You never walk out of the gym and say, 'I shouldn't have gone.' Taylor Kitsch

Yesterday, I went to the gym for the first time in a very long time.

I went armed with A Plan from the GT for a relatively simple workout that I knew I could complete, without getting too fancy. A good transition back into gym life.

I headed out to hit the gym at their slow time of day, as this is particularly popular gym with the after-school/work crowd, and my brain was not ready to deal with that, in addition to my own feelings about getting back to fitness.

My strategy for the day was just to disassociate from all the other people in the gym, retreat to my own little bubble, and get the work done. Cue my new wireless, bluetooth headphones.
Sidenote: for anyone who has NOT tried bluetooth/wireless headphones yet - DO IT. Seriously, it's life-changing freedom from being tethered to your music-providing device.

Earbuds in, "90's Top Tracks" queued up on Spotify (yeah, I figured a throwback to well-known tunes might be fun), and I hit the treadmill for a 10 minute warm up walk.

The gym was relatively quiet and the walking allowed me to get out of my own head a bit and warmed up. Trust me, Blogland, you're your own worst enemy. For me, I knew that task #1 was to stop the nervous and doubtful circles my brain was going in, so I could get in the groove and have a productive workout.

After my warm-up (and rockin' on to some awesome 90's Blink-182 and such), I started in on a workout that looked like this:

4 Sets of 5 Reps, Each:
Standing Military Press (15# DB's)
Stiff Legged Dead Lifts (2, 25# DB's)
DB Row (15# DBs)
Push Ups
Squats (2, 20# DB's)

I actually really like lifting heavy stuff, and it felt really good to get sweaty again. None of this was too hard, or out of my reach... and realistically, I could've done heavier weights, etc. but the goal of today was to just get into the gym and Do. Work.

I'm happy to report that I was able to get through all my sets, feeling good. Then, onto the treadmill for 25 more minutes of walking, followed by 5 minutes or so of stretching.

Once I jumped back on the treadmill for my walking time, I felt good. The gym had started to fill in with the after school crowd and I was feeling a little self conscious. I did spot this one gentleman in the gym I found particularly inspiring. He was a large guy (300-ish pounds) and he came in with a mission. As a trucked along on my incline treadmill, I watched him go from weights to machines and go through his routine, with a steady sort of resolution. He took some breaks in between, but just kept going. I remember when I used to have that kind of dedication, regardless of what anyone else thought, and I wished I'd stopped to thank that guy for reminding me!

So, BlogLand, I'm officially back at it. I've recently (3-4 days ago) transitioned to using a Standing Desk for work time, which has been awesome, too. No more tight hip flexors! On the other side of that though, it's definitely a transition, moving toward standing most of the day. My hips/legs are tiiiiiired. I didn't think I'd need to, but I'm definitely interspersing those sitting breaks.

Today, though, the standing desk was a relief... I woke up stiff and a little sore from working out my legs yesterday, where they haven't really been for a while. Instead of being faced with that awful moment where you have to sit into a chair (complete with the Oowwwwww-groan), I just walked up to my desk and stood there. After an hour or so of standing and moving around, my legs felt 100% improved by the time I needed my sitting break.

For today's activities, I think 30 minutes of light stretching yoga is in my future, then back to the gym tomorrow for Round 2.  I can do this. I've done it before, I'll do it again.... just need to keep telling myself that.