Now that I am no longer in that line of work, and getting a little long in the tooth, I have found that I feel WORSE if I DON'T do P.T. than when I do.
Yep. No question about it.
If I don't do my core exercises, I get lower back spasms and my flexibility suffers. If I don’t do my cardio, my abs disappear under a layer of fat.
In my experience, the key to staying in shape isn’t doing an endless series of isolation exercises, it’s doing a small number of compound exercises that mimic the movements you’d have to do if you really needed to perform in an emergency, plus the exercises you need to keep your core muscles in top shape, plus cardio.
For anyone who cares, here’s my weekly routine:
Monday and Friday:
Some light stretching, followed by one set of 100 pushups. Goal=minimum of 65 (my current age) in 90 sec and 100 in 3 minutes.
Nautilus pullup machine: 15 dead-hang pullups (knee pad locked down), 15 pullups @ -50 lbs, 15 pullups @ -65 lbs.
Nautilus crunch machine: 50 reps @ my body weight.
Nautilus lower back machine: 50 reps @ my body weight.
30 minutes on the treadmill @ 3.6 mph and 6% incline.
Wednesday:
Nautilus leg press machine: 15 reps @ 300, 15 reps @ 360, 15 reps @ 400.
Cable twists: (don’t know who made the equipment) 3 sets of 25 reps @ 10 lbs.
30 minutes on the treadmill @ 3.6 mph and 6% incline.
I finish every workout with five 3 minute rounds on the speed bag. That’s just for fun.
That’s it. I’m in and out of the gym in under an hour and a half.