Workout Time

Life happens and little things have their impact in some unexpected ways.

Last week I decided that it was time to get rid of my beater car and get something more reliable before the winter sets in. Besides, I'll need a different vehicle as I transition towards retirement at the end of January. As it turned out, it was Chris that got the new car and I took her car.

I know--what does getting a new car have to do with Healthy Living?

Well, the new car is a little bit longer than my old car and wouldn't fit into the garage without moving the old weight machine out of the way. I've been putting off moving that beast back into the basement where I might actually get some use out of it since I've been back to semi-regular exercising. So Chris' new car was my motivation.

Over the weekend, I bought some interlocking rubberized flooring squares, dis-assembled the machine, cleaned it up, moved it from the garage to the basement, re-assembled it and now it is ready for use!

I don't plan on lifting to bulk up at all. I do plan on using it more for circuit training, moving from one muscle group to another (upper body to lower body, pushing to pulling, you get the idea) and getting a relatively quick, but effective workout.

In a previous life (30 years ago) I worked at a Bally Health Club and circuit training was a pretty big thing for the time pressed club member -- 10 exercise stations, 1 minute each, 30 seconds to move to the next station and set the weight, twice through the circuit made for a 30 minute workout. Since I don't have to wait on anybody or to move from one station to the next, I'm just going to move quickly from one exercise to the next and take advantage of the cardio effect of no in-between rest period.

I'm certain there will be weight adjustments and exercise changes as I get things worked out, but for starters, here is my plan.

3X per week
10 minute warm up on the stationary bike.

1 minute each exercise, push hard for the rep count, 2X

bench press (chest, arms)
leg extensions (quads)
butterfly (chest)
Roman chair knee raises (abs, hips, back)
squats (legs, glutes, back)
seated press (shoulders, arms)
curls (biceps)
tricep pulldowns (triceps)
lat pulldowns (lats, arms)
crunches (abs)

That's 30 minutes.
Depending on the available time, a 30 minute walk or run to wrap it up.

Here goes...

John <><