road to wellville.

[anotheranon]

Brief post as I'd like to get to sleep sometime before midnight tonight...

More exercise update: Last night went over to skill_grl's so she could show me around the gym. What I learned:

• Those big machines aren't necessarily that scary once you know what they do and how to set them up so you won't hurt yourself on them. In particular, the bench press and shoulder press machines have a distinct advantage over dumbells or free weights in that it balances for you, thus eliminating the fear of dropping something. Also your hands/wrists don't tire out from constantly gripping something.
  
• Some people think dumbells and freeweights are the same thing; others don't. That's both cleared up and added to my confusion :P
  
• I really am a lightweight! For now ;)
  
• Cold showers can eliminate some of the swelling and pain after a hard workout. I tried this after lifting/stretching/stationary biking tonight - I tolerated only about 30 seconds of cold but didn't crank up to my usual "tropical rainforest" temperatures either :P
  
• Less weight is sometimes better for starters.
  
• Regular lunges are better at stretching the hamstrings and obliques than fencing lunges.
  
• I now know what obliques are. Also what lats and delts are :)
  
• I need to do more cardio. Time to get reacquainted with the stationary bike.
  

skill_grl also recommended some books, one of which I've already found at the library.

Cruised the internet a bit today and found these fencing cross training guides; also a book which was universally panned at Amazon, so I'll skip that unless I find better reviews.

Comments

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Not only do the big machines take away the fear of dropping things, they also protect you from injury-causing twists of your joints during your workout ... very important in any form of exercise. :-)