate push because it’s where you have to give it your all to move forward.

Which makes the song right after that is a song I use to finally catch my breath in, but still keep in motion. Because the moment I stop moving, I don’t want to keep going. The next 2 songs are just to make it so I empty out the tank while bringing my adrenaline down safely. In my personal experience, it’s very hard for me to stop to breathe and not overwork myself if I don’t have a way to safely bring me down from absolute to baseline.

My baseline: