Dufisthenics

Not only were both Smith machines occupied at Planet Fitness today, the leg press sled was as well. (by someone with 25 pounds on each side)   I find myself getting more annoyed with the refusal of the gym to make a few inexpensive changes to make their facility just a little more efficient for their customers that wish to do more than cardio and Cybex weight machines.

Of course I have to be realistic, this is Planet Fitness after all, home of the Lunk Alarm and $10 a month memberships.  It’s a trade off I really have no choice but to accept since I have no other realistic lunch work out options.  Still, two or three simple changes would make things SO much better.

So anyway I did seated leg press to start off the lower body workout.  I decided to take on the dumbbell lunges once again, a movement that left me limping badly after I tried them last time.  I once again used 40 pound dumbbells but I upped the reps per set from 16 to 20.  The last few reps as I got deeper into the sets were very shaky with me struggling to keep my balance.

As I mentioned before, working out at Planet Fitness is a trade off with the intentional lack of some core gym equipment and clientele that are mostly old and/or inexperienced at exercising.  Despite these limitations I think I have managed to improve my strength and fitness since joining PF using something that is always available no matter where you workout, effort.

Whether you are doing 400 pound dead lifts or curls on a Cybex contraption, if you are working yourself in a way that uses good form/range of motion while utilizing high effort level, you are accomplishing something.  Yea dumbbell/barbell work or calisthenics will give you more bang for your buck since they recruit multiple muscle groups in a more consistent way than any exercise machine can do.  However if you are working at near max effort level on a consistent basis at any exercise you are going to reap benefits.  I guess my point is no matter type of exercise you are doing the point is to push the boundaries of what you have done in the past to slowly but steadily increase the “can do” real estate you can claim as your own.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 pull ups

Seated leg press – 170lbs x 10, 230lbs x 10, 290lbs x 8

40lb dumbbell lunges – 20 reps (alternating legs) x 2 sets

Seated leg extension (1sec top pause) – 110lbs x 10, 130lbs x 10, 190lbs x 5

Seated leg curl – 100lbs x 10, 120lbs x 10, 140lbs x 8

Seated rotary calf extension – 190lbs x 10, 250lbs x 10, 310lbs x 5