Back to the grind
2013
If you’ve been paying attention to my workouts (why haven’t you been paying attention to my workouts?!), you will have noticed with a sad shake of your head that I haven’t been to the gym over the Christmas/New Year holiday period. TWO AND A HALF WEEKS OF NO GYM, EATING EVERYTHING IN SIGHT, AND DRINKING LIKE A DESPERATE ALCOHOLIC!
I would have gone back this week (I *WOULD*!), except for the fact that I was haunting the hospital at my dad’s. Reasonable excuse right?!
I have just created a new workout routine for myself to kick things up. Why I feel better about doing it myself rather than getting the trainer at the gym to do it is baffling, even to me (control freak!). I have no expertise, I just talked to my friend and workout crew member, Peroxide, about his program, did a bunch of research and created it.
I *did* talk to the trainer before Christmas and he was more concerned about my work being destroyed by inappropriate diet (not junk food, which I don’t eat much as a rule, I just don’t eat a good diet for muscle building), so I will be getting a nutritionist on that in the next week or so.
So, the new weights program is 4 days of drop sets instead of the 3 days of pyramid sets I have been doing (look at me with the technical talk!!).
Drop sets (so called because you reduce (drop) the weight between sets) look like this for each muscle group (with the starting weight being as heavy as I can manage for 10 reps).
60lbs (as an example) for 10 reps – no rest
40lbs, 10 reps (or until failure) – no rest
20lbs, 10 reps (or until failure) – rest one minute
Do the above 4 more times.
I will be doing one day of cardio and possibly some cardio on two other days also. Pilates twice a week will restart again soon. Phew, sounds exhausting! But it’s no more than I was doing before, but it does feel like I am out of practice now!
I expect to be sore in the first couple of weeks. Really sore. Follow me on twitter, where I will whine and complain and generally be a pain in the arse.
Edited to add: Gym math – I *was* doing 48 reps with three failure points for each muscle group. I am now doing 120 reps with 12 failure points. And yeah, I’m sore!
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I just checked out your new routine and it looks very interesting. Judging from the results I’ve seen that Peroxide has attained, I’d say you’re talking to the right one. (YAY Peroxide!… You ROCK!)
As soon as I start feeling better, (in a few more days) I’ll be going back to the gym as well, and I’m going to try to incorporate the same type on changes into my routine as well. The main difference being my time constraints due to a heavy work load.
Good luck with the new routine. I look forward to following up on it and seeing the progress.
Peroxide totally rocks!! He’s been doing drop sets for about a month now and I do think I can see the impact. He’s also been doing some super-serious cardio, which I am NOT at all going to be picking up on.
If you do pick up something like this, please be careful. I am terrified of injuries and you should be too!! Also, note that I am doing each muscle group only once a week, so overstraining is unlikely.
I have *seen* your workouts when you go hard, and you sometimes don’t give your muscles time to rest. They build up during the recovery periods, so you have to give them a chance.
Ferns
I think you should post your progress here, so we can all enjoy your whining, complaining, and general pain-in-the-assiness.
*laugh* I do post the BIG whiny bits, but a lot of my whining is in real time while thinking about, going to, or AT the gym:
“Ugh, lat pulldowns… don’t wanna… oh look, pretty boy doing chin ups… whooo!!!”
and etc…
Ferns
It’s a lot of work to create on of those workout things.
And dont’ laugh – geek that I am, and technology lover I may be, I’ve been recording my routines for the last few years with pen and paper in my home gym.
I’m too tired after a workout to sit in front of the PC and upload a new batch of stuff.
“And dont’ laugh – geek that I am, and technology lover I may be, I’ve been recording my routines for the last few years with pen and paper in my home gym.”
No laughing, I totally get that! I have ways of doing things and I love routine, so if it works, no need to change it.
“I’m too tired after a workout to sit in front of the PC and upload a new batch of stuff.”
I am too: But just to clarify, it doesn’t work like that.
Once I’ve created the routine (that’s the ‘work’ part that I did yesterday), I download it to my iphone and take my iphone to the gym. My iphone serves as a replacement for the paper/pencil planner *and* recorder at the gym, so it tells me what to do, and I record what I have done. When I’m finished with the workout, I synch the results to Jefit.
Ferns
Hello Ferns. Your drill has encouraged me. It goes something like this. 1) I eat well first. 2) I booze well with my meal and after it not before. 3) Before I leave the barmaid hands me a pint mug of drinking water. I drain it. Then she hands me another. I try to drain that too. Good thing is next day I never have a hangover. 4) For one whole day I drink water and eat fresh fruit only. 5) I punch Hell out of the heavy punch bag. Satan
Well we won’t know how well your regime is working until we can see pictures now, will we?
Ferns
Are you ready to be really impressed?
This is my belly: (.)
Results like this just speak for themselves.
Satan
This is my belly ).(
I totally win! I demand prizes!
Ferns
Yes Ferns you should demand prizes.
But when I pull my belly in like this: |.|
It makes my poker look bigger.
I demand prizes for that.
Satan
Pfffttt… anyone can do that |.|
No prizes!
Ferns
You can’t be a dominant woman if you don’t work out regularly! :O
No, of course you ca…
Heeeeyyyy… hold on…
Wait…
What *was* I a year ago then?!!
*ponders*
I reject your theory wholly and soundly!! It is wrong and sucks! You can ask past-me and she will say exactly the same thing!
Ferns
Dominant women also don’t stutter. Or second guess themselves.
Now get down on your hands and knees..
Humour fail.
Ferns