• Lifetime Fitness
• Working out
• Exercise
• Weight lifting

Been trying a new workout technique lately, which can be described with the following words: go faster, waste less time. I’ve decreased my time by 30%, which amounts to 2 hours 18 minutes time savings per week. This has been in collaboration with Mykala, who had the original idea long ago. The thing that I had a hard time with is the mental state you have to be in to push yourself constantly for an entire workout. Since I’m lifting weights, I’m constantly resting but now trying to shorten that rest time. It isn’t a treadmill, where your pace is essentially enforced. Rather, it is like running intervals for your entire workout. Every workout. I’m getting used to it, the time-savings are tremendous, and I think I get a better workout.

So the reduction in time per workout has been from 2 hours+ to 90 minutes. The record so far is 85 minutes, and I’ve been averaging 90-95 minutes. Since I haven’t done one of these workout write-ups in a while (oh my god it has been 10 years since I did one… where did THAT time go?), here’s the workout, which essentially consists of a bunch of supersets, where while one muscle group is resting, you do another (unrelated) group with as short a break as possible between.

First, a key:

BP      bench press
LRCU    compound leg-raise & chin-up
LRS     leg-raises w/static half chin-up 
MP      military press
HSP     hand-stand push-up
RDR     lying rear delt raise
FDR     front delt dumbbell raise
WD      weighted dip
CC      chair bicep curl
IC      incline bicep curl
WCU     weighted chin-up
S       squat (w/calf, tibialis raise)
SCR     Cybex seated calf raise
SP      Cybex squat press
PLC     Cybex prone leg curl
LE      Cybex leg extension

Commas separate sets, lines separate exercises, arrows mean rests during a set. Weights in pounds, bodyweight where unspecified:

Warmup: 10 45° down angle push-ups
BP 45×10, 135×5, 155×5, 225×3→2→2
LRCU×10
BP 225×2
LRS×10
BP 185×5→2→2
LRS×9
BP 185×5→2→2
LRCU×8
BP 195×5→2
LRS×8
CC 40×17
BP 205×3→2→2
LRS×8
CC 55×7
BP 205×3→2→2
(30 min)
LRCU×7
MP 85×10
BP 205×4
MP 105×6
LRS×9
MP 115×6
LRS×8
MP 115×6
IC 45×9
WCU 45×9
FDR 45×8
MP 135×10
LRCU×7→LRS×3
IC 45×9
WD 100×14, 0×4
LRS×10
FDR 45×5
MP 135×6, 135×4
S 225×18
WD 100×14, 0×4
LRS×9
FDR 45×12
S 225×11
(60 min)
SP 450×11, 450×4
LRS×8
RDR 45×15
SCR 180×12
HSP×14
SCR 180×8
RDR 45×10
SP 450×10
PLC 130×15, 150×5
LE 190×12, 205×4, 215×4
SP 540×11, 540×4
LRS×7
RDR 45×11
SCR 180×12
HSP×14
SCR 180×8
RDR 45×9
SP 540×10
PLC 130×11, 150×5
LE 190×12, 205×4
LRCU×10
LE 215×4
PLC 150×4

Looks positively cryptic in that format, but it is really straight forward. I have no idea what it will look like in 10 years, but I do hope to continue exercising. What have I learned lifting? Precor’s Icarian line are the best benches by such a large margin it isn’t even worth considering others. Iron Grip dumbbells and barbells are better than getting rust on you and your clothes. Air piston resistance machines were a short experiment and didn’t work well. Find what works for you: the difference between joint injury and health is less than half an inch or a few degrees. Never EVER hyperextend and think twice before fully extending with heavy weights. Going in 3 times a week and cheating slightly on form is better than going in once and getting your form perfect. When bench pressing, never rest your feet any lower than your back, and it is best to have them up in the air. The lower you go on squats, the higher your chance of getting injured—if you’re in it for the long term and not for show, go just low enough to build the strength and joint stability you need.

Until 2023…

2 comments left

Brief Notes Nearby

• Thrive
• Deficit of Play
• Off
• Thunderstorms