My Timed Workout

[Erik]

Just reading some of the workouts here makes me tired. So for what it's worth, here's mine. WARNING: Long post.

Quick background: I have a two year old, both my wife and I work days, and evenings I work on my writing, so I have 1 hour in the morning to train right now.

I alternate running and bodyweight days right now, and once I've dropped a few pounds and gotten all the parts working again I'm planning a 3 day rotation of running, bodyweight, martial arts (I miss my martial arts!). So:

Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday: Warm-up (5 minutes), Run (45 minutes), Stretch (15 minutes)

Monday, Weds, Friday: Warm-up (5 minutes), Bodyweight Exercises (40 minutes), Stretching (15 minutes)

Running Days

Warm-up:
3 Sun Salutations - Yoga full body exercise, slow, nice warm-up
Core Muscle Strength Drill - from www.powercentering.com; (don't know if they still exist):
1. Assume the basic plank/hover position (elbows on the ground).
2. Hold this position for 60 seconds
3. Lift your right arm off the ground, point it to the side.
4. Hold this position for 15 seconds
5. Return your right arm to the ground and lift the left arm off the ground, pointing to the side.
6. Hold this position for 15 seconds
7. Return your left arm to the ground and lift the right leg off the ground.
8. Hold this position for 15 seconds
9. Return your right leg to the ground and lift the left leg off the ground.
10. Hold this position for 15 seconds
11. Return your left leg to ground and lift your right leg and left arm off the ground, arm pointing forward.
12. Hold this position for 15 seconds
13. Return your right leg and left arm to the ground and lift your left leg and right arm off the ground, arm pointing forward.
14. Hold this position for 15 seconds
15. Return to the basic plank position (elbows on the ground).
16. Hold this position for 30 seconds

Running: 6-7km (10 on Sunday, when I've got a bit more time)

Stretch: 15 minutes, full body

Bodyweight Days

Warm Up: 5 minutes shadowboxing

Bodyweight Program: This is a 4 set, timed-program. Each set is 7 exercises: 1 Full-body, 2 upper body, 2 lower body, 2 core. Each exercise is done for 1 minute, as many reps as possible in that time. 10 seconds between exercises to move to the next. After each set is one minute of running on the spot to recover.

Set 1
1. Jumping Jacks
2. Standard Push-ups
3. Step-ups
4. Bicycle Crunches
5. Chin-ups - standard grip, knuckles away from face
6. Squats
7. Hyperextensions

Run on spot

Set 2
1. Squat Thrusts
2. Handstand Push-ups
3. Lunges - Alternate forward and reverse each leg
4. Left plank with twist - Plank on left side on forearm. Right hand to sky, then right hand to body under and behind you, twisting your body to reach further, repeat
5. Horizontal Pull-ups
6. Side Lunges - Alternate inside and outside each leg
7. Right plank with twist

Run on spot

Set 3
1. Mountain climbers
2. Dips
3. Side Squat Thrust (Left & Right)
4. Superman with boot brush - on stomach arm above head. Raise arms, chest feet & legs off ground, Bring arms to sides, bend legs at knee, touch hands to feet, repeat
5. Assisted Neck Bridge/Boxer neck drill with resistance
6. Straight Backfall - One leg in air in front, sit down on other, roll back, repeat on opposite leg - working towards Pistols
7. Boxer Sit-ups - Brace feet under something heavy, knees bent, sit up 3/4 of the way, punch past left knee (extend & twist body) punch past right knee, sit back 3/4 of the way, repeat

Run on spot

Set 4
1. 3 Step Drill - Start on feet in Left Lead fighting stance, lay on face with head forward, flip onto back with feet forward, Stand up in base to right fighting stance, repeat, alternating
2. Hindu Push-ups
3. Twisting Step up - Face sideways, one leg on step, step up, switch legs and change direction at top, repeat
4. V-sits
5. Wide Grip Chin-ups
6. Calf Raises on Stair
7. Piercing With Leg - On left side, upper body supported on elbow, Kick out with left leg side kick to knee height, pull body in, push off to switch position of head and feet, kick out with right leg, repeat

Lay on ground trying not to cry or vomit.

Stretch

So that's mine. No burpies due to knee problems, but I'm building up to them. Anyone know any other good full-body exercises to add in?

[cheesedog]

That's quite a first post! Welcome aboard.

Nice workout, really can't think of any thing to add, other than to inquire of the nature of your knee problems. I notice you're doing lots of running; I know I had to drop long runs over the years, my knees got so they couldn't take the jarring.

[Erik]

That's quite a first post! Welcome aboard.

Nice workout, really can't think of any thing to add, other than to inquire of the nature of your knee problems. I notice you're doing lots of running; I know I had to drop long runs over the years, my knees got so they couldn't take the jarring.

The knee problems are a manifestation of a major back injury caused be a hard kick to the right kidney/sciatic nerve fourteen years ago. because the damage to my back puts the body out of alignment, it has manifested itself as shoulder problems (bicepital tendonitis) hip problems (recent, seeing a Dr. this Wednesday) on the right side and knee issues on both sides (strain, not damage) as one side tries to compensate forthe other.

And I know I may have to give up running at some point, but I really like it, so I'm working on keeping it going a little longer.

Also, for some reason the running doesn't bother me the way the burpees do. Not sure why.

[cheesedog]

Maybe it's because when you do a burpee, at the bottom of the movement your knees are way past your toes, that can be more stressful to the knees.

Have you tried jumping rope?

[Erik]

I have tried jumping rope, and estimate that in the time it will take me to develop sufficient coordination to get any benefit out of it, I can have trained myself up to run the 2020 AD New York Marathon.

Twenty years of practicing martial arts does not make you coordinated. Sigh.

Good thought on the Burpees. The motion is the same as squat thrusts, however, and those don't bug me. Of course, burpees adds impact so who knows?

[comeny]

hey, the coordination thing isnt that hard
just learn the basic jump (both legs at the same time)
it took me about 4 days to jump pretty good, just do it as much as u can because its a skill

[Erik]

hey, the coordination thing isnt that hard
just learn the basic jump (both legs at the same time)
it took me about 4 days to jump pretty good, just do it as much as u can because its a skill

I know it isn't that hard, but I really don't enjoy doing it very much. I find it boring. At this stage, with so little time to work out, I'm going to stick to the things I enjoy. If I have to give up running, maybe then I'll turn to jumping rope.

Also, I just saw my Dr. The leg problem is most likely a strained gluteus minimus. Annoying as hell but getting better.

[nomamao]

Jumping rope is actually better for your knees, and your hips.

As well as being a full body workout, you can always challenge yourself with much more than speed.

If you are planning to eventually get back into martial arts, then the jumprope will give you hand-eye coordination that one would need in order to spar/compete and it will give you better footwork speed than running alone.

So, it's like running, but better for your joints, works your back and shoulders and definitely isn't "boring" when you have so many different steps to work on... while running is the same all the time.

I'd say in order to save those knees, you might want to ditch the long runs and go for speed, which will also help you with your martial arts in the long run. Pun intended.

Well, whatever you do, don't ditch the idea of jumping rope.

[Erik]

Move across the city and look how life changes.

The little gym is gone, and instead I have a workout room under construction (it will also be a library and office) and a schoolyard/park down the street with part of a fitness trail (pull-up bar, dip bars). I also have a backyard I'd like to do something with, but the cost of replacing the wiring in the house, part of the roof and the floor in the office has left me pretty much broke.

Good thing the park is there.

Now, the problem with the park is that the various useful bits are some distance apart. I've tried doing sets of various things, tried doing things to failure, but I still have to get from Point A to B to C and back in that same one hour I was whining about in the first post on this.

So, here's the new workout. Still timed. Note that it is asymetrical. That's because there's only one place suitable to do abs (a bench in one part of the park), one place good for chins, one place where there's a bar to do assisted pistols, One wall for shoulder push-ups, etc., so all the ab work got put together, and I had to divide everything else up to deal with the way the park is spread out.

Note also that I've started doing burpees. I'm beginning to think what was hurting me the last time I did them was the extra 30 pounds I was carrying. Anyway, I'm going to try them and see what comes of it.

Bodyweight Workout - 3 days/week
Warm-up
Joint Circles (5 min)
Run to Park (3 minutes)

Workout 35 minutes
6 sets of 4 exercises, 1 minute per exercise, 10 seconds to move to the next exercise, 1 minute running to next station then on the spot between sets.

Set 1
Burpees
Pull-ups
Squats
Chin-ups

Set 2
Knee to Elbow
Handstand Push-ups
Front Lunges
Pushups

Set 3
Toe Touches
Bicycle Crunchs
Left Twist Plank
Right Twist Plank

Set 4
Mountain Climbers
Horizontal Rows
Assisted Pistols
Cross Lunges

Set 5
Jumping Jacks
Hindu Pushups
Side Squat Thrusts
Side Lunges

Set 6
Step Ups
Boxer Sit Ups
Hyperextensions
Boxer Neck Exercises(Front, Left, Right)/Assisted Bridge

Cool Down
Run Home (3 minutes)
Stetch (15 minutes)

Running days are pretty much the same.

I'll be doing it for the first time tomorrow (and it is cold, wet and miserable out there tonight, so the rain gear is coming out) and I'll post tomorrow morning to say how it went.

[cheesedog]

Looks solid. Go for it!

[Erik]

First off, I did it. And doing it reminded me of when I used to be in shape. Sigh.

I suck at burpees. Also sucked at the pullups/chinups, mainly because the bar is rather thick and I was wearing gloves because it rained last night and was cold this morning. Much harder doing pullups in gloves. A real workout for the grip.

Felt good, though. Damn good. My legs ached all the way to work.

And speaking of that, I forgot the other part of my morning workout:

- Pick up 30 lb weight, put on shoulders, carry 300 meters.

- Take 30 lb weight off shoulders, carry down 2 flights of stairs in arms.

- Stand for 20 minutes with 30 lb weight in arms because no one will give you their seat on the subway (miserable jerks)

- Carry 30 lb weight up 2 flights of stairs.

- Put 30 lb weight back on shoulders, carry 200 meters.

- Put 30 lb back in arms, carry up 1 flight of stairs to her daycare, drop her off with her teacher, get kiss and hug, then...

- Cool down: walk to work.

Now that's a workout :)

[Erik]

I'll be doing it for the first time tomorrow (and it is cold, wet and miserable out there tonight, so the rain gear is coming out) and I'll post tomorrow morning to say how it went.

Looks like I lied.

September was busy and I completely forgot I'd say how it went

I was doing this workout right up until last week, when the snow started coming and I got good and sick. Loved the workout, loved working out outside. I suck at burpees but was getting better, and now everything is on hold.

It was a good little workout and I'm struggling to make up something new thatI can do inside. Also, my office/library/workout room is also being used to store too much crap and I can't do a thing with it right now, dammit.

But I can use the underside of my desk for horizontal rows, so that's a start, at least.

When I figure out my new workout, I'll post it. Need to get a damn chinning bar set up.

[Erik]

1. Working out outside in winter is fun.

2. Drinking water is good, slopping it so it freezes to your gloves is not.

3. Ice sucks.

4. Layers are our friends.

Haven't been able to get my home gym set up. My office/libray/workout room is currently our office/library/storeroom, so until we can get the stuff out, I can't get the workout in. Also, the guy who was going to build the pull-up/horizontal row station is too busy to do the work.

That said, after being sick for two weeks, I needed the exercise, so outside I went. Dressed for it, of course, and it was only -5C (23F).

Did the circuit workout. Went not bad for a two week lay off. Found clear places to do the pushups and handstand pushups, found a not too icy place to do burpees. Got to get proper lined work gloves because the one's I'm wearing

Again, not bad for two weeks away.

I do want to get my home gym going because I want to focus my training a bit differently and I'd rather make the changes somewhere where I can work out on a level surface.

So this weekend, I'm shopping for a pull-up station if I can find the time. I don't want to screw anything into the door frame and while the cantilevered ones look great, they're only good for door frames up to 6" wide trim to trim. My house is 70 years old. The door frames are 8" wide, dammit.

I also don't want to spend 300 dollars, so I'll have to see what I can figure out.

Until I get it, back to the park I go. Here's hoping it stays above -20.