1st Quarter Routine & Avenger underway!

Hello again readers! Let me start off this article with the following obvious statement: I am not educated in fitness or anything special. Nope, not at all. I do a lot of reading on the internet across a wide variety of sites. So, don't take anything I say as gospel, but instead find out what works for you and do your homework. Get active though! Move! That is what counts. For me, this is my plan and if you think it suits you, roll with it. The important part is to get off your butt and get working. 

That being said, I tried to find a way to keep my workout diverse and interesting, but not miss anything useful. For this quarter (Jan - March), I am using the following workout set-up. Each week, I print this off and on the corresponding lift days, I check off a variety of exercises each day. I work somewhat late (if you think 7pm is late, at least) and try to cram my aerobic exercise and lifting into a single 1:15min stretch, at the most. I know, that isn't enough - I am working on adding more time to it, but for now that is what I can handle with my schedule.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my pure-aerobic days - where I only do 30min on the stair machine (my favorite), treadmill, or the rowing machine. Those are my go-to until Spring/Summer gets here and I can get outside and do sprints - and honestly, by then I hope to be able to do sprints better than last summer.

Anyhow, here is 1st Quarter's exercise list (with links to how to do said exercises!) in generic categories. Keep on mind, most of these aren't isolation exercises, meaning they target far more muscles than this chart alludes to. Many of these work multiple groups of muscles because that is, from all I have gleaned, a much better way to go than isolating a single muscle at a time. Plus, it makes the workout go much faster.

1st Quarter 2014 Weekly Workout Sheet

ABS Landmine 180s / Spellcasters M W F Pulley Side Bends M W F FOREARMS Farmer's Walk M W F Wrist Curl M W F Wrist Rotations M W F CHEST Dumbbell Press (Incline) M W F Low Cable Crossover M W F Svend Press M W F Barbell Bench Press M W F Straight-arm Dumbbell Pullover M W F BICEPS Incline Hammer Curl M W F Barbell Curl (Standard / Reverse) M W F

LEGS Squats M W F TRAPS / SHOULDERS Smith Machine Shrug M W F Face Pull M W F Jammers M W F Standing Military Press (Barbell) M W F Standing Alt. Dumbbell Press M W F Side Lateral Raise M W F LATS Straight Arm Pulldowns (Rope) M W F Close Grip Lat Pulldown M W F BACK T-Bar Row M W F Deadlift M W F Renegade Row M W F

Given my office job, I usually grab three highlighters and mark each day in a different color. This Monday, for an example, I did:

3x8 Reverse Barbell Curl
3x10 Wrist Curls
3x10 Straight Arm Pulldowns
3x8 Incline Dumbbell Benchpress
3x10 Barbell Benchpress

3x8 Side Lateral Raises

I set up a nice little circuit in my local gym and just do three sets. Afterward, I did a "burnout" with push-ups. Wednesday, I will be picking from the list, but excluding the exercises I have already done (although I do work in bench all three days usually as a personal preference).

Nothing crazy or complicated! It keeps my life interesting and ensures I don't forget anything or fall into a routine of easy stuff. I force myself to do a lot of stuff on here I don't care for (looking at you, squats!). The burnout is just me doing push-ups until failure - which allegedly helps really engage your muscles and encourage growth.

That is all for today on the fitness end of things - not much, but I don't want to make these essays!

That being said, on the hobby side of things, I am working on my Questoris Knight army and a solution to my decal problem has come in the form of Dave Taylor (yes, that Dave Taylor!) coming to my rescue. He sent me the source images he used on his House Taranis forces for his own personal Heresy Era Knights. These are proving incredibly useful and now I can really make forward progress with that army.

Also, I have started working on an Adepta Sororitas Avenger Strike Fighter (see pic above) for a client. Right now, it is just primed up and in sub-assemblies. This weekend, I will be knocking it out, ideally.

Check back throughout the week as I get into the swing of adding posts and whatnot and if you have feedback, it would be appreciated! What do you want to see here? What input do you have about my workout? Any hobby questions?