Tuesday, August 23, 2011

My Workout and Weekly Activity

In April of 2009, I posted videos of three exercises from my workout.  Since then, I have been promising a full recording of my workout to some readers but haven't delivered.  Well, better late than never...



Thanks to Andrew for recording the workout.  In order, I performed the leg press, leg curl (on the Total Gym Power Tower), pull-ups (on the Total Gym), chest press, compound row, overhead press (Power Tower), and dumbbell biceps curls. I'm not sure why there were kids in the gym, but hopefully they weren't too distracting. 

Something that Dr. Ben Bocchicchio has pointed out to me recently is that many trainees use the negative (lowering phase) of each rep as a break. Since then, I try to slow down at the points during the negative where the resistance increases.  Overall, I don't try to hit a certain speed cadence (i.e. SuperSlow aiming for a 10 second positive and a 10 second negative).  Besides the slowing down at some points during the negative, I gradually begin the positive and negative, and otherwise just focus on keeping the weight moving.

My Weekly Activity

This won't become a regular segment like What I Eat, but for those who are curious, the following is my activity for this past week:

Monday: Upper body strength training workout (about 10 minutes)
Tuesday: Lower body workout (10 minutes)
Wednesday: 20 minutes of basketball (shooting hoops by myself with very little running)
Thursday: 30 minute walk
Friday: Full body strength training workout (15 minutes)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 1 Hour walk


Typically, I will do 3-4 strength training workouts per week, with most of them being an upper or lower body workout only.  I prefer these shorter workouts because, as with anything in life, effort and focus are inversely proportional to time. The split routine workouts are usually three to five exercises spanning about 10 minutes. 

As you see, I squeeze in a walk or some hoops every few days.  I'm an advocate of low level activity (similar to Mark Sisson's recommendations, but without the goal of reaching a target heart rate zone).  Mainly, I use them to break up long sedentary periods, which could be critical to health as I'll explain in an upcoming post.  In addition, getting some shirtless time outside helps attain some quality vitamin D

6 comments:

Fred Hahn said...

Good post. Tell Dr. B I said hi!

Dr. Sean Preuss said...

Thanks Fred. I will.

Floriana said...

Always great to see a video from you, Sean, but I have to say it... Those are super silly looking barefoot shoes. I know they are supposed to be good for you and that Sisson recommends them, but they totally took my attention away from the exercises. Maybe if you were shirtless here instead of during your walks, I wouldn't pay so much attention to the shoes.
Anyway, you look leaner than you looked in previous pictures & videos, so I will guess that you lost more BF. Great job!
In the second exercise, does it not strain your neck to hold your head like that? In the third exercise, do you let the weights go down all the way. I was told (by the trainers in my gym) to go almost all the way down, but not let the plates touch. Which way is best?

Dr. Sean Preuss said...

Hey Floriana,

Welcome back from vacation. The barefoot shoes do look crazy. I won't argue that. I wear them because they are really, really comfortable in addition to being versatile. I'll keep the shirtless idea in mind for the next workout video ;)

As of right now, I'm about 12 lbs. down from the start of May and five down from the last workout video. Thanks.

I moved my neck like that just due to the muscle discomfort. I usually keep it down and rested. In regards to the weights, the ideal (to me) is to set the machine so that the weights touch at exactly the right point to turn around. However, with the row, it's impossible to touch the weight stack without completely resting and straightening the arms.

Dr. Sean Preuss said...

Correction on my last comment: the reason my neck and upper thoracic spine are elevated is for contraction of the abs. Obviously my crunch dissipates towards the end of the leg curl, so I should probably get a pillow of some kind.

Floriana said...

All right, thanks for the explanations. I don't think I'd ever bother with getting a pillow to assist with an exercise. It complicates things and for me the simpler it is, the more likely I am to stick with it.