My Work-Outs & Gym

Today I’d like to talk about what I do for Physical Activity and Exercise. You don’t need a gym membership or even fancy equipment.  I have a basic set of dumbbells, with enough plates to challenge my muscles during a work-out. Weights are extremely inexpensive, around $1 a pound.  You can even find them cheaper if you search hard enough. I also have an EZ Curl bar, an adjustable work-out bench, and an, “IronGym” Chin-Up bar.

My work-out area is no more than 4’ X 9’,  a little small, but I can do everything I need to do in that limited space.  Lunges, Side Laterals and  Dumbell Flyes  need the most room, but I make it work.

Now for my work-outs… Every day I get to work 30 minutes early and walk 1.75 to 2 miles around the parking lot. Walking can get a bit boring, so I am lucky enough to have a friend to walk with…  It also makes the time go by faster.  It’s a good warm-up for your workday and if your body is warmed up, there’s less chance of an injury from pulling, pushing and lifting if you have a labor intensive job, which I do. Some days during down time at work, I can find a quiet corner and sneak in some push-ups, lunges or dips. Whatever I can do at work is a bonus, I figure.

After work I do my Weight Training, I’ll get into all the benefits of lifting in another  post, including Fat Loss while sleeping.  It’s usually recommended to do 3 Full Body work-outs a week when you are a beginner. I have to be different as usual, but I’m not a total beginner. The way I do it is I concentrate on one or two body parts a day.  This way I can focus my mind on that part before my work-out… the whole Mind-Body connection thing, that’s another post though.   

Saturday is Chest / triceps day

Sunday is Back/ Bi’s day

Monday is Shoulders & Abs… 

Tuesday is the dreaded Leg Day

Wednesday is Triceps/ Chest

Thursday  Biceps/ Back workout 

Friday is an off day.

Lately I’ve been trying to do each body part twice a week, once with heavy weights and less reps & once with lighter weights and more reps.  I usually do 4 sets on the main compound exercise for that workout and 3 sets for the remaining exercises. 4 or 5 exercises for each major body part and 2 or 3 exercises for the secondary muscles. My work-outs take 45 minutes at the most.

The heavy workouts are basically 3 sets of 6-8 reps, and the lighter workouts are 3 sets of 10–12 reps. When I reach the higher number of reps on the last set I know it’s time to raise the weight.

That’s my workout right now, in the Spring I’ll add Bike Riding into the mix for more Cardio. I hope this all made sense. I’ll elaborate more in future Posts, this one has gone on long enough, LOL