I guess I'm officially a gym rat now. Yes, I'm addicted to working out at the gym. Well, I've been going to the gym on and off over the years but only in the past year I've started spending serious time there. I've always preferred playing sports and other outdoor activities as my means of fitness but life in Penang does get a bit boring and lonely sometimes, which leads me going to the gym more often.
I've certainly had the motivation for being a fitness addict now. As I've stated previously, I've lost about 14 kilos since October last year and I've never been in much better shape than I am today. I can run 10km without huffing my lungs out and my muscles are more toned and defined. Heck, I can even see my abs muscles now though only the four squares of the upper abs; the lower ones and the obliques are still slightly covered by the stubborn subcutaneous fat.
This new development makes me feel a bit reluctant to go back to KL as frequently as I used to. Going home to KL means a disruption in my workout routine and uncontrolled diet. I feel bad for my mom because she cooks the most amazing food in the world and I either eat little of it or pick and choose the dish. But I believe that my mom is somewhat used to it by now after listening to my endless lecture about good and balanced diet. The only exercise I get at home in KL is running around my residential area for about 5km, which I do enjoy quite a bit since it makes me aware of the little things I've missed while being away for so long.
Yeah, I'm pretty serious into this fitness/workout stuff now. I watch my daily protein/carb/fat intake and - brace yourself for this! - I'm down to my last pack of smokes, by which I mean the last pack before I quit. I've been smoking about 3-4 cigarettes a day anyway, and to tell the truth I don't miss smoking all that much. The question now is why do I need to offset my hard work by continuing to puff on the cancer sticks? The target now is to be able to run at least a half marathon (21km or 13 miles) within a year, which I think is highly doable.
Personally I prefer weightlifting over cardio, and too much cardio is actually not good for muscle development. But at the very least I want to be fit and able to compete competitively in sports. Even at the gym right now I only do a short 10-minute cardio for warming-up and later after the weightlifting session I would run or bike for about 20 minutes or so. I guess it's just enough cardio to burn fat but maybe not enough to make me truly fit.
Anyway, contrary to what many people believe, lifting weights can help tremendously with fat burning depending on what kind of muscles a person is working on. If a person is working out his/her biceps then obviously not much fat is going to be used because biceps muscles are small and the body doesn't need to convert much fat into energy for training that particular muscles. But if a person is doing squat, the king of all exercises, then much more fat will be burned because the body needs a huge amount of energy to move the big lower body muscles like the quadriceps, thighs, glutes (butts), and calves. That is why the most exhausting workout day of the week is always the leg day. I'm always out of breath after an 8 reps x 4 sets of squat and my legs feel like jelly afterward - in conjunction with other leg exercises such as lunge, leg press, calf raise, leg curl, etc.
Why is it an addiction then? Well, I look forward to go to the gym all the time and if I somehow can't make it I feel restless and lethargic. I also literally get high after an intense workout session - I believe it's called the "endorphin high" or something like that, only that this is a good kind of high. Also I've been getting compliments from other gym members on my lean physique and that definitely serves as a strong enough motivation. Even some gym members cannot believe how old I am considering how well I look physically. Nothing makes an old man happier than that! Alrighty, then. Now I have to go plan my workout for tomorrow.
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