Making time for weights

[Kimmyt]

I understand and am thankful for all of your concern. I am aware I'm doing a lot of training, but honestly at this point I am really enjoying this, and am making sure I have enough time to do the necessary (i.e. sleep and eat) and am not doing too much for my own personal health.

As I mentioned, not willing to decrease the climb time, as this equates to 'social time' for me and it's really all I get, at twice a week for a few hours at a time. It's one of the few times I get release.

i think maybe the weight routine took a longer time because it was my first time and I had to figure things out... it took some time to fiddle with weights. I am doing 3 sets of 8-12 reps as it is, perhaps I'm taking too much time to do the reps or too much time in between. Hopefully with repeated tries it will get quicker (this time I had to take alot of time to get my machine settings, figure out the weight).

For now I think I am going to try doing one weight day on my wednesday swim class, and take it easy in swim class that day, and then another weight session on friday when i usually don't work out at all. If that doesn't work, the alternating leg/upper body workout sounds great, and I've started doing my runs at lunch time which also helps me cut down on after-work time as well as lets me relieve my mid-day stress .

K.

[Wahine]

Hey Kimmyt, good work trying to fit all this stuff in. Here's how I do it:

Swim and wts on the same day - swim AM and wts in the evening.

I keep my weight sessions as short as possible by doing super sets - one set of upper body followed by one set lower body and back and forth until I'm done my 3 sets of each. This eliminates some dead time between sets and shortens the overall length of the workout. It does lengthen the rest times a bit, but I don't see that as a problem.

Finally, when I used to climb, I eliminated all back and bicep work in the gym. They get plenty of work on the rock wall. No need to double up on those.

Hopes this helps.

[rocknrollgirl]

Hi Kimmy,
I knew you would get lots of good advice from everybody. When I used to climb, I do not work all of my arm muscles either, it used to actually lead to overuse injuries if I did.

I forget when I read everybody else's schedule that most of you can exercise at lunch or in the am, which I cannot do. it would make it easier to fit all of that in under those circumstances. I have to crunch it all together in the afternoons.

And your routine will get faster. I do not do lots of legs with my training schedule, like KSH, I can't handle the soreness, and with mt biking I get a pretty heavy leg workout.

I hope my response did not sound negative....I kinda sounded Momish....and I am not even a Mom!! Just old...I guess it goes with the terriotory.


Ruth

[Starfish]

Rocknrollgirl, you are NOT old. Gads.

Chris Carmichael, in his book The Ultimate Ride, talks about transferring strength gains in the weight room by lifting, and then immediately going out on the bike. He admits this makes your biking performance drop, but it is only for a time until you transition into your full biking season and muscle tension workouts on the bike. Just for what it's worth.

Sometimes I get a great back and shoulder workout in the pool by using hand paddles and a pull buoy (no kicking). If you have not used these, it is worth taking it slow and getting some coaching. If your stroke is off, or you are relying more on your arms than your back, you can get overuse injuries fast. But, with a slower, more powerful, mindful stroke, really concentrating on isolating your muscles like you do in the gym, you can get a great workout and build muscular endurance. At least that is my experience.

[midlife]

Whoa! That is an awfully long time to do weights! How many reps/sets are you doing?

My whole program takes about 1.5 hours, that includes 30 mins cardio, weights, core/abs and then stretches.

My husband currently has more time to go to they gym cos he works from home, and I think his trainer ran out of ideas with him, so one time he does strength stuff and the next umm, something else!! Can't recall what, I'm too busy perving at him to notice what he's actually doing!

With my weights I do 2 supersets, one has 3 parts, cable rows/cable flys/ then dumbell stepups, I do it 3 times without a break, as I'm not lifting huge weights, their isnt a lot of point sitting around for a few minutes between sets. The other set is rope pulldown/lat pulldown and medicine ball squats. I dunno, I reckon these sets probably take 15-20mins.

I also fit in 2 runs a week and two bike rides. And I make sure I have a rest day, cos the body needs it to recover.

When I was doing tris I swam 3 times a week, ran 3 (one track/speed) I long run and one medium; and rode once or twice and maybe a windtrainer session. That still left time for part time work, 3 kids and a husband and some socializing.