Phys. Ed.: Workout of the Week

I tend to get bored with my strength training workouts, so I change them frequently. As a general rule, I will strength train three times a week, and do cardio three other days a week, with a day of rest thrown in for good measure. (Something I learned about the hard way!)

This week I am doing a 30-minute full-body workout from the January 2009 issue of Oxygen Magazine, with a few changes to accomodate what my gym offers and what I can do.

The workout is as follows: There are 8 groups of exercises to target different muscle groups. You choose one exercise from each group, and do the required number of sets and reps, then move on to the next exercise. With each new workout, you are targeting the muscles from different angles.

The exercises:

Group A (legs)
-leg press
-squat
-lunge (I chose to do walking lunges. ouch!)

Group B (also legs)
-stiff-legged deadlift
-stability ball leg curl
-lying hamstring curl

Group C (chest)
-incline dumbbell (DB) press
-flat bench press
-flat bench flye

Group D (back)
-lat pulldown
-bent-over row
-seated cable row

Group E (shoulders)
-overhead DB press
-rear delt raise
-side lateral raise

Group F (biceps)
-barbell curl (i did DBs due to lack of bars at my gym)
-preacher curl
-seated incline curl

Group G (triceps)
-lying triceps extension
-triceps pressdown
-seated overhead DB extension

Group H (abs)
-hanging leg raise
-oblique crunch
-crunch

The first workout of the week should be done in 3 sets of 6-9 reps
the second should be 3 sets of 10-12 reps
the third should be 3 sets of 12-15 reps

So, for your first workout of the week, you'd choose one exercise from Group A.
Perform 3 sets of 6-9 reps.
Choose one exercise from Group B.
Perform 3 sets of 6-9 reps.
Move on to Group C, and so on.

Also:
-warm up before you start.
-your last rep in each set should be pretty hard to complete. if it's not, you're not lifting heavy enough.
-you should be doing different exercises in each workout so that you've done every exercise in every group by the end of the week.
-you should rest at least a day between strength workouts.
-stretch when you're done.

This is a good one! I've had some pretty sore (in a good way) muscles from it! Love that burn!

remember, i'm not a pro, just a mom. if you exercise, do so at your own risk.