by Lyle McDonald
Ok, this is the final part of this series. I promise. So, let's put it
all together. A possible workout routine might look like this.
Mon: Warmup, stretch, leg press, leg curl, calf raise, bench press,
Low row, Military press, dumbbell curl, tricep pushdown, crunch
Tue: Aerobics
Wed: Warmup, stretch, lunge, leg curl, calf raise, incline bench press,
lat pulldown, military press, barbell curl, tricep pushdown, crunch
Thu: Aerobics
Fri: Same as Monday
Sat: Aerobics
Sun: Off
Note that there are about a million variations on this workout but
this is merely an example. Also note that I included one day
completely off. My personal belief is that taking a day off from the
gym will help both physically and mentally to prevent burnout. If
you hate just sitting around, go do something nice and easy like
walking or hiking. Also, aerobics can be performed on the same
days as weight training if you don't have time to work out six days
per week.
But, let's say you're very out of shape and even the above workout is
too much. In this case, I would recommend doing four exercises to
start out. These exercises are Leg Press, Bench Press, Row, and
Crunch. The leg press will hit the majority of muscles in the lower
body. The bench press will hit the chest, shoulders, and triceps. The
row will involve the back and biceps and crunches work the abs. As
you get more used to exercising, you can add more exercise when you feel
ready from the above list. I've had great success with this type of
abbreviated workout for extremely out of shape people. If you kill
yourself and don't enjoy exercising, you will never continue it.
Finally (whew!), a few words about training at home. It is completely
possible to do most exercises without equipment like push ups, squats
and crunches. However, most pulling movements are rather difficult to
perform without some sort of additional equipment such as a chinning
bar. The elastic bodyshaping bands can be used to approximate just
about any exercise you can imagine and are availble for around $19.95.
Also, weights can be improvised using milk jugs filled with water
or sand or books or heavy cans or small children. What's probably
more important than how you do it is that you do it. Sure you probably
won't get huge muscles lifting milk jugs, but it sure beats doing nothing.
Also, there are some excellent books put out by a company called Health
For Life (HFL) dealing with home exercising. The first is the Weightless
Workout which details how to get an excellent workout with a minimum of
equipment. Also, for women, there are Transfigure I for the lower
body and Transfigure II for the upper body which describe exercise
routines aimed exclusively at women's particular needs. HFL can be
reached at 1-800-874-5339 and have lots of other excellent courses
available. Oh, BTW, I don't work for them, I just happen to really
like their stuff.
Well, sigh, this is the end of this series. I hope I've provided some good
info for anyone just starting out. I will continue posting and should
have some info on stretching and abdominal training as well as
an intro to sports nutrition coming soon. As always, send questions/
comments/flames/whatever to lyle…@delphi.com.
Also, if you sent me mail and did not get a response, I apologize. My
mailbot has been screwing up lately and some of my mail may have been
lost. I promise to answer every piece of mail I get, so try sending it
again.
Lyle
source: misc.fitness newsgroup, 9 Dec 93.
