Workout Journal – 2008 Personal Training Program Day 1

I’ve been noticing that my blog has been getting hits from people looking for gym workouts on the internet. The sudden increase this early in the year doesn’t really surprise me as I think that many people would start hitting the gym as part of their new years resolutions to live a healthier life. Knowing that not many people might have the opportuinity to engage a personal trainer, I feel that I might be able to help out those looking for gym workouts by sharing mine.

Of course there are some things that need to be clarified before use.

This is actually my second training program having completed an earlier training program than focused on learning how to use the gym equipment correctly as well as developing core muscle strength. The previous program was heavy on the circuit training so that I would be building stamina, reduce recovery time and learning to recognize my pain threshold. I would highly recommend this type of program to newbies first to avoid any injuries that might occur. If possible talk to the PTs at the gym and ask for the complimentary fitness assessment that they usually will give out free when you sign up for your gym membership. Take time to walk though the machines to learn how to use them and ask for one or two sessions for core muscle training.

If you had training before and/or are comfortable with moving to an intermediate level, the program that I’m sharing in my blog would be an example of what you might design for yourself. The operative word here is “design for yourself” since gym training programs are highly customized for the individual’s goals and needs. My current program fits my profile of being a 35 year old male with no gym experience other than the past 4 months at my current gym and living a fairly sedated lifestyle . My goals for the program is to get a leaner body tone with some muscle definition and to lower my blood pressure readings. If your needs and goals are different than mine, the program here might not be as good as a fit for you to follow but you can take it as a guide of what type of exercise is available for you.

I will be putting up these entries as often as I can on the days that I have my PT sessions. You might see a lot of repetitions in terms of the types of exercises that I go through but I guess that repetitions are the basis of strength training and muscle building. Against better judgment, I will also include the level of weights that I used for the exercises. I say “against better judgment” because I’m sure that some people would see it as bragging about the weights I’m lifting but seriously folks other people can lift much more than me so I’m just risking embarrassment by listing them here. Nevertheless, being the completist person I am, I will be listing them here as part of documenting my progress as I go through the program.

So with that said, listed below are the exercises that I had to do for my first day of the program. Note that rest times between sets are kept to a minimum just enough to feel the ache pass. I also welcome comments and recommendations on the program which you can leave in the comments section.

Program Day 1 (muscle group: Chest, Biceps, Lower Back, Abs – duration 1 hr + 40 minutes cardio)

Warm up – Cardio on stationary bike (20 minutes, 150 kcal target burn)

Chest
Flat Barbell Bench Press (reps - 12/10/10, weight – 40/50/55 lbs)
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press (reps – 12/10/10, weight – 15/20/25 lbs)
Decline Push Up (reps – 15/15/15, weight – body weight)
Incline Chest Press (reps – 12/10/10, weight – 20.5/25.3/25.3 lbs)
Pec Fly (reps – 12/10/10, weight – 11.8/22.5/27 lbs)

Biceps
Standing E-Z Bar Bicep Curl (3 position – continuous without rest between position change)
- Low to Elbow level (reps – 7/7/7, weight – 20 lbs)
- Elbow to Chin level (reps – 7/7/7, weight – 20 lbs)
- Full extension from low to chin (reps – 7/7/7/, weight – 20 lbs)
Preacher curl (reps 12/10/10, weight – 11.5/13.5/18 lbs)

Lower Back
Back Extensions (reps – 12/10/10, weight – 50/54.5/59.3 lbs)

Abs
Decline Abs Crunches (reps – 12/10/10, weight – body weight)

Cool down – Cardio on stationary bike (20 minutes, 120 kcal target burn)

Update (11:50pm): Got ahold of my training book and noticed that I remembered the number of reps and weights all wrong. I have since corrected it.