your routine at the gym

who are you people?

My gym is close by so I walk only a few blocks.

1) 5-15 minute walking warmup on treadmill
2) 1.5 - 3 miles of jogging/running
3) another 10-15 minutes of steep incline walking
4) stretching
5) 30 crunches
6) 20 crunches to each side
7) some sort of lower-ab exercise (either using the upright support thingy or doing what I guess are called jackknifes with someone pushing my legs)
8) 20 pushups
9) 3 sets 15 curls (relatively light weight)
10) 3 sets 15 shoulder presses
11) various other freeweight/machine upper body stuff depending on day

I don't always hit all of these in a day but I try to do most. I might do less running if I plan to do more weights. I also try to vary to avoid boredom.

tonight was my first time after a few weeks off and I was pretty rusty, so I did more walking/less running, added some eliptical and then did a pretty light abs/weights routine

1. do some press-up type thing

10 mins that bouncy walky thing

i) pushy forward one

iii) pully down one

I love this thread.

-- Autumn Almanac, Thursday, February 7, 2008 8:24 PM (2 hours ago)

hey bro i knew 'tricep' cmon

now i know how you guys feel on my gtd thread

(xp) I wasn't having a go, I genuinely love the terms being used.

This is the routine I started when I was trying to get in shape for my wedding and I've kept it up ever since. Not sure I should reveal this because frankly I think it might make seem weird/obsessive/both.

Every weekday get up and bike to gym (I go early before work):
MWF Ellipticals/Bike/Treadmill (depending on mood) 30-45 Mins (depending on time) then crunches, sidecrunches, leglifts, more crunches, more sidecrunches then if I have time I'll do machines generally for upper body work (not currently doing much though since I appear to have tweaked my shoulder. . . falling off my bike. . . on the way home from the gym. . . haha)
TTH Pilates for 50 minutes in the morning, often at night I'll do a one hour spin class and if I do usually get there slightly early (it gets full quick) and do my ab routine and some machine work.

Weekends I generally walk to the gym and do the following:
SAT Morning spin class (also gets full so again early ab/machines/etc). This is my favorite class and I usually try not to miss it.
SUN Midday yoga (not currently doing this because of shoulder tweak so substitute MWF routine only lengthen cardio workout.)

Occasionally will substitute a long bike ride for SAT/SUN routine or if it's raining I'll do pilates and ab stuff at home rather than go to the gym at all.

haha no it's cool AA

and honestly i don't know if what i'm doing has any effect

after a workout do you feel worked out?

Here's my routine:

Monday: Go to the climbing gym.
Thursday: Go to the climbing gym.
Saturday: Sometimes go to the climbing gym.
Every workday: Run to catch the train because I always wait until the last second.

xpost you don't need to feel completely dead after a workout, but honestly if you're not even sure whether it's having an effect you need to push yourself a little more

yeah i'm a little worn out, i could probably do more but eh.

i mean, i don't know if the actions i'm doing are the best for the energy i'm putting out.

The climbing gym is about 1 and 1/2 times as much a month per person as we pay for both of us at my current gym. That said I love visiting the climbing gym.

gff: You're certainly achieving something, but you could probably achieve loads more in the same amount of time with the right guidance. This is where I am now.

NEW NEW NEW

2 weeks of hypertrophy comprising:

- straight arm pull down + close grip lat pulldown
- incline dumbbell fly + seated row
- dumbbell hammer curl + standing curl bar curl
- leg extension + incline static lunge
- wood chopper
- double leg lift
- m/b oblique
- decline dumbbell fly + flat bench press
- incline chest press + bench dip
- military press + lateral raise
- overhead tricep extension + tricep rope extension

If anyone can tell me wtf 'm/b' is I would be much obliged.

My local climbing gym (Vertical Endeavors, St. Paul) has a once-a-year bargain basement membership sale that's a fraction of the cost of even a half-year pass. It's about $270 for the whole year.

I think I'm going to change trainers again. This one keeps missing and cancelling appointments. Today he dumped my new programme on my desk with a note saying 'call me.' I've called him fucking 20 times and he won't call back.

AA that sucks but i don't think you want to be calling up somebody 20 times, or even three, in the same day!

I kept getting voicemail, so it's not like I was stalking him or anything.

What exercises are good for arm-wrestling?

what's with these people who show up to the gym for 20 minutes and leave?

What's with these people who have a personal trainer show them how to use a nautilus machine? Can they not read simple diagrams?

what's with these people who show up to the gym for 20 minutes and leave?

-- cutty, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 12:45 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Are they the ones who do their hair and/or make-up before going to the gym? My previous gym was full of these posers.

take two Es, dance 'til dawn, repeat

I gave up and chased another trainer. That hypertrophy programme is split over two days, and is to be done twice a week for two weeks. m/b is medicine ball.

i go to williamsburg gym--so many stories

there was a big bearish dude with a Blackwater tee-shirt at my gym yesterday

I'll bet you don't have THAT at Williamsburg Gym

I wish I had the money to join a gym. Even the council gym is too expensive at the moment (£350 a year).

I joined a gym for the first time ever about a month ago. What's more shocking is that I've actually been going and enjoying it! So far I've only done the treadmill but at increasing speeds and for longer amounts of time. When I'm comfortable with that I'll get into some of the fancy stuff you lot are descrbing.

Monday: Go to the climbing gym.
Thursday: Go to the climbing gym.
Saturday: Sometimes go to the climbing gym.
Every workday: Run to catch the train because I always wait until the last second.

-- Eric H., Friday, 8 February 2008 05:25 (4 days ago) Link

i wish i could afford climbing gym membership right now :-/
and/or lived someplace that would obviate the need for a gym

-Walk to gym when it opens at 6 from office.

-Twenty minutes on elliptical in the interval mode. If I'm feeling lazy and want to read I'll do the recumbent bike but I know it's not as effective.

-Then a round of machines, alternating per day. Usually a choice of the following: arms, hip thing, shoulders, side twist machine, also the sit-up board doing front, back and sides. (not using weights with this one because I'm still a bit of a weakling.)

-I plan on doing a yoga class starting next month and would love to find the time for pilates.

-I try to go every morning but increasingly 8am meetings are making this hard. (It takes me far too long to get work-ready at the gym.) I'm also not good at going after work so lately it's been an average of three times per week.

who here among us knows the pleasure of the post-gym cigarette?

it's the part of my routine i look forward to most

i have definitely had a post work-out shower-beer before

xpost

Is it the decadent canceling-out that you enjoy?

what is this "climbing gym" concept, and has it reached NYC? besides that strange mall-like atrium just south of Lincoln Center? (altho I don't know that I've seen climbing there in the past 2 years)

chelsea pier has a massive one, morbs

i went bouldering in central park on super bowl sunday!

OK, you ppl are just making up fitness verbs now.

no

I would like to make some up. Hmm. I'm coming up dry. My true reason for hitting the gym is for anorexic-watching. It's horrifying yet fascinating.

bonita no it just tastes and feels awesome

I find an ice-cold soda walking back from the gym to provide the same satisfaction. Counter-productive as well, but at least the calories can be burnt off again.

The post-gym cigarette is wonderful. I can't lie. And with that - I'm off to the gym!

i always enjoy a post gym wank the most.

last night - post-gym hot dog, fries, & beer.

That sounds lovely

I'm feeling low today. And writing contracts is not a good lift for the spirits. So I might go get a hot dog and fries at lunch. Unfortunately there will be no beer.

Obviously a workout would probably help my mood more but I am more than muscularly weak.

"who here among us knows the pleasure of the post-gym cigarette?"

I definitely know that pleasure.

I was back at the gym yesterday for the first time since I broke my ankle three months ago. My exercise routine, prescribed by a trainer, is hilariously feeble:

- either walk on treadmill or cycle for 20 minutes at a steady pace, aiming for a heart rate of 120
- foot-wiggling using a wobble board, medicine ball and stability disc

I keep getting stared at, especially when I'm toddling along on the treadmill :(

Another interesting thing -- don't know if there is some scientific explanation -- is that my appetite/cravings are changing. I feel less urge to eat sugar and carbs, in fact I feel almost averse to eating too much of them.

So I got another free training session, different trainer this time, much better imo. This guy emphasized power-lifting and doing leg day/chest day/back day. The thing is, I don't really have good squat form and I also never learned deadlifting.

BUT, the training sessions are super expensive. No way I can afford the 1x per week regimen the guy tried to sell me on. Could maybe swing 1x per month.

Anyway, I'm wondering if it's possible to learn good squat, deadlift and bench form without a trainer or if it's just a bad idea and asking for injury?

You can do it! Just go slow, pay attention to how your body feels, watch videos, use light weight, and focus on things like flexibility and balance. A trainer can't step inside your body so you've got to sorta "find" good form through reps for yourself anyway. It's a journey. Don't go heavy and you won't get hurt.

cool thx! I really liked the dude and he was a great salesman too, but it's just so way beyond my budget it's not even something I can consider. But it does feel like now that I've been at this very consistently for a few months, I am making progress but there is a missing ingredient.

Apparently my hip strength is a weak spot. I never would have known.

i have never had a trainer and i think my deadlift form is a+ because there are really so few steps to doing it right. also i cannot recommend goblet squats enough. i am back to barbell squatting now but i think they are more fun. just limited by how heavy of a dumbbell you can carry in your arms (which is part of the fun of it, it works your arms and lats to hoist it off the ground). it really helps your flexibility and hips and teaches you to force your knees out. i do like 5 sets of 5 at 50-55 lbs or so and get so sweaty.

gonna try the more strength-oriented program for at least a few weeks I think. Did chest today -- 3 sets bar bench presses, 3 sets incline dumbbell presses, 3 sets cable cross fly, 3 sets bodyweight dips, all 10 reps and at weights where I could barely complete 3 sets of ten. I followed that with some abs and then brief cardio. I definitely feel different after this kind of workout than after my old one -- before I would be sweatier by the end and then leave the gym with a kind of pep in my step, whereas this leaves me feeling a little stiffer and slower, though maybe just getting used to it. OTOH I feel like I'm going to see visible results more quickly with this, like I just feel like I did much more to the muscles I worked, much sorer.

One thing I've noticed about "starting strength" types (from talking to trainers, reading on the internet, etc.) is that they're almost data-oriented -- very focused on numerically measurable results. You get "gains" in weight you can lift, and, for the heavy lifters, in muscle size. I think my personality is a little averse to this -- I like variety, improvisation, and I don't care much about measuring progress as long as I can sense it.