Friday workout

I'm taking a few days off from training. I'm pretty sure I either sprained or tore my ACL, so letting it rest for a few days. I'll do some upper body stuff and stretching tomorrow. I don't see walking or squatting in my near future. I think I did it doing some drills for the discus. Everybody keep posting your workouts on here though. Earl

I wish you a quick recovery Earl! Today's Work out for me :) 25 minutes on the tredmill at 3.6 speed 0 incline and a super accomplishment for me!  I jogged 5 minutes without wanting to kill over! ^.^  15 minutes of stretching (lunges, squats, sit-ups, and pushups) 40 minutes of strength training 8 minutes of crosstraining machine at 4 incline and 30 resistance. I was given homework by my trainer ^.^ Eat within an hour of working out and read the magazine she gave me.  Both are done! Good luck everyone!

Good workout B. Why couldn't I get homework like that when I was in school? What Magazine was it? Earl

Oxygen: Robert Kennedy's Women's Fitness Feb. 2007 issue.

Yeah, that's probably the best Women's fitness magazine with good information out there. I even look at for some ideas for different exercises. They actually push a lot of stuff athletes do in their training. yeah...I look at the pictures too.  I had some pictures published by him years ago (like 1980) in his other magazine.

^.^ Well we'll let you slide with looking at the pictures for an extended amount of time! This issue has some great tips about getting the glutes involved in different leg exercises.  It talks a lot about the mind-body connection too.  I've heard of it before, being that I do martial arts, but we refer to it as control; knowing what your body is doing is key to being able to control your movements and power. There's also an article about body positioning and how making some adjustments in some exercises will work different muscles.  "[...] to target your quads, all leg positions, stance widths and squat depths are equally effective.  If you want to target your gluteus muscles, use a wide stance and squat until your thighs are past being parallel to the floor" (oxegenmag feb 2007 pg 81). I find that I get more of an abdominal work out from using the stability ball and found the information on page 82 of the same issue quite usefull too.  I normally just feel them in my back more then I do in my abs, so when I got to do them on the ball and actually felt the abs I was almost excited! I may turn into a fitness junkie but that's okay :)  Investing in a personal trainer has probably been one of my better investments.  I really did not know a whole lot about exercising (despite having 12 years of phyiscal education in school :P) sure I knew it was healthy but what do you do to really impact and build muscles definition?  I am finally coming to understand things in a gym setting and I think that it's great.  The best part is that my workout in the gym will help me so much in my martial arts and visa-versa ontop of creating a healthier me!

Hi B, Yeah for bodybuilding the mind muscle connection is key. It's hard to get with some muscle like the back. It took my years to get to the point I could feel my lats working. I tend to train movements now instead of muscles which is a different mindset. When I do my bodybuilding cycle it's all about mind muscle, the weight is not that important. When I'm training movements it's all about technique, speed and power. Any muscle I build is just a side effect. Glad you're hooked. Earl

Earl, Earl, Earl! You certainly need to rest that knee!  I hope you feel better soon! I didn't work out yesterday, took the day off Today I did 3 mile walking DVD, with jogging intervals...Dede

Good workout Dede.  I was probably due for a "break" anyway. Have a good weekend. Earl