The Exercise / Workouts / Good Health Thread

[Duncan Glenday]

I'm happy to participate.

About 15 years ago, I started lifting weights. I started really small, with just a single 20-pound bar, doing a variety of simple exercises, and I was amazed how fast I made progress. I then got some weight sets, squat racks, and a bench and got more into it. When a gym opened near our house, my wife and I joined (she had gotten into weights as well) and we did that for many years, until COVID hit, and we retreated to our home equipment. Since then, we've purchased more home stuff - more weights, another squat rack - and we each workout three times per week.

My current routine is three sets of dumbbell military presses, reverse incline pullups, dumbbell or EZ-Bar curls, dumbbell bench presses or pushups, lateral raises, farmers walks, and squats. I do enough weight to push to near failure on the last few reps/steps of my final set and adjust weights or reps accordingly over time. I work in super-sets of two or three exercises, so I get a very good cardio workout as well. When I started lifting, I lost about 15 pounds, going from near 160 to about 145, and that's where I am today, with vastly more muscle tone.

I log what I'm doing on a simple piece of paper, adjusting weight and reps as I go. On occasion, I change up the exercises, but I haven't done that for a long time. The ones I'm doing get the main muscle groups I feel I need to hit, and I'm in far better shape today at 60 years old than I was before I started lifting 15 years ago, so I'm not strongly motivated to make huge changes.

I personally feel that consistency is the key, and that you're doing something that you don't find onerous. I'm surprised how much I love the weights and strength training. I thought it would be boring, but I find it endlessly interesting and challenging and feel lucky I discovered this exercise. I recommend folks trying it because it really is the best "bang for the buck" in terms of time invested. Happy to answer questions if anyone is interested in trying it out.

Bill

Bill, thanks for posting - interesting reading!

In my late 40s I started a pretty intense lifting program, which I did for several years. I became a real "gym rat" at that time . Then after several years, I started mountaineering, and then cycling. So I inverted from high-weights / low- reps to high-reps / low-weights, and added a lot of cardio. It was amazing - and tragic - to see how quickly all that bulk melted off

Gym rats sometimes call your "reverse incline pullups" "Australian pushups". (Cheezy joke - if we were on the other side of the planet, we'd be pushing, not pulling.)

We used to be fairly strict on changing up the exercises every few months, to induce "muscle confusion" - and build more rounded musculature on each group.

I used to log details of each workout in a forum (something like PE), as did many others, and we'd track each other's workouts and give kudos, offer advice, answer questions, and so on. Now, I simply add an entry "Gym" on Strava, though it automatically logs full details of my other workouts. E.g. my 37 mile bike ride yesterday afternoon - where Strava can show heart rate, cadence, speed, power, and much more. As an analytic personality, I like to track that sort of stuff.

About 14 years ago when I was 53-ish I started focusing on mountaineering (climbed Kilimanjaro among others), cycling (did many races, both short and fast, and ultra-distance), extreme hiking (sometimes 40+ miles in a day but never less than 15), and kayaking (did a few races, most recent was in May).

But I re-joined the gym a few months ago. I did many full-body workouts, similar to your program, but 2 weeks ago I changed it up and started a 3-day split:
Chest / Triceps
Back / Biceps
Legs / Shoulders / Core

I really like doing "super sets", as you do. Huge time saver, and they build a bit more intensity into each program.

My plan isn't to (re)build a lot of bulk, but rather to increase overall conditioning, to support my cycling / climbing / kayaking / etc. activities.

This bears (re)quoting:

I personally feel that consistency is the key, and that you're doing something that you don't find onerous. I'm surprised how much I love the weights and strength training. I thought it would be boring, but I find it endlessly interesting and challenging and feel lucky I discovered this exercise. I recommend folks trying it because it really is the best "bang for the buck" in terms of time invested. Happy to answer questions if anyone is interested in trying it out.

[Sputnik]

In my late 40s I started a pretty intense lifting program, which I did for several years. I became a real "gym rat" at that time . Then after several years, I started mountaineering, and then cycling. So I inverted from high-weights / low- reps to high-reps / low-weights, and added a lot of cardio. It was amazing - and tragic - to see how quickly all that bulk melted off

It's astounding how fast you lose muscle mass and how quickly gains are lost without maintenance. I feel it after a two-week vacation, and my wife lost an incredible amount of strength in her legs when she fractured her kneecap recently (she's fine now). If you'd really built up some bulk, I can only imagine how disappointing it would be to see that vanish.

Gym rats sometimes call your "reverse incline pullups" "Australian pushups". (Cheezy joke - if we were on the other side of the planet, we'd be pushing, not pulling.)

I love it! That's what I'm going to start calling them!

We used to be fairly strict on changing up the exercises every few months, to induce "muscle confusion" - and build more rounded musculature on each group.

Yeah, that's highly recommended if you're seriously into building bulk, and my trainers at the gym encouraged it. For a home gym, you're much more limited in exercise options, and I've found I can maintain where I want to be with a consistent routine, though I often mix up the order of exercises (I do have a couple of variants of some exercises, like bench pressor or pushups).

About 14 years ago when I was 53-ish I started focusing on mountaineering (climbed Kilimanjaro among others), cycling (did many races, both short and fast, and ultra-distance), extreme hiking (sometimes 40+ miles in a day but never less than 15), and kayaking (did a few races, most recent was in May).

Holy crap, that's amazing!! I'm very impressed. It appears losing some "bulk" hasn't eliminated your strength and overall health. You're way ahead of where I am!

But I re-joined the gym a few months ago. I did many full-body workouts, similar to your program, but 2 weeks ago I changed it up and started a 3-day split:
Chest / Triceps
Back / Biceps
Legs / Shoulders / Core

I really like doing "super sets", as you do. Huge time saver, and they build a bit more intensity into each program.

My plan isn't to (re)build a lot of bulk, but rather to increase overall conditioning, to support my cycling / climbing / kayaking / etc. activities.

That's awesome! This makes a lot of sense, assuming you have the time and motivation, which you clearly do.

Do you find doing the splits allows you to focus more on the specific areas you're working and that you make more progress (or progress at all)? That's something I could experiment without much disruption.

Bill