I have no idea if anybody will care about this, but here was today’s weight workout.
To be clear: you guys don’t have to care. However, I need a break from writing about football, and folks have occasionally shown an unaccountable interest in my workouts, and so here we are.
This workout is a collection of circuits. Basically I am super-setting everything, working unrelated muscle groups during “rest” periods to keep my heartrate up more consistently over time. I am a swimmer / snowboarder / bike-commuter, so I almost never lift heavy. These weight workouts are mostly about building muscular endurance, flexibility, and joint strength ahead of snowboarding season.
Plus, I enjoy lifting quite a bit.
Unless otherwise noted, I did each set three times.
Yoga + Stretching (1x)
5 x Sunrise Salutes
Stretch ~5 minutes with emphasis on my hips, lower back, and hamstrings
Warm-Up Set (3x)
12 x push-ups
12 x Bodyweight squats
15 x Tuck-Ups
Set 1 (3x)
Incline Bench (x5 sets)
8 x Forward Lunges
12 x Bicycles
Set 2 (3x)
DB Military Press (x4 sets)
Single-leg squats (x6)
Incline leg raises (x12)
Set 3 (3x)
Machine chest flies
Reverse lunges (x8)
Triceps press-downs with rope
Set 4 (3x)
Kettlebell tricep press
Russian Twists (low weight, x12)
* * *
The good news is that swimming and bike-commuting work together to forgive a lot of sins in the weight room. If I miss something here, I’ll hit it later in the pool or on the bike. The bad news is that it takes a ton of focus to be even moderately good in the pool. I therefore try to hit the water at least four times/week. Three of those swims get bricked with weight workouts -- when I have time -- and then my Saturday swims are usually longer. My goal for Saturdays is 4000+ yards. Yesterday, I went 4100.
This workout, then, was kind of a gift. We had Veteran’s Day off, so I was able to hit the water Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I therefore did not have to swim today.
I knew this weight-only workout was coming and looked forward to it all week.
I usually use a pyramid concept in the weight room, adding a warm-up set when necessary. I’ll also add an extra heavy set whenever I’m feeling it.
Base Concept
10 reps at a medium weight
6-8 reps at a heavier weight
12 reps at the original weight
My Incline Bench set went like this:
Warm-Up Set: 10 x 65 lbs.
Medium Weight: 10 x 95 lbs.
Heavier: 8 x 115 lbs.
Second Heavier Set: 6 x 135 lbs.
Medium Weight: 12 x 95 lbs.
I don’t incline with a straight bar very often at all, so I was super-pleased with this.
Dumbbell Military Press Set:
10 x 25 lbs.
8 x 32.5 lbs.
8 x 32.5 lbs.
12 x 25 lbs.
It’s a luxury to have 2.5-pound increment dumbbells at the gym. I probably could’ve worked safely with 35 lb. dumbbells, but this was better, and I was comfortable enough to push it with a second aggressive set.
So anyway, that was my workout. What do you think?
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