i should have been doing this a long time ago!

so...i guess ill just jump right into it! ill start with yesterday:

tuesday 2 sept

30 minutes brisk uphill walking on treadmill

7 sets of hanging ab sling things...(you guys might have to help me on the technical terms...) 10 reps each set

hanging negs on the pull up bar--the worst! but its great for lats, etc. 3 sets, 10 reps each set.

no clue how to describe this one, someone please give it a name. you take a bench bar and put weight on one end, and stick the other end in the corner, where 2 walls meet the floor. then you take the rowing attatchment from the cable crossover machine and use it to, while bending over and arching your back, pull the end with the weight up to your belly button.

does that make sense? anyway, theryre gnarly, try it. i did 6 sets, 10-12 reps each set. 25 lbs + the bar.

then i did these: lay your back on a bench, grab the "far" end of a dumbell, so that the other end is hanging down towards your face. arms semi straight, lower the dumbell behind your head and back up. i did 3 sets, 10 reps each set.

then i did a few sets of bicycles, and by that time, i was a fraction of a woman.


id love to hear about some of everyones favorite exercises! i love ones that really give ya the "burn"! especially for abs/love handles, as that is my problem area...

thanks!

wednesday 3 sept

15 min on bike

5 sets heavy squats (95 lbs) 8 reps each set

bicycles 6 sets, 20 reps each set (10 each leg)

stepbacks with dumbells, 2 sets, 20 reps each set (10 each leg)

aaaand...this morning, 30 minutes on treadmill ~ 4 mph, 3% incline. on induction, i tend to be a little weak. chest and abs today after work!

thursday 4 september

am: 30 minutes on treadmill, 4.0 mph, 3% incline
sauna for 17 minutes. wooo!

pm: little of everything...i was kind of unfocused. hamstring machine, calves, triceps, delts, abs. i was there for an hour.


friday 5 september

20 minutes intervals on treadmill, 3% incline, alternating 2 minutes brisk walk at 4.0 mph, one minute run at 6.5 mph.

4 sets of incline bench, heavy, 10 reps each set

4 sets of dips, 10 reps each set.

3 sets of flys, 8-10 reps each set.

yay! im gonna try to get a little cardio in this weekend...we live next to the high school, and the stadium stairs make for a great workout!

sunday 7 sept

4 mile walk. ahhh...it was lovely, theres nothing like an early brisk walk on a sunny, crisp morning!

leg day!

25 minutes on the treadmill, 3% incline, 4.0 mph.

3 sets walking lunges in gymnasium with 45 lb. bar, about 36 reps each set. (18 lunges up one length of the gym, 18 back.)

3 sets squats with 45 lb. bar, 10 reps each set.

4 sets hanging ab slings, 10 reps each set.

3 sets oblique machine, 90 lbs., 30 reps each set. ( 15 each side.)

3 sets crunches on fitness ball, 15 reps each set.

its time for bed. wow. our gym doesnt have air conditioning, so it can be extra greuling on these 85 degree afternoons.

chest day!

intervals on treadmill 30 minutes. 1 minute running ~ 6.5 mph, 2 min walking at 4.0 mph. 3% incline.

dips, 3 sets of 10, 10 reps each set.

incline bench, 75 lbs., 3 sets of 10.

uh...the pec machine? not sure what its called the one where you sit and grab the 2 handles and push straight out in front of you. anyway, 3 sets of 10, HEAVY.

cable crossovers, 3 sets of 10, 15 lbs (heavy for me!) with 7 or 8 bicep curls at the end of each set.

3 sets of 10 hanging ab slings.

3 sets of 20 bicycles.

Mattie,
How do you feel after excercise? do you feel energized or wiped out? How about the look of your muscles?? Are they stringy or are you getting hard?

You seem to do a lot of reps..if I were you I would take a week and raise my weight and lower the reps...say 5 sets of 5.
Then take a week and do what you are doing.

Then try a week of 2 sets of 15 per excercise..this is called undulating reps..you are getting all reps schemes.

Also , do 2 excercises per bodypart..can u superset at your gym? If so try this

Incline dumbell bench press rest 45 seconds
Lat pulldown rest 90 seconds



Do that for the rep scheme above

Then do
Close grip bench or dips..rest 45 seconds
Low cable rows rest 90 seconds

Agan for the rep scheme above

throw in some abs and calves and go home..

You can do this with any body part..bi's and tris,
legs and shoulders..

good luck

well, what do you mean by "stringy"? i feel pretty tight. i feel energized after a lift, i suppose...and sometimes tired at the same time! does that make sense?

we do superset, and generally, we do variations of this: legs one day, chest and arms one day, maybe go back and do the leg parts we missed the next day, then back the next, then maybe the next day do the "babies." (small muscle groups) i do abs every day.

so do you think i should worry about the cortisol thing?

Well I do think you shouldnt be doing your abs everyday..they are like any other muscle and do need to recover.

Supersets are done on the same day..usually two antagonistic bodyparts..you are referring to a "split routine"

Supersets, like I mentioned above would be for ex.. chest and back, but you would alternate between a chest excercise and a back excercie for the prescribed sets and reps..going back and forth between bodyparts. Very intense and you get more work done in the shortest amount of time , which is ideal.

So for legs you could do a quad movement, like step ups, then do a hamstring movement like leg curl..step ups, leg curl ,step ups, leg curl.

High cortisol levels are a factor..if one is working out to often,to long and all out each workout.

Listen to your body..if your enthusiasm for lifting curtails, if you experience general malaise, loss of appetite, elevated resting heart rate..then you could be doing too much and you should cut back a little. I would cut back on the cardio if this were the case and lower the intensity of my weight training for a spell. You will know when you have sufficiently recovered, then you can ramp up the intensity again.

thanks gostrydr! i feel pretty good...i am still concerned about the cortisol, but i dont think i go COMPLETELY overboard when i lift...i usually have more energy when im done!

back day!

am: treadmill 30 minutes, 4.0 mph, every 2 minutes i would increase the incline 2 notches, all the way up to 10 and then slowly back down. brutal when your walking that briskly.

pm: now, usually im not a fan of back day. but i liked this one! we did some different things.

first, i tried to do a few pull ups to warm up.

i cannot do pull ups.

ok, moving on. ill try and explain this one. ok, imagine a smith machine, with the bar right about crotch level. then, in front of you, a bench. put your feet on the bench, and grab the bar and hang from it, so your body is semi level with the floor. then keeping your body as straight as possible, pull yourself up towards the bar. kinda like a reverse bench press...

wow. those suck. 5 sets, as many as i could do each set, which was around 6.

lat pull downs, heavier that usual, 3 sets, 8 reps each set.

one arm bent over rows with 25 lb. dumbell, 3 sets, 20 reps each set. (10 per arm)

ok this one we did on the cable crossover machine. the attatchment we used was just a straight bar, and you grab it with both hands (facing the weight stack) bend over, bring your arms up by your ears until you feel a good stretch, then pull straight down, arching your back and keeping your arms straight. i loved this one! 3 sets, 8-10 reps each set.

ab circuit: 10 hanging knee lifts, 20 bicycles, 30 (15 ea. side) torso rotation machine. i did this circuit 3 times.

am: treadmill 30 minutes, 4.0 mph, every 2 minutes, gradual incline increase. pile of sweat.

pm: nothing. i was a fraction of a woman.

friday 12 september

not a darn thing! ugh, i hate missing a weekday. i was really tired! two a days kick my ass.

saturday 13 september

4 mile walk outside. ahhhhhhh.

sunday 14 september

intervals outside. 2 minutes fast walk, 1 minute sprint. 30 minutes total.

3 sets of 20 bicycles, 3 sets of 20 crunches.

monday

am: 30 minutes treadmill, 5% incline, 4.0 mph.

pm: awesome chest/ab workout!

-dips, 5 sets of 8
-incline bench, heavy, 5 sets of 10. (the last set i added more weight)
-incline dumbell flys, 20 lb. dumbells, 5 sets 8-10
-pec deck machine (the one where you push straight out in front of you?) 5 sets of 8-10
-hanging knee lifts 3 sets of 10
-rotary torso machine 3 sets of 30 (15 each side)
regular crunches 3 sets of 20
cable crossover, 15 lbs. each side, 3 sets of 10, with 7-10 bicep crushers after each set.

im sore today from that! it hard for me to feel like i got a good chest workout, for some reason. yay!

tuesday

20 minutes intervals on the treadmill. (2 minutes walk 4.0 mph, 1 minute run 6.5 mph)

step backs on the smith machine, 70 lbs or so, 3 sets of 20 (10 each leg)

squats, same weight as above, 3 sets of 8.

standing calf raise, 3 sets of 15.

abductor inner thigh, 3 sets of 15.

hamstring machine, 3 sets of 10, 10 pulses after each set. buuuuurn!

yay! and im all done for the day, now i can just go home after work!

am: 30 minutes treadmill, 3-5% incline, 4.0 mph.

pm: 30 minutes bike, fast-ish. medium resistance.

back day...

remember that thing i told you about where you put a bar in the corner, and weight on one end, and squat over it and lift it to your belly button? we did those. (if you dont know what im talking about, refer to my first few posts ) 4 sets, 10 reps each set. i had a 35 lb plate on there, so that + the bar.

reverse bench press thingys (again, refer to the last back day) where you put your feet up on a bench, and then hang from the smith machine bar, so your body is parallel with the floor, then pull yourself up. brutal. will someone name these exercises please? he he. any way, we did 4 sets of 8.

again, this one is hard to explain, refer to the last back day. lay on a bench on your stomach, grab the far end of a dumbell with both hands, arms straight, drop the dumbell back behind your head, bring it back up. awesome.
4 sets of 10, with 30 or so pulses at the end of each set.

hanging knee lifts for abs, 4 sets or 10.

cable crossover machine: straight arm lat pull downs. 3 sets of 10

torso rotation machine, 3 sets of 40, 20 each side.

bicycles...dont remember. i did some tho.