Well . . . thought I'd join your ranks and keep track of my routine online. We'll see if it helps. It can't hurt. Feel free to comment if you're lurking. Any remark, positive or negative, may be beneficial.

Due to the fact I commute 4 hrs per day, I can only work out on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Fridays are chest, tri's and cardio.

Saturdays are back, bi's and forearms.

Sundays are legs, shoulders and abs.

I fully realize this isn't the best routine. But given my time constraints . . .

I do three sets of eight for each exercise, unless I've died. I try to keep my movements very strict, again, unless I'm dying. My workouts would definitely fall under the category of vigorous. I push/pull with every ounce of strength I have, and sweat like a pig. I've had 4 knee surgeries and have been slacking on legs lately. So you may notice I'm lacking in that area. I've worked out, off and on, for almost 20 years. Mostly off though. I've been back at the gym for approx, 2 months now. I do have muscle memory on my side. My routine takes anywhere from 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs.
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Yesterdays routine was as follows:

5 minute warm-up on LifeCycle - level 6

5 minutes stretching

Legs

Squats:
warm up with 45 lb bar (10) - slow
135 (8)
185 (8)
225 (8)

Quad extensions:
(I'm not sure of the actual poundage, the machine just has plate numbers.)
15 (8)
16 (8)
17 (8)

Hamstring pulls (flat):
12 (8)
13 (8)
14 (6)

Calf (standing)
365 (8)
375 (8)
385 (8) That's the whole stack, baby!

Calf (seated):
90 (8)
145 (8)
200 (8)

Shoulders

Shoulder press machine:
90 (8)
180 (8)
230 (6)

Front extensions:
20 (8)
25 (8)
30 (8) - *bump up next time*

Seated back extensions
25 (8)
30 (8)
35 (8) - *bump up next time*

I wanted to some trap exercises and ab's, but ran out of time. I'll have to do some abs at home mid week.

Well, that's it for now.

Good workout. Did an ECA stack 15 mins before breakfast. Unfortunately a flat tire made me a little later than I anticipated. Luckily I had my cigarette-lighter powered pump on board.

Total time in the gym - 2:15.

Warm-up

10 mins on Lifecycle (avg. 80 rpm - 135 cals burned)
10 mins stretching

Weighed myself - 233 lbs

Chest

Flat bench - dumbbells
90 (8)
95 (8)
100 (7)

Seated decline - Hammer Strength machine
90 (8)
180 (8)
270 (8)

Incline fly - dumbbells
50 (8)
55 (8)
60 (8)

Triceps

Seated two arm extension - 1 dumbbell
85 (8)
90 (8)
95 (8) - bump up next week

Cable pull downs - close grip on machine specifically built for tri's
110 (8)
120 (8)
130 (8) - **PERSONAL BEST!!** - two plates from using the whole stack

Overhead rope extension
100 (8)
110 (8)
120 (8) - I'm guessing on the weight as I can't remember. But last set was using the whole stack on the cable machine.


Cardio

25 mins on Lifefit cycle. (80 rpm - roughly 300 cals burned??) I forget . . .

Notes

Damn good workout. Felt pumped and could have done more. (A little wired due to the ECA stack though.)

Even though I'm getting to my goal of losing my gut, I don't like the fact I'm noticing some shrinkage in my arms too. Gotta take the bad with the good, I guess.

Took another pre workout ECA stack during breakfast.

Total time in the gym - 1:40.

Warm-up

10 mins on Lifecycle (avg. 80 rpm - 135 cals burned)
10 mins stretching

Weighed myself - 234 lbs

Back

Front pulldowns - Hammer Strength machine
90 (10)
180 (8)
270 (8)
290 (6) - Cheating too much

Behind neck cable pulldowns
200 (8)
210 (8)
220 (7)

Bent over dumbell rows
95 (8)
100 (8)
105 (8)

Lower back extensions - holding plate against chest
25 (8)
25 (8)
35 (8)

Biceps

Hammer curls - dumbbells
45 (8)
50 (8)
50 (7)

Preachers - curl bar
75 (8)
95 (8)
105 (6)

Double high cable curls
50 (8)
60 (8)
70 (8)

Forearms

Standing flat bar wrist curls - front, then back
90 (8)
100 (8)
100 (8)

Seated wrist curls - tops
35 (8)
40 (8)
50 (6) - no 45 bar?!

Notes

Seems my eyes were bigger than my bi's today. I kept trying to bump my weights up too much. Biting off more than I could chew. I tweaked my lower back a bit on the second set of bent over rows. Hopefully it's gone by tomorrow's leg day. Otherwise no squats.

The tweak in my lower back did keep me out of the gym today. I should have been a little brighter, and left when it happened. But no . . .

I spent a couple hours in the whirlpool/sauna today. Rehabbing. Ahhhh.

It isn't a major injury. Just a nuisance which should be cleared up by the time I hit the gym again on Friday.

*fingers crossed*

Welcome and good luck with your back. Those things can cause you lots of misery.

Thanks for the kind words del. Everyone at work is getting a good chuckle at my expense. I'm walking around like I've got a stick firmly planted up my ass.

It was suggested I might be healthier if I stayed out of the gym.

lol.

Oh well . . .

I've been where you are at and it isn't any fun.

Well my back hasn't responded anywhere near as quick as I'd anticipated. I figured two days. Three days max, and I'd be 100%. I'm on day four and it's just now coming around.

I booked the day off to rest it up. So after breakfast I went to the gym and rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes. lol. I know . . .

That's all though. I wanted to do some shoulders to make up for Sunday's missed workout. But that would be really stupid.

I went to the local rec centre and spent a couple hrs between the whirlpool and sauna, entertaining all the disabled folks. I did a few laps in the pool too. Just to test it out.

Weighed myself in the gym. Lost 1 pound. 232 lbs. Funny my belly has shrunk so much, I thought it'd be more. Poor, poor me, eh.

My back has responded slower than expected. But is close to 100%. I've decided to take it easy on it this weekend, instead of risking any further damage.

Cardio

35 mins on Lifefit cycle (avg. 80 rpm - 450 cals burned)
10 mins stretching
sit up's (no weight)
(20)
(15)
(15)

Weighed myself - 234 lbs - gained 1 pound.

Chest

Seated incline - Hammer Strength machine
90 (10)
180 (8)

Pec deck
160 (10)
180 (10)
200 (8)

Seated dip machine - first time ever used this
380 (10)
420 (10)
440 (10)
460 (10) - one plate from the whole stack!! I like this. This is easy.

Triceps

Seated double dumbbell extension - incline bench, pushing out at 45% - first time for this one too
30 (8)
35 (8)
40 (8)

Rope pull downs
60 (8)
70 (8)
80 (8)

You wrote in my log:



Thanks for letting me know. I knew I really needed to check into this. I know it's so lopsided because I carry my children only in my right arm. They're 28 and 32 pounds now!

As for moving up, I won't do it unless I feel confident I'm keeping good form with what I'm already doing. According to the book, if I can complete all 3 sets with 6 reps, it's time to move up by about 10%. If I feel in any way that I cheated to get it done, I'll do it again without going up.
But oh boy am I sore all over these days! :-)

Thanks again for the advice! I'll definitely follow!
-- Loretta

Your welcome Loretta. Hope I was of some help. Jeez . . . 3 sets of 6. That's a real bulk up workout. I thought my 3 sets of 8 was a bulk up workout. As long as you keep in mind that the muscle will help burn the fat. Because you're going to gain weight and get bigger before you notice the fat disappearing. Keep up the good work!
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Still taking it a little easy, to rest the back.

Warm-up

10 mins on Lifecycle (avg. 80 rpm - 135 cals burned)
10 mins stretching

Weighed myself - 233 lbs

Back

Front pulldowns - Hammer Strength machine
90 (10)
180 (8)

Behind neck cable pulldowns - very slow reps
150 (8)
160 (8)
170 (8)

Biceps

Hammer curls - dumbbells on incline bench
35 (8)
30 (8)
35 (8)

Preachers - cable pull
50 (8)
60 (8)
65 (8)

Double high cable curls
40 (8)
50 (8)
60 (8)

Forearms

Seated wrist curls - tops
30 (8)
40 (8)
50 (7)

Cardio
30 mins on Lifefit cycle (avg. 80 rpm - 420 cals burned)

Warm up

5 mins on Lifecycle - level 6 (avg. 80 rpm - 70 cals burned)
10 mins stretching

Legs

Quad extensions:
15 (8)
16 (8)
17 (8)

Hamstring pulls (flat):
12 (8)
12 (8)
13 (8)

Calf (seated):
115 (8)
160 (8)
230 (8)

Shoulders

Shoulder press machine:
90 (8)
180 (8)
200 (8)

Front extensions:
25 (8)
30 (8)
35 (8)

Lateral dumbell extensions:
20 (8)
20 (8)
30 (8)

Abs

Leg extensions:
15
15
15

Crunches
25
25
20

Notes:
I didn't do any squats because I didn't want to push my luck with my back, as it was finally feeling 100%. I did feel a twinge in my lower back on the last set of crunches. So I called it a day.

Warm-up

10 mins on Lifecycle (level 6 - avg 80 rpm - 120 cals burned)
10 mins stretching

Weighed myself - 234 lbs

Chest

Flat bench - dumbbells
90 (8)
95 (8)
100 (8)

Seated decline - Hammer Strength machine
90 (8)
180 (8)
270 (8)

Cable crossovers
50 (8)
60 (8)
70 (8)

Triceps

Pull downs
110 (8)
120 (8)
130 (8)

Seated two arm extension - 1 dumbbell
85 (8)
90 (8)
95 (8)

Overhead rope extension
120 (8)
130 (8)
140 (8) - This is the whole stack. Will have to figure out something nextime.


Cardio

30 mins on Lifefit cycle. (level 5 - 80 rpm - 400)

Notes

I'm leaning toward upping my carbs again. lol. Wrong forum to be saying that, eh?! My goal was to lose my gut, not weight. I'm happy to report my belly is pretty much flat now. The real negative about this low carb diet has been I notice a definate shrinkage in muscle mass. Now that I've shrunk my belly and lowered my body fat, I feel I can up my carbs and continue on my workout regiment without gaining it back. We'll see . . .

Warm-up

10 mins on Lifecycle (level 6 - avg. 80 rpm - 140 cals burned)
10 mins stretching

Weighed myself - 230 lbs

Back

Front pulldowns - Hammer Strength machine
90 (8)
180 (8)
270 (8)

Behind neck cable pulldowns
190 (8)
200 (8)
210 (7)

Seated rows - a little wider than normal grip
170 (8)
180 (8)
190 (8)

Biceps

Hammer curls - dumbbells - slow
30 (8)
35 (8)
40 (8)

Concentration curls
25 (8)
30 (8)
35 (8)

Barbell curls
65 (8)
75 (8)
85 (8)

Forearms

Tops - using preacher machine
35 (8)
40 (8)
45 (8)

Standing flat bar wrist curls - front, then back
135 (8)
145 (8)
155 (8)

Notes

As much as I state weight doesn't make much of a difference to me . . . I tried out the scale after I noticed someone fixing it. Low and behold, I was 3 lb lighter. 230 lbs!

Warm up
5 mins on LifeCycle - (level 5 - avg 80 rpm - 65 cals burned.)
10 mins stretching

Legs

Squats:
warm up with 45 lb bar (10) - slow
135 (8)
185 (8)
225 (8)

Quad extensions:
16 (8)
17 (8)
18 (8)

Hamstring pulls (flat):
12 (8)
13 (8)
14 (7)

Calf (standing)
325 (8)
340 (8)
355 (8) - the whole stack

Shoulders

Shoulder press machine:
90 (8)
180 (8)
200 (8)

Seated back extensions
30 (8)
35 (8)
40 (8)

Dumbell shrugs
85 (8)
90 (8)
95 (8)

Abs

Horizontal leg raises
12, 12, 12

Chrunches
20, 1

Notes
I felt a tweak in my back in the first crunch of the second set. I quit right away. Pisses me off. I did this diet change to shrink my belly, and I can't to abs! Hopefully soon.