Political Crossfire Forums

So, I'm hitting the gym and I'm trying to figure out what exercises to do to mix things up. Usually for lifting I do biceps, triceps and shoulders one workout, chest and back the other. Which muscle groups are best to work out together? I do some core workouts too. Any other activities people particularly enjoy?

Besides just getting fit, I want to do a marathon by the end of the year. I've been running four to five miles four times a week and I'll be adding mileage each week, but I'm wondering what I should do for variation. I got on the treadmill a couple years back and was too tired and fell off. Surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be, but still not something I want to do again. Is treadmill important? I usually just run outside.

I took a running course this past academic year and it was nice to meet people outside of my grad department, but mostly we do short runs to build up for a mile time (6:06, I want to get it this year below six though for sure).

Sex and Systema.

In between sets work on rubiks cubes and sudoku. Force your brain to work while the rest of the body is exhausted. Surprising how much it can add to a workout. Good conditioning besides. Brain sucks down 20% of your metabolic activity all by itself, despite being on a few percent of your body. Huge energy hog.

Best thing you can do, besides hiring a trainer, is to grab a few picture of the muscles of the body. Those things hanging in doctors' offices. You can then identify muscles and devise your own workouts. You'd be surprised how many you miss just doing "normal" exercises.

Very few people work on their obliques, for instance. Also, it's hard to work out your upper abdominals.

Work your calves. They help a lot with running. When running once you have forward momentum, you should concentrate on "jumping" as far as possible. If you can lengthen your stride, you will take several hundred fewer steps. It increases endurances quite a bit.

Another thing that can help with your running, if you have knee problems, is to buy some of those toe shoes. Don't run on concrete for a while in them. But, because it actually hurts to land on your heels in them, you learn to spread the impact to your toes. In doing this, instead of the impact being absorbed by your knees (which don't bend the right way to absorb impact), it's absorbed by your ankles (which act like spring/levers to absorb impact). Be careful not to stub your toes, but they are great for form. Practice in them, then when you run, your knees will thank you!

There are tons of weight lifting tips and techniques on the net, and I'm not going to say I'm an expert or anything, but I have a couple of trends I typically use while lifting. I did a brief stint at a gym in college where Mr. Universe worked out at the time and picked up a few good techniques that have stuck with me many years later.

-Always start with lifts that work combo muscles before doing isolation lifts. Example: Bench press before flys.
-Try and alternate your exercises between push and pull lifts. Example: bench press is a push (of course), and rows would be a pull. Mix and match them.
-Alternate your lifting techniques periodically. High rep-low rep (increasing weight) Pyramids, supersets, etc.
-Alternate between doing free and circuit weights.
-Keep yourself on a strict time regimen between sets and exercises to keep get the maximum calorie burn.


I'm sure some of that is obvious, but that's my two cents.