Spring is a time of new beginnings -- we all get the urge to clean out closets, spruce up the yard, etc. -- so it's a good time for personal beginnings also. This past month I reached a plateau in my weight loss program, with only a few pounds to go to reach my goal. For a few weeks my whole body felt out of balance. I wasn't ill, just not "quite right". I finally mentioned my lack of weight loss to my nutritionist, who suggested tweaking my exercise, mostly by increasing the time I spend. I think she forgot that I told her I exercise 8-10 hours a week as it is! What to do? I decided that perhaps a slight increase in intensity would help. Yesterday instead of 45 minutes on the treadmill, I did 30 minutes, then 30 more in the cross-trainer, which is definitely a higher intensity. Most of the time on the cardio machines I don't select a "program", but just go in manual mode letting my joints and music from my I-pod quide me. Today on the elliptical, I chose "aerobics mode". Oh MY! Within 10 minutes I was breathing hard, and at 20 minutes I was in a full sweat (it usually takes at least 30 for me to get there), and at 30 I wasn't sure I could get to the end (45 min). I stuck it out and barely finished. Guess I'm not in as good shape as I thought! Whew! I'll keep this up for a bit and see how I do. So far my joints aren't complaining and the scales moved a tiny bit.
I also have felt recently that I have reached another plateau, this one with my music. I complained to my teacher that I keep learning different pieces, but I don't feel that I'm advancing in any way. She assured me that I am way better than I was four years ago (hard to believe it has been that long!), but I want to look forward to where I CAN be, not where I WAS! On to a new challenge! I rummaged through my music and found an exercise book from long ago that has exercises for the "virtuoso pianst". Ha! My teacher agreed that perhaps working on these would be helpful. Um, who is the teacher here? She also tasked me with looking at other music and listening to pieces and to come back in two weeks (no lesson during Spring Break) with some ideas about what I want to learn. To date, I have pretty much let her choose the pieces, (with a few exceptions) since she is the expert and that's what I'm paying her for, right? But this will be a challenge for me, but I'm going to give it a shot.
Stay tuned for updates on how I progress!
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I only do programs on the cross trainers, but switch them up all the time. You've probably plateaued because you do the same thing over and over. You need to revise like you did , but keep revising. Add steep incline to treadmill for 5 minutes, then back down. Alternate and increase over time.
ReplyDeleteWatch the joints, of course.