your routine at the 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 :(

Screw them. Maybe they'll break an ankle during their x-treme workouts and then sympathize.

haha tracer i totally smoke after going to the gym. it's so satisfying!

for the past two years or so my routine has been:

30 min elliptical/rowing/treadmill (whichever feels less boring that day)
3 sets of 10 chest presses
3 sets of 20 curls
3 sets of 10 shoulder presses
3 sets of 20 situps
15 pull-ups
some fly machine shit
something that's like i'm starting a lawnmower
finally whatever cool/fun-looking shit i see trainers doing

i started going to the gym last august for the first time ever, 3 times a week. weights/cardio, about 1.5 hrs per session. until january, didn't go for 2 weeks with xmas/nye etc. and now i absolutely don't feel like going anymore!

i'm getting lazy again, i only go once a week now. at least i'm still going every week but i feel like such a slacker. will I overcome this?

i lost 7 kgs by the way. not bad, and they haven't come back yet so i'll just hope my spirit will lift again soon

or something

no hot girls at my gym also doesn't really help

15 pull-ups in a row yance?? dude you're a MACHINE!

something that's like i'm starting a lawnmower

cuet!

what is "fly machine", sounds dangerous and potentially could change the way we organize cities

that's 15 pull-ups over the course of seven years, or something

One scoop of Xpand did nothing. Perhaps it needs a few days.

I've been a member for two years, started a bit more seriously during my unemployment in the latter half of 2007 and now I'm trying to go as regularly as I can since I now work and live round the corner from the gym. However I feel that although I'm definitely building muscle in my arms, my posture's improving slightly, and my moobs are starting to harden up a bit, I'm not really losing any flab. In fact since I became a member I've put on quite a lot of weight, and not necessarily muscle weight. I do a good 30 minutes cardio + a few lengths swimming and weight machines. I'm not eating any more than I have before and am trying hard to watch what I eat (without being on a strict diet, but y'know being more sensible). So what gives?

I'm trying a new regime of earlier bedtimes. I've always been nocturnal and generally get an average of 5 hours sleep a night. Is this likely to blame? Or is it just called "approaching 30"? Hell, I used to be really really slim, but that couldn't be said today by any stretch.

Also my bloody knee's been playing up since Christmas on and off - would a physiotherapist be able to cure this?

Are you talking about total weight or fat content? If your weight alone has increased, it could simply be muscle density.

See an osteopath for the knee.

im still losing a steady 2 pounds per week at the moment. in 4 weeks ive dropped 8 1/4 pounds, chest has toned up, stomach slimmed down, bit more muscle all over. and my bmi is now 24.9 right at the very top limit of 'normal' but hurrah anyway! very very pleased with it and now i know more about what i should be doing at the gym, and what im capable of, im enjoying going there more. which is great (i used to just turn up do some stuff half-heartedly then shoot off and eat pastry)

what does Xpand do?

autumn - yeah i feel as flabby as ever. Idon't really weigh myself.

Can you get someone at the gym to look at your eating habits? I had that last year, and it's amazing what you learn about food.

s.rose, that's excellent. Great too that you're enjoying it, because you'll keep at it.

Xpand is a nitric oxide supplement that gives you some crazy boost. They call it 'pump.' After one day it doesn't really do anything, but within a week you feel a bit rabid/berserk and charge through stuff. Xpand has creatine and glucosey stuff as well. Last time I was on nitric oxide (January) I blazed through sessions.

I just ordered this book Starting Strength, as my plan for not ever fucking up my ankles/legs again involves squatting and such until my legs are like the mighty oak.

Woah, Madchen I'm recovering from a broken ankle too! Happened about 9 weeks ago. I've heard that wobble boards are great; I'm going to get one of those for sure.

Should I be doing some kind of leg routine to strengthen my legs for runs? Right now I just do treadmill running and incline walking on various angles and no squats/weight stuff to supplement it.

- 20 minutes elliptical, which i generally loathe, then:

Day 1 & 3
Bench Press 3 x 12
Shoulder Press 3 x 12
Lateral Raise 3 x 12
Front Raise 3 x 12
Weighted Crunch 3 x 30
Seated Dip 3 x 12
Seated Bicep Machine 3 x 12
Close-Grip Pulldown (Machine) 3 x 12
Pushdown (Machine) 3 x 12
Iso-Lateral Row (Machine) 3 x 12

Day 2 & 4
Bicep 3 x 12
Reverse Bicep 3 x 12
Weighted Row 3 x 12
Fly 3 x 12
One Arm Row 3 x 12
Pulldown (Machine) 3 x 12
Weighted Crunch 3 x 30
Iso-Lateral High Row (Machine) 3 x 12
Pulley Curl (Machine) 3 x 12
Iso-Lateral Bench Press (Machine) 3 x 12

The lack of lower-body attention is embarrassing.

I'll start doing lower body exercises when there's one that makes my junk bigger, amirite?

i just run 4 miles every other morning

Dan, how's the ankle? If I could give you one bit of advice, it's to be religious about your exercises from the day the cast comes off. I met so many people who said stuff like "I broke my ankle four years ago and it's never been the same ... never bothered with the exercises though". You really have to do them properly. I got almost-full flexibility back in three months, though the strength is still not good. Aiming for "mighty oak" is a good tactic!

It's slowly getting better. I'm about ready to ditch the last crutch, although I'll wear a walking boot for at least another week. I've heard the same thing about sticking to the exercises! it's good to hear you've got your flexibility back since the ROM I have right now is frighteningly small

One scoop of Xpand did nothing. Perhaps it needs a few days.

-- Autumn Almanac, Thursday, 21 February 2008 09:14 (3 days ago) Bookmark Link

WOAH, I think it kicked in this morning. Triceps felt like rocks at the end.

Should I be doing some kind of leg routine to strengthen my legs for runs? Right now I just do treadmill running and incline walking on various angles and no squats/weight stuff to supplement it.
and
The lack of lower-body attention is embarrassing.

yes do squats. they are greatest lower-body compound exercise AND they keep your back & even abs strong. you don't need to use a squat cage unless you're going big - just use dumbbells and make sure your technique is right - lots of places online to tell you that, but a good trainer should know. once you've got that down, you're gold. squats can be brutal but they really do the job in one exercise.

i'm all about the compound exercises though. also good: lunges & deadlifts

but hey, i stopped going to the gym in the late summer b/c i was so freakin busy and also didn't like the atmosphere anymore. still busy. just want a gym at home. (wld need a bigger home.) really need to work out again though. and/or do tougher yoga classes, i don't know.

tho tbh i like doing squats in the squat cage with the heavy barbell & (not so heavy) weights - mostly b/c it somehow makes me line my body up more correctly

One scoop of Xpand did nothing. Perhaps it needs a few days.

-- Autumn Almanac, Thursday, 21 February 2008 09:14 (3 days ago) Bookmark Link

WOAH, I think it kicked in this morning. Triceps felt like rocks at the end.

-- Autumn Almanac, Sunday, 24 February 2008 09:12 (5 days ago) Bookmark Link

Everything goes rock hard. It's so weird.

Also I think I'm growing.

Three weeks on hypertrophy and hardly any change. Chest slightly bigger, arse slightly bigger, everything else the same or SMALLER. I do not understand this. Next week they do an electronic mass measurement so hopefully something good comes out of that.

Xpand seems to be doing the trial though.

doing the trick even

I have a prepaid card for Maxim in Wburg with like 8 visits I am never going to use. Email me anyone who wants it.