Every once in a while, it’s time to perform a +SAN check. Today, we’ll give you a peek under the hood, behind the veil, or inside the other metaphor of your choice, to see the sort of stuff we do here for our own workout routines. Not that we’re expecting anyone to decide that what we’re doing for our own fitness regimen is the cure for what ails you – but if you want to play along with the home game, that’s cool, too.
This comes up now for a couple of reasons. One, a month into 2010, a lot of the momentum from the well-intentioned New Years’ resolutions is flagging, and a kick in the pants might be in order. Two, I’m about to undertake something completely new, and am a bit nervous about it. Three, it might provide you with some ideas on how to shake up your current routine if you’re stuck.
As most of you know, Mike and I work in the same office (he’s totally J. Jonah Jameson to my Jimmy Olson), and frequently have the chance to work out together. Since we, as well as a bunch of other folks from work (and his theater group) are all participating in a 5K run at the end of February, getting in shape for that is part of our routine. In addition, we’re both looking to build some muscle, both for simply being stronger, as well as the fat-burning benefits and general health goodness of having more lean body mass.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Lunchtime: Warm up, stretch, and go for a run. Usually, this is about three miles. We vary the pace, and if our lunch breaks don’t coincide, I’m apt to do intervals for a shorter distance, and maybe some sprinting.
After Work: Mike will hit the treadmill at the office for 30-60 minutes, whereas I will usually go straight home and pick up heavier stuff than is available at the office gym. At the moment, I am loosely following a program called 5/3/1.
Tuesday and Thursday
Lunchtime: These are Mike’s weight-training days. Tuesday is upper-body, Thursday is lower. For me, it’s usually stretching and mobility, with a few lifts thrown in.
Mike asked me, possibly after being struck in the head by a thrown laptop, to come up with something he could do to supplement his cardio regimen and help him progress beyond the fairly generic program he’d plateaued using after a couple of months. I’ve joined him in doing it a few times, and it’s no picnic.
Rather than lay out all the eye-glazing particulars (which can be found by following the above link, if you’re curious), what it boils down to is three sets of several movements, with increasing weight for each set (at least, when that’s possible – Mike’s gotten strong enough to lift the heaviest dumbbells our office provides). On Tuesday, these work the chest, shoulders, upper back, and core; on Thursday, they’re predominantly focusing on the legs, mid- and low- back, and a bit more shoulder work, along with a non-trivial amount of cardio, since full-body moves get the blood pumping in a big way.
After Work: If he’s feeling froggy (and Kermit doesn’t enforce the restraining order), Mike may hop back on the treadmill. The man is a fiend for his cardio. I will more usually do some wind sprints and then get the heck out of Dodge, and will either do some moderate lifting at home, or engage in some high-rep, light-weight resistance work (usually in the guise of push-ups, pull-ups, or arm exercises in the form of better bio breaks).
Obviously, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all routine (heck, it doesn’t even fit both of us!), but maybe it’ll give you some ideas of your own, or maybe just convince you that we’re not over here, typing madly, and throwing Nerf darts, one-liners and Office Space quotes at each other.
They won’t let us have Nerf at the office any more, for one thing. I has a sad.
Related posts:
Recent Comments