Topic: This is my schedule each day for training. Opinions?

[JPat000]

This is my schedule for each working day that I‘ll do to prepare for my PT test for whenever the recruiting office gets back to me (I submitted an app. on Saturday, and with Monday being a holiday, I‘ll give them ‘till Friday before I call).

I wake up at 6:00am.  Shower, eat breakfast.  At 6:45am, I leave to powerwalk.  There‘s no tracks nearby (small town), so I just run down the main street of town, around and start over again a few times.  Going around three times totals about 5km.

When I get back, I go down to the basement, where I have an exercise mat, and I practice my pushups and situps for about an hour.  After that, I rest for a while, eat lunch, then head over to the gym for an hour or two.  I use the weight bench, some regular weights, and that machine where you grab the two bars and pull them in front of you.  I forget what it‘s called.

Once I‘m done, I head home, and rest.  I walk my dog around the block while I‘m wearing those weights that strap to your arms and ankles.  Sometimes I‘ll run, but my dog likes to sniff every piece of ground she can.

When I get the dog home, I‘ll eat a quick dinner, then I go back out, and run/jog (not powerwalk) the same area I do in the morning.  When I get back from that, I‘ll stick on a DVD or a game for an hour or two, then go to sleep.


What do you think?  Is this a fairly good way of getting in shape for the physical test?


Edit: Just fixed a few spelling errors.

[kurokaze]

Interesting program.  A couple of questions
for you though, first of all what kind of shape
are you in now?

And second how many days a week are you planning
on performing this program?

[JPat000]

I‘d say I‘m in above-average shape.  I don‘t exercise (well, I didn‘t), but I don‘t eat a lot and I‘m not always sitting around.  My shape is good, but probably not good enough to survive basic training.  

Which is why I‘m doing this, and I plan to do it five days a week, Monday thru Friday, with the weekends off.

[Cycophant]

For your current fitness level, it sounds pretty good.  As things improve, I might add more running/jogging.

One thing to add though, doing this 5 days a week, you‘ll have to be careful.  This allows a greater possibility of injury from overwork (particularily considering your current fitness level).  As well, there is the possibility that you‘ll overdo everything so much that after a week or two, it‘s just too difficult mentally, to go out and continue.  I‘d suggest keeping it down to 3 times a week for the first 2-3 weeks, then moving up to 5x.  A minor injury like a shin splint or even just a sprained muscle can ruin your training for a good week.

[Infantry Soldier]

Be really careful with overtraining, especially when you first start exercising.  Going to the gym for a couple of hours a day five days in a row isn‘t going to give your muscles enough time to recover(especially if you do the same exercises every day).  With running, alternate easy and hard days.  Take a couple of days off completely to let your whole body rest, but spread them over the week.  Also, do a lot of stretching.  The more flexible you are, the less likely it is you‘ll get injured.  Hope this advice helps a bit,

[JPat000]

I‘m sure it will.  As it‘s probably obvious, I know nothing about exercise and fitness.

I think I need to get some running shoes, too.  My feet have blisters from that walk this morning.  Guess you shouldn‘t exercise in dressy shoes.  

[GrahamD]

Here is my current work out schedual.  I have been doing basic maintenance weight training for about 2 years on and off, because I‘ve needed to maintain a weight less than 85 kilograms, and if I hit the gym hard I bulk up really fast.  My cardio has been lacking severely over the last year because I broke my leg skydiving last spring.  

So in preperation for basic (and beyond), really my motivation is to not embarass myself when/if I get to my unit, I have stepped up my training considerably.

When it comes to weight training, I have increased the intensity while decreasing the duration of my work out.
 While in maintenance I would normaly do a split workout over 1.5 hours, ie chest/arms or back/legs or shoulders/abs.
But because I‘m trying to get bigger and stronger right now, I focus on 1 muscle group each day and limit my workout time to 35-45 minutes ,eat lots of protein, and relax/rest as much as I can.  As for days off, I don‘t plan them, I let my body dictate when it needs to take a rest.
  Example, if today is "arms" day (and it is) and my wrists/forearms are aching, I will not skip to shoulders, I will take the day off and let everything rest.  This means that any particular muscle group is getting at least 5 days of rest between workouts.  (I do push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-up‘s at fairly random intervals)
Over the last 4 weeks it has made quite a difference, people have mentioned that I look bigger lately.

As for cardiovascular fitness, I started off extremely slow, a 2.4k every other day in 14 minutes (remember I recently broke my leg, I nearly broke it right off too). Now I am running the 2.4k about 30 sec slower than the minimum while saving enough to hold that pace until 3k, but its improving every time, and also I am throwing in swimming in many of the off days to still get cardio while resting my legs.  My swimming is also greatly improving. I personaly feel that it is the perfect exercise to do in between running days.  It‘s not the cardiac/respiratory systems that get over trained, its the muscles, joints, skeletal structure.

 So yes take the good advice in the previous posts, and ease off the torturous schedual you have going on, or injury will surely catch up with you, but keep that motivation working for you, and maybe adjust your schedual to allow for rest days.  It feels wrong and lazy at first, but sleep/rest is one of the 3 major factors involved with building/strengthening muscle.

[JPat000]

So what would you all suggest as a good schedule?  Maybe run one day, rest the next, work out, rest the next, and whatever?  Something every two days?

[GrahamD]

No, that seems a little light. You could run on a day when you work out your muscle groups, just preferably not on a day when you already worked out your legs.  Treat the cardio, and weight training seperately wherever you can.

Run one day but not the next etc.   do weight training, a few days on 1 day off (or even every other day).
  Probably 3-4 times a week is a lot of weight lifting if you are just starting out.  I would recommend 3 times a week, doing split muscle groups, so 2 groups per work out, ie chest/arms, legs/shoulders, back/abs.
  Proper streching is important for all muscle groups, but be especially careful about your hamstrings (trust me).

  When you first start out, the most important thing to focus on is your form (lots of people will help you out at the gym if you ask nicely) ((don‘t ask the guys who walk around trying to look tough, they are usually jerks and don‘t use proper form anyway)).  So for example, don‘t load up the benchpress and break your spine arching your back as you scream and puff to try and impress the chicks (I see people do things like this at my gym).
  Put enough on (weight) so that you can comfortably do about 10-12 reps (almost any exercise) and do 4 sets slightly increasing the weight each set until on the last set you can only manage 8-10.  As you progress you can lower the # of reps and increase the weight, but you need to have a solid foundation built on control and form.  An exercise done right is never a violent, excessively fast movement.
  The best person to help you would be a personal trainer, but I know I can‘t afford one, so I can tell you the next best thing is to find someone at the gym (a regular) who is willing to help you.  

Plus, remember, you may feel kinda dumb asking that huge muscle head standing around nearby for a spot on your (tiny by comparison to his) benchpress, but you will feel way dumber if you need to be taken away in an ambulance because you crushed your chest.

[Cycophant]

I think I need to get some running shoes, too. My feet have blisters from that walk this morning. Guess you shouldn‘t exercise in dressy shoes

If you haven‘t got a good pair, it could be one of the best things you can do to improve your running.  Not to mention reducing your chance of injury.

I previously had a crummy pair of just general sneakers.  Finding out that owning a good pair of running shoes would benefit me not only now, but during Basic, I went out and purchased a good pair.  Expect to pay about $110+ for a good pair.  Go to a good shop and get your feet measured and your proper shoe "type" discovered (in terms of how much your feet pronate).  I noticed a signifigant difference once I ran with a good pair of running shoes.  Joints like the hips and knees feel better, reduction of blisters, and a slight increase in performance.  Well worth the $120 that should last you a good year or more.

[Hookflash]

GrahamD‘s advice sounds pretty good.  Just make sure you give each muscle group enough time to recover between workouts (1 or 2 days), otherwise you could actually *burn* muscle mass!  If I were you, I‘d work out 3 times per week for about an hour at a time.  3-4 sets of 8-12 reps with 60-90 seconds of rest between sets seems to be the popular recommendation for each exercise.  Also, proper nutrition in very important if your going to be doing some intense weight training.  You should eat 5 or 6 meals each day to provide your body with a constant supply of nutrients.  Drink *lots* of water, and (if you want muscle mass) consume lots of protein.  Bear in mind that you probably won‘t get "thin" on a routine like this, but you‘ll be strong, ripped, and (most important) healthy.  Oh, and don‘t forget aerobics (sounds like you‘ve already got that covered with your walking/jogging).