Week has passed and I did exercise!

Hello again,

it has already been almost a week from my last update but I have been busy both working and yes, exercising. I have been jogging and hitting the gym and feel great for doing so (of course).

My jogging is getting easier again as I can jog further and faster even while maintaining pace. I try to run to a certain pace and that's where RunKeeper kicks in.

I have set two settings to RunKeeper for my runs. First one is to inform me every four minutes my time jogged, distance traveled and most importantly, my average pace for the whole jog. The second one informs me the same data when 1km is full.

So, where does the 4 minutes come from? I normally run at about 6,5 minutes / 1 km so I get the information I want in about half way down the first kilometer. Distance traveled in four minutes is also easy to compare to a Cooper's test time (that's 12 minutes) and thus, know is the pace improving. Of course, I'm not running all in as in Cooper's test with a pace to kill me but still I'm getting the important data on my improvements. The pace info helps me to know if I am running too fast (which would mean I would wear down pretty fast) or if I'm running too slow when I have to pick up the pace a little. Overall time of course helps me to plan for my route. I normally think of a basic route I would run when I start but adjust it accordingly during my jog.

And, when I see improvements in my data (for example, I run the exactly same route 5 minutes faster), I add distance to my route. This way I can always plan to run for 40 minutes but longer distances over time. Win-win situation to not lose too much time from your day but still get healthier and in better shape.

And what comes to my gym experiences? I have succesfully already done my thing with heavier weights. For example, I used to do my biceps 3x12x12kg or something similar (that's three sets of 12 reps each hand with 12kg weights on both hands). Now I'm already easily doing the same reps with 14kg weights. And I'm not even hitting the gym that hard. A little more excersing does the trick and those rest days are helping for sure!

Until next time!

Geocaching and walking

Today was dedicated to a slightly different exercise - geocaching. Me and my girlfriend decided we had to get out of the house and decided to head to this island just by Turku. This island is called Ruissalo and it is a nature conservation area. At this time of the year the autumn is under way and with the trees and leaves there, it is simply beautiful with all the colors.

The main point though was to get some geocaches gathered and we managed to find 5 of them in this 4,5 km walk. Or maybe it could be said to be a hike instead. We traveled through some woods too so... The caches were hidden in different ways and some of them in very intuitive ways. One was even in a dummy power socket on a light pole.

Here's the manual entry to RunKeeper, time is approximate but pretty close in the end to the real time. Weather was nice and we had a good time.

http://runkeeper.com/user/wakio/activity/124768495

Tomorrow I'll hit the gym or go jogging, we'll see tomorrow. Good night for now!

After one day he ran again

I lied in my last post apparently. I said I was going running yesterday but I didn't. Sorry about it - I didn't have as much time as I had planned on but hopefully this will compensate for it.

http://rnkpr.com/a21y3w4

I went running today! Was a little shorter jog than last time but I'm happy for it. Running didn't feel boring and I actually got the strength at the end to take a 800m boost run to the end. I also saw a city fox running too in the streets and police men who had stopped this dangerous motor cycle gang. No, not really, it was three or four kids with mopeds.

Overall I am doing fine what comes to getting in shape, I have probably exercised 300% more than before. Don't worry, this isn't much compared to before, it's just normal weekly amount of training. 3-4 times a week, at least half an hour at a time. 45-60 minutes would be optimal and that is usually what I am aiming for. That's the secret to fitness (I think), making it standard. At some point the training becomes something one cannot be without, meaning you will feel restless if you don't do something.

Well this became some irrelevant stuff compiled together but the important thing is to keep going and it is ok to have enough rest. Listen to your body and don't force it over its boundaries.

Gym rat

Despite of the title of this blog, I hit the gym for the first time in ages. Well, not really, it has been only a couple of weeks but felt like it had been couple of months. Afterwards it feels great as it always does (I went, I did even though didn't feel like it earlier) and now at least muscles are scared when are we going to it again.

Truth is I have planned to go again the day after tomorrow and maybe tomorrow I will do a light jog. Friday will be day for rest and depending my schedules either Saturday or Sunday gets to be dedicated for resting.

One has to remember to rest despite how badly you would like to train. Rest is actually very beneficial for your body, you know this already cause most likely you sleep and feel more powerful when you wake up. After a days rest (no, not sleeping, just not exercising) when you go for a jog or hit the gym you will notice an improvement in your stamina and the overall feeling. It also helps your muscles to adjust and come back from the stress exercising is causing. This helps to build more muscle and tone yourself.

And as I told you, I am using Fitocracy to log my gym activities and gained a level again. I'm now level 7, search for wakio (my username) in Fitocracy and leave me a comment you came from here, I'll follow you too!

First day to this blog. Not to my struggle.

Hello World.

I am AJK, I'm from Finland and 28 eight years old. This is my way to get boost for my goal which is to loose weight, eat right, exercise and train my mind and body - like pretty much everybody in the world through Europe, America and Asia. Everybody would like to be slimmer, stay slimmer or otherwise just be healthy. The latter is mainly my goal and I am going to achieve it - again.

About four years ago I was at my current lifes peak - I'm 189 cm tall so when I was 87 kilograms it was pretty perfect for me. A year and a half ago I was 129 kg. That's  48 per cent more than four years ago or simply put: 42 kilos more for me to carry around. That was when I started to do something about it. Now I weigh about 110 kg and you can see the difference already. I can jog better, train better, feel better.

This still isn't good enough, I still feel unadequate for my girlfriend - we actually started dating four years ago so I can blame her too, can't I? Well, no. It was me who got stuck on the couch and didn't do enough to maintain my health and fitness at the time. I did however suffer from torn achilles tendon three years ago and a year ago I popped my right knee forward - that's the wrong way, a knee should not go in that direction. Enough said, my football career is over from plain fear of breaking the knee again. I was lucky to get away with minor injury but it still took three months until the knee was strong enough to go jogging again.

But back to the point. I am going to be thirty the year after the next one and I would like to be in the actual peak fitness ever by that time. This means I will have to start train now, lose weight the right way so I can start to build more muscles. Don't get me wrong, I am a big guy and for some reason people think I don't weigh over a hundred kilos - but I do. I don't want to but I do.

So, this is also where this blog comes into the picture. I have been jogging, hitting the gym, trying to eat right but I still need something to keep me more motivated. I have been using these different services online, like Runkeeper for my jogs (I'm an engineer, I like my gadgets) and Fitocracy for gym activities. It is fun to have these unknown people cheering you and I like to get something in return right away. This means with Runkeeper I get instant GPS data, mapping, logging and comparing to satisfy the engineer in me and with Fitocracy I get to play a game at the same time. Fitocracy is basicly a free role playing game where you level up as you track your gym activities and it even inspires you to push harder.

I hope some of you will find this blog inspiring and I absolutely hope the wide internet will bring some, atleast one person per post to cheer, ask questions and push me forward to a better health, better fitness and happiness in me. I like being who I am but I can be better.

Check back soon, I'm going to ditch the bad things from my life too - this means no candy, less alcohol but better food in the end.

I also went for a jog during which I got the inspiration to start this blog. Feel free to check it out if you also use Runkeeper and like the statistics of it. Leave your comments on this post though! If you cheer me, I'll cheer you.

http://runkeeper.com/user/wakio/activity/123521036

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