An epic introduction

[nanila]

*waves* Hello! rydra_wong pointed me toward this community, so I've adapted a recent post from my personal journal by way of introducing myself and asking a few questions.

Gym habits
After 12 weeks of successfully going to the gym at least three times a week, I've decided that this must be working for me, even if it does require a 5:45 AM wake-up call at least twice a week. It may seem logical to some to suggest that I go in the evenings instead, but I have two reasons for not doing this. Firstly, it would mean I'd have to pay for a peak time membership, which is £20/month more expensive. Secondly, I'd have to forgo spending my evenings with the bloke. He's not awake from 6-7 AM most of the time, so we don't miss out on one another's company then. Much as I'd like not to have to rely on belonging to a gym to get regular exercise, I've faced up to the evidence of the past few years that having a routine and a fixed venue keeps me going, so I'm going to bite the bullet and sign up for a yearly contract.

I've even lost weight (about 3 kilos/7 pounds). That wasn't my goal, but it's a pleasant side effect. I'm hoping this will turn into a habit I don't even notice I'm maintaining, although that's a bit of a challenge (see: 5:45 AM start).

Other exercise habits/goals
I'm very fond of hiking, and I also like running outside. Once it starts staying light a bit later, I'll begin running in the evenings with the bloke again. This is good for me because he's a natural runner (long & lean) and I'm not, but I'm competitive, so he pushes me to go faster. I'd like to set a decent pace at the 5k Race for Life in July and for a 10k at some point later this year. It would be nice to do the 10k in under an hour.

I'm also contemplating doing another adventure race like The Spartan Race, which I did last year dressed as Princess Leia. I'd like to be a bit stronger so I can handle the challenges of the route better.

Specific gym routine
For an easier workout, I do 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer followed by 30 minutes of weightlifting/resistance machines (alternating arms and legs each workout) and situps/pushups. For a more aerobically intense workout, I do 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 on the treadmill at a slight gradient at 10-11 km/h pace. Same weightlifting regime. I increase the times at the weekends to 40 mins or 20/20.

Questions!
What are your routines? Are there any exercises that you swear by for a particular muscle group?

I enjoy doing free weight exercises, but I only do stuff for my arms and shoulders. I do bicep curls, shoulder presses, chest presses and wrist curls. What free weight exercises do you do for your abdomen/legs?

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[thalia]

Squats. I love squats. Well, actually, I hate them while I'm doing them, but they produce great results--they're really a full-body exercise.

Love stiff-legged deadlifts, too--great for the hamstrings.

If you use free weights for the lower body, you do need to be very careful about form--it's easy to injure yourself. But if done right, they can be tons more effective than using machines.

In general, I'm a big fan of compound exercises--squats, deadlifts (stiff- and bent-legged), overhead presses, pushups, dips, theoretically pullups (I've never actually been able to do them). They work more than one muscle group at once, and they tend to strengthen the core at the same time.

[ponderosa]

Squats. I love squats. Well, actually, I hate them while I'm doing them, but they produce great results--they're really a full-body exercise.

This exactly.

[nanila]

Thank you for the tips! I think I'm going to have to have a session with a personal trainer to ensure that I have the correct form for squats and deadlifts.

Do you do assisted pullups? I find those really useful for building up to doing them without assistance, especially since I can only do three pullups unaided at the moment.

[ponderosa]

That race in costume is epic! I was invited to do a similar one here, but alas it's the same weekend as the main convention I go to each year. Maybe next time.

On leg days I usually do a set of DB squats paired with lunges (usually walking lunges). I apparently have awesome form for lunges, but with DB squats I do them with a fitness ball against the wall for stability and support.

For abs, besides sit-ups I tend to do a lot of russian twists and also knees to chest on a bench (like this http://www.coopersguns.com/videos/exercise-encyclopedia/abdominals/knees-to-chest-on-bench/) graduating to holding heavier DBs between my feet.

[nanila]

I recommend adventure races. It's kind of like an obstacle course crossed with Calvinball. If you do it in costume, though, I recommend that the costume does not involve a skirt.

It's been a few years since I did squats or deadlifts so I think I'll have to have a session with a personal trainer to make sure I don't hurt myself. Thank you for the tip about using the fitness ball. I'm sure that wouldn't have occurred to me.

What are Russian twists? I'll work that knees-to-chest exercise into my routine. It looks like it improves your balance as well?

[ponderosa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCB3kxqhbuY

Here's a video!

[rydra_wong]

What free weight exercises do you do for your abdomen/legs?

For abs: planks planks planks. I did a mini linkspam on plank and related exercises here.

Legs: squats and deadlifts. But when you're running regularly, you may find that your legs are already getting enough of a workout from that; it may be more important to balance it out with stretching rather than hitting them with even more work.

I second thalia's comment about compound exercises (and want to add a plug for my personal favourite, the Turkish get-up); they hit multiple muscle groups at once and I generally find them much more fun and less tedious than trying to work every single body part in isolation.

wrist curls

That's an ultra-specific exercise -- if you don't mind my asking, is there a particular reason why you're doing that?

[rydra_wong]

Forgot to say: it looks like all your upper-body work is very "push" focused, e.g. shoulder and chest presses.

Unless you're doing another sport that works "pull" motions (like, say, rock-climbing), you might want to throw in a pull exercise or two -- a row exercise and/or pull-ups (here's stumptuous on working towards your first pull-up, if you're not there yet).

[nanila]

Ooh, thank you for pointing that out. It hadn't occured to me that I wasn't doing enough "pull" exercises. I used to climb regularly, but since moving to England from southern California, I haven't done it much. I've taken the bloke to the local gym a couple of times, but since this term started (we're both academics), we've been swamped. Term finishes this week, so hopefully we'll get back to the wall!

I'd like to start doing pull-ups again. When I did the Spartan Race, I managed to do three, but I used to be able to do more when I climbed.

[rydra_wong]

I think I had a brainfail and forgot that I'd run into you in disobey_gravity -- sorry about that. Okay, the wrist curls make much more sense now. And obviously when you're climbing regularly, that's plenty of "pull".

But in the meantime, it might be worth throwing in some pull-up stuff just to balance things out.

[nanila]

I saw that someone mentioned planks on a previous post in this community, so I started doing them this week. I'll try the side planks as well.

I haven't done squats and deadlifts since I was in high school when I weightlifted regularly (as part of my gymnastics training). I think I might need to book a session with a personal training to make sure that I do them correctly and don't hurt myself.

I do wrist curls out of habit. I added them into my workout when I was rock climbing more regularly.

[lyorn]

I have started with the workouts in "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" in early February, because I wanted to do more free weights and was very bored with doing mostly machines.

I go to the gym (by bicycle, it's only two to four kilometres from anywhere else I'm likely to be) after work or after music lessons, two or three times a week. Six to ten minutes of warm-up on the elliptical on medium-high setting, some bodyweight squats and empty-bar deadlifts to get into the motion pattern, then the workout. It's reasonable quick, actually, less than half an hour -- that's one advantage of compound exercises, you can work lots of muscle groups at once. Then stretching, some clowning around (doing handstands or attempting something on the balance board).

I used to do intervall running after the strength trainig, but after the NRoLfW workouts, my legs won't let me. Those squats, deadlifts, steps, lunges and crunches are serious work. Unfortunately that means that I'm losing what little running ability I had built up over the years. In theory I'd have to go to the gym two more times, just for the running, but I can't make the time.

[nanila]

Yes, I find I get bored working on the resistance machines. I think it might be because you have to sit down to use them, so in between sets you're sitting instead of standing.

My gym is a ten minute walk from my house, which is fantastic. I love doing handstands! I used to walk around on my hands randomly just for a change in perspective. :D

Thank you for mentioning TNRoLfW. I think the shorter workout you mentioned could be really useful for adventure race training, if alternated with my usual workout.

[lyorn]

I also found that the machines (except for pulleys) do not do much for me. My gym has these fashionable personally-adjusted, chip-card-controlled fool-proof ones, and I have spent four years on them with no visible effect. Two months on the pulley for my back issues and, results!

Do you do any training for coordination, balance and overall agility? It sounds as if the adventure runs would require some...