Well, what do you know..

Name something that you thought was true, or that you thought you’ve been doing correctly, that turns out to be actually false. I could name a few:

  1. Serum after moisturiser (should be the other way around)

  2. That the moon landing never actually happened (Jokesssss. And who cares? Dicking around in space is pointless).

  3. Eating bacon regularly is okay.

  4. That I look better with hair

  5. That the film Anora deserved all its Oscars (Nope. Demi was robbed. Haven’t moved on).

Facetiousness aside, I was made aware by my (new) doctor that I had my cardio regimen all wrong. For one thing, I don’t really have a regimen. Before Uber, because I refused to drive, I walked everywhere. Before 10,000 fucking steps, I was doing more. It’s so easy to put together a profile of yourself in your head and believe that you’re doing just fine, that you have all the bases covered, until you get empirical evidence that proves otherwise.

‘You should be able to reach your target heart rate and hold it there for 30 minutes or better, sounds so factual (it is) and easy (it’s not) that it staggers me how it’s escaped my attention; how I’ve never come across it, or perhaps overlooked it, something so fundamental.

Who fucking cares if you’ve put on your moisturiser first before your serum?

No wonder all my workout clothes never smell.

Today, it took 12 min to get to 140 (had the treadmill on a level 12 incline), and I only held it for 5 agonising minutes. I’m not Superman. I’m just a middle-aged man trying to get things right. I’m going to get to 30 minutes when I get to it, and it won’t be tomorrow or next week.

I was so drenched in sweat that I took an Uber because I was too embrassed to take the bus.

Run. For your life

I've never been fat. I've maintained my weight and my waist-line for the last 20 years. I'm fit and toned and I wouldn't be embarrassed at all if, for some weird reason, I would need to take my shirt off in public (!!!???).

But my actual fitness level is atrociously bad. My blood pressure remains quite high in spite of medication, breathing apps, goddamned pitchers of hibiscus tea and garlic tablets. Sure, I'm genetically predisposed to be hypertensive, but that's not an excuse to try and look for a solution. 

I think you have White Coat syndrome said my cover GP the other week. So I had to stay in his office for about 20 minutes, lying on my back to relax while he tried to get another reading. It did go down quite significantly, but inwardly I seethed; I always did significantly well on things that I set out to do and I was losing this badly in spite of what I thought were my best efforts.

So how often does one need to exercise in a given week? Apparently, not enough; walking to and from work from the train station/bus stop, 100 push-ups every other day, the occasional gym.

So I guess I need to step it up.

“The American College of Sports Medicine has two basic recommendations for cardio exercise. The first suggests 30 minutes of moderate cardio five times per week, and the second recommends 20 minutes of intense cardio three times per week. Each is adequate for general health and weight maintenance.”
— ACSM
I wish I lived near a better gym but lately, I've learned to stop complaining and to pay attention to the treadmill.

I wish I lived near a better gym but lately, I've learned to stop complaining and to pay attention to the treadmill.

Tools to make the run better; get an Apple Watch!

Tools to make the run better; get an Apple Watch!

Tools to motivate; get really great cushioning like Nike Zoom All Out Low

Tools to motivate; get really great cushioning like Nike Zoom All Out Low

Find the perfect ideal place to run; New Zealand as it turns out, is that place.

Find the perfect ideal place to run; New Zealand as it turns out, is that place.

A few new things I've discovered about myself today

I've started running again, by accident. It was a weekend when everything fell into place; the weather was fine, I finished the laundry, blogged a few things. And I felt fine. So I put on my running shoes, stepped out of the house and did about 3.5kms the first time- the first two kilometres being alternating bursts of brisk walking and sprints. The second day, was about the same distance and while I dropped my pace, I ran all the way. I guess I was distracted by the houses as I ran past wondering who lived in them. Day or night, you never really see the people who lived inside.

The last time I actually ran was sophomore year at university. I took running as a physical education class and we ran around the track in Diliman for the whole semester. For our finals, we went over to the Ateneo and ran around the campus. I've always been realistic when it comes to my physicality and I guess I passed that class even if I can't remember what my final grade was, or what I learned from it. When you're 17, youth affords an invincibility, an imperviousness that unfortunately also applies to life lessons.

So when I got an email for a muscle balance assessment from a local physio I thought, it's never too late to know- and this is what I found out:

1. My right foot is nearly half an inch shorter than my left (8 versus 7.6)
2. I have weak glutes! (aaaarrgggggghhh)
3. Running or even walking, my feet tend to collapse quickly on their arches which explains the quick shin pain and tightness of my outer thighs.
4. I tend to favour my right foot even while standing up
5. My left foot is over-pronated.

Coming back for corrective exercises..