A Good Shoulder Workout

Do me a favor, stand up, arms at your side.  Now lift your arms forward until they point straight out in front of you.  Got it?  Good, now put your arms back at your side.  Again, lift your arms but this time straight out to the sides, not to the front.  Hold for a second and put them down.  Finally, lift your arms straight up above your head, hold for a few seconds and then put them back down at your side.  So why the heck did I have you do this?  Because it’s a good illustration of what’s good and bad with many workouts.

Why Direction Matters

It’s funny, but when I say the shoulder muscle group most people hear only the first two words.  They hear shoulders and muscle and that’s all.  So they go ahead and incorporate one or two shoulder exercises into their routine and call it a day.  Unfortunately, the shoulder group is just that, a GROUP of muscles, all working together to move your arms around.  Depending on the direction of the movement, some of these muscles work more, work less or don’t work at all.  Some do a lot of the pushing and pulling and others will just do stabilization so your arms go in the direction you intend.  The important lesson is that they all need to be exercised.  That means a good shoulder workout is one which incorporates a variety of movements, each working out different muscles in the shoulders in different ways.  Let’s take a look at a workout like that.

Front Raises

Lateral Raise

This guy has amazing form by the way!  Look at how steady he is as he raises the weights.

Shoulder Press

Pushups

Pull Ups

Compound Exercises

By the way, if you look at all of these exercises, you’ll see that none of them are machine ones.  I’m not a big fan of various exercise machines because I feel that they isolate muscles too much.  That is, you only work one muscle at a time.  I’m a much bigger fan of these free and body weight exercises which workout multiple muscle groups at a time.  For example, push ups workout the shoulder, the chest and even the abs and back.  Pulls ups work the shoulders and the upper arms and so on.  Plus when you do free and body weight exercises, you recruit a lot of other muscles to stabalize you even if they’re not doing the actual lifting work.

Still, even if you’re a big fan of machine exercises, make sure to workout your muscles in a variety of different ways.  Take a look at these exercises that I listed here.  Each is different even though they all work out the shoulder.  If you only did one of them you’d be doing yourself a disservice.  Now granted, a lot of you are like me and don’t have an unlimited time in the gym to do a dozen different types of exercises, but you do have enough time to do 5 or 6 different ones for each muscle group.  If you manage your time well, you shouldn’t be spending more than 10 minutes on each muscle group.

###

Think about your day to day use of your shoulder.  Are you only using your shoulders to move your arms one way?  Are you always moving your arms forward?  Of course not.  So make sure your workout accounts for all the ways in which you use your shoulder!

And remember, this doesn’t just apply to shoulders.  The only reason I picked shoulders is that, due to their flexibility of motion, shoulders are the best example for this.  The same lesson applies to all your muscle groups.

Boxing Workout

As owner and author of 60 in 3, I tend to get various offers for free stuff.  Most of the time they’re for things I’m not interested in.  Things like diet pills, weird workout gadgets, energy bars and so on.  On rare occasions though, someone comes through with an offer that’s interesting enough for me to look at.  That’s what happened to me last week with LA Boxing.

LA Boxing is a string of gyms spread all around the US which specialize in boxing and boxing related workouts.  Their PR rep made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse.  “Come down to one of our gyms and try out a boxing workout.  Then tell us what you think.”  This came at a perfect time for me since I’ve been thinking about buying a punching bag for my house and I’ve been wanting to try out boxing for a while.  So last Saturday morning I went the local LA Boxing gym in San Jose and spent an hour training.  Note that this was not some special class that they set up for me.  This was their normal Saturday morning class with their regular customers.

First Impressions

My first thoughts as I entered the gym were “huh, this is not what I was expecting.”  Maybe I’ve seen too many boxing movies, but I was expecting a run down gym filled with men hitting one another.  Instead, LA boxing has just one ring, a few exercise machines and class workout area filled with punching bags.  Everything was clean and well maintained.  Also, the customer base included a lot of women and children.  The ratio of women to men was actually a lot higher than any other gym I’ve been to.

Equipment

Each participant picked a punching bag and had boxing gloves.  That was all the equipment necessary.  Gloves were provided by the gym if you didn’t have any.  I would also recommend hand wraps since without them, you’re going to scrape some skin off your knuckles.

The Workout

I’m not sure what I expected from a boxing workout.  A lot of punching a bag I suppose.  What I got was very different.  We started out with the gloves off doing a bit of calisthenics to warm up.  Jumping jacks, push ups, crunches, lunges, jumping squats and so on.  Fast sets with the instructor urging us on.  After 5 or so minutes, we stretched for 5 more minutes and then the workout began in earnest.

The workout alternated boxing combos with calisthenics.  For example, the instructor would show us a 6 or 8 move combo and have us repeat it multiple times using either speed or power.  Speed means you punch fast, power means you punch hard.  Either way, the workout was very fast paced and much more demanding than I expected.  After each 5 minute punching set, Tony (the instructor) had us do 5 minutes of other exercises like crunches, leg lifts and lunges.  These sets worked out muscles that the boxing parts of the workout did not.

The combination of boxing and calisthenics had me sweating in no time.  Now I’m in pretty good shape but I have to say that I found the workout very challenging.  I got caught up in the boxing parts and was enjoying them so much that I didn’t notice how much energy I was pouring out into that bag.  By the end, I was sore and covered in sweat.  Still, it was a good kind of sore, that kind you get from a great workout.

Notes

Dexterity - This is one of the few workouts that I felt worked on dexterity as well as physical conditioning.  The various combos and moves you work on will improve your hand eye coordination as well as your overall agility.  That’s a benefit I have not seen in any other workout.

Full Body - I expected a boxing workout to only work out my upper body, but the combination of boxing and other exercises made sure that my whole body participated.

Boxing High - A few weeks ago I spoke about a runner’s high and mentioned that it’s something you can only get when running.  Well, now I’ve experienced something new, a boxing high.  It’s not the same as a runner’s high but there’s just something about punching that bag.  Maybe it’s a guy thing, I have no clue, but wow.  I wasn’t just physically tired at the end of that workout, I was emotionally spent as well.  Any aggression, hostility or other kind of negative emotion, it all went into that bag.  It felt good.

Recommendation

Would I go back?  Definitely!  LA Boxing is a bit far away from my house but still.  I enjoyed that workout so much that the trip back would be worth it.  In the meantime, I’m definitely thinking of installing a punching bag in my garage and doing some boxing workouts of my own.  If you have a boxing gym anywhere near you, sign up for a class and see if you like it.  I think you will.

Thank You

Thank you to Monica and LA boxing for giving me the chance to attend a class.  Thank you to LA Boxing San Jose for being my hosts.  And thank you to Tony Johnson, my instructor, for an incredible workout.  If you’re in the San Jose area, you can contact Tony and LA Boxing at (408)729-5269.

###

And thank you to Me-Ander for including a 60 in 3 article in their debut weight loss carnival.

What’s A Good Workout?

I get this kind of question a lot “here’s my routine, is it good?”  The routine in question can vary.  Some people tell me about their cardio routine, others tell me about their weight lifting days.  I even get questions about things like Wii Fitness workouts and the SEAL training regimen.  The answer to all of these is “well, it depends.”  There’s no specific set of exercises or routines that is good or bad.  Yes, there are a few exercises that are more injury prone and a few that are less effective than others, but almost any workout can be good if done correctly.  So rather than go into specifics, I’d like to present to you a few general rules on what makes a good workout routine.

Cardio

Yes, cardio is a must for any workout routine.  Three to four times a week, you should be engaging in high level exercise that elevates your heart beat to around 70% of max, give or take a little.  You should maintain this for at least 15 to 20 minutes AFTER you reach this heart rate, which could mean an additional 15 to 20 minutes of warm up.

Running, biking, playing basketball, swimming, aerobics, jazzercise, spinning, whatever you pick, it’s all good as long as you follow the above rule.  Each of these activities has its advantages or disadvantages and you’re going to have to try them and decide for yourself which one you like best.  You can even mix and match like I do, doing running a couple of days and elliptical the other days.  As long as you’re doing something that gets your heart rate up, you’re good.

Weight Training

Yes, you do need weight training and yes, even if you’re a woman.  At least two times a week would be my recommendation and three or four if possible.  Now weight training does not necessarily mean training with weights, so I suppose I should call this resistance training if I want to be more accurate.  For example, doing push ups is great resistance training even though it involves no weights.  Some forms of Yoga are good resistance training, as are some forms of pilates.  Whatever you pick, it needs to challenge your muscles.  You’re basically trying to work your muscles to the point of failure.

You know that point where your arms are quivering and you’re not sure you can lift anything else?  Yes, that’s the point of failure.  You want to do that with all the major muscle groups in your body and you want to do it multiple times a week.  By the way, guys should know that there are muscle groups other than chest and biceps and girls should know that there are muscle groups other than ass and legs. 

Seriously though, you should be challenging every muscle group in your body to the point of failure multiple times a week.  Preferably in a variety of ways.  So for example, a good chest workout means three or four different types of exercises each done to the point of failure.  The reason for this is because a muscle group is just that, a group.  It’s not just one muscle.  Each exercise trains and challenges different muscles in different ways, even within the same muscle group.  Lifting weights straight forward trains muscles differently than lifting them out to the side, which means different muscles in the same muscle group are being used.  So doing multiple types of chest or leg exercises means all the muscles within those muscle groups are trained, not just one.

Also, if you’re curious, the main muscle groups most people train are upper arms (biceps and triceps), Shoulders, Chest, Abs, Back and upper legs (which includes your butt).  Sure, you can train the lesser muscle groups like calves and lower arms, and if you have time, I highly recommend that you do.  However, for those of us with limited time, focus on the major muscle groups.  Even better, do compound sorts of exercises that train multiple muscle groups at the same time.  For example, squat down with dumbbells in your hands.  Now slowly stand up.  As you stand up, extend your arms up, lifting those weights over head and keep straining up until you’re standing on your tip toes.  Guess what, you just training multiple muscle groups (upper legs, shoulders, triceps and calves) all at the same time.

Keep Active

Yes, a workout doesn’t just include your time at the gym.  You need to use those muscles you built.  That means that when you’re not in the gym you should still keep active with things like walking, yard work, dancing or really energetic sex with your partner!

Rest

Your body does need a break from time to time.  Pick one day a week and try to take it easy that day.  No hikes or dances and keep the sex to a slightly less than energetic level

Read more
How to design a workout
Four day workout

###

If you’re curious, my current workout include resistance training three times a week for about 45 minutes each.  Jogging twice a week for about 45 minutes each and elliptical three times a week for about 40 minutes.  Plus I stay active on non workout days other than Sunday, that’s my rest day.

Workout Entertainment

Ahh, the iPod. In the few years it’s been available, this little device has become the loyal companion of many a workout. Runners on the street, bikers on the road and weight lifters in the gym all have ear phones in and iPods (or other MP3 players) playing. It’s gotten to the point where most people wonder through the gym in their own little MP3 worlds, paying little attention to what’s going on around them.

Some people find this offensive.  I’ve heard complaints about the iPod wearers, claiming they’re antisocial or unfriendly.  Personally, I don’t mind.  If it helps you make a workout more entertaining, that’s great.  If it makes a workout more fun, even better.  So I thought I’d make a few recommendations when it comes proper workout iPod use.  These are based on my own experiments of what works and what doesn’t.

Arm Band - If you’re going to use an MP3 player, make sure you do it in a way that doesn’t interfere with your workout.  Armbands are best.  They’re the little band that goes around your bicep and holds the mp3 player there.  Shirt clips are ok but the players tend to bounce a little, which could be distracting.  Pockets are bad, players fall out of them and distract you at the worst possible time.  Also, make sure your headphone cords aren’t in your way.

Faster Paced Music - You really don’t want something with a slow pace.  Faster rhythms have been shown to elevate heart rate and contribute to physical performance.

Educate Yourself - As a good alternative to music, try a podcast.  There are hundreds and thousands of them available online for free.  You can use your workout as a time to learn a new language, listen to news or learn about the world around you.  This is especially good for cardio sessions that tend to be a bit boring.  A distracting podcast can make the jog fly by.

No Comedy - Unfortunately, comedy or anything that will make you laugh is not a good idea.  Laughter makes you lose control of some bodily functions.  Yes, I realize most podcasts won’t make you laugh until you pee, but they might make you laugh to the point where you are distracted or unable to steady yourself while lifting weights.  A good joke at the wrong time can easily lead to injury, and I base this on a very amusing if somewhat painful personal experience!

Turn the volume down - If you’re wearing earphones but I can still hear what you’re listening to, you’re playing it too loud.  Not only is this rude to the people around you, it’s also damging to your hearing.

Pay Attention - Just because you’re listening to music doesn’t mean you can ignore the world around you.  The majority of people annoyed with headphone wearing gym goers are annoyed because they feel ignored.  We ask you to work in on some machine and you ignore us, caught up in your music.  We say hello to you and you ignore us, caught up in whatever is playing on your iPod.  We ask you to spot for us and you ignore us, focusing more on whatever you’re listening to.  Enjoy your music, but also pay attention to the people around you.

###

If you’re looking for some good podcasts, try anything by NPR.  Marketplace and Talk of the Nation are my favorites.

Love This New Exercise: Dumbbell Pushups With Rotation

Yes, I’m a fitness geek.  I actually go on YouTube and search for exercise related videos to see if there’s anything new and cool to learn.  Today, I found this great new way to do pushups, which I’m planning to add to my routine.

It looks perfect.  Not much equipment needed, just some dumbbells.  Plus it’s a compound exercise, which means that it works out multiple muscles groups at once.  In this case, it looks like a great workout for your chest and back.

###

I’ll tell you how things went next week.

My Workout Routine

My workout has changed a bit over the past few months and I wanted to share my new routine with all of you.  Please note that I change weights and # of reps by day, so I’m going to list each exercise with 3 sets of numbers.  Each set stands for a number of reps and a certain weight which I use on a particular day.  If it’s a particular exercise where you do 1 side and then the other, like lunges, the number of reps is per side.  If it’s a barbell exercise, I do it with dumbbells instead since my gym does not have a set of barbells.  Also, I’m going to use the name of each exercise as a link to a video that shows how to perform that exercise.

Back and Abs

• Leg Raises - This is a body weight exercise which means I use no extra weight.  On Mondays I do 10 reps, on Tuesdays I do 20 reps, on Thursday I do 20 reps.
• Deadlift - I don’t use the stiff leg pose you can see in the video and instead keep my knees slightly bent.  On Mondays I do 10 reps with 150lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 170lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 90lbs.
• Knee To Chest Crunches - This is another body weight exercise.  On Mondays I do 10 reps, on Tuesdays I do 20 reps, on Thursday I do 20 reps.
• Single Arm Row - Mondays I do 10 reps with 75lbs, Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 85lbs and Fridays I do 15 reps with 45 lbs.
• Alternate Sit Ups - This is another body weight exercise.  On Mondays I do 10 reps, on Tuesdays I do 20 reps, on Thursday I do 20 reps.
• Bent Over Row - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 150lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 170lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 90lbs.

Legs

• Lunges - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 100lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 120lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 60lbs.
• Deadlift - I don’t use the stiff leg pose you can see in the video and instead keep my knees slightly bent.  On Mondays I do 10 reps with 150lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 170lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 90lbs.
• Squats - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 150lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 170lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 90lbs.
• Calf Raises - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 150lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 170lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 90lbs.
• Abductions - This is another body weight exercise.  On Mondays I do 10 reps, on Tuesdays I do 20 reps, on Thursday I do 20 reps.
• Adductions - This is another body weight exercise.  On Mondays I do 10 reps, on Tuesdays I do 20 reps, on Thursday I do 20 reps.

Biceps and Triceps

• Sitting Preacher Curls - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 100lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 110lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 70lbs.
• Bench Triceps Extensions - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 100lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 110lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 70lbs.
• Hammer Curls - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 35lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 40lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 25lbs.
• Overhead Triceps Extensions - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 35lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 40lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 25lbs.
• Sitting Concentration Curls - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 40lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 45lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 30lbs.
• Skull Crushers - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 75lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 80lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 45lbs.

Chest and Shoulders

• Barbell Bench Press - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 170lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 180lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 100lbs.
• Lateral Raise - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 70lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 80lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 50lbs.
• Shrugs - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 170lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 180lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 100lbs.
• Pushups - This is another body weight exercise.  On Mondays I do 10 reps, on Tuesdays I do 20 reps, on Thursday I do 20 reps.
• Pull Ups - These are weight assisted pulls up which means a higher weight is actually easier than a lower weight.  On Mondays I do 10 reps with 100lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 70lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 120lbs.
• Overhead Press - On Mondays I do 10 reps with 100lbs, On Wednesdays I do 5 reps with 120lbs and on Fridays I do 15 reps with 60lbs.

Cardio

• Monday - Elliptical at a high difficulty for 40 minutes
• Tuesday - Treadmill at 6.5mph and 1.5% incline for 45 minutes
• Wednesday - Elliptical at a high difficulty for 40 minutes
• Thursday - Treadmill at 6.5mph and 1.5% incline for 45 minutes
• Friday - Elliptical at a high difficulty for 40 minutes

Some Things To Notice

• One set a day - Yep, I don’t believe in multiple sets of a specific exercise per day.  I get most of the benefit from the first set anyway and the other sets just bore me.
• Alternate muscles - This workout is set up so that no two consecutive exercises are working out quite the same muscles.  That way I don’t have to rest as much in between sets.
• Different By Day - Each day is different.  Monday I do all the exercises at an average weight and number of reps.  Tuesday I do just body weight exercises and then run.  Wednesdays are like Monday but no body weight exercises and I do less reps with more weight.  Thursdays are like Tuesdays.  Fridays are more weights and no body weight exercises but with more reps and less weight.  Again, this keeps me interested and keeps the workout challenging.
• Similar weight - You’ll notice that I use a lot of the same weight.  For example, 6 out of the first 12 exercises use the same set of dumbbells.  Sure, this is a little less optimal in terms of a workout but it’s great in terms of time efficiency and it lessens the need for me to memorize what I need to lift.
• Lots of freeweights, very few machines - I’m a great believer in freeweights and I think they give me a better workout.  However, your mileage may vary.  I recommend playing around with both freeweights and machines before deciding what you like.
• My weights are increasing - If you some some of my older spreadsheets, you’ll notice that most of these weights are higher now for the exercises I’m still doing.  My progress is slow but constant and I’m perfectly happy with that.

###

Next week we’ll talk diet!

Increase or Decrease Weight By Set?

If you’ve been to the gym on a regular basis, you will eventually see the following behavior.  Someone is working out with freeweights, doing some common exercise like bench presses.  They do a set and then they change weights, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing.  They do another set and again they change the weight.  In fact, they go on like this for multiple sets, usually four or five, changing the weight each and every time.  Is this normal?  Is it helpful?

Well, Maybe…

As with many things, the answer isn’t quite as straightforward as you would think.  There are reasons for and against both increasing and decreasing weight.  However, the difference is rather small.  In fact, unless you’re a serious body builder, you probably don’t have much to gain from increasing vs. decreasing weights.  However, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the impact of weight altogher.

The Right Weight

The right weight is the one at which, when you do your target number of reps, you can barely do the last rep.  For example, if I plan on doing 10 reps, then I should pick a weight where, on the 10th rep, I am barely able to lift the weight.  If I can easily do an 11th and a 12th rep, then I’m using a weight that’s too low for me.  The same applies to any number of reps.  For example, if I want to do 5 reps, then I should pick a weight that will be very difficult on the 5th rep and pretty much impossible on the 6th rep.  That’s called “working to failure” or “failure point”.  That last rep is the failure point at which you simply cannot complete another full rep.  Ideally, every set of exercises you do goes to the failure point.

NOTE - This applies to everyone, not just body builders.  And yes, it applies to women too.

What Does This Have To Do With Increasing Or Decreasing Weight?

A lot.  Think about the fact that many people do multiple sets.  For example, I used to do 4 sets of 10 reps for each exercise.  So for example, I would do 10 lunges, rest a few seconds, 10 more, rest, 10 more, rest and then 10 more.  That’s 4 sets of 10 reps.  Now clearly, as I do more and more of these sets, I’m going to be pretty tired.  That means I’m going to have a harder time with the weight.

If I used the same weight for each of these sets, I would have an easy time lifting it on the first set and I might find it impossible to even complete my fourth set.  To compensate for that, I would start out with a higher weight and decrease the weight as I progressed in sets.  So the first set might be with 120lbs, the second with 110, the third with 100 and the last one with 90.

So Decreasing Weight Is Good?

That’s not what I’m saying.  Decreasing weight is just a means to an end.  That end is always working each set so that you’re unable to do even one more rep at the end of it.  Decreasing the weight was just one way of achieving that.  I could have done it in other ways.  For example, I can do:

1. Set 1 - 12 reps with 100lbs
2. Set 2 - 10 reps with 100lbs
3. Set 3 - 8 reps with 100lbs
4. Set 4 - 6 reps with 100lbs

This way I can keep the weight the same while still working to failure on each set.

Alternatively, I could do:

1. Set 1 - 20 reps with 60lbs
2. Set 2 - 15 reps with 80 lbs
3. Set 3 - 10 reps with 100lbs
4. Set 4 - 5 reps with 120lbs

This approach is just as valid.

These days I only do one set of exercises per workout.  So I’m never doing multiple weights.  However, I do change weights per day so that on Monday I might be doing a set of 10 lunges with 100lbs.  In Wednesday I do a set of 5 lunges with 160lbs while on Friday I do a set of 20 lunges with 70lbs.  Again, it’s not about increasing or decreasing weight, it’s about always working to failure and making sure that last rep is really the last one that you can do.

One Last Point

The only real benefit of decreasing and increasing weight is change.  Change is good for your body.  Doing the same thing over and over in the exact same way tends to lead people into a rut.  They get stuck with one routine and can never improve.  Changing weights can be a way of forcing your body to adapt to different conditions and that’s a good thing.  So whether you change weights every set or every day, just keep trying new things and always work towards that failure point.

###

Speaking of which, today was my blowout workout with 50% the normal weight and but only half the reps.  I loved it!  If anyone hasn’t tried something like this before, I highly recommend it.

« Previous Page — Next Page »