Using It - December 3 to 9

[Shadow]

Morning, everyone :). I'm still battling a cold and an achy shoulder so while I absolutely will get my exercise done this week, I'm certainly not going to be "going for the gold" :lol: ;). I did some upper today - will finish it later this week along with legs and getting some mild cardio in.

How does the week look for everyone else?

[Mitra]

Hello :). I'm at my parents' house at the moment, and it now looks as if we'll be here for most of December, so I'll need to work in my exercise times around visiting my MIL, and all my family's comings and goings. With all the extra driving I'm doing at the moment, I need to keep working on my back, as well as the generalised benefits. I missed a few days when we first came up here, but started up again in the middle of the week.

[Ottawa]

I haven't had a winter cold yet but it must be on it's way sometime soon.:tear: THis week will include a bit more activity rather than just strength. I picked up a BP monitor and would like to see the difference it makes.

Sunday: 30 minutes treadmill with hand weights
Monday: Aerobics Class at lunch
Tuesday: Day Off
Wednesday: Body Sculpting at lunch
Thursday: Treadmill - beginning to work on my "running mile"
Friday:
Saturday:

Good luck on fitting it in while away from home Mitra.

[daisy]

Monday -

i decided to challenge myself today and see if i could keep pace with my new gym buddy friend who works out 4-5 hrs a day, so today i worked out with her from 8am till 1pm :eek:

crosstrainer - 3 sessions totally 2.5 hours/level 10-14/fat burn
stepper machine - 30 mins/level 8/fat burn
treadmill - 30 min run/7kmph speed
treadmill - 30 min power walk 5.5 to 6 speed

30 min weights -

shoulder raises - 6kg - 3 x 12
fly's - 5kg - 3 x 15
bicep hammer curls - 5kg - 2 x 15
bicep curls - 17.5kg bar - 3 x 12
oblique pulls- 25kg - 3 x 20 each side

cooldown on crosstrainer/30 mins/level 10

wow not doing that everyday lol but it felt good

daisy xx

[Ottawa]

Daisy ... You're putting us to shame.:o

I have a few questions.

When you go to the gym do you have a written down routine (ticking off various routines)?
Is there an online chart or form for this type of workout?
I don''t use a trainer but begin this week at teh gym and noticed that one of teh lunchtime people working out ticks off boxes after each set.

[daisy]

Ottawa thats not going to be a regular thing for me, a 3 hour workout is long!!! lol but i just had to see if i can do it and was pleased with myself..

I don't have a regular programme, i run for 1 hour 3 days a week, i have 2 weight sessions a week and i'll nip to the gym 1 or 2 times more to get a bit more cardio in usually crosstrainer and stepper...

I've worked out with a trainer since September last year, she is always giving me new exercises to do and she keeps upping the weights and pushing me to the edge, moreso than i do myself which is why i still work with her, on my own weight day i just do a mix of my fav exercises and try to remember how she works my groups of muscles, that seems to work for me, my upper body is much stronger than its ever been and my lower body which was always strong is :eek: scary strong now! Some people do walk round with cards and follow an exact plan, i guess they've seen a gym instructor when they joined and at our gym they suggest you get your programme adjusted every couple of months, i don't really like to do that cos i get bored and now i have a large variety of exercises to choose from each time i work out...

hope this helps

daisy xx

[banshee]

OK, back to a regular week for me hopefully. I did end up getting 3 days of exercise last week, although one of the days was a couple hours of dancing Friday night, even though my abs were still sore from Wednesday! :p I also ended up with a "can't put weight on it" ankle on Saturday. Every once in a while a tendon or ligament in the back of my ankle does this. It only lasts until the next day, but while it's acting up, I'm pretty helpless. But I'm finally over the major DOMS from last Wednesday's workout, so I'm back to the gym this evening!

Randy, I do keep a notebook so I can record my progress and keep track of my exercises as I do them. It's basically just a small blank notebook. When I go in to workout, I list the date and then spend a few minutes deciding what exercises I'm going to do. I refer back to previous pages to both see what weights I've used and to get an idea of what exercises I want to do. Like Daisy, my trainer keeps giving me new exercises, so I have to remind myself using the notebook. I try to do 1-2 exercises for each muscle group and based on how many reps I got the last time with that exercise, I either stay with the same weight or increase to the next level. I do mark each exercise as I do it, because if I wait until the end of the session, I won't remember how many reps I did for the first few exercises.

My trainer has a set of sheets that he uses, but I don't like them. They're arranged on the sheet in such a way that you have to use a lot of shorthand to fit everything in, and it's harder for me than just writing the exercises in a notebook. But I do try to copy the exercises over to the sheets at the end of the workout so that my trainer gets a feel for what I've been doing between sessions.

[Ottawa]

Thanks both for your inputs. To get started I may start with a simple sheet from this months Men's Magazine and then take it from there until I gear something more to a specific part like abs.

I talked with a doctor on the weekend who suggested that teh best benefit for muscle over fat is your legs. Since leg muscles are already large, any mass increase through pushing them to failure would be larger as well compared to arms. Just a thought.

[daisy]

Randy when i first began working with a trainer she pushed my leg weights alot on the basis that i was really trying to lose bodyfat and she said with them being the biggest muscles in my body i'd burn/lose quicker, she went easier on upper body and now i work my legs out alot on cardio on my own...

daisy xx

[banshee]

Regular weight workout Monday. I did the same workout the trainer gave me last Wednesday that kicked my butt. We'll see how sore I am this time!

I've noticed my time to finish everything is getting shorter - only about 35 minutes this time, and it's been like that for the past couple weeks. I think I'm getting used to the exercises enough that I'm spending less time between sets thinking about it. Also, I'm working more in the 8 rep range for most exercises, and when I started I was closer to the 15 rep range because I didn't quite have the weight ranges correct. I'm still doing the same number of exercises, so I'm still getting a full workout, just in a shorter time period.

Tonight is planned aerobic circuit training.

Randy, I've also heard that working the leg muscles is better for bodyfat burning because they are larger muscles. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to really push mine because of my ankle/knee problems. However, I've also heard that the back muscles are another "big" muscle. So I've been trying to really push my back/chest exercises, and I think that's why I'm still seeing results even though I'm not pushing my legs very hard.

[banshee]

Didn't get in my workout yesterday - something I ate at lunch disagreed with me and I spent the evening recovering. :( So although today is normally a rest day, I'm going to head off to the gym after work to try and get my strength workout in today.

I wasn't as sore from Monday's workout as I was last week, so apparently the mega-DOMS from a new routine only occurs the first time through. :thumbsup:

[daisy]

Mary - i hope you feel better soon!

I didn't work out Wednesday cos i had chest pains and trip to hospital again, turns out heart is in tip top shape (had a scan) and now they think i might have an ulcer and i'm trying some meds for 2 weeks...

Thursday -

Run - 7.5kph (took it easy after yesterday in hospital)/1 hour

crosstrainer/1 hour/level 12/speed interval
stepper/30 mins/level 6/fat burn

daisy xx

[hawk]

Getting down.. downstairs. I have always loved the body for life weight routine. It gives me a list and I keep a record of daily lifting. I also have Arnold Schwarzeneggers big Encyclopedia of Modern Body Building. It helps to give the different variations of each lift. Sometimes if you lift with a different angle a different muscle is defined.

[Ottawa]

Today was my first day at the gym. I was the only person using it and I tried every type of machine except the ellipticals once.

Seated Back Lifts 40 @ 129 lbs (odd weight settings)
Chest Presses Singles 20 each at 55 lbs.
Arch lifts 20 with hand weights standing on two hand weights (balls of feet on handweight crossbar, lower and raise)
Cycle on Heavy Cardio workout 20 minutes with max load
Treadmill my last 10 minutes set on 5
It felt great and looking through the gyme log there are only a half dozen people using it and none of them using it other than very early morning, lunch or after work.

[banshee]

Strength workout Thursday - increased weight by 5 pounds on bench press this week. Did the new routine, except for a couple exercises. Found out it's time to increase the weights for shoulder presses and preacher curls.

Has anyone else found that when you do some exercises, the strength gains seem to go in fits and spurts? On shoulder presses, I've been struggling to do 8-10 reps with 12 pounds for several weeks, then suddenly this week I'm powering through 16-18 reps no problem. :question:

Daisy, thanks for the kind wishes. I think maybe it wasn't something I ate, but that I'm fighting off a bit of a digestive bug, cause I've been a little more tired than usual this week. But otherwise, I'm feeling ok now. Sounds like you had more of a health scare than I did! Hope things work out with the new meds!

[Ottawa]

Has anyone else found that when you do some exercises, the strength gains seem to go in fits and spurts? On shoulder presses, I've been struggling to do 8-10 reps with 12 pounds for several weeks, then suddenly this week I'm powering through 16-18 reps no problem. :question:

I like to count on the strength always being there even if the exercise is a little harder or more painful than usual, but ... Their are times when I've missed a move or form of exercise, or class even for a short while and cannot match my previous effort. In shoulder presses of large weights I sometimes feel that the strain seems a little tough for the joint and will do something else but then return to at least get my former number in.

The biggest single exercise I see this most in is Body Planks. There are times in a class where you are sure the instuctors watch is broken. You have incredible shakes and are just forcing yourself even halfway through something you did with much less effort teh week before.

I don't know if it helps but now that I am into it more often and working towards increased muscle mass and want to complete a whole class, I have a protein shake or pudding 30 minutes before the class just so I know that the fuel is there so that can't be the problem. If it is not fuel and I feel healthy it has to be something else.

[hawk]

Our gym has a file cabinet in alphabetical order where you can keep your schedule. I write mine in a notebook though that I drag around, Now that I am back to excersizing at home, I still write down in the notebook and keep track of what I do.
maybe there is another excersize you can do to strenthen the part of the body you are using for the body planks. Another muscle that will support the ones you use.

[daisy]

Friday -

1hour30mins/crosstrainer/speed training/level 12
15 minute run (didn't really want to do it cos i try not to run everyday and i did an hour yesterday but i couldnt' resist a little one :rolleyes: )

daisy xx

[Ottawa]

maybe there is another excersize you can do to strenthen the part of the body you are using for the body planks. Another muscle that will support the ones you use.

I think part of the problem is still the load.;) Although my sides are straight now versus the tremendous bulge that they used to have There is still Visceral Fat there. It is always the last to go and in some ways it is like having someone add extra weight in the middle point of your plank.

In the hardest classes it is one 1 minute plank Front, left side and right side seperated with different exercises in between. I have been getting sets in midweek now whenever watching tv and doing a 60 second plank during a commercial. I don't get a lot of tv or my planks would be better than they are.:D I will try some different exercises for strenthening my abbs and sides.

[daisy]

Ottawa - i do oblique stretches which for me work better than side planks but have also improved my form and length of time holding those side planks...

i either use a single weight and standing straight stretch the arm with the weight down the side of my leg till i can really feel it in my oblique muscle... alternatively we have one of those multi gyms and i put it on about 25kg and pull it up from the floor with my other side going down, not sure if this makes sense but it gives that oblique a great stretch, then i just turn and use the other arm to get the other side...

also do you use an exercise ball? i do obliques and sit ups on them, slower and less reps cos the ball gives you the right posture and makes them more effective, i also do sit ups holding onto a medicine ball which strengthens my mid and upper abs then i do leg raises on the floor or a bench which work my lower abs, i too have that whole extra tummy thing going, i can't tell how much of it is really excess weight or excess skin now :rolleyes:

daisy xx

[daisy]

Saturday - after night on the tiles!

20 min run on treadmill/7.5kmph

1 hour/crosstrainer/speed training/level 12

30 mins/stepper/level 4/cascades (up and down)

daisy xx

[Ottawa]

Ottawa - i do oblique stretches which for me work better than side planks but have also improved my form and length of time holding those side planks...

i either use a single weight and standing straight stretch the arm with the weight down the side of my leg till i can really feel it in my oblique muscle... alternatively we have one of those multi gyms and i put it on about 25kg and pull it up from the floor with my other side going down, not sure if this makes sense but it gives that oblique a great stretch, then i just turn and use the other arm to get the other side...

also do you use an exercise ball? i do obliques and sit ups on them, slower and less reps cos the ball gives you the right posture and makes them more effective, i also do sit ups holding onto a medicine ball which strengthens my mid and upper abs then i do leg raises on the floor or a bench which work my lower abs, i too have that whole extra tummy thing going, i can't tell how much of it is really excess weight or excess skin now :rolleyes:

daisy xx

Thanks. I'll include the standing oblique and see about using the ball as well. I found a link with the ball that looks good for stretching.

http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/oblique-stretch-exercise.htm (http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/oblique-stretch-exercise.htm)

(http://www.exrx.net/Stretches/Obliques/LyingBentLeg.html)

[banshee]

I like to count on the strength always being there even if the exercise is a little harder or more painful than usual, but ... Their are times when I've missed a move or form of exercise, or class even for a short while and cannot match my previous effort. In shoulder presses of large weights I sometimes feel that the strain seems a little tough for the joint and will do something else but then return to at least get my former number in.

Oops! Guess I didn't explain myself too well. I wasn't meaning that I get a certain number of reps in one time and then less the next, although that does happen occasionally. What I meant was that I'll be working along, consistently getting in, say, 8 reps, with the last couple being really hard, and then suddenly, two days later, I'll suddenly be doing almost twice as many reps without effort. It's like all of a sudden, during those two days, I put on a whole lot of muscle and/or gained a whole lot of efficiency all at once. Then I'll have several weeks of struggling along with the new weight at low reps, and then once again I'll suddenly find myself able to do more without effort.

So the muscles seem to "gain" all their extra strength in one short period rather than seeing steady consistent gains from session to session. This doesn't happen with all my muscles. Some seem to like the steady consistent gain category, while others like to do things in sudden spurts. I'm just wondering why it happens like that.