Falling Apart

April 15th, 2007 by LB, under Tough Enough. No Comments

God knows there have been more than a few rough spots in my life,  and this is of course true for all of us.  One of the best strategies I know for moving from those low points to the high,  or even medium, ones is to connect with friends and loved ones, and the very, very best part is how its reciprocal.  Sometimes I’m up and they’re down, and then suddenly, or gradually over time, the tables turn and the roles change, but the conversations and the bonds are the very same.

On Friday I was able to connect with good, good friends and in a moment of brilliance my friend L said:

The really great thing about falling apart, is you get to rebuild yourself in whatever way you want.

How true.

Work It Circuit

February 15th, 2007 by LB, under Fit Commitment, Tough Enough. No Comments

Circuit training is another way to change up your exercise routine, and like supersets can be a very efficient means to help you fit it all in within a short period of time.   Not to be confused with interval training (another post due here I think), circuit training involves intervals of cardiovascular work interspersed with intervals of weight training.  You can vary the length of the intervals, but ideally the cardiovascular portion should be three minutes in the length and the weight training part a minute to a minute and a half.

A sample might look like this:

3 minutes on the Elliptical Trainer, 1 set of Chest or Bench Press, 3 minutes on Stationary Bike,  1 set of Leg Press or Squat, 3 minutes on Treadmill, 1 set of Seated Row

In order to keep the heart rate up sufficiently you really do need to ensure the cardio sections are 3 or minutes in length, but beyond that you can get as creative as you like, even incorporating supersets into the mix.  A sample might look this:

3 minutes on the Rowing Machine, 1 set Chest Press and 1 set Seated Row performed back to back, 3 minutes on the stair climber, 1 set Pec Fly and 1 set Dumbell Reverse Fly performed back to back

Interstingly enough, Curves, which could really take up an entire series of postings on its own, is entirely built on this one small aspect of fitness…..  That said, circuit training is a great way to mix things up and because the intervals are so short it provides a focus to your work out, and makes the time speed by.  Just remember there are hundreds of circuit variations, so be sure not to get stuck in the same old circuit week after week.

Supersets

February 11th, 2007 by LB, under Tough Enough. 12 Comments

Way back when….. I wrote a post on Weight Training Fundamentals, where I outlined things like how many repetitions and sets to complete, as well as the length of your rest intervals and other basic information for getting started.  I also talked about how with any routine changing it up is key.  The same old routine will continue to yield the same old results, and can contribute to overuse of targeted muscles and underuse of neglected muscles, nevermind the onset of boredom.

There are countless ways of mixing up weight training, but my personal favourite is the Superset.  It consists of exercise pairs targeted to work opposing muscle groups.  For example you may pick a bicep-tricep superset where you would pair up an exercise such as a standing dumbell curl, with a tricep pressdown.  The beauty of this format is you can eliminate your rest periods because as you work tricep you automatically actively stretch, and relax, your bicep.  (Active stretching is actually much more effective and functional than the traditional passive stretching, but more on that in a subsequent post.)

With supersets you are able to fill up each 90 second break between sets with an opposing exercise and you can alternate back and forth until you have completed the desired number of sets.  A quadricep-hamstrings  3 set superset could look like this.

Leg Extension, Leg Curl, Leg Extension, Leg Curl, Leg Extension, Leg Curl

This format is ideal for days when you are in a hurry, as you can get in an entire body workout in 15 minutes and it can also serve to keep you heart rate elevated, particularly when done after cardio.  And finally, you could actually skip the stretching at the end as its built into your superset.  How cool is that?