Hey all, I wanted to say, get off of your butt. I took my own advice last August after wanting to loose some weight, and being mildly successful with a diet change, I started doing something more. I wanted to do 10 push ups a day. I figured it would be cake, I was a swimmer at state level in high school, and that was only 10 years ago… My first morning I did 8 push ups. WTF. Next day, 9. The few following days I went from 9-10, then to 15, then 20… Now, for the last 45 days or so, EVERY morning I do:
50 push ups
50 crunches
15 arm curls each arm w/35lb
30 shrugs (10 front, 10 at the side, 10 behind) with same weight
1 minute of touching a 5lb medicine ball on each side (rocking) with feet in the air
and 30 seconds of planks (left, right and face down - each)
I have now lost of a total of 51-lbs, feel better, look better, and live better all because I got off of my ass.
Adding cardio as soon as the sun is up longer than I am at work here in the PNW.
Excellent. Be aware however, doing the same thing day in day out, and will lead to over use syndromes and imbalances in strength and musculature. For example, you are doing pushing movements (via push ups) with no pulling movements in the same plane of movement.
That will lead to various problems over time. At this point, something like a TRX suspension trainer would be an excellent addition to your program and allow much more diversity into the workout, with attention paid to equal volume of agonist/antagonist muscles for both far better results and reduction of over use issues/injuries.
I added a TRX unit to my workouts and there is an amazing number of things you can do with it!
I’d also suggest adding a 20-30lb set of dumb bells and maybe a few kettlebells as well.
Those two things and the TRX give me an amazing number of excercises. Toss in some push ups, sit ups, burpees and jogging with my dog and I too am on my way! LOL
These things also do not cost a ton nor do they take up much space. Google around and you will find tons of dumb bell and kettlebell workouts. That is how I find what I do all the time. You can easily mix it up.
I am no expert by any means but the transformation and how I feel after about 8 months of using the dumb bells, kettlebells and TRX is amazing.
WillBrink: what’s your take on walking and running?
I’ve always been of the opinion that when mankind lived in the bush and was a hunter-gatherer his body was made for long leisurely walks occasionally punctuated by fast, adrenaline-fueled runs. I always thought that one should try to use the body’s mechanics mostly as they would be “in the wild” so to speak?
Well actually, you hit it on the head how I prefer to do it: walk and or sprint vs lengthy runs at the same speeds.
Personally, I feel that unless your line of work requires it, running is not a great form of exercise long term and there’s various ways to get solid cardiopulmonary fitness using other modalities.
My recommendation, best bang for the $$$ to add to a TRX would be sandbags. Great whole body functional training that’s not expensive and takes up minimal space. See:
I am still in the beginning phase of all of this. Was a runner and mt biker for a very long time but never really concentrated on weights.
I am still amazed at what you can do with a simple bench and a set of 25-35lb dumb bells. Bought the dumb bells used off Craigslist for 40 bucks (2 25lb’ers, 2 30lb’ers and 2 35lb’ers) and the bench there for 75 bucks (it has a reclining feature).
That is an amazing amount of workout for not much money and it does not take up a whole room. Toss in the 35lb kettlebell and I am able to mix it up pretty well.
Congrats. May I recommend adding some squats and pulling exercises such as pull ups and rows?
Ditto what Will said about imbalance. It could affect uour posture, make you more injury prone and looking less swole. And not looking swole is a crime imo.
Thanks for the suggestions! I am going to start doing a walking regimen with some short/quick running (I do some freelance racing pit crew work, so short bursts are what its about there, 60 seconds of fury), picking up a pull up bar, and going to incorporate some more dumb bell work as well (working on some of the pulling muscles). I am going to look into the TRX as well.
I do dumb bell rows, flys, presses, inclined presses, triceps, hammer curls…the list is big enough that I can really mix it up. Even weighted crunches on the bench. I also do dips.
Then move to the kettle bells to do swings, Turkish get-ups, etc.
Then on the the TRX.
Toss in the elliptical every other day for cardio and I feel like I am getting a pretty good workout.
Usually takes 1-1.5 hours M-F. I rest on weekends. Well, I don’t REST…i am usually busy with yard work and other chores and stay physically busy on Sat and Sun.
