Workkin' Out!
 

How much ya bench?

Put your work out notes here. motivate the rest of us.


Here's what I did today:

25 minutes on the eliptical to warm up. heart rate avg 131, 1.75 miles.

then, the machines....Putting a bit more detail than i will in future so you can get an idea of the machines i use. might just be reps and weight next time.

link to a muscle map

Chest: upright lever press machine with the seat low so it works the top of my pecs. 160 lbs, 8 reps/ 100 lbs 10 reps/ 70 lbs 12 reps....burnouts, no break in between. Then I set the seat high so i'm working the lower boob muscles, and do 120lbs x 6, 80 x 8, 60 x 10, again burnouts....no break between.

Delts/Lats: pulling levers down to the sides.. 180lbs 12 reps ( i was up to 200, but my shoulder is a little hinky) then 120 x 8, 70 x 12.

Abs: Crunch machine 125 lbs 2 sets of 12 or 13 reps.

Biceps: 1 30 lb dumbell. I sit on the end of a bench, put my elbow on the inside of my thigh to hold my arm still. This isolates my bicep..(i had no idea how weak i was until i started doing these) and do 2 sets of 10 curls with each arm, with a 1 minute break between.

Back: Lever machine that simulates rowing a rowboat...90lbs 8 reps, 2 sets...concentrating on using your upper back muscles instead of your arms.

Shoulders: This was kind of a bitch, cuz, again, my left shoulder hurts. Reclining shoulder press...so my arms are forward of my body, and it works the front of my shoulders and upper chest. 70 lbs, 1 set of 8 (I'm pretty beat by now) then I sit up and do a set of 50 lbs with my arms directly over my head (this works the shoulder muscles that connect to your neck[trapezius])

Obliques: I hate this machine. It's like the crunch machine, with the shoulder harness things that drop down, but you twist your torso. I set it on 4 (this is the range of twist....pretty much as far as i can twist) put 70 lbs on it, and twist it. god it sucks. it's like when you bend over for something, and some asshole puts their hand on the back of your head and tries to hold it down so you can't stand up...ya know? gives good results tho.

Triceps: this machine has a tall tower structure with cables and pulley wheels. there's a big thick rope that you hold and pull down. Keep your arms locked to your sides, and pull it down and then apart when you get to the bottom. I did 2 sets of 50 lbs. oooh...it burns....



I didn't do any legs today other than the cardio.

Today I did:

Stairbastard:
10 mins 75 steps/min
10 mins 81 steps/min
5 mins 60 s/m - skipping step

lat machine
2/10 50bls
2/10 45 lbs

ab machine
2/10 35 lbs
2/10 30 lbs

rotary torso (the one jim hates)
2/10 25 lbs ( I hate it too)

abductor (thigh/ass)
4/10 50lbs

squat
4/10 80lbs

leg curl (hammy)
2/10 45 lbs

Friggen conversions!!

15 mins on treadmill warm up - program 6, which is hilly run (mostly on max incline)

15 mins on rowing machine

3 circuits of the following, with 15 reps on each machine, each circuit.

Pull Down, in front - 80kgs/180lbs

Pull Down, behind - 80kgs/180lbs

Leg press - 120kgs/265lbs (rawwwrrrrr)

Obliques - 15gs/30lbs

Pecs - 70kgs/150lbs

Squats - 40kgs/90lbs

Abs - 25 crunch, 25 extended legs, 25 on the ball

Dips - 25 (which near killed me!)

Hamstring Curls - 15kgs/30lbs on each leg

15 minute cool down/stretch

Next session is a 45 min cardio circuit...I love these!!

My health teacher in high school taught me one set of 8-12 reps working until complete muscle exhaustion is the best way to gain muscle strength. That's the method I use. I always try to lift between 8-12, if I rep too little I have to decrease weight, too many reps, increase weight.

I do one set of:

free weights:
- dual 40 lbs standing bicep curls
- single 60 lbs standing overhead two hand tricep extension
- dual 40 lbs sitting on bench shoulder presses
- dual 40 lbs laying on bench chest press
- 100 lbs (50 each side) barbell standing bicep curls

machines:
- 120 lbs chest fly
- 120 lbs chest press
- 110 lbs shoulder press
- 130 lbs lat pull down
- 110 lbs seated row
- 120 lbs seated tricep extension
- 130 lbs seated lower back stretch

My chest is what I really want to improve because I don't have one at all. Lower body falls at the way side-my calves and thighs and hammies are big naturally. Makes me look like an Inuit. Abs I workout for endurance so I usually do 130 lbs of 4-5 sets of 8-12 reps ab/oblique on the torso revolve machine on both the left and right side (16-24 reps total for both sides is one set).

I try to balance this every other day of the week, with the off day reserved for basketball. Weekends don't count-cause they're weekends!

I walked 15 steps from the couch to the toaster, spread cheddar on my English muffin and walked the grueling 15 paces back to the couch.

Whew!

One cup of coffee from the desk to lips and back again. Several times.

How do you "spread" cheddar, Bri? Did you pre-melt it or something?

Yesterday:

1 50 minute game of small-side soccer (scored once, got flipped in the air once back hurts like a bitch)


Workout: (circuit,no break between exercise)

Chin-ups, 12
Push-ups - hands on medicine ball, 20
Inverted crunch with medicine ball, 30
30 lb (each arm) butterflies on swiss ball, 15
30 lb (each arm) reverse push up, 15
Dips with Medicine ball between knees, 15
Squat, jump, through, catch medicine ball, 15
Jump rope, 60 seconds

Repeat three times.
Wash it down with Endurox R4 and finish with 1 mile run.

Does everyone here do full body workouts every day?

I work one or two muscle groups a day, usually 4-6 exercises per group, and either 3 or 6 sets per exercise.

For instance, yesterday I did chest heavy, so I did 3 sets each of bench press, incline press, decline press, free weight butterflies, machine butterflies, and machine bench press.

Today (if I have time, got lots of crap to do) I'll be doing biceps and triceps light, so probably 6 sets each (with rest only after the 3rd set) of standing curls, prayer bench hammer curls, machine rope curls and machine prayer curls. For the triceps I'll do standing arm extensions (that's a guess, not sure what they're really called), close grip bench press, prayer bench pulldowns, and machine rope pulldowns.

Heavy weights, I do 3 sets of 70%, 80% and 90% of maximum weight (which, for bench press is about 170 on a good day) with a minute or two between sets.

Light weights is more of a circuit thing, with six sets at 60, 70, 80, 80, 70, 60 and I break once at the top for 2 minutes, no breaks between exercises.

If I've got time I'll do 30 minutes on an elliptical, and I try (though, over the last two weeks I've been horrible about it) to run a few miles every morning, or go swimming at lunch. My cardio doesn't really cross over into regular working out, though, usually more like 2-4 times a week.

i try to get as close to full body as i can each day ( i don't work with heavy weights though). I follow the idea of never doing the exact same workout twice, though.

I've just come back from joining the gym.
I'm going to start with yoga, aqua aerobics, and possibly line dancing

awesome! do not, i repeat, DO NOT, do what most of us do - let that membership go to waste.

HM paying for it til I'm back at work
he already accepts he has taken on poking-me-until-I-go duties

If you force it for a month, you'll magically start wanting to go. You'll start looking forward to it, planning what you're going to do next.

HM sounds like a really great guy.