First Day back at the gym.

Yesterday was really my first day back at the gym. But I didn't comment on it because honestly, that post was long enough already! This is the same gym I went to last year. I stopped going in November. By that time, I had only been going there to swim, I had given up already on working out, for a few months.
I'm going back about the same time I started there last year. Naturally, I don't want to give up by September, or abandon it all by November again. I want to keep going until next summer (and beyond...)
One might guess from my first post that I have a "Just do it!" kind of attitude. In truth, I feel that my situation is my own fault. But I'm not going to lie to myself and pretend that I can just up and change my situation with sheer determination. I can't. There are people that say you can, and they are some silly folks. My father likes to pretend that. He'll sit there and just suggest that I starve myself, that'll work! The sad thing is he's serious. He even tries it. He'll not eat all day. And my god, is he ever a self-righteous bastard when he does it! Of course, at some point, he gives in and eats, and you know he just stuffs himself as much as he can, which makes the whole effort pointless.
So I just ignore him when he goes on about that bullshit.
I know that I have limitations. I know I have shortcomings. I have to figure out what I did wrong last year, and try not to do that again. I think I really tried to push things a little too far. I had a trainer give me an eval and come up with a workout for me. It included the treadmill and a series of weights and situp machines. We picked a weight for each machine and he assigned me something to the tune of 40 situps on one machine and 80 on the other. (One was easier than the other)
Thing is, I don't really need more muscle. In my arms, maybe. But not in my stomach or my legs. My legs need no more muscle at all. They carry over 500 pounds all day. Honestly, they're fine. They'll get enough of a workout on the treadmill.
In addition, I started doing a warmup routine before my workout that included pushups, situps, and an abwheel. This was not smart at all.
Honestly, every time I went to work out, look at all I put myself through! Jesus!
I don't need situps, and I'm not going to do them right now.
I don't need pushups. Same deal.
I damn sure don't need to use that abwheel.
I worked out a new workout yesterday. I intend to do this 3-4 times a week.
I start with a lap around the gym(there is a track). That's just kind of a small warmup. I get on the treadmill. Not the same one that guy assigned me last year either. He had me on this treadmill that had a tread for each foot. It was a split treadmill and with my size and big feet, it was just a hassle. I'll stick to the normal treadmills, thank you!
So I started off doing 5 minutes. That was tough. I was out of breatha nd my shoulders were aching at 4 minutes. But I pushed it out to 5.
I sat down, gave myself a little break. I then got on the Military Press machine. I'm not interested in building muscle here, it's a matter of movement. So I took the pressure (it's an air pressure machine, made by Keiser, I think.) down as low as it would go(14, I think) and did 3 reps of 10.
Then I got on the next machine, I call it the chicken wing. It's the one where you look like a chicken flapping its wings, you know? I dropped it down to the minimum and did 1 rep of 15 and 2 reps of 10.
After that I got back on the treadmill and did 7 minutes, going up to a speed of 1.6. I was able to go longer, and by the time my shoulders were aching tight, my back was aching too.
I took another break, and went through the rest of the machines that I'm going to use. One is called the biaxial something. I call it the ol' one-two. Because you can do one arm at a time, and it looks like you're punching. Dropped the pressure nice and low and did 3 reps of 10. Then I used the butterfly machine, smae deal, low pressure, 3 reps of 10. Lastly I used the pulldown machine. Again, 3 reps of 10.
Finally, I got back on the treadmill, and did another 5 minutes, only going up to about 1.4 on the speed. I'm going to try and record more information in the future, but for today this is what I have. All told, I did 17 minutes on the treadmill.
I have a goal for this. At some point, I intend to do a full 30 minutes on the treadmill. That's the center set. The first set will be somehwere between 10 and 15 minutes and the third will be the same.
This will give me a good warm up and cool down.
After all this, a nice swim in the pool and soak in the hot tub and steam room.
I think that was another part of the problem before. I showed up and hopped in the pool. Only after the pool did I get up for a workout. Well, you got to dry off, put on the workout clothes go upstairs, then take another shower, and maybe hop back in the pool. Silliness! Not again. When I go, I work out FIRST. Then, I'll hop in the pool. The way I see it, the pool is like dessert. A reward. So there's no point in claiming it before I earn it.
I'm going back today, I'll report on that either tonight or tomorrow.