your routine at the gym

I'm still doing simplefit as I linked above, just about to level up again. Shit's awesome! I am feeling better than I have in like 10 years.

The posted workouts for crossfit are always intended for the hardcore. I think you're supposed to pare them to suit your fitness level.

gbx i might actually join this crossfit place in st louis park, its a husband and wife, total DIY gym but decent price and they said they can help you work up and do assist on some of the hardcore shit until you can handle it...

lately though cobbled together something from crossfit type shit:

5 minutes fast rowing machine
20 push-ups (regular until fail, then to 20 on knees)
15 pullup (YWCA has one of those machines that offsets weight for you so i'm not doing my full weight)
15 dips (on same machine)
10 squats (w/45 lb bar)
20 situps

^repeat 3X

The posted workouts for crossfit are always intended for the hardcore. I think you're supposed to pare them to suit your fitness level.

That would make sense. I know that the free weight stuff is supposed to be tailored to your ability, but some of the gymnastic craziness is terrifying.

I've always sort of thought that by the time I get to a higher level of what I'm doing right now, I'd start trying some of the simpler crossfit routines. There's no fucking way I could do even one hand-stand pushup at the moment!

btw - rowing machine was not something i was hip to...daaaaamn...crazy kicks my ass compared to treadmill, eliptical, or exercise bike

The posted workouts for crossfit are always intended for the hardcore. I think you're supposed to pare them to suit your fitness level.

there's a lot of good info in the crossfit FAQ about how to modify moves for beginners and also in the forums under the routine of the day thread they give different reps for beginners

Yeah rowing machines are super dope and I want a better way to approximate one than propping my feet on a chair while I hang from the pullup bar.

just checkin in to find i've never heard "crossfit" before.

info here:

http://www.crossfit.com/

the site is kinda messy but there's lot of good info if you dig through it all

Working like a mad bastard. Gaining weight like a mad bastard. Still on ~10% body fat afaik. Awes shape slowly developing in shoulders and chest.

I started doing VibroGym a couple of weeks ago and my thighs are well smooth now. Also, it only takes 20 minutes, which is my kind of workout. And it feels vaguely pervy.

And it *only* feels vaguely pervy, I mean.

s.rose, how is it going? I just read this entire thread and I want to know how the story ends!

thanks! still going strong. from the start: in the first 6 months i lost about 2.5 stone and looked much better, felt great too. since then i've dropped about another half a stone, and that's without being so strict on the eating front.

i've not reached my goal of 10st yet but i'm slowly working towards it - a big problem has been putting on muscle from the weights, and obv muscle weighs quite a bit. i took a break of a couple of weeks recently and just started again regularly and it's good to remind myself how good i feel physically and mentally after 3x gym a week. was also good to drop some of the muscle, esp from my chest - starting again has helped my posture though.

thing is, my main goal from the start has been to lose weight - not to get muscly or toned, so all these health and fitness benefits are a nice bonus. i think almanac says above that the key to losing weight is 90% about the diet, so i'm not gonna kill myself by doing an hours cardio and expecting miracles, i prefer to do weights & cardio i feel ok with and just eat better overall. main lifestyle change has been eating much healthier, which again has worked wonders for physical and mental well-being. still have the odd blowout once a month or so, for kicks but they don't do any real damage.

my basic routine at the moment is:
cycle to gym
35 mins on various weights, 3 sets of 15 reps on each
cross-trainer, varies from 35mins to 50mins depending on how keen i am / how engrossed i am in the magazine im reading
cycle home

my goal now is to move from my current weight of 10st 6 to 10st by xmas (at which point i'll undoubtedly put on a few pounds then just have to work on them in the new year). if it happens, great, if not i'm not gonna beat myself up about it as i'm still getting the 'wow you've lost weight, you look great' comments even now, a year after the main hump. a lot of the credit for this has to go to people on this thread and the other diet one, esp almanac, for some top-notch advice, thanks guys!

basically using the pullup bar for everything now. throw a towel over it and its like i've got one of them $200 resistance training navy SEAL dealies.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, June 15, 2009 6:23 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

I spent http://kbatoday.com/homemade-equipment/trx-straps5 at Home Depot and made myself one of them one of them $200 resistance training Navy SEAL dealies.00 resistance training Navy SEAL dealies.

I felt like I was spinning my wheels with the routine I posted upthread so I started this today. Sore as all hell and totally looking forward to the variety this thing promises. Plus the rows give me an excuse to use my suspension thing. Shit is fun!

Finally decided to give the rowing machine a try, but I don't think I'm doing it right- it hardly felt like I needed to put forth any effort with my arms and legs, but my lower back is sore as hell.

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=cardio.activities&conitem=ca7a148caed56110VgnVCM10000013281eac____

^^^ proved v helpful to me when i first started fuckin w/rowing machines

I bought a 16KG kettlebell and Enter The Kettlebell (book by the Russian guy who's done a lot to repopularize them in the US). I'm thinking about taking a month off doing anything else and challenging myself with x-thousand (3k? 5k?) kettlebell swings if I can get the form down.

I wish I could afford a few more of these (this one was $100 w/ shipping, about normal). I'm trying to clean it and do five overhead presses with each arm every time I walk by - it would be fun to have one stashed in the office, in my truck, another part of my apt..

I don't get why they're so fuckin expensive. I mean I guess they're basically cannonballs with handles, right?

Shipping is the worst part - I don't have anyone local selling KBs (except for a few GoFit lightweight ones) and that was $35 of the cost.

They come out about $2/pound, about the same as nicer dumbbells (the ones with knurled handles and coated ends) even though they're just painted iron, which I guess is a manufacturing cost thing - low demand, etc..

i got a foam roller

Can I just like--I really aint mean to be all braggin 09 style or w/e w/e but I was scrolling through some photos this evening and stumbled on Exhibit A taken at xmas 08 and Exhibit B immediately afterward which was taken a few days ago. V v pleasantly surprised and kinda proud of my progress.

ps can we all lol together at how ~~v serious~~ i am in exhibit B cause that's the only way i can forgive myself for showing it to ppl.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2431/3790931503_3bfae6477c.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3791632624_33aa4d0977.jpg

shirt off plz (j/k)

good goin! kiu

altho the 1st pic kinda makes comparison difficult, looks like ur face has def thinned out

lol did u cut your ex out of every pic?

every pic there has ever been

I'm so glad I found this thread, there's some really inspiring stuff on here.

Just over a month ago I started a routine because I'm in my mid-thirties and
really want/need to lose a ahit-ton of weight before life gets complicated.

Looking upthread I guess my aims are similar to S.Rose's initial aims.

Routine at the moment.

1. Stretching - 5 Mins (Calves, Upper Arms)
2. Bike - 20 Mins (Machine set to 'Hill', + 4 Min cooldown)
3. Cross Trainer - 25 Mins (Machine set to 'Hill' and upping the 'Level' setting for the last 4 Min or so)
4. More Stretching & Upper Body/Arms Pully-in thing (newly added)
5. Treadmill - Fast Walking 20 Mins + 6 Min Really Fast Power Walking (again set to 'Hill')

4 Days a week, combined with cutting out sugary shit and eating from a few healthy cookbooks.

So far I'm pretty happy, I have a long way to go but I've lost 28 pounds in one month. Obviously
the rate will slow down quite a bit, and I already have the fear that I will get in a rut, even
though I've been slowly tweaking up the level settings/durations on the machines. Also I've been
avoiding weights machines because it's all centred on cardio and weight-loss at the mo.

Any advice greatly welcomed.

28 lbs in a months is huge! Not to discourage you but that's really rapid loss, far beyond the normal rate -- careful as you go!

Add in weight training of some kind (even bodyweight stuff - pull-ups, pushups, squats) if you stop losing fat or get bored.

Thanks Elmo, I know it's a lot, I have a lot to get rid of. Someone mentioned that
you lose a lot of water weight in the first few weeks, then plateau for a bit before
a proper parity emerges. Also, even though I am a big framed guy and I'm quite
overweight, but it still bugs me that I weigh a such tremendous amount, really a
whole lot.
There are people who look like the arse end of a bus with legs attached on The
Biggest Loser who weight less, and I know I'm not quite as overweight as those
peeps. At least I hope not :)

Asked the doc about it and she couldn't really give me a clear answer, she just
talked about muscle weight etc: Got a dietician appointment tomorrow (ref from
my doctor), I have lots of questions.

Also, be interested to find out what peeps listen to at the gym, it's really pathetic
in a way, but agressive teenager music actually helps.

I don't listen to anything, wearing headphones bothers me too much when I'm working out. So I hear whatever Top 40 tunes are piped in by LA Fitness.

i am considering buying a new (smaller) ipod so i don't have to listen to anymore auto-tune garbage anymore.

when i saw this thread updated i was worried someone had posted a routine about the gym shooting or something!

xp I wouldn't go to a gym without a usable iPod (I won't go to a gym period now, but I definitely wouldn't even consider it without being able to drown out the crap music that gets played.)

I got the newest shuffle, it's super nice, almost lol zoolander-phone-level small though, like any smaller would be ridiculous, but i actually love it...nice thing is it will actually tell you the song title and artist in a robot voice if you hold down the remote button on your headphones...

I decided I didn't want to pay to go to a crossfit gym so I am going to do this Men's Fitness Yearlong Workout

http://www.mensfitness.com/fitness/workout_routines/312

yeah, there's no way i'd go to a gym without music. it drowns out the noise of other people which is far more crucial than drowning out the gym music imo. i've got a little hip pouch for my ipod and earbuds and they never get in the way. if i'm running, i'll just run the headphone cord under my shirt.

joined a small local gym several months ago. it's never crowded, cheap, no contract, close, etc. i lift in the mornings, muscle group a day for five days, about 15-18 sets each time. evenings i'll do intervals on the treadmill for fifteen minutes (short but fairly intense) or hike up this awesome trail for thirty minutes, better than climbing stairs and a lot more fun. since i've been doing that + adjusting my diet i've dropped ten pounds and feel great.

x-post i need to get a shuffle. i'm taking my big hd-based ipod along with me when i work out which i've heard is a bad idea...

ha, as far as music goes i have been blasting girl talk almost every time i get on a cardio machine -- frenetic pace helps me really crank it out & i only have to wait 30 seconds before the next psych-up hook -- it's helped but i've just about played out on it now

it's funny, i've been jogging consistently to 43-whatever by lcd soundsystem for like over a year, and i still haven't really burned out on it! drums entering at around 15 mins is sooooo croosh.

morbs! didn't see your comment at first. i am pleased to see u and flattered lol

i start doing a little air drumming while i'm on the treadmill and look a little freakish but i don't care, it's the perfect re-up x-post

Well done Hoos! And thanks for the rowing machine link; was able to go 20 minutes yesterday (resistance at 4) without feeling like I was never going to bend at the waist again.

As for music- almost exclusively mixes. Having the whole thing set out keeps me from constantly fiddling with the ipod, and it's great to have something with a lot of variety that stays uptempo with no interruptions or ddowntime. Aside from podcasts, lately it's been the Justine D cd for RVNG, Prins Thomas at Robert Johnson, the Murphy/Mahoney Fabric cd, and the Glimmers mix for Eskimo. Been listening on a full-size current gen ipod touch, which is fine for treadmill and elliptical but kind of a pain in the ass when rowing.

i have been known to seriously groove out like a nerd while on cardio equipment, yeah. i have trouble listening to music if i can't match my own rhythm to the beat tbh.

ladyhawke is great for dancing on the elliptical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaj0fzuRpaA

Since I'm still doing exclusively bodyweight stuff at home I have the pleasure of putting on whatever I want. I've gotten tired of the ~exercise~ playlist (lots of metal & wu-tang etc) and today just put on an old Rinse FM mix.

Hey, sit ups are boring. Can we all agree on that?

I like leg lifts.

Hanging leg lifts, I mean.

btw dudes: i got kinda amped that i now have the ability to do a full set of pullups (been rockin the chinups for a while now but pullups had proved too much for me), and i think i overdid it on saturday. i felt something tear and i was like hey that's the sensation of muscle fiber tearing to rebuild but now i just think i pulled something cause the left shoulder still hurts. bursitis.

chinups still fine! but i'm gonna hold off on the overenthusiastic pullups for a while til the pain rolls off.

What's the longest duration you kept up with your routine without stopping? Mine is six months, and that was ten years ago, lol. Now I can't seem to last more than a month or two without a long break in-between.