Christmas has come and gone, and for some reason I had to get sick over the weekend. Oh well. I went back to the gym today and had a great workout, but it left me exhausted. Well worth it, though. One more week of my current 3 days a week workout and then on to something new. Which means I have a week to write it up. Which also means I have a week to write up what I am going to have the fiancé do.
Here’s where you come in. What suggestions would you have for me to work in for either of us? I am going to be concentrating on core fitness for January, with a lot of swiss ball work. I will be going to the gym, but she will be workout out at home. I am not going to have her do a lot of lower body work since it is not really important for her goals. She gets plenty in from her other activities. Available tools include a weight bench with standards, dumbbells, a curling bar, a swiss ball, and a sit up board. Everything else is either in storage or been lost over the years.
Blaine, for yourself, how about the CrossFit (crossfit.com) approach -- a bit of everything. It seems like a good mix.
As for your fiancee, what exactly are her fitness goals?
She wants to look good in her wedding dress. She is a figure skater, runner, and swimmer. The swimming is taking a back seat this year due to time constraints and some other issues. She just wants to look toned, basically. I figure that I will set up a program for her that will help her balance and get her as fit upper body as she is lower body as being the most likely to help with the skating.
There’s a variety of exercises that she could do that I think would get her upper body more toned. Make sure they are compound exercises would be one suggestion. Most of the time this will work the core.
-- Bench Press (DB or Barbell)
-- Rows (DB or Barbell)
-- Dips
-- Chin-ups/pull-ups (assisted or not)
There’s a variety of other’s as well. Perhaps some bodyweight exercises would be a good start and then progress to the weights depending on her experience with weights. I’d also stick in the range of 3 sets of 8.
That’s around where I am thinking for her. When she was in college on the crew team she lifted weights regularly, so she knows how, but she has not done much with them since.
Blaine, have you had a chance to put together a new routine?
Not yet, no. I’ve been sick all week and when not at work have been sitting around feeling sorry for myself. I am not going to work out on Monday so I will try to put something concrete together then.