Today’s workout focused primarily on strength training. Cardiovascular workouts are important I will walk my mile or more as needed. In the meanwhile, we start out with the warm-up and limbering stretches. Comfortable clothes are required and I didn’t both with shoes, most of what I was about to do I do at home and on the carpet, bare feet are more comfortable and I can use my toes for counter balance as necessary. (Try it sometime to see if you are more comfortable doing some strength training without shoes).
I have my heart rate monitor, but I don’t pay as much attention to it during strength training as I would if I were circuit training. In circuit training, you are moving from activity to activity at speed and the idea is to keep your heart rate up so you can combine strength training with cardio.
The next step is to concentrate on breathing. I don’t want to pant while I am performing strength training, but rather to have deep, controlled breaths. When you employ proper breathing, you are also more likely to employ proper posture and correct technique. It’s important to do all of these things.
My strength training routine is as follows:
- Shoulder Raises – 6 Right/Left and 6 Left/Right.
- Skull Crusher Triceps Workout – 10 Reps
- Bicep Curls – 11 Left/11 Right
- Shoulder Raises – 8 Right/Left and 8 Left/Right.
- Skull Crusher Triceps Workout – 10 Reps
- Bicep Curls – 11 Left/11 Right
- Shoulder Raises – 10 Right/Left and 10 Left/Right
- Skull Crusher Triceps Workout – 12 Reps
- Bicep Curls – 12 Left/12 Right
As you can see, this is primarily an upper body workout. I isolate areas in strength training. I focused on the upper body today, core on the next workout in a couple of days and then focusing on the lower body on another. The idea is to not over train any one area, but to use specific and much focused exercises to build strength. The whole workout took 20 minutes. That left me 10 minutes for cardio and I managed .68 of a mile. Not bad. How are you doing with your fitness journal?
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