Workout Routine

[Lalanae]

Any advice on changes to my workout? I've done some reading and there seems to be many schools of thought on how often, how much, etc. I'm not looking for a crazy get-in-shape-in-4-weeks workout, but something that will gradually get me in shape and maintain what I've accomplished. So far it seems to be working, but I'm always open to tweaking.

I do cardio 5 days a week for 45 min (just long enough to watch an episode of something on my PSP ). Its not intense cardio, but a steady rate, the recommended "difficulty holding a conversation" pace.

Those 5 days, I also do strength training beforehand. I rotate between 3 muscle groups (legs, upper body, abs/waist/back), about 15-20 minutes per muscle group.

On the 5th day (Saturday) I do 2 muscle groups so that I've worked all groups twice that week. (I go Mon-Thurs, Sat) It works out so there are at least 2 days of rest between each muscle group workout.

I do 3 sets of 15 reps. I'm doing enough weight so that I feel burn at the end of the first set and I'm ready to give up about halfway through the last set.

Any comments, suggestions?

[Sueven]

I have a different approach than you (I'm more of a high-intensity guy), but it sounds like you've got your bases pretty well covered, considering your goals. My main suggestion is to occasionally mix up the intensity of your workouts. For your strength training, you can up the weights and do 3 sets of 8 reps each, or lower the weights and do 3 sets of more reps. For cardio, either dial up the intensity and go for a shorter time, or dial it down and go for longer. It's a good idea to prevent your body from getting too deeply into a routine.

You can also make your strength training more intense without altering the weights by going through your exercises slower. It's much easier to do a bicep curl in one second than it is to do it in ten seconds.

Do you enjoy playing any sports, and do you have the opportunity to do so? I try to play an active sport once a week (basketball or gaelic football, depending on weather) to give me a little variety and keep the competitive juices flowing. It's easier for me to go to the gym when I know that being stronger and faster will have a real impact next time I step onto the court or field. Playing sports also gives you a different sort of workout, and can do a lot to help your balance, core strength, and general ability to use your body and make your muscles respond to your commands. If you're the anti-competitive sort, this probably isn't the greatest idea. It's also possible that your knees would make sports undesirable.

My understanding is that doing strength training once a week for a particular muscle group allows you to maintain strength, twice a week allows you to build strength, and three times a week builds even more, but now you're starting to get to the point of diminishing returns. So your strength training schedule sounds good, and you shouldn't feel bad about yourself if you miss a day here or there.

[Lalanae]

Sadly I never got into sports. My lifestyle is extremely sedentary (work from home, mostly video games and movies in free time) and its been a struggle to try and change that, especially when I don't have someone to help keep me motivated (Eric is happy to be a slug).

Thanks for the advice on mixing up my routine. I'll definitely look at changing it around a bit every couple weeks. I've been tracking weights, sets, reps etc so I can see how I progress over time, so that will make my spreadsheet a bit more interesting.

[Animale]

I'd recommend swimming if your gym has it. Do maybe a 20-30 minute swim once a week at the start, then work your way up to longer (I, personally, can't do much longer as I'm a crappy swimmer and push myself too hard to do much more than 20ish minutes - if you can do the slow swim thing then you could go longer than me). When my knees were bothering me I thought it helped quite a bit - maybe you could consider using an "Aqua jogger" to get the running motion instead of straight swimming if that's what you want.

Also, unlike you I cannot use the ellipticals - totally screws with my knees as I pronate them quite a bit. If I'm on an elliptical for more than 5 minutes my knees just start to scream. Also, bicycles do me in as well - but it sounds like that's ok for you.

In short - add swimming as a total body thing if you can. If not, maybe consider one of those stair stepper thingies or rowing machines as an alternative to the elliptical.

Animale