Daily Gorilla: Day 2

Two days of doing the Gorilla Workout app has reminded me how very out of shape I am! It's one thing to be able to ride the bike for my commute, that works few muscles. I'm out of shape in how poorly I move! Today's exercises in the tiny ape, easy level 1 settings, were 'superman' and 'deadbug' exercises, both movements that shouldn't be that hard to do. I did the exercises, poorly.

Take the superman exercises. On your stomach, arms out above your head along the floor, lift arms and legs so that you're 'flying,' supported on your chest. That was a struggle, just to get my arms and legs up a tiny bit. The deadbug exercise has you on your back, lowering an arm and leg to the ground. Yeah, if I'm on my back, my arms don't move back that far.

My joints are stiff from inactivity. My muscles are weak. So it's a good thing that I'm doing this. It makes a good addition to the other activities. Time to rebuild and get into shape.

And it's 20°F outside right now. My bike gear doesn't work for temperatures that low, so still no riding. Next winter I hope to be better prepared. In the meantime, I can work on other muscles.

Daily Gorilla

Tiny Ape Workout

I am so out of shape. Not good when I want to do things like ride the Tour Divide, or run an ultramarathon. I'm forty-one, and both my day job, and my work as a writer/artist, are essentially sedentary jobs. I like getting out and riding and running, but even that isn't a complete workout. I've been wanting to get started doing body weight exercises, and hadn't found something yet that helped get me going in that direction. Finally, I figured I just had to do it and picked up the Gorilla Workout app.

It is simple. Very basic. On the main screen you choose your fitness level based on the number of push ups that you can do. This is where I swallowed my ego and picked the tiny ape, level one, 0-10 push ups. The screenshot above essentially shows how the app works. Each day you are given a workout. If you want more information about  how to do the workout, you tap the name and it shows you a detailed text description, with a button at the bottom to watch a video demonstration.

When you're ready, you work through the exercises. There's not a lot more than that to the app. I did a short break between each round, and then went on to the next. After you finish, you tap the Workout Complete button at the bottom. No animations, stickers or anything like that, but it does popup an option to share to Facebook and Twitter.

Yes, I'm out of shape and doing the tiny ape workout. Public reporting is a good way to stay on target with goals like this, so I'm sharing my progress. There may be better options. I don't know. I didn't spend a ton of time looking. This seems like it'll work, and get me doing more exercise. It's also nice to be doing something. With the freezing cold temperatures outside I haven't been out on the bike. My weight is still going down, thanks to diet at least!