Resistance Routine

[GershonSurge]

I'm posting one of my daily resistance routines for comments and to stimulate a crossflow of information. Except for the bodyweight exercises, I use one dumbbell. When I start a cycle, I do six reps of all exercises. Each week, I increase by one rep until I get to 12 reps. Then I increase the weight where possible on all exercises and go back to 6 reps.

I only do one set of each exercise. I vary the speed so I work to exhaustion, which I define as barely able to maintain good form. 

This routine is short on bicep exercises, so I do some extra sets of curls during the day.

The routine takes about 16 minutes at 6 reps and 30 minutes at 12 reps. I don't take any rest breaks as one arm is resting while the other is working. 

1	Four count jumping jacks
2	Four count toe touches
3	Push-ups
4	Lunge pass through
5	Neck Raises on all fours
6	Neck Raises on back
7	Bench Press – Left arm
8	Bench Press – Right arm
9	Fly aways - left arm
10	Fly aways - right arm
11	Inclined Bench Press – Left Arm
12	Inclined Bench Press – Right Arm
13	Inclined Bench Fly aways - left arm
14	Inclined Bench Fly aways - right arm
15	Seated Concentrated Curl – Left Arm
16	Seated Concentrated Curl – Right arm
17	Wrist Curls (Left) Palms in
18	Wrist Curls (Right) Palms in
19	Wrist Curls (Left) Palms forward
20	Wrist curls (Right) Palms forward
21	Wrist Curls (Left) Palms back
22	Wrist Curls (Right) Palms back
23	Wrist Roller (near side) (6=1, 9=2, 12 =3)
24	Wrist Roller (far side) (6=1, 9=2, 12=3)
25	Grip Left (3 sets)
26	Grip Right (3 sets)
27	Seated Dumbbell one-arm Triceps extension – Left arm
28	Seated Dumbbell one-arm Triceps extension – Right arm
29	Arnold Press – Left arm
30	Arnold Press – Right Arm
31	Seated Side Lateral Extension – Left Arm
32	Seated Side Lateral Extension – Right Arm
33	One arm vertical row – Left Arm - Raise Left Leg
34	One arm vertical row – Right Arm - Raise Right Leg
35	Leaning vertical row – Left Arm - Raise Left Leg
36	Leaning Vertical row – Right Arm - Raise Right Leg
36	Glutes Walk Right Leg
37	Glutes Walk Left Leg
38	Goblet Squat
39	Single Leg Raises (Bench) – Left Leg
40	Single Leg Raises (Bench) – Right Leg
41	Leg side raises. (Bench) – Left Leg
42	Leg side raises (Bench) – Right Leg
43	V-up (Bench)
44	Dead Lift
45	Side Lean – Left side
46	Side Lean – Right side
47	Heel Raises
48	Alternating Toe Raises

[A_Lurker]

Wow, I tend to focus on 6 or 7 movements per routine.  I'm not sure if you're trying to build or maintain muscle.  Generally though I would start with higher reps/lower weights and move towards lower reps/higher weights.  If you are lifting heavier usually you lift every other day to allow your muscles time to repair themselves.

[Colinm39]

@GershonSurgeThanks for posting your routine.. My physio and I will pour over this and come up with a plan for me.. He knows my body structure better than me, bone and muscle wise..

[GershonSurge]

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@A_Lurker wrote:

Wow, I tend to focus on 6 or 7 movements per routine.  I'm not sure if you're trying to build or maintain muscle.  Generally though I would start with higher reps/lower weights and move towards lower reps/higher weights.  If you are lifting heavier usually you lift every other day to allow your muscles time to repair themselves.

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@A_Lurker

Some great information in a short post.

I'm certainly not suggesting I'm right with my routines. I wish I could find some reliable source of information. 

My model is landscapers or roofers who work hard all day without long breaks. They tend to be lean with clearly defined muscles that aren't especially big. 

This routine is the third and the shortest one I do each day. I seldom take a day off, but once about every six weeks or so, I'll take a three or four day break. The reason I work out about two hours most days is because I like it. It is stimulating good muscle growth and endurance, but I won't be on the cover of any magazines. I'm retired, so a long workout is a plus. It's definitely not for anyone short on time.

Given that my model is people who work five or six days a week, I don't want a routine that forces me to be idle every other day. When I've tried this, I've lost motivation and tend to quit. I also don't make much progress. Perhaps it would work better if I used heavier weights, but I consider lifting heavy weights that cause a person to exhale through a partially closed throat to be dangerous as it greatly increases blood pressure. 

People who eat a starch based, whole food plant based diet recover more quickly. I first read this in the book Eat and Run by Scott Jurek. He has the record for hiking the Appalachian Trail. He hiked about 48 miles a day for a little over 46 days. He has also won the Western States 100 six times. Since then, I've read the same thing in many other sources. It's possible they grow muscle mass a little more slowly than those on a high protein meat diet, but they aren't limited by not eating animal products. 

[GershonSurge]

@Colinm39,

I'll post the rest of my daily workout since you are going to study it. I've reviewed the concepts with my sister who is a retired pathologist. During her career, she studied the effects of exercise and diet as a hobby. She also lived what she studied. She is 68 years old and active with no physical limitations. 

I'm late to resistance training and started about nine months ago. I also have no physical limitations, not even a little crick anywhere. I do have to be careful of my back as I'm missing a disk.

One benefit of resistance training many people miss is the increase in bone density. They can remodel and reconstruct to become as solid as a young person's bones. Remodeling is taking out the trash formed by microfractures that are always occuring. Reconstruction is building the matrix for bone growth and having the bone grow around this matrix. Bone flexion during resistance training stimulates the process. Impact will also stimulate the process. The two best impact exercises are running and jumping rope. Walking does not work.

I start out with the Express Circuit at Planet Fitness. It's a series of 10 machine exercises that give a full body workout. The disadvantage is machines isolate muscles and force the body into a position that may not be appropriate. 

I do between 6 and 12 reps of each excercise. I group the machines into two groups of five and cycle through them three times. I don't take rest breaks as I get to rest while exercising different muscle groups. I take about 4 seconds for each rep.

This routine takes from 26 to 45 minutes depending on the number of reps. The numbers are the adjustment settings on the machines.

	For I=1 to 3
1	Leg Press (9)
2	Leg Extension (L-6)
3	Leg Curl (L)
4	Chest Press (6)
5	Lateral Pulldown (5)
	Next
	For I=1 to 3
6	Seated Row
7	Shoulder Press  (7)
8	Preacher's Curl (6)
9	Tricep Extension (7)
10	Abdominals
	Next

I call the second routine "Slow Dumbbells" as I do 6 reps as slowly as I can while maintaining good form. It takes about 45 minutes.

I have "left days" and "right days." On left days, I start with the left arm and alternate left arm and right arm with each exercise. On right days, I start with the right arm. I don't take any rest breaks as half my body is always resting.

I increase the weight when I feel it's appropriate.

Some of these have strange names as I created them myself.

1	Snow Angel
2	Tricep Extension
3	Strong Man Curl
4	Monkey Curl
5	Side Row Curl
6	Curl
7	Reverse Curl
8	Front Raise
9	Kickback - opposite hand on knee
10	High Chain Saw
11	Low Chain Saw
12	Alternate Toe Touch
13	Cross shoulder to pocket pulldown
14	Deadlift
15	Cross Curl
16	Wing flap
17	Shoulder Press
18	Curl Walk (2 DB)
19	Swing Walk (2 DB)
20	Dog Piss Chest Raise
21	Dog Piss Kick Back
22	Incline Prone Curl
23	Incline Front Arm Raise
24	Incline Kickback
25	Incline Fly
26	Preacher Curl

I finish up with the third routine I posted earlier. I found reworking all muscles at the end prevents stiffness and soreness. If I start to experience any, I lift a little more during the day to get blood flowing to the area. 

[Colinm39]

@GershonSurgeThanks for all of your reps etc... My Physio will enjoy sorting it out for me..

My lower back is stenosis, narrowing around the spinal cord.. All age related. I had a bonus with the total hip replacement... No sciatica now.. had it for over 20 years and as it turned out it was the hip resting on the sciatic nerve.. Hence the need for core and upper body..

I have justed started using the Polar H7 chest strap and Eilte HRV phone App to measure all of my efforts on my body, The result each morning gives me an exercise readiness mark. The umpire is out, but beween me and the Physio we will make some sense out of it.. All of the research papers are promising and the H7 is like having a very accurate ECG. Your sister is probably well aware of the studies involving HRV etc..

I still use the Blaze and the One for my steps and calories.

[GershonSurge]

@Colinm39,

I think we've discussed the Maffetone method in the past for running. I still use it, but I never check my HRM while jogging. 

I'm a little agnostic on the value of HPV. Maybe it's because I haven't tried it. I use my resting heart rate while sleeping to force myself to take breaks. I could just as easily use the time I naturally wake up as a guide.

The most exciting thing my sister and I have talked about is cartilage, tendon and ligament regeneration. The first step is long rest from heavy use. The next step is exercising the area. The third essential factor is avoiding all animal products and a high protein diet. High protein is defined as over about 13% of the calories eaten. My sister will eat small amounts of meat and fish as well as small amounts of dairy products because she likes them.

The process is slow, but it appears regeneration does occur. Anecdotally, I used to have to hold the rail while climbing stairs because of pain in one of my knees. I also had to be careful while backpacking if I had a step of a similar height. Now, I can't even recall which knee used to hurt. I give credit to doing the goblet squat and other leg exercises.

My sister was a pathologist in an time when most people had an autopsy. One thing she mentioned is people should NOT take calcium supplements or consume more dairy products to increase calcium intake. Doing this makes bones that look great on x-rays, but are as brittle as chalk. The reason is there is no impact or flexion to remove debris created by micro-fractures.

She also mentioned people should not do swimming pool exercises except for a short period to rehabilitate from some injury. This causes muscle atrophy and a decrease in bone mass. I'm not including swimming laps in this.

[A_Lurker]

@GershonSurge- I'm not going to argue about diets with you, but I will point out that I could do med-low reps with lighter weights too and not need a recovery day.  Has nothing to do with diet.  I've done this kind of stuff with dumbbells, however, it just doesn't do much to help me maintain muscle while dieting.  A hundred pounds down and I'm up overall 4lbs of lean mass (note I didn't say muscle).  I'm actually drifting back down and so have gone back to heavier lifting.  If you're not working on building muscles then it doesn't matter.  I'd class what you're doing as more of a body pump workout, which I have little knowledge of.  I could point you towards a couple (at least one off the top of my head) very bright people who know way more about weight training than I do, but I suspect that you will reject most of what they post.  

Lyle McDonald is the first person I think of.  Bright guy with tons of information on his site.  I wish I had more free time to read everything:  http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/  I tend to recommend his site as (other than his books) he doesn't sell anything.  You can spend hours reading items without putting out any cash.  I don't agree with (or could follow) everything he suggests, but it comes across as well researched.  I had another link, but I can't find it at the moment.  I've been spending less and less of my evening hours in front of the computer (too much of my days there recently).

[GershonSurge]

@A_Lurker,

I agree my routine is a body pump workout. My upper body feels pumped for about five hours starting about an hour after the workout. My legs don't feel any different, most likely because I don't do enough leg exercises.

Another term I ran across on the website you referenced was functional exercising. This term aligns with my goals of staying flexible, having endurance, toned muscles, and reasonable strength.

You are right that I will probably reject any article or post you reference, but I will read it. In most cases, I won't do what they say because I'm doing something else. In some cases, I'll try what they say and add it to my workouts. I won't do heavy lifting as I don't believe the increase in blood pressure is worth the risk. I agree it works for many people.

Soon, I'm going to start alternating jogging and lifting days. 

[A_Lurker]

That's why I asked what the goal was.  I dropped the exercises I could match (there were a few I couldn't) into a site I use, and this is the muscles worked:

 

If you're interested in the site PM me for the link.  It's a pay site and I feel odd about posting it.  Anyways, the one thing I would suggest is that you vary the exercises.  As with dieting, the body adapts very quickly.  You could become stronger with one set of muscles, and weaken others.  Do the routine slowly and consider the muscles you aren't using.  Admitting I know little about building a routine yours looks like it lacks improving balance/core building and rotational movements.

http://greatist.com/fitness/30-dumbbell-exercises-missing-your-routine

Look specifically at the core exercises on the above page (the last 5).

http://greatist.com/fitness/10-minute-pilates-workout

This one for flexibility and core strength.

[Dominique]

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@GershonSurge wrote:

I won't do heavy lifting as I don't believe the increase in blood pressure is worth the risk.

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This is the first time I hear heavy lifting would have a detrimental effect on BP. I started monitoring my BP daily earlier this year. This is what it looks like, after one year of following a powerlifting-inspired program (low reps, heavy weights, long rest between sets, 5 days a week):

Does it get any more normal than that? And I’ve been eating dairy (including full-fat cheese) and other animal-based products my entire life. You, OTOH, are eating a diet that should promote heart health (in fact, the only one that does so, according to you), so why would you be afraid of heavy lifting? My BP is measured in the morning, while I’m having breakfast and before any exercising. Should I also measure it right after my lifting sessions? Would it be dangerously elevated then?

[GershonSurge]

@A_Lurker,

Thanks for taking the time to analyze the routines. I think you might be one of the resistance experts.

When I developed the routines, I used this site for guidance as well as a dumbbell book. I also spent time in front of a mirror watching which muscles were used for the various exercises. 

I work on the obliques (side muscles) with side raises. They are considered balance or synergistic muscles, so they don't need much. These muscles are essential for preventing back pain -- at least for me.

My shoulder muscles are developing well, so I'm hitting all of those. 

I do three different kinds of wrist curls to exercise the forearms. I also do wrist rollers.

The handgrips exercise mostly the finger muscles as well as the muscles on the inner part of the forearm.

I use half twists in many exercises, which exercises the rotational muscles in the forearms.

Dumbbells naturally exercise balance muscles in the upper body. Since I only use one dumbbell, muscles are used to counteract the asymmetrical forces.

For the balance muscles in the lower legs, I do some exercises standing on one foot. These need to be educated more than strengthened. 

I do alternating toe raise for what I call the shin splint muscles.  It doesn't take many to prevent shin splints. Doing too many can cause them. I do these and heel raises often during the day when I'm standing. 

The only visual imbalance I'm seeing is in my biceps. I say visual because I don't sense they are being antagonistic during tricep exercises. They are growing, but not as fast as my triceps and shoulder muscles. I do extra curls during the day to address this. 

The chainsaw exercise and the alternate toe touch while holding a dumbbell in a stiff arm work the core rotational exercises.

Given the information you had, I'd say your program worked well. 

[GershonSurge]

@Dominique,

I'm meant the blood pressure rises while doing the exercises. Anytime a person strains while exhaling against a partially or completely closed throat, it shoots up the blood pressure. This was the method we used in my flying days when I'd routinely sustain over six g's without a g-suit.

It's a little more complicated as you start with tensing the calf muscles, then the thighs and quads, and then the stomach muscles. This keeps the blood from descending and pooling in the lower body. That's the point you start grunting. 

Added: I'm guessing the high blood pressure wouldn't show up on a monitor as the method forces blood to the brain and not to tensed muscles. I'd have to try it to see.

[GershonSurge]

@Dominique.

I only found one study in a scholarly article that addressed the high blood pressure during exercise. I'll reference it because it matches what I was taught in the Air Force. There were many articles, but I didn't read them because I don't like secondary or tertiary sources.

Abstract

Weight training is a popular component of physical fitness in North America. This form of training remains relatively safe with few cases of life-threatening injuries. However, a series of studies have demonstrated that repetitive upper- and lower extremity weight training incorporating a Valsalva maneuver can increase arterial pressure to values as high as 480/350 mm Hg. (bold print added) This marked increase in arterial pressure is transmitted to the cerebral vasculature and increases cerebral arterial transmural pressure and may have the potential to initiate the rupture of a previously innocuous intracranial aneurysm. We report three cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) associated with arm (bicep) curls and leg press weight training and discuss the possible link between this form of exercise and aneurysmal SAH.

Anyone can have a weak point in a blood vessel. I don't consider the risk to be worth the reward. 

[A_Lurker]

@GershonSurge- yep, it's a good site as well.  I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I see the benefit in it.  At my top weight I certainly wasn't as active as I've become, however, I was (for my size) quite capable of walking distances when I needed to, and lifting and carrying items.  When you think about it an obese person already is doing resistance training.  I'm very aware that I don't want to end up thin with a really high body fat.  That's probably why I've paid more attention to it.  Simply dropping weight for me isn't the answer.

[Colinm39]

@GershonSurge  I greatly appreciate the input.. My 52 year old son lives with us and he is lean, mean and a 2 hr a day road cyclist. Very fit. He has all of his weight and Fitness equipment in the front of our house.

I send him the post about BP and he replied "Hmm, interesting. I might stop doing heavy bench press".... He is a man of many words....

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@GershonSurge wrote:

@Dominique.

I only found one study in a scholarly article that addressed the high blood pressure during exercise. I'll reference it because it matches what I was taught in the Air Force. There were many articles, but I didn't read them because I don't like secondary or tertiary sources.

Abstract

Weight training is a popular component of physical fitness in North America. This form of training remains relatively safe with few cases of life-threatening injuries. However, a series of studies have demonstrated that repetitive upper- and lower extremity weight training incorporating a Valsalva maneuver can increase arterial pressure to values as high as 480/350 mm Hg. (bold print added) This marked increase in arterial pressure is transmitted to the cerebral vasculature and increases cerebral arterial transmural pressure and may have the potential to initiate the rupture of a previously innocuous intracranial aneurysm. We report three cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) associated with arm (bicep) curls and leg press weight training and discuss the possible link between this form of exercise and aneurysmal SAH.

Anyone can have a weak point in a blood vessel. I don't consider the risk to be worth the reward. 

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[A_Lurker]

@Colinm39- endurance atheletes seem to be more likely to suffer sudden death that lifters (short of dropping a bar on their throats).  Most of the articles I found were pay for view, but this one actually has some interesting information.

http://www.menshealth.com/health/death-by-exercise

[GershonSurge]

@A_Lurker, @Colinm39,

The best source of information I could find was from Nathan Pritikin in this PDF page 137. The short story, including for marathon runners, is there is no increased risk of death from endurance activites or weight lifting with a HUUUUGE except.

Healthy arteries don't break. Diseased ones do. Examining
the etiology of high blood pressure reveals why these mildly
elevated pressures, certainly no danger to healthy vessels, become
catastrophic to damaged ones.

As a concept, I keep my intensity to about 80% of max effort based on how I feel. This doesn't mean 80% max heart rate. I'm generally much lower.

 Here is some more information from the same source. I suggest reading the whole section starting on page 350.

How strenuously can one exercise? Normal hearts, even with the most strenuous exercise, do not die. (l2 ) This was demonstrated during the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, where frequent collapses of the athletes occurred, but no deaths. But when atherosclerosis is a factor, death is unpredictable. A 28-year old football player died during a game; upon autopsy, he was found to have generalized coronary atherosclerosis and a recent thrombus. Dr. Jokl cites 100 cases of unexpected sudden deaths during exercise in both young and old. At autopsy, the most frequent findings were coronary atherosclerosis and degenerative changes in the myocardium. Even marathon runners, who run continuously for 26 miles, are not immune, as evidenced by the death of a 51-year old physicianC 13 ) in Southern California,--a long distance runner of many years--who died in his sleep.

[Colinm39]

@GershonSurge Thanks for the link.. Pritikin is also mentioned in this link.
This link covers the underlying issues of health and sudden death by exercising.

I followed James Fixx and the Canadian Airforce 5BX all those years ago. What else did we have then......I have always remembered the article after James Fixx died, all about how he really extended his life after he made his life style changes.

A few years before Fixx died and scared the world, my friends brother died suddenly at age 40 while out on his morning walk, they found underlying issues.  Within days, the 41 yr old husband of a lady I worked with died suddenly after his morning run. They blamed it on the fact he had finished the run, and then sat on the toilet and the blood pooling in the legs. No cooling off.... Both of them had been active for years.

In Australia, with all of our amazing medical testing, there is a push to try and cut some of it back because it is hurting the public purse. Probably the same elsewhere.

Me at 77, last year my doctor thought he heard something in my heart during my annual checkup.. Off for an Electrocardiogram and chest x-ray... The GP is aware of my missing heart beat which can be normal for many of us, born with it.. The result, heart size normal, all valves functioning as normal, veins are OK... and the specialist doing the testing had a laugh and said, "do you ever notice when your heart misses the beat it does a couple of catchups".... All clear again.

I had to have an ECG before my total hip replacement in 2015 and I accidentally received the report.. It said, "At some stage I had a heart attack". The consulting specialist. "B^*!@** computers... We look at the charts, there is nothing wrong with you, just your missing heart beat".  So the echocardiogram in 2016 was 8 months after the operation and reconfirmed that.

For peace of mind it is always best to be checked.. so my next annual checkup is in a couple of weeks..

For those interested, my diet since a child and my wife's cooking has always been fresh vegetables and fruit, no fried food, packaged food or takeaway, eggs, salmon, chicken and minimal lamb and beef. No sugar or salt,the occasional wine. Green tea during the day, Soy latte when I'm out, with a yogurt or baked cheese cake.  All boring, but healthy... I still partial to home made cooking, Christmas cake etc.

Have a great time everyone...

[Dominique]

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@GershonSurge wrote:

I only found one study in a scholarly article that addressed the high blood pressure during exercise. 

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Just google "weight lifting blood pressure pubmed" and you will find plenty of studies:

1) Effect of strength training on blood pressure measured in various conditions in sedentary men.

"Repeated measures analysis of variance did not show an effect of strength training on heart rate or on blood pressure."

2) Effect of weight training on blood pressure and hemodynamics in hypertensive adolescents.

"Weight training in hypertensive adolescents appears to maintain the reductions in blood pressure achieved by endurance training, and may even elicit further reductions in blood pressure."

3) Effects of weightlifting and breathing technique on blood pressure and heart rate.

"The HB technique used in this investigation produced minimal elevations in HR and BP and appears to be safe when performing the chest press and leg press lifts at a moderate resistance."

4) Arterial blood pressure response to heavy resistance exercise.

"It was concluded that when healthy young subjects perform weight-lifting exercises the mechanical compression of blood vessels combines with a potent pressor response and a Valsalva response to produce extreme elevations in blood pressure."

-> This one does say heavy lifting elevates blood pressure (during exercise), but doesn’t mention any particular risks linked to this. This is in line with what you said about healthy arteries being able to cope fine under load. Just like a healthy heart is able to cope with intense aerobic exercise.

You’ll also find plenty of studies on the other health benefits of weight lifting, for instance:

1) The effects of progressive resistance training on bone density: a review.

"Over the past 10 years, nearly two dozen cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown a direct and positive relationship between the effects of resistance training and bone density. [...] High-intensity resistance training, in contrast to traditional pharmacological and nutritional approaches for improving bone health in older adults, has the added benefit of influencing multiple risk factors for osteoporosis including improved strength and balance and increased muscle mass."

2) Resistance training is medicine: effects of strength training on health.

"Resistance training may assist prevention and management of type 2 diabetes by decreasing visceral fat, reducing HbA1c, increasing the density of glucose transporter type 4, and improving insulin sensitivity. Resistance training may enhance cardiovascular health, by reducing resting blood pressure, decreasing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, and increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Resistance training may promote bone development, with studies showing 1% to 3% increase in bone mineral density."