Modified Marine Workout

I changed up my workout to a modified version of the Men's Health Marine workout. I love the routines they provide but because they are for designed for men in the 20s and 30s I have to modify the workouts to work of me. So, keep in mind that if you look at the link you will need to make adjustments for your level of fitness. The following are the exercises:

• Sandbag Squat
• Sandbag Deadlift
• Dumbbell Clean and Press
• Dumbbell Swing
• Pullup
• Front Squat to Push Press
• Pushup
• Side Bridge

Again, you can download this program to your ipod for a price but I tend to get the magazine from the library and write them down--I am a frugal fitgal.

One of the Most Important Training Tools

Keeping track of your training is probably the single most important action you can do to make progress. As mentioned in my weekly reviews, the way I tweak my workouts or determine if they are adequate is by going through my workout log. I purchased a small weekly planner from the local dollar store that fits in the side panel of my workout bag. Instead of putting in my activities for the day, I just put in my workouts. Since starting my 2009 goal work, I have found out a number of important items:

1) I can't do back-to-back hard strength training workouts and hard cardio interval training.
2) 2 strength-training sessions per week are adequate for me and allow me the necessary time to recover; if I move to a much lighter strength-training session I may be able to go back to 3/week.
3) I need at least 2 days of light cardio since the other 4 days are pretty tough.
4) My level of physical activity (not structured exercise) is low and needs to be increased.
5) Yoga seems to be the best option for me to incorporate balance, posture, and focused stretching to my routine.
6) If I don't get a workout in at the beginning of the day, the likelihood of getting in a workout diminishes.

Take time to log in your workouts this week and reflect on what worked and what didn't and see if you don't make better progress over the long-run.

Weekly Review March 22

Adjustment to strength training, maintain cardio, added another yoga class!

Weekly Review March 22.mp3

Balance and Fitness

Over the past 5 years another trend has been the use of unstable platforms (Swiss balls, BOSU balls, wobble boards, etc.) to improve fitness. This equipment was previously used for rehabilitation purposes and has now worked its way into the mainstream of fitness items. My preference is not to use this equipment because there are many other ways to challenge balance without purchasing or accumulating another item that won't be used (by most people). The fact that personal trainers have access to them and used them in the gym doesn't generalize to everyone. Personally, I have found doing certain yoga poses to be helpful in developing balance as well as incorporating some movement into my exercises through combination moves (with no or little weight). Watching folks balance on a BOSU ball while trying to curl 25 lbs with each arm (even better, doing squats) seems like an accident waiting to happen. This isn't to say they don't have a use, but most folks can do without them and still obtain the fitness results they desire.

Cardio Tip #3 Change Your Cardio Machine

You may not be getting the results you want from your cardio routine because you never change your choice of cardio machines. Your body quickly adapts to the demands you place on it but like a computer, you have to decide what you want it to do. By changing your cardio machine your recruiting different muscle fibers and calling on your body to do something new. Most gyms have a variety of cardio machince from which to choose so train working on any of the following: treadmill, upright bike, recumbent bike, elliptical, stairmaster, nordic track or rowing machine. That being said, if you really dislike certain machines and thus will not do the work--it is better to stay with what you like and change the workout you do on that machine.