New to the thread....
The new job has a pretty decent gym, and the mirror tells me that I should probably be using it. I've been a few times, but could use some input from a few of you more experienced guys.
One thing that I have realized while going into the gym is that I don't really know how much I need to be lifting. I lifted all through high school, but that was either for football while I still played, or training with the football players after I stopped playing. So really the only consistent program I've done is one focused on building mass. That was more appropriate when I was 18 than it is now at 34. I need to figure out how to adjust this mindset to one more focused on weight loss and general health. Typical mass building involved base lining with a max lift, then doing a round of training that varied on the concept of 10 reps of 50%, 8 reps of 60%, 6 reps of 70%, 4 reps of 80%, and 2 reps of 90%. After a couple of weeks, max out again and then continue on using the percentages based off of a new, higher max. The reps and percentages varied based on the day of the rotation, but that was the concept. Doing this turned me from a 135# weakling into a 225# wall over the course of a few years. I was eating 5000 - 6000 calories a day, and turning it into muscle mass. My fatal flaw was not changing these intake habits once I stopped hitting the gym.
Now, I had shoulder surgery about 6 months back and have been doing PT like a mad man. My physical therapy training has been the polar opposite. Whereas in strength training, we never did more than 10 reps, in PT the lowest number we do is 15 after we step up in weight, and then progress up to 45 reps before stepping up again. On some exercises where building the muscle is important, but over-stressing it would be uber bad (damage the surgery), I'm up to 110 reps at really low weights.
I have a feeling that what I need to be doing is somewhere in between those two extremes. I was in the gym on Saturday and did a pretty good workout that had 15 minutes of elliptical to get warmed up and the heart working, then hit the machines. I was still guessing at weight amounts, but was trying to do sets of 10-8-6 reps, and weight amounts that made me work pretty hard for those last couple of reps on the last set.
Any input on the right approach would be appreciated.
Topic: Getting in shape 2008 / 2009 / 2010 (Read 46982 times)
