I’ve worked out in gyms and clubs off and on for the past six years, the “off” times due to illness, too much else to do, or frustration. (Who hasn’t gotten frustrated when they can’t lose those last five pounds?) Sometimes I needed an extra push, and instead of giving myself that push, I’d quit. But I always felt worse not exercising, found that the hour of working out, three times a day, did something more than help me stay in shape physically. It made me feel good about myself—that I had will power, that I was in control of my brain and body. So, I’m back to it now, have been for almost a year, and once again, I’m at that place where I need the extra push. Blogging might do it. If I say I’m going to do it, actually post it, I certainly better, right?

So, this is where I am now. 5’6, 141 lbs. Female. Good shoulders (I work on that, my vanity) I’m stronger than many my age—I can lift heavy boxes, hike up a hill, twist open the tops of jars when someone hands one over with that look of, “Well, I can’t do it, maybe you can.” So, I’m sort of where I want to be. (I could lose five more pounds. I’d love to lose five more pounds.) But to stay here, strong-shouldered and all, I have to keep at it.

I workout three days a week, at a gym, using the machines I wish I owned. (I’m saving for a treadmill, almost there—Kings of Cardio are going to give me a good deal.) But for now it’s the gym—and fast walking on the off days. (Oh, and eating healthy food, although I can’t resist bagels with cream cheese or a dark chocolate candy bar. Hersey’s bittersweet!) First I stretch, loosing up my calf muscles by placing one foot a good step in front of the other, leaning forward, bouncing slightly. Then all the other stretches—you probably know them, for my back and lats and arms. Five minutes. I always want to shorten this time, get to the machines, but they say that’s a mistake. (Like they say to make sure you eat in the morning—it triggers your metabolism, gets it going, otherwise it’s slowing down, worrying it won’t get fuel. Sumo wrestlers don’t eat until right before they go to sleep at night. If they ate regular meals, or even snacked in between, they’d lose weight!)

After the stretches, I head to the treadmill. I used to like the elliptical, and there’s nothing wrong with them, I’m just fonder, at the moment, of the treadmill. I can push myself harder, get up a full head of steam, so to speak. I work out on the treadmill for 33 minutes (I add a minute every week, that’s why I’m at 33 minutes, and my hour in the gym gets a might bit longer, too—but one minute a week makes it less noticeable, easier to do than you’d think.) I generally burn about 330 calories. I start off at a walk for 2 minutes, at an incline of 3% at 2.7 mph, then up the incline to 5%, and sped up to 3.7 mph, for three minutes, and then I increase the incline to 9%, at 4 miles per hour, for 25 minutes to get my heart beating. (Well, it’s already beating, but you know what I mean.) Then I lower the incline to 4% and slow down to 3.6 mph, for -3 minutes. (I’m no pro at all of this, so my terms are my own. Hope they make sense.)

Then it’s on the resistance training with the machines. (Might I ever really have a home gym? I’m hoping so. It’s my fantasy, turning my basement into a home gym. I always put on makeup to leave the house and fix my hair, which is plain nuts before a workout, but I can’t go out otherwise.)

At the leg press I set the weights at 134 pounds, so I’m pushing 268 lbs. I say push, but the workout is also about the control of the release motion. I do ten reps, three times, with a rest between them for 20 seconds. I started, last year, at 120 lbs on each side (total 240), so that’s how long it took to get here.

Next, hip-abduction, sitting back at an incline, pushing outwards with my thighs, set at 120 lbs. Ten reps, three times, that short 20 second rest in between. Then hip-adduction, the opposite of hip-abduction. I press inwards with my thighs, same weight levels. Once again, ten reps, three times. That seems to be pretty standard for most of the weight machines.

Then I workout my abdomen. This machine is not so much a machine but an angled bench that you can adjust. I lay on it with my head at the bottom, feet at the top and do sit ups. I can’t do three reps yet, just 10 sit ups, rest, then 7 more. I hold my hands near my head for momentum, though I’m not sure you’re supposed to do that.

Then there’s another machine for abs. This one you can’t adjust and it’s at a lower angle than the last one, with your abs lower, too, if that makes sense. On this I can do ten sit ups and three reps.

Next I use the compound Rower. I set the weights a little lower this last week because I hurt my shoulder at work. So, only at 70 lbs, pushing down 10 times, 3 reps.

For an aerobic workout before the free weights I use the step machine for about 10 minutes, which usually means I climb about 39 flights of stairs. (Great machine! Has workout stats—average heart beats, etc.)

I end with the free weights. 10 lbs in each hand, doing some arm exercises. Then I cool down with stretching and a warm shower, and make sure to drink some water.

That’s it. Kings of Cardio say that if I put this on their blog, maybe people will write in with their routines, and encourage me to keep up with mine. I’ll write back when I learn new things about exercising, or try a new machine. What’s your favorite?

One of the first thing we think about every morning when we wake up is how we look and how we could exercise more and eat better. The last thing any of us want to do is spend a lot of money on home fitness equipment. However, it is really difficult to find home fitness equipment that is going to last for a long time, for less than $1000.00. For example, there are over 100 diferent elliptical crosstrainers on the market today for less than $1000.00. With that said, out of those 100 or so pieces of elliptical exercise equipment, no more than one or two at the most will be a good piece of home gym gear. Therefore, never value the price over the quality of the equipment. It doesn’t matter if you get an elliptical, treadmill, home gym, rowing machine, stair climber or exercise bike, if you buy one that you do not use or like, it doesn’t matter how low the cost was because it was a total loss and waste of money. When looking at home fitness equipment, try to focus on reputable name brand equipment such as Precor, Life Fitness, Star Trac, Cybex and stay away from low end equipment like Proform. Always ask one of our reliable and friendly fitness experts about any and every piece of equipment that is a potential buy. The friendly fitness experts of the Kings of Cardio, are open 24/7, and can be reached at 800-990-1108.