One Mans Quest

I'm a fifty two year old guy who started going to the gym about four years ago in the hopes of reengineering my body mind and life. I've not really lost weight, but I have managed to get my body fat down to less than 10% which is surprising. I can't imagine a life without exercise now, but to stay focused it's necessary to constantly mix things up and make it challenging and fun. These blogs are some of the things I've learned- what has worked, what hasn't and some of the wacky ways I've found to stay fit. enjoy!

Disclaimer! please read!- I'm not a trainer, and certainly don't profess to be ay kind of expert, I'm writing about my personal experiences and highly recommend that if you want to try my routines, you consult a professional trainer.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving day- 10 minute "fuel" workout

It's been a while since I posted, but todays workout not only kicked my butt, but also was quite comical. Since the gym was closed it was necessary to improvise and improvise I did:




Concentrated on intervals today, so no need for lots of weight, but nevertheless found a few things to make it harder- Heres how it goes: I use an interval timer app like GymBoss and set it for 4 intervals of work plus one interval of rest- in this case 45 second work X 4 equals 3 minutes of high intensity followed by 30 seconds of resting. The 10 second countdown is only at the beginning of the first set. I have this set up to do 4 sets.  I did two rounds and the whole workout took less than 10 minutes.


First Rep: 45 seconds of burpees with pushups (I'm not sure why people say "with pushups" because I thought burps had pushups in them anyway)

Next is where the "fuel" comes in, but don't rest- go straight from burpees to this

Second Rep: Gasoline stair step carries Get two full 5 gallon cans of gasoline (they are about 32-33lbs each) if you don't have gas cans a small child will do, or a two large turkeys. Run up and down steps as fast as you can in 45 seconds- going backwards on the down step. Don't rest!









Third Rep: Diesel goblet squats. I know- those shorts right:-) Grab a 5 gallon can of diesel and squat keeping your back straight- do as many as you can in 45 seconds keeping good form. (5 gallons of diesel weighs about 36-37lbs depending on the container). Not yet on the Resting!!














Fourth rep: Propane Russian twists Grab a 5 gallon propane tank and sit on the ground- get into a Vee position with your legs elevated  about 30- 45 degrees and your back about 45 degrees off the ground. Take the propane tank and twist your trunk touching the tank on the ground, rotate to the other side and repeat. Do as many as you can in 45 seconds. (The propane tank was about a ¼ full and I have no idea how much it weighed- I'm guessing 15-20lbs)









Rest set: 30 seconds. Best to walk around, definitely do not sit down.  Now repeat the whole thing for a total of four sets. Go baste the turkey and then do the whole thing over again.

I did 8 sets total and was wiped- heres a photo of Dover the sheep looking at me wondering if I had gone completely mad


Thursday, March 7, 2013

Sunday- upper body pick-up

Abs/Core- no rest between sets

Plank- 60 seconds
Mountain climber- 30 reps
Plank 60 seconds
Crunches on swiss ball- 30 reps
Plank 60 seconds




Upper body

Rotator cuffs with bands- 8 sets
Dumb bell bench press superset with dumbbell flies- 3 sets
Incline dumbbell bench press superset with incline flies- 3 sets
Wide grip rows superset with narrow grip rows- 3 sets
Wide grip pull ups- as many as possible, then straight to wide grip lat pull downs superset with
one arm bent over rows- 4 sets

Seated dips- 100 reps in drop set format (heavy to light)

Finish up with barbell bench press- 100 reps in drop set format


Saturday, March 2, 2013

Shoulders, arms and core

Fridays workout

Shoulders, arms and chest recovery:

Military press-3 sets 8-10 reps
Arnold press Superset with
Straight bar curl 3 sets 8-10 reps

Shoulder flies superset with front, side and press 3 sets 8-10
Hammer curls Superset with 
tricep kick back
Eazy bar curl on Bosu ball superset with
Bench dips 3 sets 8-10

Legs/core

Hill sprints- 6 sets (run up steep hill as fast as possible, then walk back down)
Medicine ball side toss
Squat thrust with medicine ball 3 sets 10 reps (this is a squat jump, but at the end of a jump throw a heavy medicine ball as high and as hard as you can)
Kettle ball swing long jumps 3 sets 10 reps (take a kettle ball between your legs. swing it forward and leap forward at the same time)

Chest recovery: 3 sets light bench press then drop set of dips followed by 100 reps. Lean forward to activate chest muscles.

Remember, the idea here is to move quickly with little rest to get aerobic activity engaged too

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Workout of the day

With all the different workouts out there, one begins to wonder which one is best for you. I've noticed that many have a theme and that theme is intensity. We've found that planning weight lifting routines ahead of time reduces rest time and increases intensity. Super setting routines also cuts down on time in the gym and keeps the metabolism fired up. With that in mind, I'll post here some routines that will target certain muscle groups and keep a good cardio going. Here's Thursdays- Tuesday was leg intensive and you'll see that the last set is a recovery set- the idea being that light weight helps reduce the acid and speeds recovery.



Abs and core:
Plank 90 seconds
Seated leg in and out 25 
Plank 90 seconds
Cruches on Swiss ball 50reps
Plank 60 seconds
Human flag 45 seconds each side
Trunk twists 
Side plank 45 seconds each side
Lying butt raises

Chest/lats: 
Benchpress- 1 warm up, then 3 sets 8-10 Superset with
            Incline pull up to bar (feet on the floor, bar at about 48")
Basketball push ups 3 sets Superset with 
            Pullups as many as you can, then staright to seated pull ups
Incline dumbbell press 3 sets 8-10 Superset with
            Standing wide grip pull downs arms outstretched 
Machine fly crossover past centerline (have to do this unilaterally) Superset with
            Cable flies from low pulley up to chin level

Legs recovery set:5 minutes
Squats in rack 50 reps

I'll post more here later