CARDIO – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
These workouts never change, but I try to put in enough variety so they don’t get boring. I try to do these cardio exercises in the AM before breakfast – cardio seems to “take” better after fasting.
-Every cardio starts with some form of running. Every cardio day ends with a trio of exercises:
- Exercise ball situps, three sets of at least 10
- Side-bends with free weight (usually 50 lbs), three sets of eight on each side
- Glute activation drills with exercise band, about four feet one way and back
Monday
- Treadmill, 18 minutes, varying walking and running
- Kettlebell swings, three sets of twelve (28 kg)
- Box jumps, three sets of eight
- finishing trio
Wednesday
- Elliptical with arm poles, 20 minutes
- Box jumps, three sets of eight
- Burpees with the bosu ball, three sets of eight (including pushups)
- finishing trio
Friday
- Elliptical without arm poles, 24 minutes
- Burpees with the bosu ball, three sets of eight (including pushups)
- Kettlebell swings, three sets of twelve (28 kg)
- finishing trio
MUSCLE WORK – Monday through Friday
I try to do muscle work every weekday (if I skip a day, I tend to “make it up” on the weekend, but I try to avoid that because the muscles need time to rest). I have an arm day, a chest day, and a shoulder/leg/back day, but as I indicated, these are rotating. Because I have cardio on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, on those days I will double up and do my muscle workout in the afternoon. So a basic workout week will look like this:
Monday – Cardio AM/Arms PM
Tuesday – Chest PM
Wednesday – Cardio AM / Shoulders, Back, and Legs PM
Thursday – Arms PM
Friday – Cardio AM / Chest PM
And the following Monday would be Cardio AM / Shoulders PM, and so on.
NOTE: For my current muscle workouts, I’ve been simply repeating what I did the previous muscle day; e.g., if I had an arm workout on Tuesday, it would be the same workout on Friday. I’m currently working to structure an A-routine and a B-routine, to shake up what I’m doing with my arms, chest, and shoulders, and to make the most out of the time spent at the gym. For right now, this is the round of muscle workouts I do:
Arm Day
I try to focus on both biceps and triceps, using a variety of free weights, machines, and body resistance. I'll do three circuits of these:
Concentration curls (55-60lb weights, 8-10 reps each arm)
Machine tricep extensions (80 lbs, 7-9)
Machine bicep curls (70 lbs, 7-9)
Dips (about 10)
Barbell curls (60 lbs, 7-9), or machine curls (145 lbs, 7-9)
Decline military pushups with the ball (about 20)
Hammer curls (35 lbs, 8-10 each arm)
Chest Day
A little less time consuming, but harder. I like to vary between pushing and squeezing. Three circuits of each (though this one takes a lot out of me, and often I’ll skip the pushups and dips on the last circuit):
Machine pec flys (180 lbs/each arm, 8-10 each arm)
Bench Press (185 lbs - 70 each side, 45 bar; 6-8)
Cable flys (70 lbs both sides, done together; I do high, middle, and low variations, 8-9 reps each)
Machine chest press (150 lbs, 8-9)
Dips (leaning in so it focuses on chest; 8-10)
Decline wide-arm pushups with the ball (about 15)
Shoulder, Leg, and Back Day
These tend to be the easiest days, in part because there’s such a variety and in part because shoulders are just easier. I'm trying to integrate new workouts into this one - goblet squats and TRX lifts. The machines I use vary between the ones you put plate weights on and the ones that come with pulley weights. Three circuits of each:
Deltoid fly (machine) (125 lbs; 6-8)
Overhead lat pulldown (machine) (100 lbs; 8-10)
Shoulder press (machine) (145 lbs; 8-10)
Rowing machine (270 lbs, plate weights; 120 lbs; 8-10)
Shoulder shrugs (150 lbs if it's a machine, 70 lbs each arm if it's free weights; 8-10)
Machine squat (270 lbs; 10-12)
Lateral raises (free weights; 20 lbs each arm)
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