A Semester of Strength Training
Last semester at CCSF I was in a circuit training class. They’ve got a nice gym at the Ocean Campus!
I totally loved working out. Just about every time at the gym I pushed myself 100%, grunting and groaning and letting it burn. I worked to muscle failure on most machines most days. It was awesome. The “Growing Old Is Not For Sissies” poster is hanging in the gym. Yes, it inspired me.
I loved working my biceps; boy they get big quick! I hated doing abdominals; the burn feels like knives in my belly. I did them all.
Here is my review of the semester’s workout:
Data is taken from the Fitlinxx system. Every machine has a little Fitlinxx computer that tracks your progress. It’s not a perfect system but it’s pretty good and convenient to tell you what weight you did last time. The Fitlinxx online charts effing suck. It took me 45 minutes of copy-pasting and reformatting to get the data you see below.
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All measurements below are “2 sets of 10 reps of nn pounds”. That was my goal at each session. When I had to rest mid-way through a set, I’d tell myself, “Fine, you can take a break, you just have to do one more rep.”
Bicep curl. I never made much progress, going from 80 to 100. But my arms started to look awesome.
Tricep extension. Huge gains! Started at 30 (and huge lactic acid burn the day after) ended at 95!
Chest Press. Great progress. 60 to 120!
Chin Assist. Small gains 130 to 100 (at this rate, I’ll be doing a real chinup in 2 years, meh.
Hip Abduction. 130 to 220. Nice!
Hip Adduction. 70 to 100. Good.
Lateral Raise (trying to build up my shoulder profile) I worked it every time I went to the gym and went from 30 to 90!
Back Extension. 150 to 190. Good.
Leg Press. 155 to 200. Good.
Leg Curl. 50 to 90. Good.
Leg Extension. 85 to 130. Good.
Leg Press. 210 to 210. Bad!
Some exercises not on the Fitlinxx system:
* Lower abdominal hyperextension crunch. Lay way back on a yoga ball and then sit up slowly. I started doing this mid-semester and went from 7 to about 11 reps. It buuuuuurns!
* A Lower back contraption where you lay face down, put your pelvis on the pad, hook your legs on a bar and let your upper body fall forward toward the ground. Then you straighten your back so it looks like you are superman. I started doing this mid-semester and went from 6 to 10 reps.
I’ll definitely sign up for the gym next semester :-)
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Life Fitness Arm Curl Bicep Curl 8/23/2011 1 10 30.00 8/30/2011 1 10 50.00 11/8/2011 1 9 70.00 2 6 50.00 Life Fitness Pro2 Bicep Curl (pretty much identical to the above machine... they have 2 bicep curl machines) 9/6/2011 1 9 80.00 2 10 65.00 9/9/2011 1 10 80.00 2 10 65.00 9/13/2011 1 6 80.00 2 3 80.00 9/16/2011 1 10 80.00 2 6 80.00 10/21/2011 1 10 80.00 2 6 80.00 11/14/2011 1 10 95.00 2 10 95.00 12/2/2011 1 10 95.00 2 12 80.00 12/9/2011 1 10 95.00 2 10 80.00 12/16/2011 1 10 95.00 2 12 110.00 12/20/2011 1 8 95.00 Life Fitness Arm Extension Tricep Extension 8/23/2011 1 11 30.00 2 10 30.00 9/27/2011 1 10 50.00 2 14 40.00 Life Fitness Pro2 Tricep Extension 8/26/2011 1 11 40.00 8/30/2011 1 11 50.00 2 10 50.00 3 11 50.00 9/6/2011 1 10 65.00 2 2 40.00 9/13/2011 1 12 80.00 2 5 80.00 9/20/2011 1 10 80.00 2 10 80.00 10/21/2011 1 10 80.00 2 10 65.00 11/1/2011 1 10 95.00 2 7 80.00 11/14/2011 1 10 95.00 12/2/2011 1 10 80.00 2 10 80.00 12/9/2011 1 10 80.00 2 10 95.00 12/16/2011 1 10 95.00 12/20/2011 1 10 95.00 2 10 95.00 Life Fitness Chest Press 8/30/2011 1 12 60.00 2 12 60.00 10/21/2011 1 10 75.00 2 11 90.00 11/1/2011 1 2 75.00 2 10 90.00 3 12 90.00 11/8/2011 1 10 105.00 2 10 105.00 12/16/2011 1 10 105.00 2 9 105.00 12/20/2011 1 12 120.00 2 8 120.00 Life Fitness Pro2 Chest Press 8/26/2011 1 12 55.00 9/6/2011 1 10 70.00 2 7 70.00 9/9/2011 1 8 70.00 2 8 70.00 9/20/2011 1 10 85.00 2 8 85.00 9/27/2011 1 10 85.00 2 7 85.00 Life Fitness Dip & Chin Assist Narrow Grip Pullup 8/30/2011 1 8 130.00 9/16/2011 1 10 120.00 2 8 120.00 9/20/2011 1 10 120.00 2 10 120.00 11/1/2011 1 10 110.00 2 8 110.00 12/2/2011 1 10 110.00 2 5 120.00 12/20/2011 1 9 100.00 Life Fitness Hip Abductor (Outer Thigh) Abduction 9/6/2011 1 2 10.00 2 10 70.00 3 10 70.00 9/13/2011 1 9 90.00 2 12 90.00 Life Fitness Pro2 Hip Abduction 9/9/2011 1 10 130.00 2 10 130.00 9/20/2011 1 12 160.00 2 11 160.00 10/21/2011 1 10 160.00 2 11 160.00 11/1/2011 1 10 175.00 2 10 185.00 11/8/2011 1 10 190.00 2 10 190.00 12/9/2011 1 10 205.00 2 10 205.00 12/16/2011 1 10 220.00 2 10 220.00 12/20/2011 1 10 220.00 2 10 220.00 Life Fitness Hip Abductor (Inner Thigh) Adduction 8/26/2011 1 12 70.00 9/6/2011 1 4 75.00 2 10 10.00 3 10 90.00 11/1/2011 1 8 90.00 2 11 100.00 Life Fitness Lateral Raise 8/23/2011 1 10 30.00 8/30/2011 1 6 30.00 2 9 10.00 9/6/2011 1 8 40.00 2 8 40.00 9/9/2011 1 10 40.00 2 8 40.00 9/13/2011 1 10 47.50 2 10 47.50 9/20/2011 1 10 60.00 2 11 60.00 9/27/2011 1 9 70.00 2 12 70.00 10/21/2011 1 10 62.50 2 9 70.00 11/1/2011 1 8 62.50 2 8 70.00 11/8/2011 1 10 70.00 2 11 70.00 11/14/2011 1 9 77.50 2 10 77.50 12/2/2011 1 10 77.50 2 8 77.50 12/9/2011 1 10 85.00 2 9 85.00 12/16/2011 1 10 90.00 2 8 82.50 Life Fitness Leg Extension 9/16/2011 1 10 75.00 2 10 75.00 12/16/2011 1 10 90.00 2 10 90.00 Life Fitness Back Extension 8/26/2011 1 12 150.00 2 12 150.00 8/30/2011 1 12 165.00 2 12 165.00 11/14/2011 1 10 180.00 2 10 195.00 Life Fitness Leg Press 8/30/2011 1 6 95.00 2 12 155.00 3 11 155.00 4 10 215.00 9/9/2011 1 14 175.00 2 13 195.00 9/16/2011 1 10 115.00 2 12 115.00 10/21/2011 1 10 195.00 2 13 235.00 Life Fitness Pro2 Leg Curl 9/13/2011 1 10 50.00 2 9 50.00 9/16/2011 1 10 50.00 2 10 50.00 9/20/2011 1 10 50.00 2 11 50.00 9/27/2011 1 10 50.00 2 10 50.00 11/1/2011 1 10 65.00 2 8 65.00 11/8/2011 1 11 80.00 2 10 80.00 12/2/2011 1 1 80.00 12/16/2011 1 10 95.00 2 10 80.00 12/20/2011 1 3 95.00 Life Fitness Pro2 Leg Extension 9/20/2011 1 12 85.00 2 10 85.00 9/27/2011 1 10 100.00 2 10 100.00 10/21/2011 1 11 115.00 2 12 115.00 11/8/2011 1 10 130.00 2 8 130.00 Life Fitness Pro2 Leg Press 11/1/2011 1 10 170.00 2 12 210.00 11/8/2011 1 10 210.00 2 11 230.00 11/14/2011 1 10 230.00 2 5 230.00 12/2/2011 1 10 210.00 2 10 210.00 12/9/2011 1 10 210.00 2 10 210.00 12/20/2011 1 12 210.00 2 12 210.00
…..and i saw the results, you look GREAT!
Ok, I’m jealous! After using Fitlinxx virtually every day since last March (alternating upper body and lower body exercises each day), here’s what I’m up to:
Life Fitness Pro2 Abdominal Crunch Crunches 160
Life Fitness Pro2 Assisted Chin and Dip Chin ups 110
Life Fitness Pro2 Assisted Chin and Dip Dips 110
Life Fitness Pro2 Back Extension 275
Life Fitness Pro2 Bicep Curl 75
Life Fitness Pro2 Chest Press 90
Life Fitness Pro2 Hip Abduction 225
Life Fitness Pro2 Hip Adduction 230
Life Fitness Pro2 Leg Curl 70
Life Fitness Pro2 Leg Extension 125
Life Fitness Pro2 Pectoral Fly 130
Life Fitness Pro2 Pectoral Fly / Rear Deltoid Rear Deltoid Fly 90
Life Fitness Pro2 Seated Row 115
Life Fitness Pro2 Shoulder Press 50
Life Fitness Pro2 Tricep Extension 90
Thanks!
Don’t be jealous, you’re totally rocking it!
You might be going to the gym too often to build muscle well.
I’ve been doing 2 times per week, sometimes 3, full body workout every time. When I started, the full workout took 1 hour, 15 minutes including changing. But I shrank that down to about 50 minutes. I’ll start switching things up next semester. I found these really good tips. Those tips are going into my calendar to act on in 2 months.
What I’m doing is not that different from what you are. There are virtually always one to three days a week when I take a long bicycle ride and don’t go to the gym. If I’m going to the gym, say, five times per week, but only doing a half a workout (upper body or lower body) each time, I’m getting 2-3 full workouts a week.
Of course, I am female, overweight, and considerably older than you, which likely limits my progress.
You’re right, when you said “virtually every day” I was thinking 7 days a week. I’m not thinking 100%, I’ve got a cold.