XxMerlinxX's gym thread.

[XxMerlinxX]

Well I'm finally coming to the end of my journey as a college student. I've got one more semester left, after taking 2 classes this summer, and then I'll be done, provided the University doesn't throw anymore curveballs at me. My plans after school are to get hired by a local law enforcement agency, either on the city or county level, and go from there. This means I need to get my sorry ass back in shape.

I'm 6' and 235lbs. right now and need to get back down to around 200 lbs. or ideally 190 lbs., which I haven't been in about 6 years. To help with this, the g/f and I have joined a new 24 hour gym that has a computer program that helps track your progress. To get a baseline, I had to perform a strength test and the results were less than fantastic. The routine went something like this:

3 Min. Warmup on Bike
Seated Chest Press - 15 Reps - 105 lbs. - I feel like I could probably do maybe 5 or 10 lbs. more, so the weight for this will go up soon.
Wide Grip Pulldown Front - 15 Reps - 90 lbs. - Again, 15 reps is the max of what I was supposed to do, so this weight will go up soon.
Seated Leg Press - 9 Reps - 230 lbs. - This was the one that really got me down, I used to be able to do 300 lbs. back in the day.
Seated Shoulder Press - 7 Reps - 50 lbs. - This was pretty pitiful as well, I'll have to work on it.
Crunches (Floor) - 19 in a minute. - Again, this sucked, I used to be able to do 35 and that was only a year or so ago.
10 Min. Cardio on Bike
3 Min. Cool Down on Bike

Overall I feel like this is a bad/mediocre start, which I guess should just motivate me more. I'm going to try and update this weekly and we'll see where it goes.

 

[klipsch]

Congrats on your decision to get in better shape. Couple of things to keep in mind that too often get overlooked. Actually one thing the other is something else. :laugh: Having a flexibility training program is as important as strength or cardio training. Take advantage of any free trainer consults that the gym may offer. Ask specifically if there is anybody on staff capable of doing an overhead squat assessment. This is more widely used in the field today and will identify strength and flexibility issues that should be addressed as a priority before going forward with any type of aggressive training. Having those strengths and weaknesses identified and developing a program around them will help you to A) Avoid training involved injuries, B) See faster results in your strength training, and C) Have a higher caloric expenditure due to the involvement of more muscle groups needed to train for more overall functionally.
I'll leave it at that since this is a cigar forum, not a training forum, and I don't want to start throwing out terms that will involve much more typing for me to explain. I suck at typing... :laugh: I've been an NASM certified trainer for the past several years.

 

[IBQTEE1]

Hey you have to start somewhere. Kudos for you starting. I have started a better work out program because a co-worker. I am hating it now but I will grow to love it!! (I hope)

 

[XxMerlinxX]

Wanted to update this as I've actually been sticking with it and I'd like to keep a log to show progress or lack thereof. The personal trainer that set me up said not to go over 20 reps, and when I got there, to increase the weight used.

Workout for 4-4-09
Warmup - Bike: 5 mins. @ 159 HR

Resistance Training Start Time - 12:25 a.m.
Seated Chest Press - 65lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps / Set 2: 18 reps
Wide Grip Pulldown - 55 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps / Set 2: 20 reps
Seated Shoulder Press - 30 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps
Concentration Curl w/Twist - 15 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps
Kick Back - 15 lbs. - Set 1: 14 reps
Seated Leg Press - 120 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps / Set 2: 20 reps
Seated Leg Curl - 35 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps / Set 2: 20 reps
Seated Leg Extension - 65 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps
Standing Calf Raise (1 leg) - Set 1: 12 reps / Set 2: 12 reps
Resistance Training End Time - 1:15 a.m.

Ending Cardio - Bike:11 mins. @ 163HR

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Workout for 4-7-09
Basketball - 10 mins.
Warmup - Bike: 7 mins. @ 159 HR

Resistance Training Start Time - 9:10 p.m.
Wide Grip Pulldown (Front) - 60 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps / Set 2: 20 reps
Seated Chest Press - 70 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps / Set 2: 11 reps
V-Bar Pushdown - 45 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps
Seated Arm Curl - 30 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps
Seated Shoulder Press - 30 lbs. - Set 1: 15 reps
Seated Leg Press - 130 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps / Set 2: 20 reps
Adductor - 135 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps / Set 2: 20 reps
Abductor - 135 lbs. - Set 1: 20 reps
Standing Calf Raise (2 legs) - Set 1: 15 reps / Set 2: 10 reps
Resistance Training End Time - 9:45 p.m.

Ending Cardio - Bike: 7 mins. @ 167 HR