I started working out in September 2008 at the age of 33. At that time I wasn't doing any consistent schedule of cardiovascular exercise, nor was I doing any weight-training. I had never set foot in a gym or fitness center. I didn't know how to swim. I had back and neck pain, and I had stress at work.
One year later, I was exercising my heart through cycling, swimming, and hiking. My back and neck pain disappeared. And while I still had (and have) stress at work, it seems a lot less important to me. Here is a comparison between September 30, 2008 and September 30, 2009:
Exercise.....................2008....................................2009...........................
Bench Press...............29 reps @ 60 pounds...........11 reps @ 120 pounds
Dumbbell Flys............30 reps @ 8 pounds.............30 reps @ 22.5 pounds
Biceps Curl................26 reps @ 8 pounds.............13 reps @ 30 pounds
Abdominal Crunch.....30 reps.................................53 reps
Cardio daily average..5 min/day..............................31 min/day
As you can see, the amount of weight I was lifting was substantially increased, but in some cases the number of repetitions was decreased as well. This was intentional, as I was trying to create conditions necessary for fast-twitch muscle fiber hypertrophy by lifting as much weight as physically possible until fatigue. Obviously the heavier the barbell or dumbbell is, the more quickly muscle fatigue is experienced.
My cardiovascular exercises were more frequent after a year, too. In September 2009 I swam on 9 days, went hiking or walking on 6 days, and took one 20-min bike ride. Today as I write this, I am not impressed with these stats because I am doing so much more now compared to Sept 2009, but what I was doing then was a definite improvement over 2008.
Elsewhere I have shown that my year's experience with weight-lifting did lead to small changes in my body dimensions; my chest circumference increased 2 inches and my biceps (upper arm) circumference increased 0.9 inch. I gained 4 pounds over a year's time.
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