So, recently I started going to the gym. For lack of space for the desired equipment, I opted to go to the Gym. Although there are some things I do at home, I needed the proper machines for the remainder of the routine. Since I have a rather bad shoulder injury, I set my routine to accommodate this. It means I am not looking for an Animal workout, or to achieve a bodybuilder physique. I chose to tone up and strengthen things. My home workout consists of:
Side abdominal crunches and dumbbell workout. For the side abs I lie down on my side and crunch upward depending on which side I am on for 50 reps. Then I roll over to the other side and do another 50. After the side crunches, I do this > Laying on my side, bring up the top knee slightly and roll slightly so my back is at 45 degrees to the floor (one shoulder higher than the other). From here I do outer ab crunches of 30 reps for each side to work the area between my sides and my outer abdomen. I am hesitant to do many sit-up crunches due to an abdominal mesh, but the exercises I do for both sides, does also help tone up the main abs area. As for myself, I do this just as I crawl into bed for the night, before I get settled in. I do this every night.
For the dumbbell workout I only have a few exercises. I do the typical curls, pulling curls, and tricep pushes.The typical curls are just as you would expect. In a sitting position, I hold the weight between my knees and let it naturally hang down. I do 20 reps with each arm. From there I use the same weight and do what I call pulling curls. It mainly works the bicep areas. From the natural hanging position of the weight, I bring the weight up half way, and from there I do a combination of half curl and half lifting the weight vertically towards my chin with my bicep and shoulder, never straightening the arm. It's kind of like if you were standing up, slightly bent over, and lifting the weight up to your chest instead of curling motion. I combined the two as it works the bicep quicker and tends to isolate the muscle group down to mainly just the bicep. I do 20 of these for each arm. The tricep pushes are done by bringing the weight up to where my elbow is at the same height as my eyes, from a starting position of the weight standing on your shoulder. From there I push the weight straight up while straightening my arm just a bit for each rep. I work my triceps as a focus point. I don't use my shoulder to push. It's all done in the tricep area muscle group. I do 25 of these on each arm. After a short breather, I repeat the set.
This is the extent of my home workout, so I now go to the Gym 3 days a week to use the machines. To start out, I get on an exercise bike and ride 5 miles to work on leg strength and endurance. I also have a bad knee so it helps to strengthen all the stuff inside my knee, and help circulation. After a brief rest (very brief) I'm off to the Chest press machine to work my shoulders and chest. I start with 20 reps on a lower weight to warm up. From there I go to the Fly Machine ( the one with the forearm pads) to work my chest and shoulders and knock out 20 reps. After that is another Fly machine only using hands to help with forearm and wrist along with shoulders and chest. 20 reps on that also. The final machine is the Lat Pulldown. I have to be careful on this one as it requires lots of shoulder extension so I'm going light on the weights. I do 20 reps there too.
When I finish this set I take a quick breather and do it all over again with a bit more weight added. On the chest press during the second set, I also do additional short pushes to help work the triceps. I push all the way out, and only bring the handle back about 10" and push back out. After the 2nd set of these machines, I get back on the bike and ride another 5 miles to 'cool down'. The bike is my only source of leg exercise. Stair climbers and treadmills are too hard on my bad knee to risk injury, but I figure 10 miles, 3 times a week is fair enough :)
Usually when I am sitting in front of the computer, I do tend to flex my chest muscles and arm muscles for a count of 20-30 seconds from time to time. Just a bit of isometric 'micro exercises' during the day. I do this also with my calves. I also live upstairs in the home so I make frequent trips up and down the stairs.
Like I said, I'm doing this to tone and strengthen. I have no wish to bulk up or anything in that nature. I'll be 60 in a couple months, but I have no desire to feel like it. I feel more like I am in my 40's, and I plan to keep it that way. I know I won't have the traditional '6-pack' abs, but I'll be fit and trim. I was nearly 200 lbs at one time, and I don't ever want to see those days ever again. I'm 5'7" tall so that was a bit too heavy for my frame, not to mention harder on my knees. I'm close to 150 lbs now, and I can work with what I have now with good results. If you're considering this, plan your workout and work your plan. Don't overdo it. There's time to add weight, and times you're ok with what you started with. It's the effort and commitment that matter.
6/29/21: After a few trips to the gym, I have modified my routine. After a few runs on the exercise bike I found it was becoming troublesome on my right knee, so I have cut back on the time/distance. Plus I discovered the bike I was using is worn down and had less resistance. I switched to a different and it was putting excess stress on my knee. So now I ride it for 10 minutes for a distance of just over 2.5 miles per session. I still do this first and last in my routine. A also added the preacher curl bicep machine to my daily, as well as a 3rd set on the chest push and the lat pulls. I'll keep you posted on the progress.
7/6/21: Updated my routine again. I've added the Deltoid machine, as well as the Rowing machine for shoulder pulls. I'm now riding 5 miles on the bike. This should be my solid ritual from here on in. I've actually put on a few pounds, so I'll be working that off more diligently. 4th of July meals were the culprit :)
7/12/21: Updated my routine one more time. I am now doing 3 sets on 5 different machines, while still doing 4-5 miles per day on the recumbent bike. I'm still maintaining my diet and focusing on muscle tone at this point. I may work on strength later, but endurance was my main goal. I'm still going 3 days a week, but may add a 4th day to the ritual depending on my near future schedule. It's a 48 mile drive for each day, so the gas will be a factor for now. 😉
8/1/21: I haven't been to the gym in just over a week. I took time for other priorities. My mother has had quite a few trips to the Clinic as her health needs attention. Recently we had to quarantine while she was awaiting her Covid test results, which came back negative, but we still quarantined for a couple days. If she is feeling better next week, I will continue my gym visits.
8/24/21: To date, I am now using 6 different machines, with 3 sets each. I just ordered another bottle of Reducer supplements from GoLo to trim off this last stubborn 5 lbs at my mid section. It's always the last 5 pounds that are the most stubborn, so I'm going after it.
10/5/21: Still doing the 6 or 7 machines at 3 sets each. In retrospect, I am paying the monthly gym fee, but the gas to get there and back is about $80 a month. Combined the monthly cost for this is over $100, but for the reason I'm even doing the gym routine is entirely worth it. While this routine will get me in better shape, I'm not really doing it for me. I'm just trying to stay relevant, and not just be another face in the crowd.
10/21/21: Starting today, I am doing 4 sets on 6 machines, and occasionally reps on a few different machines. A while back, I cut down the distance on the recumbent bike as it was beginning to bother the ligaments in my knee. Until the MCL improves, I'll be doing only 1 mile per day. My physique is still in that awkward transient stage just before the muscle tone starts showing defined and muscular. My upper body is is great shape for my age, and I'll continue to do it, at least until I get back from Tokyo. We'll see.
10/24/21: I also increased my night time crunches. I am now doing 50 oblique crunches and 50 side crunches on each side, bringing the total to 200. I still cannot do the primary crunches as the concern for this floating abdominal mesh is still ongoing.
11/4/21: When I started out on those machines, I started out with a lower weight just to condition my muscle. Usually about 40 pounds. Over the duration of my routine, I am now up to 100 pounds. I expect to peak at about 125, as I am more determined to get tone than to bulk up. I know 100 pounds isn't all that much, but presently it is 2/3 of my body weight. I'm still in that awkward stage that I am not losing weight, but transforming my weight into more muscle. My weight seems to have leveled out at about 150 pounds, and I'm fine with that. At one time I was nearly 200 pounds, and in rough physical shape.
1/2/22: It's been a while since my last update. As of late, I have been having issues with my left wrist, so my ritual has been changed. I am bypassing the bench press type machines as they cause the most discomfort. I have worked my way up to doing my body weight (150) on the Pectoral Fly machine. I still do the pull downs. I also focus on the Preacher Curl machine. I'm only doing 80 lbs at this point since I'm going for tone instead of bulk. I only do the half curls (top swing) to concentrate on the biceps and forearms. I still ride a mile or two on the bike, but I'm more focused on my upper body conditioning. As far as the ab crunches, I'm now up to about 250. 50 each side on obliques, 50 each for oblique back, and 50 straight crunches. For days off, I try to do isometric targeting, and hold it for 30 seconds each time. I will consider planking at some point in the future.
1/25/21: Still having the wrist issues so the last post still applies. I'm still doing my sets and reps, but have just started with a few of the leg machines.
2/25/22: At this point, I have noticed the change in muscle structure. My arms are more defined as well as my chest muscles. My abdominals are not where I'd like them, but given the circumstances, I can't expect much more. I usually end up using about 8-10 machines so far, and still ride a mile or two on the bike. I still do the ab crunches on the non-gym days. I have the muscle tone but not the look. I still don't want to antagonize the abdominal mesh malfunction. I'm still considering a home gym machine. Currently, I pay $27 a month for gym fees, but gas is costing up to $130 a month. To me it is worth every cent, because of the main reason I chose to get back in shape. But I could pay this machine off in about 6 months and not worry about driving anywhere, and work out whenever I like. But I'm still in better shape than half of the people who are half my age.
3/1/22: Today I ordered a home gym. While I enjoy the big Gym, I'm spending about $1500 a year for gas just to get there and back. Instead of putting all of that wear and tear on my truck, I decided to do it all at home. I'll be able to do Flys, bench press, lat pull downs, leg curls, preacher curls, tricep curls, and half a dozen other exercises on it. It is a stacked weight machine, as I really didn't want a bunch of fee weights all over the place. This machine takes up a 1 meter by 1.5 meter floor space with a resistance capable of about 300 lbs. It will be here in just over a week. I'll keep you posted.
3/19/22: The gym process has become a parade of laziness. Last week box 1 of 3 showed up. It was 5 plate weights for the machine. A few days ago, box 2 of 3 arrived on my door step. It looked like this
I had to laugh, because I pretty much expected this box to look like that, and I wasn't far off. Nonetheless, I 'unboxed' the contents and found everything to be intact and unbent. I started putting it together the following day but had to stop as Step 2 calls for all the weights. They would be in the 3rd box. Unfortunately the 3rd box never showed up. I contacted Amazon since there was no way possible to contact the seller. Long story short. They had to cancel the order, and request a reshipment. Although I only need one small box, they are sending the whole damn gym again. Even after I told them it was a waste of logistics and time, they did it anyway. The seller told Amazon the 3rd box was lost. Amazon scheduled a pickup on March the 25th to carry back the 2 of 3 boxes I didn't need, and I could keep the 3rd box this time. I checked Amazon for the result, and the seller says they will ship a new gym, but it won't be here until April 19th. Go figure. They scheduled a pickup at my door on the 25th, 3 weeks before the merchandise even shows up. And if there was nothing to pick up, I would be charged for shipping. Shipping on, well, nothing. I called Amazon Customer Support again and they offered to contact the seller. I told them to go for it, since the customer had no way of doing so. So at this point, I have a scattering of gym parts in the back room waiting to be assembled, and it may take a month for 4 plate weights to show up. I cannot just put them in later. The entire top section of the gym will have to be removed, along with the cables, pulleys, and hardware. In the meantime, I cancelled my Gym membership as I figured the gym would already be together. And the fact that I would be spending upwards of $200 a month just for gas, was reason enough to stop. So here I am, almost a month after the order, having to wait another month for 5 pieces to finish it with. I refuse to let it eat at me or make me mad. I will do what I can to get by, and hopefully I can get some good time with it before my Tokyo trip.
3/29/22: After deliberation with Amazon, things were put back in to motion. All I needed for the whole gym was box 3 of 3. Today 2 boxes arrived. Box 1 and box 3. So I need to have UPS return the one unopened box. But at last all the pieces are here now, and I'll resume construction tomorrow after lunch. I'll post a few pics after it's all put together. Then the fun begins! I can get back to building the muscles I wanted to get before my vacation 😀
9/15/22: A little update since my last entry. I still use the gym often, but my routines are a bit limited due to the shoulder injury. Many movements exert quite a bit of pressure on the rotator cuff and humeral head mechanisms. Since some of the ligaments and tendons are no longer in the correct place, I modified my workouts to accommodate this. As far as physical progress, my upper body is more toned as well as firm abdominal muscles. In retrospect of the umbilical tear, the muscles in that area are spreading instead of tightening, so I am at terms with the prospect of not having 6 pack abs. Although the abdominal mesh has now fully invaded my interior cavity, it's still somehow holding my naval in place. They're still strong though. Below is a pic from earlier this year. I have lost 5 more pounds since then, and have added 20 pound dumbbells to my routine for a more focused workout for my biceps/triceps and shoulders. I feel it is quite an accomplishment for being 60. A year ago I weighed nearly 200 pounds so I am proud of my progress even if very few notice. I've gone from wearing size 36 pants that I could not zip up, to size 32 and I need a belt to keep them up. I also went from wearing a size large shirt to a medium. My hair is brushed back, but I'm not bald on top 😁
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