Down 2.4 lbs from last week. Total weight loss after two weeks adds up to 5 lbs. Maintaining diet focus and keeping up with consistent workouts will get you where you want to go. Its always important to do weekly weigh-ins. By doing this you can check to see if what you're doing for your program is working. Its a good reality check.
Got my swim in this morning and food was pretty good for calories and macro nutrients. I really like the way my swim workout is set up now. I made it as functional as possible with the available facilities. The first portion of the swim consist of lots of underwater dolphin kick laps back and forth in the pool. I like using the dolphin kick because it uses a lot of core and lower back muscles as well as getting the heart rate up so it serves as a cardiovascular workout as well. Next I switch to a regular flutter kick underwater to get the blood flowing really well as well as workout the quad and hamstring muscles in the legs. I do most of my laps with swim fins on. I do this for several reasons. One reason is to help do more laps so I can sustain the workout for a longer period of time. Secondly, the swim fins add a slightly extra resistance on my legs when I do whichever kicking style for my laps. After I finish my underwater swim laps, I switch to breast stroke when I do push ups and crunches in between laps. Breast stroke works nicely to activate the shoulders, triceps and back muscles. Push ups activate the chest, shoulder and triceps muscles very nicely. Crunches then activate the core muscles again for a second time around in the workout. One of the main muscle groups that I don't get to activate as much as I would like are the biceps but they actually get activated slightly with all the swimming strokes. So if you remember from yesterday's post, I talked about doing full body workouts for the beginning part of any program. One nice thing about a swimming is it provides enough resistance that it can still firm up the body but doesn't cause nearly as much soreness compared to lifting weights. Swimming also helps loosen the muscles back up even if there is soreness. This is why swimming is a good place to start workouts as well as a really good form of cardio to burn calories. So today's tip of the day will develop on yesterday's tip which will include a sample beginning workout.
TIP OF THE DAY:
A beginning level workout should include working out the following muscle groups: core/abdominals, chest, back, shoulders, triceps, biceps, quads, hamstrings and calves.
The first core/abdominal exercises that should be done include exercise ball crunches with feet placed against a stable object like the wall or a bench. I also recommend learning to do what is called a plank. A plank is when you balance on your forearms in a push up position while keeping your core and midsection drawn in while keeping the abdominal muscles engaged. If you have never done any type of workouts before I recommend starting out doing the plank on your knees. For the exercise ball crunch, I recommend 10-20 repetitions depending on how many you can handle. For the plank, I recommend holding that position for 30 seconds if you can. Both exercises at least 1 set but recommend 2.
Beginning chest exercise would include a seat chest press at any standard gym. If you don't have a gym membership I would recommend doing push ups. Chest press I would recommend picking a weight that causes you to get tired at around 15 repetitions, at least 1 set but preferably 2. Push ups, I recommend being able to three sets of as many push ups as possible per set.
Back exercises I recommend a seat row with either a row machine or elastic bands. 15 repetitions, 1 to 2 sets.
For shoulders, start with a standard shoulder press. Machine if available or dumb bells will work as well. Same repetitions and sets as the other muscle groups.
Triceps should include triceps extensions on a machine or dips can be done as an alternate. Same reps and sets.
Biceps should start with a preacher curl machine or dumb bells can also be used. Same reps and sets.
For quads, start out with a ball squat. Ball squats start with an exercise ball behind your lower back while leaning against the wall. Bend knees while keeping stomach sucked in to what seems like a seated position on an invisible chair. If knee pain occurs, slide feet slightly forward by a few inches. Knees should bend at a 90 degree angle when in lower position. Same reps and sets.
Hamstrings should be done on a hamstring curl machine. Activating hamstrings at home without gym access can be hard to do. I will go over a way to do so when discussing more advanced workouts. Same reps and sets.
Calves can be activated by doing using calf raise machines at the gym but can also be done by standing at the edge of any standard step and then pointing your toes so you are standing as tall as you can on your toes. Same reps and sets.
That concludes with the sample beginner workout. Time to sign off. Until next time, get your sweat on and happy dieting.
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