Weekly Physical Fitness?

[amy5708]

Since we have weekly weigh-ins, how about weekly progress reports about HOW we're going to lose the weight.

I am actually at my goal weight and trying to gain muscle at this point.

Yesterday I ran 4.5 miles, did a bunch of crunches watching the TV before going to work 10 hours.

Today I am going to run/walk before another 10 hour workday. I need to do some weights, but may save that for tomorrow for a killer workout. The night shifts total screw up my schedule...

Who else is going to get off their derriere and join me?

[Ronstar]

My weekly progress report is a weight gain of 4 lbs. I quit running because it made me too exhausted to follow up with a good weight workout. So I switched to 45 minutes walking on the treadmill followed by 40 minutes heavier weights.

[Midpack]

My program is a lot like Body for Life. I alternate between 30 min. cardio (treadmill, rower, bicycle or walking) and 45 min. weights (Bowflex, dumbells) each day 6 days a week - 1 day off. Some weeks I only get in 4-5 days, but never less. Been doing it for over 5 years, lost 35 pounds back then and have kept it off. I work out first thing when I wake up, if I waited until later in the day I'd never stick with it. In the summer, I often ride my bike to/from work, about 9 miles each way. Whatever works for you, just do something.

[Alan]

I think a weekly check on your fitness goalsis a good idea. I log all my physical activity on line and also in a spreadsheet at work where you get a $25 gift card for every 100 hours logged.

My target is an average of 1 hr per day over any given month. I try and do 2 sessions of weights each week and 2 cardio sessions on the machines. Then at weekends we go cycling, walking, playing tennis etc, and it all gets logged.

It helps a lot that DW does it as well.

[Insanity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar . . . I quit running because it made me too exhausted to follow up with a good weight workout. So I switched to 45 minutes walking on the treadmill followed by 40 minutes heavier weights.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack . . . I alternate between 30 min. cardio (treadmill, rower, bicycle or walking) and 45 min. weights (Bowflex, dumbells) each day 6 days a week - 1 day off. . .

I'll be changing my exercise regimen to more outdoors stuff -- hiking and biking -- now the weather is starting to warm up, but I have several different indoor workouts that I rotate through. I try to get some sort of exercise seven days a week, though it often works out to five or so days.

I have three fitness center type workouts, call them 1, 2, & 3.

1. My "low level" workout:
   • 20 minutes cardio (on a cyclic jogger) with a 5-min warm down.
   • 20-30 minutes of weights, enough for one set of each exercise when done with medium weight in quick succession:
   • 10 minutes of cardio with a 5-minute warm down.
   • About an hour and ten minutes workout time.
2. My "All Cardio" workout:
   • 25 minutes on the cyclic jogger + 5 minutes warm down
   • 15 minutes or 200 calories (whichever comes first) on the rowing machine.
   • 10 minutes on the cyclic jogger + 5 minutes warm down
   • About an hour and ten minutes workout time.
3. My "strength" workout:
   • 15 minutes on the cyclic jogger + 5-minute warm down.
   • 60 minutes on weights, enough for two sets of each exercise, one low-weights set and one high-weight set.
   • 10 minutes on the cyclic jogger + a 5-minute warm down.
   • Takes about two hours.

There are also a fair number of long, one-hour, three mile evening walks that I do each week with my wife and our dog.

Most of my indoor workouts are #1-types; I only do the other two workouts once a week. This works for me because I'm already fairly muscular (I can comfortably bench press my own weight ten times, and really don't need more strength or to stress my joints with more weight), but someone who is trying to get into shape might make every other workout a #3 with #1s and #2s in-between.

Also worth noting is that I do my weights routine in quick succession, with weights that move from top to bottom several times. In other words, I do a couple upper body exercises (bench press, curls) followed by a torso exercise (sit-ups or crunches), then a leg exercise (leg extension), then do another group of exercises that work my upper, mid, and lower body, then another round. Working out this way prevents me from getting over-tired in any one section of my body, so I can keep my workout moving, keep my heart rate up, and keep my workout times from getting too long.

Now the weather outside is improving my wife and I will get out on more multi-hour bike rides and nature hikes, activities we both enjoy a great deal that happen to be good for fitness as well. As these cardio-intensive outdoor activities take up more time, I won't go to the gym as often, once a week to get in one #3 and a second time for a #1 workout, if I have time.