What if I'm Trying to gain strength

Sooooo, hey there. How ya doing? I'm baaaack. The weeks are getting away from me. I'd like to say I'll post once during the week, once on the weekend and any other time the mood strikes me. The problem lately has been that the mood hasn't been striking me as much as I'd hoped. So, I'm going to try to force the mood to strike by tying myself to my laptop. Part of the problem is I'm not on my laptop as much as I used to be. I have an IPhone (it's unlikely I'll post from it) I have a Nook Color that has been rooted to be an Android tablet (keyboard still too small) and I have a laptop. The laptop hasn't been getting used as much as the others. And to make matters worse, my laptop is pouting about it's lack of use. But, I am making a comm....... wait where was I?

I should talk less about my issues and more about how you are going to build some muscle! Right?

Right!

Here we go.......

SO you are at something near your goal weight. Maybe you lost weight to get there, maybe you gained weight to get there (lucky duck) maybe you just hang out in the ideal weight neighborhood because you're sooooo cool. However you got there you would like to tone up, physiologically speaking. But all you can find are programs to lose weight, a few to gain weight (mostly aimed at 14 year old boys) but nothing to maintain weight while gaining strength/muscle mass. For you ladies out there who are about to stop reading because you are at your ideal weight and do not want to lift weights because you will look all "muscley" or GAIN weight. Not to worry, it takes a lot of serious lifting, serious nutrition and time to gain weight by lifting if you are a woman of the female persuasion. OK, back to it, If you want to tone up shoot for 3-4 workouts per week. The workouts should include cardio and strength training. The strength/resistace training can be a full body workout. Generally do your lifts in 3 sets 10 per exercise. I would recommend:

Leg press and leg extensions for the legs. If you don't have access to a leg press machine squats are a great substitution. Watch your form on the squats we don't want a sore back to slow your progress.

Chest press or incline press with barbells, dumbbells, Smith (hinged) machine and pec deck or dumbbell incline flys for chest.

Rows (any type) and either lat pulldown or pullups for upper back.

Romanian deadlift and or hyperextensions for lower back.

Dumbbell curls and or preacher curls for biceps and triceps extension for, you guessed it, triceps

3sets of 25 ab exercises of your choice

Cardio of your choice. I know all of you are smart enough to look up any exercises you have questions about. Also, check out youtube or ask a trainer at your gym. Or, if all else fails contact me and I'll explain any that you have questions about.

Because I'm a techy, really, I'm a techy? I have a couple of app suggestions for you to check out.

If you have an IPhone and want a good easy tracker for both your food intake and your exercise I'd suggest Loseit. Another good one, although I think a little more cumbersome is Caloriecounter. Those are both freebies. Both are also available for Android.

I also bought an app from Human Kinetics called Abs Revealed which has about 50 ab exercises and loads videos of them in the app, which means you don't need an internet connection to watch the videos.

Ok, that's it for now,

You can always reach me on:

Twitter @mikerigoni

Facebook: Mikerigoni

email: mrigoni64@gmail.com

I may start doing some fitness counseling personal training in the near future check back for more info.

Until next time

I'll see you at the gym

You Never Know Who's Reading

2 in one day, but this is a short one.
As I'm sure all of you remember I posted about the Fitness on Demand (trademark?) classes at SNAP Fitness in Chatham. A week or so after that post I was working out and the manager of the Chatham SNAP told me that SNAP corporate headquarters had sent her my blog. She printed and posted that particular entry, which led to a nice conversation and a couple of SNAP t-shirts. The point of this is two fold:
1) I like free stuff
2) You never know who is reading what you are putting out there on the "interweb" as Tony Kornheiser calls it. It's certainly possible that someone at SNAP headquarters in Minneapolis searches for mentions of SNAP every day, I suppose one of my fabulous readers could have sent a link to SNAP. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Who knows? It made me happy to know someone was reading, and also reminded me once again to always think before I hit send on anything I write.

That is all

I'll see you at the gym

Designing Your Workout (pt 1)

OK, lets design a workout, shall we? You know what your goals are, right? Not get in better shape.
Lose weight, add muscle, run a 5k do a triathlon, whatever.

We will start with the easy one, Lose Weight.
1st, please check with your doctor before starting any workout plan. Side note, I love side notes, does anyone check with their doctor? I have to say that so you don't go work out, get injured etc and sue me because I'm a trainer and clearly said it was ok to work out. Alright back to our regularly scheduled programming.
If you want to lose weight here's your first lesson. Consume fewer calories, burn more calories. Alrighty, I guess that's about it. I'll see you next time.

Ohhhhh, you want more details. Alright, just remember, you asked for it.

Cardio, the answer beyond controlling your eating is C-A-R-D-I-O. Get your heart rate up, keep it up. Cardio is the gift that keeps on giving. Do 45 minutes of cardio, your body will keep burning calories for about another 45 minutes. There are many, many good ways to get cardio.
Jog, bike, elliptical, arc trainer, treadmill, step class and on and on. But, did you know that you can count weight lifting as cardio? If you either do your weight workout in A) a circuit, but what is a circuit? I'm glad you asked. In a full body workout lets say I'm going to do lunges, squats, bench press, lat pull down, shoulder press, biceps curls, triceps push downs and crunches on an exercise ball. I can do 1 set of every exercise with no rest. Then a short rest then another set, rest and repeat. I should do weight that allows me to do 12-15 reps of each exercise. Start with weight you can only do 11-12 times, as you get stronger and can do 15 reps, increase the weight and go back to 12 reps.
On the B) side you could also do 3 sets of 12-15 of each exercise, 15-30 seconds between sets and a 1 minute break every 3 exercises.

Here is a quick example of one of my early workouts:
10 minutes on the elliptical
The circuit described above (2 sets of each exercise)
16 minutes on the elliptical

Remember, if you are trying to lose weight, you want to do low weight, high reps when lifting,with elliptical, treadmill, bike etc as a warm up and at the end of the workout.

If you plan to work out on consecutive days, split the lifting into 2 workouts so you don't work the same muscles on consecutive days. You can do cardio (elliptical, bike, whatever) every day, just change it up so you don't get bored. You can also work your abs any day they are not sore.
If you split the workout, add some alternative exercises, for example, add some pullups (with assistance) to go along with lat pulldown. Add incline bench to regular bench, the possibilities are endless.

2 final things:
1. if you're a regular reader, feel free to subscribe, It helps me to know who I'm talking to, I know, so much for this being my diary.

2. Always remember, I can't do this all on my own, I'm no superman. (Random sitcom theme song)

3. I guess it was 3 final things. I am still doing 2 spin class/ab days per week and lifting 4 days per week (moderate to heavy) 1 muscle group each day.

That's all for now,

I'll see you at the gym

But How Do I Design My Workout?

Ok, so you want to work out, you need to work out. But you're a little afraid, cautious, confused, just not sure what to do, or how to do it. By the way, I love commas, and big long sentences an English teacher would surely hate. I also love short sentences. OK, on with the show. What is the first thing you should do? First, set some goals, "getting in shape" is not a goal. Goals should be more defined. Set some long term goals, then some short term goals that will get you to your long term goals. Don't fret, your goals may change and that's ok. You've set goals, now what? Generally speaking now would be a good time to make sure you have appropriate clothes and shoes. You know, shorts, t-shirts and any kind of athletic shoes. Now, if you've got some old exercise equipment serving as a place to hang your shirts, clear it off. If you don't have equipment or don't want to work out at home, find a place to work out. Here is where I throw in a disclaimer, if you've read my blog you know where I work out (SNAP Fitness) what works for me may or may not work for you. Here's some free advice, don't get locked in for a year until you've gone for a few months. Make sure it's the right place for you before you get locked in, decide whatever you've chosen is wrong, and won't go anywhere else because you're already paying for a membership. Now what? Guess you'll have to tune in next time to find out.
Oh, fine, next time I'll talk about how to design your work out.

Until next time,
Hang on, I've noticed my blog has been a little short on sitcom references lately, I'm going to have to work on that. Until then this is T-Bone signing off. (Seinfeld reference for you)

I'll see you at the gym

Questions? Comments? You can reach me:
try @mikerigoni on twitter
or mikerigoni on facebook
or mrigoni64@gmail.com for email
or you can call 411 (that's for you Tony Kornheiser fans)

Look! Another Post!

Well, well, well. Here I am posting again! Who knew I'd have anything else to say? Certainly not me.
For those of you wondering, and you know who you are, I've settled on a workout plan. I know, I know, you were very concerned . Anyway, since I have discovered spinning (quick side note on spinning, never thought I'd like it, but it's the fastest 45 minutes of the day) I have been trying to figure out how to incorporate it(spinning) into my weekly plan. Another quick side note, you are thinking about your workouts in weeks/months, right? In order to get the most out of your workouts and meet your goals, you need to think of your daily workouts as part of a weekly puzzle.
Any way, I've been using parts of about 3 different plans and throwing in some cardio and some abs and some general all over lifting and some specific body part plans and blah, blah, blah wandering aimlessly, shocking i know.
So, I sat down today and did exactly what I would tell you to do, set some goals and then formulate a plan to meet those goals. The goal setting has been the hang up for me. I'm not trying to lose or gain weight, I'm not training for anything specific (triathlon, 5K, etc) so what's my goal? So, how did I get here? I read. I knew reading would get me into trouble eventually. Anyway, I read fitness magazines and books, always trying to see what is new and exciting in the world of working out. And I tend to be my own guinea pig. So, largely what I've been doing is flopping from plan to plan. Changing a plan every 4 weeks is a good idea, changing every week is not. So here is the plan for the next 4 weeks:
Day 1 Chest workout
Day 2 Back workout
Day 3 Cardio (spinning) and abs
Day 4 Shoulder workout
Day 5 Arms workout
Day 6 Cardio (spinning) and abs
Day 7 REST

Because I plan to work out 6 days a week, I can focus on one main body part each day. I am not working the same body part 2 days in a row, which allows me to lift either heavier or more reps because the body parts will get time to recover. I moved the arm workout away from the chest and back workouts so that I don't over worm my triceps which get used in most chest and back exercises. If necessary I'll lighten the triceps load on arm day. At this point I think spinning will be enough workout for my legs, if I feel the need I can always add in a leg workout. On days other than cardio I will do 20-30 minutes on the arc trainer, 1/2 as a warm up.

So, what's your plan? How many days are you going to work out next week? How long do you have to work out? What are your goals?

Thats all for now, but I'll be back,

I'll see you at the gym

My Workout's Stale!

So, you've been working out, regularly, right? Right? But, sometimes you get bored. Then what? On a side note, those were some seriously bad sentences, grammatically speaking. Any way, what I should have said is, "I'm getting bored with the cardio portion of my workouts" part of my problem is physical, I still have some pain in my heel/achilles tendon when I run or play basketball more than once a week, I'm too impatient to sit on a bike long enough to burn the calories I want to burn, so I climb on the arc trainer for 20-36 minutes depending on the workout every time I am at SNAP. And suddenly I'm having trouble getting motivated for that part of my training. Lift? Sure. Abs? No problem. Circuit training? love it! But I feel like I need to do the cardio. So, what to do? Find another way. Fortunately for me, SNAP in Chatham has expanded and are now offering "fitness on demand" classes. Push a couple of buttons on a touch screen, climb on a spin bike and 45 minutes later I've had a great dose of cardio. I had never done a spin class or even been on a spin bike before, so it was a little uncomfortable at first. Within a few minutes I had figured out how to adjust the bike, I followed the very peppy person on the screen, I was pedaling in rhythm to the music. A great cardio workout. You just never know what will happen when you step outside your comfort zone. When I first started working out, I felt out of place, like everyone was looking at me wondering what that fat guy was doing working out. Oh, and I sweat a lot, did then, do now. Once I decided I was going to do my workout to the best of my ability and not worry about what anyone thought my workouts got much better, that helped inspire me to stick with the eating plan.

So, what do you do when your plan gets stale or boring? Change it! Most "experts" will tell you that you should change your workout every 4-6 weeks. Sometimes little changes can make a big difference.

I am planning to post again before the weekend, until then,
I'll see you at the gym (or in spin class)

The Illinois State fair

It's Fair Week! What does the fair mean to you? For me the fair means a Vose corn dog. Maybe a pork chop on a stick, lemonade shake up, etc. So how do you eat healthy at the fair? That's a tough one, right? Yes it is. The pork chop is grilled, it's probably 2 servings of meat, I'd guess 400 to 500 calories. Just about everything else is either fried, full of sugar, covered in sugar or all of the above.
So, what should you do? I'd say you go to the fair. Once, twice max. Enjoy, but don't go crazy. The danger in the fair is that it could lead you back to bad habits. Going off the reservation once in a while is not a problem (once a week is not once in a while, more on that later) the real danger in indulging is that feeling that the corn dog will make you feel guilty, then you'll beat yourself up and decide that as long as you've already "blown the week" you might as well stop at McDonalds on the way home, and tomorrow for breakfast and, well you get the idea. The week is not blown, you haven't fallen off the wagon. Side note on the fallen off the wagon thing, at some point in our history did they make recovering alcoholics ride a wagon every where they went? That's one of those sayings that even though it makes no sense, I know what it means. Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program. It will not hurt you to have one day a week where you consume "extra" calories, stop dancing and read on. Seriously, one higher calorie day will keep your metabolism going, I'm not talking about 5000 calories, I'm talking about a little pizza, or pasta or whatever you feel like you are missing out on. Once you have reached your goal weight, it's ok to eat pretty much anything within reason. Track your weight, as long as you keep up your workouts, you didn't think I was going to let you stop working out, did you? And you don't gain weight, you're doing it right. Right for you will likely be different than right for anyone else. The only way I could lose weight was to be really careful of my diet, track everything, and obsess over 35 cal bread as opposed to 50 cal bread. Now that I am at my goal weight (YAY!) and have maintained for almost 2 years I don't worry about every calorie as much. I look at my general diet on a daily or even a weekly basis. I stay level by really controlling 2 meals a day. Breakfast is 300 calories, lunch is typically 300-400 calories, that gives me some room to eat a couple of snacks and a bigger meal in the evening. That's what works for me. You'll have to figure out what works for you. My general goal is to try to pick foods that will add up to about 1200 calories a day not including my "big" meal. Remember that I'm on maintenance, I could not, and have not lost weight on this plan.

For anyone out there counting, here is my list of fair food:
1 Corn dog
1/2 deep fried brownie yum, yum
1/2 order of river fries
3 glasses of wine (approximate) it was a tasting

I promise the next post will include some fitness tips.

And a side note to my editor, I'm getting old, I don't always remember what year it is. I feel good that I was only a year off on the date on my last post. I'm glad I have someone paying attention and keeping me in line.

I'll see you at the gym.

Back to WORK!

It's Sunday August 14th, 2010. Tomorrow is Monday August 15th, why is that important? Because tomorrow it's back to work. I know, i know, nobody will shed any tears for me. I had the whole summer off. I haven't had to work since the Friday before Memorial Day. Boo hoo, rough life I've got going here. But, as everything does, this return to work got me thinking. What are the diet/fitness challenges when you don't have a set schedule? The challenges are exactly what you'd think they are, it would be very easy to slack off on the diet, or ease up on the workouts. After all, you can stay extra long tomorrow, right? You can eat a little more, after all you can work out as long as you want, right? Wrong. At least for me. I do best when I have a routine. I probably started my workout between 9:30 and 10 am 90% of the days this summer.

Now that I'm headed back to work, my routine will have to change. Up about 6, out the door at 6:40. Work work work have some lunch, work work work, head to work out, then home, have some supper etc, off to bed . Lather, rinse, repeat. My routine is to workout on my way home, once I get home the chances I'm going back out to the gym are slim. Ooh a rhyme. Anyhoo, that's what works for me. It may not work for you, what's important is finding a routine that gets in enough workouts that becomes just a part of your daily/weekly routine.

I have rambled enough for now, I'll hit diet and workout in the next few posts. My goal is to keep the posts shorter, but post more often.

Adios for now.

Where Have you Been?

Where have I been?

Incredibly, only one person has asked, and she knows where I am. It's possible I should change the focus of this blog to something more entertaining, compelling or useful. Or use it as a sort of journal and not worry about who reads it. That last one seems about right. If I only blog for myself, am I talking to myself? More importantly, am I answering myself? So far this is just rambling, seems about right.
I should probably go back and review the past year so we (I?) can start fresh. Sounds like alot of work, I'll do it later. For now I should really get to the gym. I took yesterday off, I feel the need for a workout. I'll be back with two things, an update on the workout and a recap of the year.

That's it for now,

I'll see you at the gym.