How I work out

For reference purposes, part deux of fitness ramblings; vaguely apropos as the gyms are no doubt filled with people starting their resolutions. (Mine is appropriately packed)

The shortest response is, “I don’t have an entirely fixed routine”. I tend to mix things up: I get incredibly bored. Recently I read this, which is great and sums up what my routine looks like.

I (mostly) completely abandoned cardio; it got too boring, and quite honestly once I got a reasonable time on the 3-mile, I decided “fuck it”. I can run 3 miles fast enough to get an acceptable passing score on a Marine Corps PFT, which for my money is good enough. I’ll hit the elliptical or treadmill from time to time, esp. if I’m having joint pain, but I don’t see the value of intensive cardio: there’s a lot of other ways to get your heart racing.

I got a kettlebell for Xmas, but I’ve been using a dumbbell to do a lot of this stuff for a while. I’m a particular fan of the one-arm swing (or a two-arm swing), the one-arm snatch, or a one-arm clean/clean and press. Now that I have an actual kettlebell I’m experimenting at home with other stuff.

I do floor wipers, as illustrated here. I think they’re fun; I guess I’m insane.

I’ve recently begun to “love” the rowing/longpull machine.

And I get ideas from here, and the aforementioned blog by Josh Hillis, and from here.

I go 6 days a week, in the mornings, and spent about an hour working out. My goal is to make that hour as intense and active as possible; I do my very best to stop as little as humanly possible, so my hour is a solid hour.

I weigh 170# and have 13% bodyfat; at 6′ tall this puts me in the “athletic” bracket.