And I'm back in the game!

So, I've been "off" in my workout routine for about the last month due to a shoulder injury. I kept avoiding visiting a doctor, though I know I should have. If someone in one of my classes would have come up to me and said, "my shoulder hurts when I lift my arm", I would have said, "have you talked to your doctor?". I know, shame on me for not listening to my own advice. Anyway, I figured it was some sort of overuse injury since I had just increased my weights in my upper body routine. I scaled the weights back, did more cardio for a while, and it seems to be about 95% now. To say the least, I'm pleased :). Sadly, when these things happen, I have a tendency to think...they will want to do surgery on me!...and I'm just not up for that right now (I know, I'm dramatic).



But now I get to say, I'm back in the game!! I'm able to do my shoulder routine with my weights and I'm able to chaturanga in yoga class again - woohooo!

This leads me to the fact that I want to give some advice to those people who are new to the world of working out.  When you first start out, don't get super-crazy-extreme right off the bat. It's very likely you will be so sore the next day that you will determine that working out must be the work of the devil and therefore you should never do it again. That's not the goal! You want to stick with it. Persistence is key!! Ease into your routine and have a plan of attack. Day 1, you start at x level and you see how you feel on day 2. If you feel like you could do more, then you do more on your next workout, and then determine how you feel on day 3, and etc.


It's very important to keep a log of your exercises, so you don't have to try to remember what you did (that's just way too hard). If it's cardio, you write 'elliptical, 20 minutes, level 9 resistence' - or something to that effect. If it's weights, you write 'bicep curl, 15 pounds, 10 reps'. You get my drift. When you're done, put a date on it. I also like to write in there how I felt, like "great energy today" or "I was really tired". That always gives me some insight on why I did what I did that day. When you start progressing you can look back and you will feel so proud of how far you've come! That, in turn, is motivation to keep going!!
 
Good luck!!