It's been two years since I started going to the gym and this post is just a summary of my experience.
Before going to the gym.
Iv'e always been involved in a lot of physical sports right from my school.
Iv'e practiced Karate and have been placed 3rd in the Karnataka State Karate Championship.
Iv'e played as the left defender in the school football (soccer) team.
Iv'e played Chess for my school, and my most memorable being when I placed 2nd in the Inter-school Chess Championship.
Iv'e also participated in intra-school swimming competitions though not as seriously as the other 3 sports.
The good thing is, even with all this involvement in sports, Iv'e maintained good grades.
Moving from school to Pre-University,involvement in sports was not encouraged.
This was also when I started mainly to concentrate on playing chess at the local chess clubs and a lot of monthly tournaments.
Now,as I was involved in little physical activity,I started putting on weight.
Why did I start going to the gym?
One day in my second year of undergraduate studies,I happened to chance upon a photo a friend of mine shared on Facebook.It had a bodybuilder in the background with the words
"Pain is temporary,Pride is forever".
One photo led to another, and with each photo,my desire to make myself better kept getting stronger and before you know it, Iv'e enrolled myself at the gym.
From the first time I lifted a dumbbell till today, the gym has got me hooked.
Now if someone asks me why I workout,my reply is that working out is the perfect example of a closed system.
If I workout, I get better and build a superior physique.
No other factors affect this case.
It doesn't matter if its raining or there is an earthquake,whether I have a cold or an headache,the above case stands strong.
A perfect closed system.
Sometimes,people have said "the body is just a house for the soul and mind..".
Now,my reply is "Yes.but it doesn't mean we shouldn't house our mind and soul in a beautiful body".
At this point,they either stare angrily at me,or stop talking to me.
Either way, I don't mind,as I have made my point.
My training routine.
For the first 4 months,my "gym-master" suggested I only concentrate on cardio.
This brought out all the bad water inside of me and also,burnt the fat.
The exercise routine followed in this 2 hours of cardio was
1.Treadmill
2.Cross-trainer
3.Lots of core exercises,like the plank.
4.Sit-ups.
Some days,the workout would be very enjoyable that I would decide to spend another hour.
Master now suggested I start on with resistance training and start building muscle.
He had noticed my incredibly strong legs(all thanks to my school soccer training) and told that I start off from there.
My routine now was
1.Treadmill and Cross-trainer
2.Stretches
3.Calve raises
4.Sit ups
5.Chest,Abs,Lats,Biceps and Triceps,all one day after another.
It is not that I totally neglect upper body resistance training,but concentrate more on the lower body training.
It's like,when building a tall building,you want to make sure the basement is strong.
Coming to food and nutrition, eggs,milk and bananas are all that I,as a vegetarian can rely on.
It is because of this that I cannot afford not to eat healthy.
My master had,has and always will strongly oppose any of us "gym mates" from supplementing ourselves with Whey,or Creatine Monohydrate.
His very simple reason,and answer to anyone who asks why he doesn't recommend supplements is
"Nanage neenu shakthi vanta nagi irabeku,mamsa vanta valla."
(I want you to be a strong person,not a muscle bound one.)
Below are some of the changes Iv'e undergone in these two years.
1. Become incredibly strong.
The first week of exercise was absolutely painful.Muscles which I didn't know even existed pained.Later on though,the muscle growth showed and now,that pain I enjoy.Weights which were heavy before are the ones I now put on for warm-ups.
2. Lost a lot of weight.
When I joined the gym,I weighed a heavy 92 kilo and now, I'm 80 kilo.
The way to know what you weight should be is to take your height in centimeters and subtract 100 from it.That gives in kilograms what you should weigh.
I'm 183 cm tall,so I should weigh 183-100 = 83 kg.
3. Make me an extrovert.
When exercising at the gym, having a partner to train with is highly recommended.A good partner gives correct advice, letting us know where to improve,and corrects us when we are doing an exercise wrongly.
So,the need for a training partner forced me to come out of myself, and talk to people,making me an extrovert.
A partner need not be one single person, but can be any person who is doing the same exercise as I do, and is willing to team up with me.
4. Increased activeness/metabolism.
5. Healthy eating.
My diet has undergone drastic and strict changes.
I now possess absolute control of what is on my plate,hence what I eat.
For example,any dose of coffee is now a BIG glass of milk,just milk and no sugar.
No oily junk.
I have a sweet tooth.So,jaggery and fruits like bananas replace sugar.
Now I don't have the temptations of hogging on junk,all because of greater self control.
6. Make the family healthy too.
Well,to meet the demands of my greater nutritional needs,my mother has started to prepare meals more healthily now.My meal servings have less rice and more vegetables,leafs and beans.
As this is the diet for everyone in the family,everyone is eating healthy and I'm feeling proud about it.
7. Increased leadership quality.
It is the proven fact.
People readily listen to a person with a great physique as compared to someone with a sloppy one.So,working out and being fit does have its benefits.
8. Trustworthiness.
Again,people who are tall and fit are considered more trustworthy.Same is the case with me.
9. Managing a lot of things with little stress.
10. Greater temper and emotional control.
Personally,I have noticed that after joining the gym,I fall angry less often and also listen to people more patiently,making sure they are given enough time to finish what they want to speak.
This has made more and more juniors approach me for help with their college and personal projects.
11.Up-to-date with current affairs
After a workout,I prefer to sit and relax for a while at the gym,to let my body cool off naturally.
For the first few minutes,I sweat heavily after which it gets under control.
I take this opportunity to have a read through the days newspaper ,helping me a great deal with keeping up to date with the current affairs.
One downside is that the newspaper ends up getting wet but since I generally workout at evenings,sometimes late into the night,nobody cares about the wet paper!!
Before going to the gym.
Iv'e always been involved in a lot of physical sports right from my school.
Iv'e practiced Karate and have been placed 3rd in the Karnataka State Karate Championship.
Iv'e played as the left defender in the school football (soccer) team.
Iv'e played Chess for my school, and my most memorable being when I placed 2nd in the Inter-school Chess Championship.
Iv'e also participated in intra-school swimming competitions though not as seriously as the other 3 sports.
The good thing is, even with all this involvement in sports, Iv'e maintained good grades.
Moving from school to Pre-University,involvement in sports was not encouraged.
This was also when I started mainly to concentrate on playing chess at the local chess clubs and a lot of monthly tournaments.
Now,as I was involved in little physical activity,I started putting on weight.
Why did I start going to the gym?
One day in my second year of undergraduate studies,I happened to chance upon a photo a friend of mine shared on Facebook.It had a bodybuilder in the background with the words
"Pain is temporary,Pride is forever".
One photo led to another, and with each photo,my desire to make myself better kept getting stronger and before you know it, Iv'e enrolled myself at the gym.
From the first time I lifted a dumbbell till today, the gym has got me hooked.
Now if someone asks me why I workout,my reply is that working out is the perfect example of a closed system.
If I workout, I get better and build a superior physique.
No other factors affect this case.
It doesn't matter if its raining or there is an earthquake,whether I have a cold or an headache,the above case stands strong.
A perfect closed system.
Sometimes,people have said "the body is just a house for the soul and mind..".
Now,my reply is "Yes.but it doesn't mean we shouldn't house our mind and soul in a beautiful body".
At this point,they either stare angrily at me,or stop talking to me.
Either way, I don't mind,as I have made my point.
My training routine.
For the first 4 months,my "gym-master" suggested I only concentrate on cardio.
This brought out all the bad water inside of me and also,burnt the fat.
The exercise routine followed in this 2 hours of cardio was
1.Treadmill
2.Cross-trainer
3.Lots of core exercises,like the plank.
4.Sit-ups.
Some days,the workout would be very enjoyable that I would decide to spend another hour.
Master now suggested I start on with resistance training and start building muscle.
He had noticed my incredibly strong legs(all thanks to my school soccer training) and told that I start off from there.
My routine now was
1.Treadmill and Cross-trainer
2.Stretches
3.Calve raises
4.Sit ups
5.Chest,Abs,Lats,Biceps and Triceps,all one day after another.
It is not that I totally neglect upper body resistance training,but concentrate more on the lower body training.
It's like,when building a tall building,you want to make sure the basement is strong.
Coming to food and nutrition, eggs,milk and bananas are all that I,as a vegetarian can rely on.
It is because of this that I cannot afford not to eat healthy.
My master had,has and always will strongly oppose any of us "gym mates" from supplementing ourselves with Whey,or Creatine Monohydrate.
His very simple reason,and answer to anyone who asks why he doesn't recommend supplements is
"Nanage neenu shakthi vanta nagi irabeku,mamsa vanta valla."
(I want you to be a strong person,not a muscle bound one.)
Below are some of the changes Iv'e undergone in these two years.
1. Become incredibly strong.
The first week of exercise was absolutely painful.Muscles which I didn't know even existed pained.Later on though,the muscle growth showed and now,that pain I enjoy.Weights which were heavy before are the ones I now put on for warm-ups.
2. Lost a lot of weight.
When I joined the gym,I weighed a heavy 92 kilo and now, I'm 80 kilo.
The way to know what you weight should be is to take your height in centimeters and subtract 100 from it.That gives in kilograms what you should weigh.
I'm 183 cm tall,so I should weigh 183-100 = 83 kg.
3. Make me an extrovert.
When exercising at the gym, having a partner to train with is highly recommended.A good partner gives correct advice, letting us know where to improve,and corrects us when we are doing an exercise wrongly.
So,the need for a training partner forced me to come out of myself, and talk to people,making me an extrovert.
A partner need not be one single person, but can be any person who is doing the same exercise as I do, and is willing to team up with me.
4. Increased activeness/metabolism.
5. Healthy eating.
My diet has undergone drastic and strict changes.
I now possess absolute control of what is on my plate,hence what I eat.
For example,any dose of coffee is now a BIG glass of milk,just milk and no sugar.
No oily junk.
I have a sweet tooth.So,jaggery and fruits like bananas replace sugar.
Now I don't have the temptations of hogging on junk,all because of greater self control.
6. Make the family healthy too.
Well,to meet the demands of my greater nutritional needs,my mother has started to prepare meals more healthily now.My meal servings have less rice and more vegetables,leafs and beans.
As this is the diet for everyone in the family,everyone is eating healthy and I'm feeling proud about it.
7. Increased leadership quality.
It is the proven fact.
People readily listen to a person with a great physique as compared to someone with a sloppy one.So,working out and being fit does have its benefits.
8. Trustworthiness.
Again,people who are tall and fit are considered more trustworthy.Same is the case with me.
9. Managing a lot of things with little stress.
10. Greater temper and emotional control.
Personally,I have noticed that after joining the gym,I fall angry less often and also listen to people more patiently,making sure they are given enough time to finish what they want to speak.
This has made more and more juniors approach me for help with their college and personal projects.
11.Up-to-date with current affairs
For the first few minutes,I sweat heavily after which it gets under control.
I take this opportunity to have a read through the days newspaper ,helping me a great deal with keeping up to date with the current affairs.
One downside is that the newspaper ends up getting wet but since I generally workout at evenings,sometimes late into the night,nobody cares about the wet paper!!
12.Started to enjoy the outdoors
13.Developed the habit of book reading
14.Greater time consciousness
No comments:
Post a Comment