jaeleslie

Here is my ideal daily routine: first I read and write all morning. Then I might have an errand or so. Then I ought to have some time to paint and whatnot, before 4:30 or 5 when I start to make our generally early dinner. A lot of days don't work out this way, because the errands take longer, or other stuff happens. Three or four times a week, more or less every other day, I go for a workout, and now that seems to be happening in late afternoon when the boys go to the gym. Hard to get dinner on the table in reasonable time then, and the painting time is squeezed right out. But with all my weather bones complaining lately, I have been reminded how much better I feel if I do the workout, which is really a priority. And as I always say there can only be one first priority.

So I'm very tired this evening, but this is the first day since I got back from conference that I have been able to do two sets of everything on my workout list. Sets of 10 repetitions. I have been doing these exercises (all on the machines) for a year now. My latest modification to keep it complicated is that I do everything to a count of six, three up and three down, not to rush through anything, which would be rather easier than moving the weight slowly. But after I was traveling in April I went from 3 sets of 10 down to 2 sets, and I've been trying to spend more time on the bike (for cardiovascular conditioning). Then when I got back from conference three weeks ago I backed down to one set of 10 of everything, just to get back into it at an easy painless level. Pain bad!

I have all this listed on an index card that I keep in my gym bag, but I don't have to look at it any more. Our gym is closing next month, so everything will change when we go to the new gym.

First I bike on the recumbent stationery bike for 15-20 minutes (up to 25 last spring) to get my heart rate up a bit. Then I go to the machines.

Back (this is sit-ups pushing backwards) 160#
Abs (sit-up pushing forwards) 80#
Chest press (from shoulders, hands press forward) 50#
Pull down 70# (feels good on shoulders)
Pec deck (this is like flies) 50#
Pull over 70# (but they took that machine out last month so
I don't do that any more, felt awfully nice on my shoulders)
Triceps 60# (I used to do a pulldown too, got up to 35# and
then stopped doing that one, enough already)
Biceps (curl) 30# or 40# (depends how I am feeling)
Leg press (this is on a lay-down sled machine) 120#
Calf extensions (same machine) 120#
Shoulder press (from shoulders, hands press upwards) 30#
(This one took a really long time for me to get over 10#
without shoulder pain, in March it was still 20#)
Leg extension (quadriceps) 60#
Leg adductors 60#
Leg abductors 60#
Seated row 60#
Shrugs (this is just raising shoulders while holding weight,
very nice for sore neck and trapezius) 100#
Leg curl (hamstrings) 60#

With all of these I started last year at much lower weights for a couple of weeks, and then increased the weights one notch at a time, as I felt comfortable with it, for six months. Last March I had arrived at these weights, which seem to be a good level for me to work, not trying to develop, just maintain strength and feel better.

In fact when I haven't been slacking off, I can generally now do this at such a fast pace that I am keeping up my heart rate around 130/minute for quite some time, which for an old bird like me is reasonable but not excessive. Had to explain this kind of workout to the kid, who does bodybuilding type workouts with constant increases in the weights he lifts but lots of recovery time between each exercise. I treat myself gently but I don't recover from this exertion nearly as soon as I ought, although that's getting better. The bikes have a pulse-sensor with read out, but I just check it every so often by counting my pulse while I watch a clock's second-hand (count heartbeats for 6 seconds, multiply by 10). These exercises take me about 40 minutes for the two sets of everything, not counting the bike.