Abs & Legs

I’m trying to get into a new habit. On Wednesdays (which would normally be one of my off days), I’m hitting my home gym for a quick 30 minute workout. It consists of lunges, leg curls, and abs. Lots of abs. I did it last week and I did it again this week. I worked up a decent sweat today too. Hopefully this will get me back on track with my ab workouts and will also help me get to that 10% body fat percentage I’m shooting for. So here’s what I did:

*4 sets of lunges
10 reps with 12 lbs. in each hand

*4 sets of leg curls

*4 sets of lunges with 8 lb. medicine ball

*4 sets of crunches

*4 sets of bicycle abs
(this particular exercise kills my abs!)

Update: Mission: Eliminate Body Fat

Back in July I took my fitness test at Equinox and found out my body fat was 25.9%. I was very displeased and intensified all of my cardio workouts from that day forward. Well, it paid off ’cause I took a re-evaluation test today and my body fat is now 18%. Woo-hoo! Not only that, but my blood pressure is 107/60 and I now weight 238 lbs. (I’m not that trusting of the scale though, so I’ll say I’m still at 245 lbs.)

My trainer also did the flexibility test and told me I had improved over the last time. Overall, I was in damn good shape. Next week we meet again for my free personal training session. I’m very psyched to see what kind of workout plan he’ll give me. Mind you, this is the same trainer who gave me those training pointers. So overall, I’m psyched with the news. My goal is still to attain a 9% body fat percentage.

Legs & Abs

Why do I keep ignoring my abs? It’s not that I hate ab workouts, I just keep neglecting them. That said, today I did a 30-minute abs and legs workout. (It was technically an off day for me, but I figured I’d do this quick routine instead of just watching TV.)

I did lunges and leg curls and then did planks, crunches, and medicine ball crunches (like the ones in the photo). It felt pretty good. Hopefully I can stick with my ab routine. I just need to find a way to incorporate it into my normal workout routine so I don’t neglect them.

Back to cardio

I’m back from my weekend getaway and for the most part, I managed to eat healthy. My only guilty pleasures were a bowl of New England clam chowder and a little vanilla ice cream I had for dessert. That said, I was eager to get back to the gym today after my weekend off. I started my week off with some cardio. I did a 35-minute interval hill run. Two minutes on 0 incline followed by two minutes on a gradually increasing incline (which started at 3 and went all the way to 6). I got my heart rate up to 178 bpm for the final 10 minutes of my workout. It was a great run, and I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s shoulder workout.

Road trip

I’m heading up to Newport, RI for the weekend, so I might not get to workout, which is ok ’cause I already did my 3 weight workouts and 2 cardio sessions for the week. In fact, I even started my workout routine for next week. That said, I the hotel I’m staying at has a pool, so I’m hoping to maybe get some laps in. We’ll see.

I did some strenuous weight workouts this week, so I hope to feast on some good seafood/protein while I’m up in Newport. Here’s to the weekend!

Beat laziness

I didn’t want to work out tonight. I had dinner with my girlfriend, my apartment was cold (which meant the gym in my building might be cold), and it was getting kind of late. I was actually pretty sure today would be my off day, but rather than debate the pros/cons of skipping, I changed into my workout clothes and hopped on the treadmill for a nice 35-minute hill/interval run. And now that I’m done, I’m glad I chose to workout. All that I did to combat the laziness was ask myself — what will make me feel better? 30 minutes of TV or a quick 30-minute run. Obviously the latter won.

I’m not saying you should always workout (your body does need rest), but sometimes when you’re feeling lazy the best remedy is to just change into your workout clothes and do it. Whether it’s an hour or 30 minutes, chances are you’ll feel a lot better after your workout.

New Balance & Westin to provide communal workout clothes

One of my biggest pet peeves when traveling is not being able to workout. So whenever I travel there are two amenities I look for in my hotel — free Wi-Fi and a gym. Most of the time I find a gym, but it’s usually small and packed with old (and broken) treadmills. Still, I manage to squeeze a workout in, but I tend to stray away from cardio because the last thing I want to lug back home are sweaty gym clothes. Well, all that is about to change.

New Balance and Westin are debuting a new service wherein Westin hotel guests will be able to borrow workout clothes (provided by New Balance) than they can use and then leave behind for housecleaning. There’s no mention of how much this service will cost, but they plan to roll it out worldwide. Westin will carry women’s sizes from small to extra large in apparel and 6 to 10.5 in shoes. Men’s sizes will range from medium to extra, extra large in apparel and from 8.5 to 13 in shoes.

The idea is brilliant, but I can’t help but feel a little skeeved out by this. I sweat a lot when I workout, and the thought of wearing a gym outfit that someone else has sweated in grosses me out (although Westin says the workout clothes will undergo the same strict laundry regimen that its bed sheets undergo.)

via WSJ

On a side note, the best hotel gym I’ve ever worked out in is at the MGM Signature in Las Vegas. They have a full-fledged gym with plenty of dumbbells, modern cardio equipment, barbells, and more.

Super Slow Drop Sets

Saturday afternoon I switched up my workout routine. I’m now doing super slow exercises with drop sets. Here’s a basic run down of what I’m doing.

The first set is somewhat heavy with no more than 10 reps, the second set is lighter with 10 – 12 reps, the third set is heavy again like the first set, and the 4th set is light again. One of the trainers at my gym suggested this workout. The heavy weight will cause my muscles to grow and the super slow aspect works my muscles’ endurance. I gotta say, my back is insanely sore after Saturday’s workout. Here’s what I did:

EXERCISE 1: T-Bar Row
8 reps @70 lbs.
12 reps @45 lbs.
8 reps @70 lbs.
12 reps @45 lbs.

EXERCISE 2: Iso-lat Pull-down
8 reps @180 lbs.
10 reps @160 lbs.
6 reps @180 lbs.
8 reps @160 lbs.

EXERCISE 3: Seated Row
8 reps @135 lbs.
10 reps @85 lbs.
8 reps @135 lbs.
10 reps @85 lbs.

EXERCISE 4: Hyperextensions
12 reps
10 reps
10 reps
15 reps

I applied the same workout routine to my triceps and did tricep push-downs and pull-overs with drop sets and no-to-little rest in between. My triceps don’t feel as sore, but like I said, this is the most sore my back has felt in a very long time. I love it. Gonna stick with this drop set routine for a month and then switch up again.

Personal Trainer Tip: Combat Muscle Memory

I had an interesting talk with one of the new trainers at my gym today. It all started when he asked me if I needed a spot. We started talking and I told him about my routine, that is my slow workout / resistance training routine. He perked up and said it was great that I was doing that. He said the negative weight on an exercise (such as the negative weight on a flat bench press) is much heavier than the positive weight, because the negative weight also has gravity forcing it down. As a result, you work your muscle a lot more.

So the tip he gave me was this. I told him I was going to do my slow workout routine probably till the end of the winter. He told me not to. He told me to stick with it no more than 3 to 4 weeks. The reason — after 4 weeks your muscles will no longer be challenged by your workout. It’ll be routine for them. (Hence the term muscle memory.) So you need to mix it up. He suggested I do super slow workouts with drop sets. Start with a slightly heavier weight, few reps. And then move to a slightly lighter weight, more reps. That way I force the muscle to grow (with the heavy weights) and also train it to endure (with the slow/resistance aspect). I’m very psyched and I think I will start this off next week. The part I found most interesting was the 4 week part. Having to switch up your workout routine every 4 weeks sounds challenging. But you know what, I’m totally gonna do it. What have I got to lose.

Doctor’s Visit Checklist

A lot of times I like talking about working out and healthy eating on my blog, but one thing that’s just as important (and which I’ve neglected to write about) is visiting the doctor for a routine physical. I got my yearly physical back in September, and I find the tips mentioned in this segment very common sense, but yet very valuable (a lot of times people forget about the common sense questions and let the doctor kinda just do as he/she pleases). The show is called Everyday Living and some of the recommendations they give are to have your doctor check your blood pressure, skin, breast check, lungs, etc. Like I said, common sense, but these were things my last doctor would not check because I did not ask her to. (Hence, I went to a new doctor this year.) Quick and easy informative video in my opinion.