Another Link Between Exercise And Happiness

I got an hour more sleep last night but I still don't feel rested, mostly because I am falling short of the proverbial 8-hours everyone needs. At least I didn't yawn during cardio today. I'm guessing most gym-goers adhere to the three-day-a-week routine that constitutes most gym class schedules. There's barely anyone here when I show up. Even regulars trickle in an hour later than I expect. Today is a "mild" cardio workout, with no pullups or weights. I don't want to get sick now that flu season has started: naturally, it coincides with the beginning of the school year.

I can't help myself: I get on the elliptical, select Program 2 and cross my fingers. My knees don't whinge and I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm not pedaling super fast so none of this counts as HIIT cardio, but I am going at a consistent speed and almost make 3 miles in 35 minutes. Clearly, this qualifies as endurance cardio. After a cage stretch without any pull-ups, I march off to the classroom to do core. I'm clenching my abdominals during the 60 seconds of plank stillness, but I space out while counting to myself during the rest of crunches and leg lifts. A lot of the regulars show up while I'm high up on the Step Mill. Because I change my footing every 60 seconds, I don't really have the mind to watch anyone. I'm mostly staring at the clock on the dashboard and mouthing the words to my tunes.

The stretch area by the weights is full already so back to the classroom. Normally, at this time on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday, there's a class, but not today. It feels really odd to be skipping out of the gym so early! My new plan to is to get to the gym 5 days a week, but to only do mild cardio on two of those days so I don't totally wear myself down. I tried only going 3 days a week, and while I did get stuff done on those 2 non-workout days, I never quite felt as good. I've resigned myself to doing a lot more cardio than weights not just because of my glaucoma, but also because I need to exercise to a certain point in order to reap the mental benefits: anxiety relief.

An online article about the effects of sugary diets on the brain mentions a tryptophan metabolite called kynurenine (KYN) which is associated with levels of depression when it doesn't break down to kynurenic acid (KYNA). Endurance exercises (over weight-lifting) appear to promote KYNA, which has been linked to the protective effects of exercise against stress. This makes me less mournful about giving up a lot of my former exercises. Gotta move forward!

Mild Cardio Tuesday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Miles 2.90
Calories 325
HR 153-198 (85, 97, 87, 91)

Cage Stretch

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches 60/60
Leg horizontal scissors 60
Bicycles 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

20 Step Mill
Level 3
Calories 113
Total steps 710
Floors 44
HR 135

Mat Stretch