By Mark Darter

Whether you are new to working out or just getting back into the swing of things, there are a few things that you will notice as you go through your training program. Anyone who decides to exercise has already made a positive decision in their lives, and the benefits of exercise will be numerous, most of which you won’t be able to see immediately, but if you keep up with the work you will make progress and begin to see results.

There are numerous things that one can expect when beginning a routine, here are my top three:

1. Muscle soreness

Nobody wants to wake up in the morning and feel like they can’t dress themselves because their arms are sore from the workout the day before, but some muscle soreness is to be expected. When our muscles are put through strenuous exercises, they become stressed and are therefore sore the following day or two after the workouts as the muscle repairs itself. There’s no need to worry though, because as you work out, your muscles will begin to adapt to your workout regimen and will not be as sore as after the first workout.

2. Weight loss

Weight loss is a goal that most people have with their workout regimens. It would be great if it was possible to lose large amounts of weight (20+ pounds) in a small amount of time (5 weeks) but in reality, the healthy amount of weight to lose is about 1 to 2 pounds of weight per week. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see any weight loss the first couple weeks, because progress takes time to show results. Many other adaptations are occurring early in a program that may help you lose weight in the long run.

3. Goals

When thinking about goal setting, most people may think of long term goals, such as being able to run a marathon, but let’s not forget the short term goals because those will keep us accountable and give us steps to achieving long term goals. Some good short term goal examples are to workout 2 days a week for 30 minutes or to improve my walk/run time by 30-45 seconds.

These are just a few things you can expect when starting your program, but just know that the soreness will become less of a problem as you exercise, the weight loss will come with time and hard work, and goals will be achieved and surpassed!

Buddy Broncho

Buddy Broncho made his first appearance in UCO's own newspaper The Vista. It was the October 3, 1932, issue where a Broncho appears wearing a UCO football uniform. He has appeared numerous times throughout the years from local Edmond papers in the 60's to state-wide papers in the 80's. The commissioning of the first ever live mascot appears in UCO's 1979 Bronze Book where Buddy Broncho made his first public appearance at Homecoming. Since that time, Buddy has been a fixture at UCO events and in the hearts of UCO students.