"No Easy Way to the Top" by TEE Shots (Senior Writer Tom Embrey)

No Easy Way to the Top

April 28, 2010

A while back I blogged about my regular workouts and whined about being so winded and fatigued that I wanted to take the elevator. I said then that no matter how tired I was, I wouldn't let myself take the easy way out. Today, I gained a new appreciation for the elevator. Much of the morning workout was spent taking the stairs. Up and down as fast as possible (not terribly fast in my case) for one minute intervals. Mix in a little weight work, some stability ball training, ab work and an hour of cardio and I was feeling it today. If you are a regular reader, thanks. I am sure both of you remember the bet I made about five weeks ago. If I dropped enough weight to reach my goal my trainer Randy donates to a charity of my choice. If I don't make it, I donate to a charity of his choice. Dropped another 3 pounds this week to get me within sight of the goal, but I think I may be donating next week, as May 5 is the deadline. More on that next week.

debsalomon 3 years ago

Yo, Tomster...After teaching aerobics for 25 years and continuing my fanatical committment to maintaining a personal, non-age adjusted fitness level I thought I knew pretty much. Then, 18 months ago, I moved to a one-level residence, the first time in more than 40 years that I hadn't done 20-30 flights a day in a two-story house with basement. Once I lived in a house with two stories, a basement and finished attic and worked in a newsroom on the third floor. Anyway, I notice a difference after only one flight of steps...at the fitness center, of all places. Trouble is, around here there aren't many stairs. HOmes and stores are single level....terrible! I tried the Stairmaster...not the same. The best way is to need something upstairs or in the basement, many times a day. Maybe you can find a way to do that..if not, the steps at the Fitness center are good but again, going up and down, up and down is much more painful than climbing for a cause, which you hardly notice. Ditto increasing incline on the treadmill, which I do every day...painful. This illustrates the importance of inserting exercise into daily life. Another example: Years ago, we had an energetic 90-pound Airedale. My then-husband walked him twice a day, 365 days a year, total of about 1 1/2 miles per day. (Clancy romped in a fenced yard otherwise). According to most sources, you burn about 100 calories a mile. The year after our beloved Clancy died my husband...without changing a single eating or other exercise habit ... gained 12 pounds. Do the math. So maybe you need a big, vigorous dog...or a two-story house. Debster

teufelhunden 3 years ago

You're doing a fine job Tom.

jcinaberdeen 3 years ago

I thank you for sharing your progress with us! I often look to inspirational blogs, etc. posted by people who have done it (lost the weight). (I just started back to working out after a near 3-year departure from it.) Also- an hour of cardio?! You rock! A friend and I are working our way up to 30 minutes of hard cardio on the elliptical...right now we're having to split it up at 15 mins. first time, weights, then 15 or so the second time. So an hour is awesome!!