Gym Routine

Today, I weighed in at 178.75 lbs. BMI: 30.7.

This puts my current total weight loss at 6.25lbs.

I'm very skeptical of this weight. I know that weight fluctuates day to day, so maybe this was just a weird "low" day.

Anyway! On to the real topic of this post. When incorporating resistance/weight training into a gym routine, I needed to decide how many days a week that I wanted to do weights. I go to the gym 4-5 days a week, so I decided that I would lift 4 days a week. I then needed to decide if my weights routine would be a total body or isolated muscle groups plan. I decided on muscle groups. This is because it makes planning what exercises to do on each day much easier. If I find significant evidence that it's better to do total body, I might reconsider.

So! On one day, I'll work on biceps and chest. The second day shoulders and triceps. The third day is abs and back. The fourth day is legs. I never stick to these "days" very well. I just make sure that all the muscle groups are hit in a week. Maybe I should make a more regimented plan? I dunno. (haha, or just stick to the one I already made. I felt so good about making it, and then I immediately began "winging it." Boyfriend thinks this is funny and very "Teresa" of me). 

Every weight lifting day starts with a 5-7 minute warm-up on the cardio machine of my choice. I then do two circuits. For example, if it's shoulders/triceps day, I'll do
Exercise A (front shoulder raises)
Exercise B (triceps kickbacks)
Exercise C (push-ups)
Short rest (30 seconds? It's very short)
A, B, C
Short rest
A, B, C
Longer rest.
I'll then do another three exercises with resting intervals just like before.
D (shoulder press)
E (overhead triceps extensions)
H (triceps dips)

I usually try to incorporate an exercise that keeps my heart rate up and is more "full body" than the isolated lifts. Push ups, squats, and lunges are a good example of this. Doing the each of the three exercises without rest keeps the heart pumping, too.

It might not sound like a lot. The whole sequence takes just a short amount of time (MAYBE 15-20 minutes?).  The lifts are always slow and controlled. I use a weight that isn't "maxing out" but that is very difficult once I get to 10-12 reps. By the end of each lift, I'm usually struggling, which is good, I think. I'm not trying to get ripped. Or even toned. I'm just trying to make my muscles stronger and it feels good to challenge them to do what they're meant to.

I then finish up with about 15 minutes of cardio. Usually, I try to REALLY push myself hard in this last 15 minutes.

On days that are just cardio, I usually try to do 10-15 minutes on two different machines. I'll do "intervals" where I'll push really hard for a minute and then go at a "normal" fast pace for a minute (or sometimes two). I also usually do abs again on a day that I'm not lifting.

So what was yesterday?
7 minutes on the treadmill walking and jogging
The exact shoulders/triceps workout mentioned above
15 minutes on the elliptical with a really high resistance.

Anyway, I really enjoy the way I work outs. I like the intensity of things, I'm consistently getting stronger, and I look forward to doing it. I suppose that's all for now. :)