Many people have asked what I do to work out. How do I stay motivated? What keeps me going???
I’ll be honest, just holding up the jeans I now fit in keeps me super motivated! I literally was doing laundry tonight and held up the jeans I had just washed and said, “Wow! I fit into these??!!” It is refreshing. I feel good, I’m looking better, I’m toning up. I just love the feeling. This is now my true motivation. In fact, I hate it when I don’t get the chance to work out! So here it is, this is what I do at the gym!
1. I do about 15 mins on the Elliptical Machine, Level 7 which is equal to about 100 Calories of workout according to the machine. I do 5 mins of backwards and 10 mins of forwards. To be honest, I have to do this machine first, or I am just too tired to do all 15 mins if I do it in the middle.
2. I do 15-17 mins on the treadmill, Speed: 4.0; Incline: 13. I usually keep the same speed and incline until the machine says I’ve burned 200 Calories and then cool down for about 2-2:30 at 3.1 or 3.0, no incline. In the end, I burn about 210 Calories on this machine.
3. I do leg extensions and curls on a leg machine.
Leg Extensions: I do 50 pounds and 12-15 reps (12 is hard). Then I lower it to 40 pounds and do 10-12. Then I lower to 30 pounds and do 10-12.
Leg Curls: I do 50 pounds and 10 reps. Then 40 pounds and 12-15 reps. Then 30 pounds and 10-15 reps. The reps depend on how tired and sore I am.
4. I do Chest/Shoulder presses on a machine. 3 types: Flat, slightly Angled, and sitting up straight.
This picture is slightly inclined. I’m sure you can figure out that flat is laying down flat on my back and sitting position is where the incline is closer to 90 degrees.
Flat: I can do about 5 reps on 50 pounds. Then I drop it to 40 pounds and can do 8-10. Then I drop it to 30 pounds and do about 8-10.
Next, I do
slightly angled. I start at 40 pounds and do about 8-10 reps. Then I drop to 30 pounds and do 10 reps. Lastly, I do 30 pounds and do about 8-10 reps.
Sitting up (shoulder press): I start at 30 pounds and do 8-10 reps. Then I do 20 pounds and do 10-15 reps.
5. I do 2 sets of 5 pull ups where I have walked up a big workout machine so my feet are on the machine and then pull up from there. I have not gotten to the point where I can pull my body up hanging yet.
6. I do 50 crunches on a ball. This is much better for my back and I feel it quite well. My position is like this:
7. Ball Squats: The picture is a variation of what I do. I’ll do them on the wall or I’ll start where I start the crunches from and lower down to the floor from there. Both give me that nice burning sensation in my thigh muscles.
8. Mat Exercises
a. Leg/Thigh Lifts:
I do 30 lifts on the top leg then bring my knee to a bend and lift the leg that is on the mat to work the inner thigh and do 30 reps with that. I turn on the other side and do the same on the other side.
b. V-Shaped/Jack-Knife Crunches- I do 30 of these. It is tough after having already done all the above!
c. Kick-out, Kick-in ab exercise. You can do it where you alternate the legs or do both legs at the same time. You bring one leg (or both) in to your stomach and kick the other out and do that for several reps. I usually do 20 reps (both legs get 20). You should feel it really well in your abs.
Image shows both legs being pulled in and out positioning.
9. Weight Lunges: I do about 20 of these (10 on each leg) with 15 lb weights in my hands.
10. Twists with weight on the ball. I sit on the ball with a 15 pound weight in my hands and twist at my waist a full twist (so both sides are twisted) and do about 20 of those (both sides get 20 basically). Similar to the below picture, but instead I have a weight barbell instead of a ball and I sit on the ball.
11. Tricep lifts with both hands over head sitting on the ball. I do 25 of these with a 15 pound weight. This means it is time for me to increase the weight.
12. I do the same lifts above except I pull the weight in front of me sitting on the ball with the same weight and then pull up (both hands around top dumbell, palms up and then pull weight towards me). It is essentially a tricep lift. I do 15 lbs, and 25 reps (time to up the weight!).
13. Bench work:
a. More triceps. I put one knee on the bench, lean forward and pull my arm up so that it at the same angle as my back and work the triceps. I do both arms with a 15lb, 10lb, and 5lb weight, starting with the 15lb weight. 20 reps each. I do the 15lb on both sides (switching knees when I do each side- right knee up with right arm, vice versa).
b. Arm twists. No weight (at the moment). I extend my arms out straight when I sit straight up on the bench. This has been dubbed the exercise to get rid of “Bingo Arms” or those flabby under arms.
i. Palms facing floor, I twist my arms at the shoulder in a clockwise position (for the left arm) for 20 spins.
ii. Palms facing forward, perpendicular to floor, I twist my arms at the shoulder again in a clockwise position for 20 spins.
iii. Palms facing ceiling, I twist again in the same motion for 20 spins.
iv. Repeat all the above in sequence except in the opposite spin direction (left arm would be going counterclockwise). I do all this usually without stopping between palm positions. This exercise burns, but I have started to see a difference!
14. Bike exercise: This is the last place I go and I do some arm weights exercises while I bike.
Some days I’ll do intervals on the bike. These are the days where I work out on the bike at least 10-15 mins. I’ll do 2 mins at level 8, then 2 mins at level 6, and then repeat for however long I am going to work out on the bike. Most days, I do at least 5 mins on the bike or 50 calories equivalent. The days where I want to do more mins are when I do the intervals. The days where I am doing 5 mins, I’ll usually do one resistance level either 7 or 8. Why so short? Usually because I have already worked out for close to 1.5 hours at this point.
a. Over head Arm curls: I usually do 25-30 reps with 5 lb weights (need to up the weight).
This image shows my starting postion and then I pull those weights together over my head to where they touch.
b. Front Bicep Curls: 30 reps with 5 lb weights (need to up the weight).
The two above exercises, of course are being done while cycling. The cycle I use is one where I’m sitting back:
So that is my routine! I drink at least a liter of water, if not more, while working out. I average about 1.5 hours a day when I work out and when I don’t have 1.5 hours to work out, I usually cut the amount of time on the aerobics equipment and at least do the full weights work out. When I can do a full workout, my minimum goal on the aerobics machines is for them to tell me I've burned a total (between all 3) of 350 Calories. I work out 4-5 days a week. I just feel so good after having done a good work out. You should try it!
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!
