The Life Ledger

Fitness is a way of life.

This is why I always suggest people in active weight loss don’t weigh daily - I would freak out over 2lb swings like this. Now, I don’t worry about it until it becomes a pattern of gain.

I’ve started lifting weights. I used to be pretty gung-ho way back in 6th grade when I played football - at 10/11, I benched 180, maxed 210 and leg-pressed 260+. Now, I can barely do 10 reps at 120, so I’ve got a long way to go. I’m more interested in toning this time though, so I’m focusing on higher reps instead of higher weight. I’m working in 3-day rotations, doing arms/shoulders day 1, legs day 2 and rest day 3. I know I should be focusing more on muscle groups and less on arms/legs, but frankly I don’t have enough time to design a better routine at the moment. Maybe if I keep it up for 2 weeks I’ll find the motivation to make it a priority.

Also, I’ve been having some back pain after racquetball, so I need to find some strengthening exercises. I know strengthening your abs helps back pain, but any other suggestions? A google search led me to a couple of trustworthy-looking URLs including:

• Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma (nismat.org)
• North American Spine Society (spine.org)
• About.com - Exercise (exercise.about.com)
• MedlinePlus / US National Library of Medicine (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus)
• US Food and Drug Administration (fda.gov)

I’ll sort through these to find some that don’t cause pain and seem to help. Any other suggestions? Leave them in the comments if you don’t mind.

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