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UncleNasty -> RE: Excercise works! (4/21/2009 10:24:34 AM)
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Popeye, that is good news. My guess is that this has become so ingrained in your life, and it feels so good to feel this good, that little or nothing will dissuade you from making a scheduled trip to the gym!! Is your chest sticking out further than your stomach yet? If not just keep at it and it will.
Now, you asked, so I'm giving you a full answer.
My equipment is made by Yukon. The Model I have is a Kodiak. It is a halfrack for free weights, but also has upper and lower pulleys, so I can do a variety of things. Their site is www.yukon-fitness.com. In looking over the site it seems they no longer carry the Kodiak. The Caribou III looks to be the closest equivalent. The bench I have inclines and declines, and has a thigh extension and hamsting curl attachment. I'm very happy with the equipment. I consider it to be only one step down from professional equipment and very reasonably priced. For a home set up it is very good, and variable. I also have an AirDyne for cardio. Not used much in professional gyms any longer but I find it quite sufficient for my needs. These things were built rock solid so it will probably outlive me.
When I purchased I selected a one inch barbell (30 lbs.) instead of the Olympic (50 lbs. with the wide diameter ends). This allows me to use the same weights for my barbell and dumbbells, which are also one inch. I have four adjustable dumbbells (5 lbs.) and that can cover me fairly well for any given routine with little or no adjustment needed. I've got plates rannging from 1 1/4 lbs. to 25 lbs., with lots of 5's and 10's, so I can tailor the weight precisely. I also have a weight "tree" to hold the unused plates. This makes changing weights fast and easy, and also reduces the clutter. Total weights of 200 lbs. That should cover anything I do. Even at my peak fitness in my early 30's ( 5'6", 145 lbs., 8% body fat) I only used more than 200 lbs. for leg work. My high for bench press at that time was 210 lbs. (1 rep and only 1 time) and my usual load high was in the 150 - 160 lb. range. I don't work my legs that hard anymore and I'll be quite pleased if I get to pressing my weight again some time after the first of the year.
Yukon offers a number of attachments for the model I have. Most of these I have no use for as there is a free weight equivalent. They do offer a dip attachment that I'd like to have as that is a great exercise to work a combination of muscle groups including chest, shoulders and back.
I do a split routine with free weights getting in 4 workouts a week, 2 per muscle group, and ab work, cardio and flexibility at each workout. Currently I'm doing 3 sets of 50 crunches in 3 different styles. Cardio wise I have an AirDyne and am doing 30 minutes with a target heart rate in the 140 bpm range.
Because I'm in the beginning stages again I'm just doing basic exercises. As the months progress and as my body responds, I'll vary these exercises by adding different ones to work the same muscles. Work the same muscles the same way all the time and they become rather stagnant, or static. So variation of routine is good for overall and continued development.
I don't really do "body building" or bulking routines specifically (high weights and low reps in the 4 - 7 range), and never have. But neither do I only do toning (low weights and very high reps in the 40 - 50 range). I prefer 3 sets in the 12 - 15 rep range, with dimishing reps per set. I feel this offers the best combination of training and covers some building of new muscle, some toning and definition, and some endurance.
In 2 or so more months I'll start to add in the variations on the exercises I'm doing currently. The number of exercises won't change much and I'll keep that to about a dozen per routine. Much more than that and the routines just take more time than I'm willing to devote to it. I'll also start doing some giant and super sets. That really works specific groups hard and creates a tremendous burn during the sets. You have to be in good enough shape to do these that it doesn't leave you crippled with soreness the next couple fo days. It also really releases endorphins and gives quite a nice high.
Also in a couple of months I'll start doing some pyramid routines, and will also do one week of "bulk" type lifting about every 6 or 8 weeks. This helps to increase some muscle mass but the infrequency keeps me from bulking to the point of inflexibility. Working the muscles to the point of failure and forced reps is also helpful and can be done at any level of weight. These require a spotter to do safely and effectively ( bulk lifting and forced reps) and may not be available to me. I live alone in the country and spotters are not here frequently, :( I may end up going to a YMCA for this and will be talking with them about reduced cost to use their equipment on such a limited basis.
Current routines:
A routine
bench press - varied width grip (barbell)
incline or decline press (barbell or dumbbell)
dumbbell flys
dumbbell flys incline or decline
pullovers (dumbbell)
lat pulldowns - varied width grip (upper cable)
seated rows (lower cable)
upright rows (barbell)
military press (dumbbell)
side lateral raises (dumbbell)
front raises (dumbbell)
toe raises
30 minutes cardio
150 crunches of various types
stretching
B routine
tricep pushdown (upper cable)
tricep dips
barbell curls
dumbbell curls
hamstring curls (bench attachment)
squats
lunges
back kicks (lower cable)
thigh abductors (lower cable)
thigh adductors (lower cable)
forearm curls (dumbbell)
reverse curls (dumbbell)
hammer curls (dumbbell)
30 minutes cardio
150 crunches
flexibility
Right now, at just 2 sets, with ab work and cardio, they are taking about 1 1/2 hours. I'll increase to 3 sets in early May, bump slowly up to 400 crunches, and 50 minutes cardio. That will take about 2 1/2 hours.
Today is a B day, and after wrting this I'm feeling particularly motived, so I'm off to the dungeon, er, um, the gym (yes, they're on opposite sides of my daylight basement - and yes, the half rack and bench have been pressed into service as dungeon gear at a couple of my larger parties).
Uncle Nasty
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