November 12 and 14

Back on track to having 3 workouts a week again. First one was a little wimpy though, but mainly used to get back into the swing of things.

November 12

Bike
5 min warmup
5 min lvl 20
5 min lvl 10

Weights
30 x Hammer Curl (40 lbs/hand)
30 x Seated Bench Press (40 lbs/hand)
30 x Leg Press @ 290 lbs

November 14

Tread
5 min warmup
5 min @ 5.2

Weights
20 x Hammer Curl @ 40 lbs/hand (arms were TIRED from Monday's rested workout)
20 x Seated Military Press @ 40 lbs/hand
20 x Seated Chest Press @ 42.6 lbs/hand
10 x SAPD @ 75 lbs
10 x SAPD @ 85 lbs
20 x Quads @ 220 lbs

D

November 1, 2007

OMG, has it really been 21 days since my last workout?! I'd like to say I had some sort of insane illness that kept me from working out, but it had more to do with some travel, a bit of a cold, and just insane business.

Back at it though:

Cardio (Bike)
5 min warmup
5 min @ lvl 20
5 min @ lvl 10

Weights
20 x 40 lbs / hand Hammer Curls
10 x 30 lbs / hand Hammer Curls
20 x 40 lbs / hand Seated Military Press
10 x 30 lbs / hand Seated Military Press
10 x 80 lbs SAPD
10 x 75 lbs SAPD
20 x 230 lbs Quad Raises
10 x 220 lbs Quad Raises

D

Wednesday, October 10

Treadmill
5 min warmup
10 min @ 5.0 mph

Weights
30 x 35 lbs / hand Hammer Curls
30 x 35 lbs / hand Seated Military Press
10 x 42.5 lbs / hand Seated Chest Press
10 x 35 lbs / hand Seated Chest Press

D

Saturday, October 6 2007

Cardio
4 min warmup
5 1:1 (160 rpm's on the lvl1 portions)
3 min @ lvl 10
5 min Treadmill @ 5.0 mph

Weights
30 x 35 lbs/hand Hammer Curls
30 x 35 lbs/hand Seated Military Press
20 x 42.5 lbs/hand Seated Chest Press
10 x 35 lbs/hand Seated Chest Press
100 crunches

October 4, 2007

Bike
5 min warmup
5 1:1
(so 15 min total on the bike)

Weights
30 x 80 lbs SAPD
30 x 35 lbs/hand Seated Chest Press
30 x 235 lbs Quads
15 x 210 lbs Hamstrings (I did a quick set while waiting for the quad machine)
100 Crunches

October 3, 2007

This month I'm doing something different. I'm focussing on one area of my body for improvement: my gut. I'm currently 48" at my belly button. I'd obviously like to see that number be much lower.

To accomplish this, I've not only enlisted friends (check out the October is Lose Your Gut Month on Facebook), but I'm also changing my workouts. I'm going to be going EVERY DAY, but alternating between pure cardio workouts and cross training.

Today was my first cardio day. I did 10 1:1's on the bike, and tried to maintain over 160 RPM's on the 1's. After that I did some experimenting on the treadmill. I did about 3 or 4 minutes at 6 MPH, then did 4 rounds of 30 second intervals at 8 MPH. It was a great cardio workout, and gave me some great ideas for how to structure my workouts for the rest of the month.

D

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Treadmill
5 min warmup
10 min @ 5.0 mph

Weights
36 x 35 lbs/hand Seated Chest Press
30 x 80 lbs Straight Arm Pull Downs
30 x 35 lbs/hand Hammer Curls
30 x 55 lbs/hand Shoulder Shrugs
30 x 235 lbs Quads

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Treadmill
5 min warmup
10 min @ 5 mph

Weights
30 x 35 lbs/hand Hammer Curls
20 x 75 lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns
10 x 80 lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns
30 x 35 lbs/hand Chest Press
30 x 235 lbs Quads
40 x 250 lbs Hip Adduction
2 x 25 lbs/hand 21's (bicep curls, 7 reps lower motion, 7 reps higher motion, 7 reps full motion)

Thursday, September 20

Cardio
5 1:1 (1 min lvl 1, 1 min lvl 20)

Weights
30 x 30 lbs/hand Bicep Curl
20 x 120 lbs Seated Row
30 x 45 lbs Front Plate
30 x 35 lbs/hand Chest Press

September 17, 2007

Cardio
5 min warmup
10 1:1 lvl1/lvl20

Weights
36 x 75 lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns
30 x 35 lbs/hand Seated Chest Press
30 x 235 lbs Quads
150 crunches

September 12, 2007

Bike
4 min warmup
3 min @ lvl 10 > 115 RPM
3 min @ lvl 20 > 45 RPM
3 min @ lvl 1 > 155 RPM

Weights
30 x 35 lbs/hand Bicep Curl
30 x 55 lbs/hand Shoulder Shrugs
10 x 35 lbs/hand Cables
20 x 40 lbs/hand Cables
30 x 310 lbs Leg Press
30 x 235 lbs Quads

Tuesday, September 4

Cardio
10 min @ 4.9

Weights
30 @ 35 lbs/hand Bicep Curl
30 @ 75 lbs SAPD
30 @ 230 lbs Quads
30 @ 35 lbs/hand Seated Military Press

Thursday, August 30

Ugh, back from the wedding over the weekend...the "fitness room" at the hotel was crap...three machines that looked like they were made by Fisher Price.

So today is my first workout in a week...so bad!

Cardio
8 min treadmill @ 4.1
2 min treadmill @ 4.4
5 min bike @ lvl 10 > 110 RPM (or tried to anyway...average was probably 110 for the 5 min)

Weights
30 @ 35 lbs/hand Bicep Curl (back up to 35...its difficult as hell for the final 15 reps, which is good)
30 @ 35 lbs/hand Cables
30 @ 50 lbs/hand Shoulder Shrugs
30 @ 230 lbs Quads

D

Tuesday, Auguest 21

Bike
2 min warmup
3 min @ lvl 10 > 115 rpm (average)
3 min @ lvl 20 > 48 rpm
3 min @ lvl 1 > 150 rpm (ish)

Weights
30 @ 230 lbs Quads
30 @ 230 lbs Hamstrings
30 @ 110 lbs Bench Press (full bar)
30 @ 30 lbs/hand Bicep Curl (proper method)
30 @ 35 lbs/hand Seated Chest Press

NO MORE TREADMILL! OMG, the bike nearly killed me tonight! I had an amazing cardio session, but it left me somewhat winded and made me realize
1) How important getting to the gym 3 times a week, even if just for cardio, is
2) How much I've let myself slide

D

It's That Time!

So I thought I'd take a look and see how I've progressed over the summer. I started this blog at the end of June, and now that we're coming up to the end of August, I figured I should see some improvements. In some areas, I'm very pleased. In other areas, I'm quite pissed at myself and see where I need to push the intensity up. Here's a recap of my earliest recorded weight for an exercise and what I'm doing presently.

Shoulders
Earliest: 50lbs/hand Present: 50lbs/hand
This is embarrassing. In over two months I'm STILL at 50 lbs? Not only that, but I've been letting myself off with just "doing 30" instead of 40 reps. Not any more.

Benchpress
Earliest: 90lbs Full Bar Present: 90lbs Full Bar
I remember thinking that moving from 75 to 90 was a big deal, and it was. But I've been at 90 for way too long. Time to break the 100 mark going forward.

Straight Arm Pulldowns
Earliest: 65lbs Present: 75lbs
Yeah, I've definately noticed extra strength and definition in my triceps. Just started on 75 lbs, so we'll see how long until I graduate up to 80.

Quads
Earliest: 200 lbs Present: 230 lbs
My legs are definately my strongest assets, and I'm very happy with how they've developed on all facets. Increasing 30 lbs in 2 months is fantastic, and I definately notice it when biking.

Leg Pres
Earliest: 290 lbs Present: 310 lbs
Same as above...great improvement for a very heavy exercise.

Hamstrings
Earliest: 200 lbs Present: 230 lbs
I am NOT a fan of the hamstring machine at the gym, but obviously things are working out properly. Great improvement.

Chest Press
Earliest: 30 lbs/hand Present: 30 lbs/hand
I've only started doing this one within the last month I'd say, but that's no reason why I shouldn't be going heavier.

Front Plate
Earliest: 35 lbs Present: 45 lbs
I've been doing 45 lbs for a long time though...time to move up...although I'm not sure that they HAVE heavier plates at the Y...might need to find an alternate exercise or trade up one front plate for two barbells.

Bicep Curls
Earliest: 30 lbs Present: 35 lbs
This one I'm not as worried about, as I was trying a bunch of different ways to perform the bicep-curl exercise (sitting, standing, full bar, hammer-curls, etc.). I finally got some great advice from a guy at the gym, and doing 35 lbs the right way is still pretty difficult...so we'll keep that weight for a bit.

So to recap, here are the new weights for all my exercises for now until the end of September...then we'll review again:

Shoulders: 55 lbs / hand
Bench: 100 lbs Full Bar
SAPD: 75 lbs
Quads: 230 lbs
Hamstrings: 230 lbs
Leg Press: 315 lbs (gonna increase 5)
Chest Press: 35 lbs / hand
Front Plate: 50 lbs
Bicep Curls: 35 lbs / hand

D

Sunday, August 19

Dude...I wrecked myself today or something...I had a great workout today, I even slept in...but man, I am TIRED tonight (just got up from a 3 hour nap a while ago) and I have a headache...ugh...

But anyway, back to the workout.

Cardio
I biked to the gym, taking a longer out-of-the-way route going there, and a more direct route back...had to be at least 5 k combined.

Weights
30 @ 230 Quads
30 @ 230 Hamstrings
40 @ 250 Hip Adduction
40 @ 250 Hip Abduction
30 @ 90lbs Bench Press (full bar)
30 @ 35lbs/hand bicep curls
30 @ 75lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns
10 @ 30/hand Standing Cables
20 @ 35/hand Standing Cables
50 crunches

D

Wednesday, August 15

Treadmill
5 min @ 4.3/No Elevation

Weights
40 @ 310 Leg Press
30 @ 215 Quads
40 @ 250 Hip Adduction
40 @ 250 Hip Abduction
40 @ 50/hand Shoulder Shrugs
30 @ 35/hand Bicep Curl (I think I'm ready to move up to 40 lb weights!!!)
30 @ 35/hand Bench Press (this was dumb...weights were too light...decided to couple them with my bicep curls, but realized after that I press 90 lbs with a bar so 70 lbs was way too light)
30 @ 70 Straight Arm Pulldowns

D

Sunday, August 12

I did a crazy fast workout:

Treadmill
5 minutes (more of a warmup than anything though)

Weights
30 @ 210 Quads
30 @ 210 Hamstrings
40 @ 230 Hip Adduction
40 @ 230 Hip Abduction
30 @ 35 lbs/hand Bicep Curl
30 @ 70 lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns

I did something else...can't remember though (writing this on Wednesday)

D

Thursday, August 9

Bike
3 min @ lvl 20 > 50 rpm
3 min @ lvl 10 > 100 rpm
3 min @ lvl 1 > 140 rpm
3 - 30 sec intervals @ lvl 1 (stayed over 180 RPM)

Weights
40 @ 230 Hip Adduction
40 @ 230 Hip Abduction
30 @ 210 Quads
30 @ 45 Front Plate
30 @ 70 Straight Arm Pull Downs
20 @ 30/hand Seated Chest Press

D

Sunday, August 5

Treadmill
10 min @ 4.0

Weights
30 x 35 lbs/hand Bicep Curl (did these seated this time and isolated the muscle way better)
30 x 50 lbs/hand Shoulder Shrugs
30 x 70 lbs Straight Arm Pull Downs
20 x 25 lbs/hand Cuban Press (that exercise I mentioned in a previous post)
30 x 30 lbs/hand Seated Chest Press
30 x 210 lbs Quads
30 x 200 lbs Hamstrings
30 x 130 lbs Back Extension
30 x 150 lbs Ab Crunches

D

August 2, 2007 (and August 1, 2007)

So last night I went golfing (just a 9 hole) for the first time in a month...and it somewhat showed (moose-eared the first hole...ugh...). I need to really work on my lower back muscles too...they were really sore.

Then after golf I worked out my stomach muscles at the all-you-can-eat ribs night at Montana's with my buddy, starting off with some medium wings and potato skins. A word of warning about Montana's potato skins...they aren't potato skins...they're a half a freaking potato with bacon and cheese melted on top! These things were MONSTERS. I know...bad carbs...I know...but sooo good.

So to my workout today:

Bike
3 min lvl 20 > 45
3 min lvl 10 > 100
3 min lvl 1 > 140
4 x 30 sec intervals at lvl 1, hovering around 180 RPM's, with a 1 minute recovery break

Weights
40 @ 310 Leg Press
30 @ 120 Ab Crunch
30 @ 35/hand Bicep Curl
30 @ 70 Straight Arm Pulldown
20 @ 50 Shoulder Shrugs

Not the best workout I've ever done, but I was pretty tired from golfing last night (plus I got hom at like 11:30, to bed at 12ish, then up at 6 for the workout).

At least I got something in right?

D

Monday, July 30th

Bike
3 min warmup
3 min lvl 20 > 50 rpm
3 min lvl 10 > 140 rpm
3 min lvl 1 > 145 rpm
4 x 30 second sprints @ lvl 1 (approx 170 - 180 RPM) with 1 min recovery

Weights
30 @ 35/hand Bicep Curl
40 @ 50/hand Shoulder Shrugs
30 @ 90 Ab Crunches (I think it was 90)
40 @ 210 Hip Abduction (inside out)
30 @ 215 Quads

Thurday, July 26th

Forgot to enter this workout entry from Friday:

Treadmill
10 min @ 3.9

Weights
40 @ 210 Hip Adduction
30 @ 200 Hamstrings
30 @ 35/hand Bicep Curl
30 @ 70 Straight Arm Pulldown
30 @ 45 Front Plate
30 @ 210 Quads

Random Health Items

I've been reading Men's Health quite a bit lately...especially now that I can actually relate to the articles instead of just wondering "what if".

A couple of things that have stood out from recent articles:

Interval Training on the Bike
In addition to doing the level variants, one article that talked about burning the "last 10 pounds" (I know, I have alot more than just 10 to go), it recommended doing interval training on the bike: 30 seconds at max speed with 60 second "break" in between (which means 30% of whatever "max" is). I'm going to try and incorporate that into my bike portions this week. Something like:
3 min @ lvl 3
3 min @ lvl 10
3 min @ lvl 20
3 sets 30/60 @ lvl 3

Cuban Press
A variation of the military press, this one works like this:
1. Stand holding light dumbells in front of you at thigh level with an overhand grip.
2.Pull the weights straight up until your arms are paraellel to the floor (like a standing/row motion)
3.Flip your arms so that they're now in a pre-military press position
4. Press the weights overhead
5. Return to starting position by doing the steps in reverse

I need to find Quinoa
Apparantly a miricle food that has "twice the protein of regular cereal grains, fewer carbs, and a dose of healthy fats". Can be used as a relacement for oatmeal, rice, grains, etc.

There is no special exercise for abs
There is no special, magical exercise for abs...or for losing the ring of body fat that's protecting my abs from the world. So here's what I think it comes down to:
- More cardio: Burn the calories, lose the fat. It's pretty simple.
- More crunches: I'm thinking (and I could be wrong) that if you work the muscles in an area, the fat around that area will get burned (?!). Regardless, I've been neglecting my abs for qutie a while. My trainer used to have me do 300 - 600 crunches a week...I'm doing maybe 50 to 100 if any at all. I need to re-implement these into my workout.

D

July 24th

Did an evening workout (man, counting the bike ride that's three in as many days!)

Treadmill
3 min warmup
10 min @ 3.9

Weights
30 @ 70 lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns
30 @ 100 lbs Bench Press (full bar...these were really tough for some reason)
30 @ 30 lbs/hand Chest Press (I think that's what its called...seated cables)
40 @ 210 lbs Hip Adduction (legs out, pushing in)
20 @ 210 lbs Hip Abduction (legs in, pushing out)
20 @ 220 lbs Hip Abduction
30 @ 210 lbs Quads

That's it until either Friday morning or Saturday.

D

Monday, July 23rd

Evening workout...

Cardio
10 min Treadmill @ 3.9 (no elevation...I find I get just as good a cardio workout)

Weights
30 @ 35 lbs/hand Bicep Curls
30 @ 40 lbs /hand Seated Military Press
40 @ 50 lbs /hand Shoulder Shrugs
30 @ 150 lbs Hamstring Press (machine)
40 @ 305 lbs Leg Press

I'm not sure if its because I think I'm coming down with a sinus cold, or that doing the treadmill affects me differently than doing the bike, but by the time I was in my second set of Military Press (I did the weights in order, after the treadmill) I was sweating like crazy (it is really humid right now, but this wasn't just the temperature), my heart was racing, and I was getting a headache. So after the leg-presses (which my body wasn't too happy about considering yesterday's bike ride), I called it a night. I'm going to go tomorrow morning with my wife and workout, so I'll cover the other weight exercises that I missed tonight.

D

Sunday, July 22nd

I went biking today...did a 20 km route from my place to almost downtown Winnipeg and back through Assiniboine park.

D

Thursday, July 19

Treadmill
5 min warmup
5 min jog @ 3.9 (yes, jogging...for a full 5 min!!! I've never done that before...)

Bike
1 min warmup
3 min @ lvl 10 > 100 rpm
3 min @ lvl 20 > 48 rpm
3 min @ lvl 1 > 135 rpm

Weights
30 @ 210 lbs Quads
30 @ 200 Hip Abduction (outter)
30 @ 190 Hip Abduction (inner)
30 @ 150 Tricep Press
20 @ 30 (each hand) Chest Press
30 @ 35 (each hand) Bicep Curl
10 @ 105 Seated Row
20 @ 120 Seated Row

July 12, 2007

Treadmill (yes, treadmill)
3 min warmup
5 min 15 incline, 3.9 speed (MPH)

Bike
3 min lvl 10
3 min lvl 20
3 min lvl 1

Weights
30 @ 200 lbs Seated Hamstrings
30 @ 205 lbs Quads
40 @ 305 lbs Leg press
40 @ 210 lbs Calf Extension
30 @ 70 lbs Bicep Curls (this was the machine, so technically I guess it was like 35 lbs /hand)
30 @ 65 lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns
30 @ 50 lbs Shoulder Shrugs

July 12, 2007

Ugh...been a few days since I actually did the workout...let's see what I remember...

Bike
3 min warmup
3 min lvl 10
3 min lvl 20
3 min lvl 1

Weights
30 x 90 lbs Bench Press (full bar)
30 x 45 lbs Front Plate
30 x 35 lbs Bicep Curl (seated, per hand)
30 x 65 lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns
30 x 200 lbs Hamstrings
30 x 200 lbs Quads

I'm trying to perfect the bicep curl. For the last few weeks I was recording hammer curls. But what I was finding was that I really wasn't doing them right...I wasn't isolating my bicep...was more using myback and "swinging" the dumbell in my movements. Plus, I pulled a muscle in my neck doing one of them, so I knew I wasn't executing it properly.

So I've been trying to do a seated bicep curl, and its been a lot harder...so much that I dropped the weight to 35 from 40 lbs because when I isolate my biceps, they aren't as strong as when standing and using my body in orchestration with my arms.

So anyway, we'll see how the seated curls go.

D

July 8 and July 10

Ha, so my little "plan" hasn't gotten off to a good start. I still had two really good workouts so far this week, but they aren't "to plan".

July 8 (Sunday)

Bike
3 min warmup
5 1:1 (lvl1, lvl20)

Weights
40 @ 50 lbs (each arm) Shoulder Shrugs
30 @ 35 lbs (each arm) Bicep Curls (seated)
30 @ 65 lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns
30 @ 30 lbs (each arm) Chest Press
30 @ 200 lbs Quads

July 10 (Tuesday)

Bike
5 min @ lvl 10 > 100 RPM
5 min @ lvl 20 > 48 RPM
5 min @ lvl 1 > 135 RPM
5 min warmup/cooldown

Weights
40 @ 300 lbs Leg Press
30 @ 190 lbs Hamstrings

D

New Regiment

I took a look at the exercises that I do, and grouped them into three days worth of workouts:

Sunday Bike - 5 1:1 Shrugs Bench Press Bicep Curls Straight Arm PD's Chest Press Seated Row Leg Press Quads Hamstrings Calf Extension

Tuesday Tread - 10 min 15/3.9 Shrugs Bench Press Straight Arm PD's Quads Hamstrings

Thursday Bike - 4@10,3@20,3@1 Bicep Curls Chest Press Seated Row Leg Press Calf Extension

By splitting them up this way, I'll be able to have a full workout on Sunday where I can take my time and not be rushed. Then on Tuesday and Thursday, I have a reduced workout that I can fit into the morning without takign too much time, but still doing upper and lower body exercises.

So we'll see how this plays out.

D

Changing It Up Next Week

So one thing I'm noticing is that my workouts are starting to get a little stagnant. My last one I was totally not really into...plus I pulled a muscle in my neck, and for the last few days my left leg is reminding me that I did something to it as well.

Next week I'm going to be a bit more deliberate in what I do for my workouts, which also will help since my new gig keeps me on a bit of a tighter timeline.

More to come on the regiment...

D

Wednesday, July 4th

Treadmill (yes, Treadmill)
3 minute warmup
10 minutes Incline 15, Speed 3.9

Weights
40 @ 300 lbs Leg Press
30 @ 40 lbs Hammer Curl
20 @ 90 lbs Bench Press (full bar)

Workout

Bike
3 min warmup
5 min @ lvl 10 > 100 rpm
2 min @ lvl 20
2 min @ lvl 1
1 min @ lvl 10
2 min @ lvl 20
2 min @ lvl 1
1 min @ lvl 10

Weights
40 @ 50 lbs Shoulder Shrugs
30 @ 40 lbs Hammer Curls
30 @ 90 lbs Bench Press (full bar)
30 @ 65 lbs Straight Arm Pulldowns
30 @ 200 lbs Quads
10 @ 40 bench flys
100 crunches