I’ve completed a second nine week fitness program, this time at the intermediate level of intensity. Although I haven’t increased my calorie intake and I have increased my level of activity substantially since I began my first nine week program more than four months ago, I haven’t lost much weight.
My waistline has gone down a bit, not surprising given the strenuous core body training I’ve been doing since Christmas. And my strength and endurance have clearly increased. Activities I found trying in the extreme are now relatively easy for me.
Next week I’ll begin the third run through the program, this time at the highest level of intensity. If I find it too much for me I’ll dial back to the intermediate level. However, if my experience last time holds true the beginning of the program at the highest level of intensity won’t be quite as grueling as the end of the program at the intermediate level and they’ll ratchet things up gradually.
The downside of the program at higher levels of intensity is that the number of repetitions is beginning to become boring. I didn’t find 110 rope skips (three times throughout the course of a single session) physically demanding. I found it dull.
And I’ve chewed through three exercise bands (one was included in the original kit). They pretty clearly aren’t made for the kind of stress I’m putting on them.
Be careful to not use weight as the sole measure of progress, because muscle is denser than fat, so it is possible to be muscular and fit and weigh more than being unfit.
That’s a lesson I learned decades ago. I’m not built the way most people are. I’m in the 99th percentile on frame (as measured by somebody who knows what they’re doing). I wear a 46 jacket and have a 36 waist. When I was in my prime physical therapists remarked that the only people they’d ever seen who were built like me were professional athletes.