Posts
132
Joined
8/2/2010
Location
Independence, MO
US
Edited Date/Time
11/6/2012 6:26pm
A Planet Fitness is opening up really close to my work within the next week so i signed up for $10 a month, couldnt pass it up. I havent been able to workout after getting home due to my kiddos and having a side job i do at nights, so im looking to use my hour lunch break to work out. Im 6'2", 165lbs, 27 years old, now have 2 kiddos and ive been off the bike for 2 years.
I just recently paid off alot of debt so im looking at getting a bike and racing next spring time. Any advice you guys can give of what would help the most in the gym would be appreciated. I know alot of people praise a rowing machine but planet fitness only has "smith" machines, not sure what those are. My cardio is fair, but could be better and ive always had a horrible time with bad arm pump.
I just recently paid off alot of debt so im looking at getting a bike and racing next spring time. Any advice you guys can give of what would help the most in the gym would be appreciated. I know alot of people praise a rowing machine but planet fitness only has "smith" machines, not sure what those are. My cardio is fair, but could be better and ive always had a horrible time with bad arm pump.
My arms pumped up beyond belief in about a half a lap.
You probably think your cardio is fair, but that will fly out the window in 3 turns.
1. Don't buy into that crossfit stuff. Running around lifting weight sloppily against the clock is the worst fitness idea I have ever heard of, but KUDOS to the rich son of a bitch that conned yuppies into thinking it's worth 149 dollars a month.
2. Core strength exercises are king. don't slack on legs either.
3. the rowing machine is great.
4. just being on the bike after a 2 year lay off is a workout in itself. bad technique wears you out faster than anything, so just get some seat time, and you'll find you will fatigue less.
For arm pump, try doing towel pull-ups. Look it up on YouTube. Helps with your grip strength and works your forearms. Helped me out a lot. But also you really have to tell yourself when you are riding to grip your bike with your legs until it gets to be second nature. Nothing will help you more then riding. Nothing. You can be in great shape and be done in two laps if you don't ride enough.
The Shop
A Bicycle and your new Gym membership...Voila!
Stretch, stretch, stretch, save you from a lot of injuries.
See if they have the TRX set up, if so, go online and watch Racerx VT, you will be amazed at how well it works.
Hopefully, there is spin class you can make regular, also make the rowing machine often, try to row 3000 meters under 20 minutes with a setting of 7.
When you miss gym days, do some thing at home. Push ups, sit ups, leg raises, mountain climbers, bruppies(1 minute, rest 1 minute, do 3 sets), planks(45sec to 1 minute intervals, 3 sets).
I have a small 1 bed apt and was able to fit all I need for a gym in my front room:
Bought an Exercise bike 30-60mins daily alternating resistance.
Weights and bars can be had cheap at a place like play it again sports.
Last but not least the big exercise ball to lift and do core strength exercises, I even bought some resistance bands 10, 20, and 30lbs all in all I have everything I need and do it at home which unlike most I do better at home. I won't be able to ride for at least a year due to how BADLY I broke my leg but ill be ready when the time comes.
Crossfit is a good alternative, I don´t see why several here are so against it. For the average guy with bad fitness and diet crossfir is a good overall workout. It has high intensity, and works the entire body AND cardio. But yes, it is very hard to do well if you aren´t used to working out.
My biggest gripe with crossfit is the f act that it all started as an ALTERNATIVE to expensive gym memberships. i.e., dragging tires in your yard, ect. Then, it blossomed into a 149 dollar (quadruple most gyms) membership place to work out, and also seems to bee more about the social occasion than anything.
But again, kudos to the guy who thought of it. Practically no overhead. You rent out a non climate controlled shitty warehouse, stuff it full of tractor tires and a few old rusty free weights that Gold's threw away, and charge 149 a month for a membership and the trout swim upstream in droves to pay you to use it.
Most crossfit "boxes" (cant call it a gym) have some sort of a "wall of fame" for injuries sustained during training. bloddy knuckles, ect. Am I the only one who sees something wrong with that?
crossfit is really nothing more than a place to throw away money and your back. dead lifting against the clock against a bunch of single mothers? for real?
Pit Row
you need to build a cardio base for endurance, indoors I suggest rollers with a road bike for work on balance.
target indoors 1- 2 hours per day 3 days week. for base.
to train to ride a MX bike nothing beats another bike road or mtn.bike anything else and you sacrifice balance you don't have the seat time to do cardio without it.
boredom is the big enemy of cardio endurance this is what builds your mental training base.
I work out with a guy that trains a big name MMA guy from California. Mixed in with other forms or training it has worked very well for me. So knocking all crossfit trainers is going overboard, as would be knocking every gym hired trainer.
If everything they did was bad, professionals in other sports wouldn't do it. Especially professionals getting paid to perform. They wouldn't put their body through something that opens them up to injury more then anything else does. But with proper form and technique it can be very beneficial.
Crossfit is described as "constantly varied, high intensity, functional movement" Sounds a lot like Motocross to me. Or maybe I am wrong about both.
Also, Gold's gym, Bally's total fitness, Planet Fitness are all glorified home gyms so how is the guy who started crossfit somehow the bad guy?
End of rant
Age
Lack of fitness
Injuries
Sitting at a PC all day
Noticed a bit of difference after a while and got speaking to one of the instructors who gave me a couple of Tabata exercises to try so now:
1. I run for 20 mins alternating speed from decent walk to a fast run every minute.
2. On rowing machine 6 sets of 10 secs flat out followed by 20 secs rest.
3. Bike 30 secs flat out followed by 90 secs medium pace (am trying to get this down to 60 secs easy pace).
Only thing is this is a killer (for this old man anyway)! But I do notice a difference as no longer do I need a break after 15 mins on bike and recovery is easier - there were times I suffered for days after bike time. I also do quite a few exercises throughout the week - push ups, sit ups, kettle bells, medicine ball etc - all just to vary things up to keep it interesting.
Some of the members over there are actual fitness competitiors,body builders, and educated personal trainers. I would imagine they would know more about fitness and wellbeing than some jo-shmo running a "crossfit" out of the end of the the mini mall.
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