Day 1: It Begins

Well, I just finished my first workout, and man, I am SPENT.  The cardio is what really gets me; I sweat like an old Jewish man in a sauna.  I turned on some Top Chef (I've got a TV in my workout room.  Huzzah!) and did a half hour on the elliptical, at Level 1 Resistance (there are 8 levels). I ran 2.2 miles and burned about 285 calories.  Not too shabby considering I haven't done anything resembling cardio besides walking to the bus stop for roughly a year.  In my prime, I would do 2.4 miles on Level 2 Resistance, and could pull off 2.6 on Level 1.  Still, not too bad.  Goddammit though, I was working HARD!  I was sweating so much that I actually had to take off my shirt for the last 10 minutes, and let me tell you, that was a good idea; I put my shirt back on after I was fully done my workout and it felt like I had dipped it in a lake.  I find that the first 10 or 15 minutes are pretty brutal, but during the last half I get into a groove and it becomes easier.  Anyways, I think my goal for cardio should be a 10-minute mile.  Is this realistic?

My weight work felt comfortable; I had to revise the workout just a little bit.  Here's the revised Day 1 workout: 

Day 1 - Triceps and Biceps **revised**
- Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 12 reps (technically 24 because it's 12 for each arm, alternating) - 22.5 pounds
- Hammer Curls - 3 X 10 - 22.5 pounds
- Reverse Curls - 2 X 10 - I'm not sure how much the bar itself weighs, but I'm pretty sure with bar and weights it was around 20 pounds.  This exercise is iffy for me - I need to look up some videos on form because I find that it hurts my wrist sometimes, which I'm aware should not be happening.  Might make more sense to do a different exercise that I know.  I'll keep you posted.
- Tricep Extensions - 3 X 12 - 35 pounds
- Tricep Dips - 3 X 15 - no weights
***I'm still looking for one more tricep exercise people!  Any assistance would be much appreciated!

So that's it really; I'm pretty used to doing weights, so that's not a problem for me.  Curls especially felt pretty good; I'm hoping to move up the reps by next week.  It's the cardio that's going to be a challenge to keep up.  Just gotta buck up and work my way through it.  The whole workout took me about an hour and a half, which is fine by me.  I feel great, actually!  It's really nice to be working out again; I can't even support myself on my arms right now, which means I've done my job.

Tomorrow, my first Chest and Back day!  I could still use some more Back exercises that I can do with just dumbbells.

Actually, I've got a question; what are the best things to eat after a good workout?  Protein seems to be the general response from what I understand.  Anyone?

-Daniel