Gym Routines & Ear Candy

So, as of next week I'll be cleared to return to full activity and I'll be returning to the gym for the first time in about 9 months. (Before surgery I was in a walking boot for 3 months because I had a stress fracture and plantar fasciitis in my left foot.)

So I  have 2 questions;

1. What type of gym/exercise routine do you enjoy? I am not able to stay upright on the elliptical (my balance stinks), but all the other machines are a go. Also, I'll be adding in weight training to maintain muscle mass and bone density, so any ideas for that would be appreciated, too.

2. What do you listen to at the gym? I have a smart phone and loads of data, so music, pod casts, audio books, vlogs...give me everything! I'm open to all suggestions!

 

TIA,

RE

I personally, do 45 mins on an upright bike, ends up being about 6 miles. For weights I do:  First number is reps, second number is # in each set, third # is the weight.  Most of my weights started out much lower. If you can only do one rep then do one, and next time add 5 more to it. By time i get to my 3rd set its hard. I also do 40 lungs, 2 x 30 sec wall sits, and 40 jumping jacks.  For music i listen to Pandora radio, they have a channel for workout music. I tend to listen to one called pop fitness.

Back Extension	3	20	50
Hip Abduction, Machine, Seated	3	20	60
Hip Flexor, Machine, Standing	3	20	60
Seated Row, Floor, Machine	3	20	25
Bench (Chest) Press, Machine	2	20	10
Machine Fly	2	20	10
Shoulder Press	2	20	10
Triceps Pull-down	3	20	10
Leg Curls	2	20	20

 

I do the elliptical,arc trainer, or treadmill for cardio and free weights for strength. 

Music: Pitbull, Beyonce, Usher, Black- eyed Peas...makes the time go by...

I just downloaded a bunch of songs onto my ipod.  If you go to the itunes store they have specific workout albums that are basically songs just speeded up a little!  If you don't have an ipod you can still go look at the songs they used and just download them to your phone.  I actually don't know if you can download onto a phone from itunes or not, my phone you can download songs for free so that's the way to go I just hate that listening to music kills my battery, that's why I got an ipod!

I do 45 mins on the treadmill then into lifting. I just recently got cleared for all strength training (including abdominal workouts) less than a week ago so I'm taking it easy getting back into the swing of things. These are the weight machines my trainer suggested based on my goals which are to tighten my legs, arms, etc to help avoid as much extra skin as possible:

Tricep Press, Bicep Curl, Chest Press, Pull Down, Row, Seated Abdominal Crunch, Leg Press, Hip Abduction, Hip Adduction, Glute, Back Extension.

My trainer has me do 3 sets. 16-18 reps, 14-16 reps then 12-14 reps increasing the weight for each set.

I go to Planet Fitness and just listed the names of their machines. They might very elsewhere.. I'm not sure. Also, I didn't jump face first into all that. Right now I only do the tricep, bicep and row for my arms, glute, leg press and hip abduction/adduction for legs.

The arms and legs were fine but the next day my abdomen was really, really sore right under my breast bone (where I assume my pouch is) from using the seated ab crunch machine. So I took a day off to recover and am going to hold off another week or two before doing any more ab work outs.

As far as what I listen too.. depending on the day and time I'll plug my headset into the little box on the treadmill and watch one of the shows up on the one of the 10 TV stations they have on then just random music on my ipod while I lift. Something else I'll do is because I get bored on the treadmill 90% of the time I will make a special playlist that is about the same length of time I want to spend on it.. so now I have 45ish min worth of various songs. When the music is done playing I know I'm done. Otherwise I find myself staring at timers and distance and it makes for an awful time.

Hope this helped!

I do 5 miles a day on the treadmill.  I may need to increase that because the amount of time it takes has been decreasing.  I also have a multi station weight system at home I use every other day for arms and legs.  My doctor is supposed to approve me for ab work on the 25th.

 

I watch TV because I have the equipment in my home gym and I have a large TV on the wall.  It makes the time go by faster and I can have mini-races with myself like "I gotta get to 3 miles before the next commercial break".  Sometimes I jus****ch an on-demand movie too.

Here is what I do in one hour:

recumbent bike: 15 to 20 min...level 15

treadmill: 20 - 25 min. ..level32 ( light jog)

ab crunch: 100-125 at 50 lbs  (7 min)

leg press: 100 at 150 lbs  (7 min)

leg curl: approx 50 at 70 lbs

butt/small and lower back press: 60 lb for 5 min.

weight for shoulders, arms, upper back.

That is my goal but it also varies according to my mood and how many are in the gym.

A younger person might do and hour on the elliptical but at age 74 this is plenty.

Remember when you start out things are slower and lower than what some people have listed.  If you belong to a gym worth the money to schedule some time with a trainer .  The trainer will take into account your surgery and past injuries.  The trainer also pushes ou past where you would go on your own.  My trainer says I need to find an exercise buddy, who will also keep each other in check.

 

Shortly after my surgery I did mostly treadmill, elliptical and stationary bike. Light lifting. Couple months after surgery I started training with my trainer again and now I do a crazy variety of stuff.... Spin , Treadmill, elliptical, heavy weight low reps, low weight high reps, cardio w/ circuit (strength) training, yoga, Les Mills Body Pump, Zumba (well, I'm trying lol ), kickboxing.

The single most important thing is to find something you enjoy and will stick with it. If it is effective and you hate it too much to do it, kind of loses the effectiveness   :)

 

My trainer made several playlists for me - Sweet Child of Mine, Locked Out of Heaven, Dog Days, Painkiller, 50 Ways to Say Goodbye...