A Summer Road Trip WorkoutFrom the book, Living the Fitness Lifestyle.You’ve been on the road since early this morning. It’s mid-afternoon and you need to think about where you will spend the night. So you pull off the highway and get out the AAA Travel Guide. You want convenience, clean and quiet, at a reasonable rate. It is a road trip, not a week at a luxury resort. Nutritious food and some exercise are a must, road trip or not. You’re in luck. Moderately priced motels today often have exercise rooms. A few are quite well equipped, but most are like the following ... One of the motel sleeping rooms has been converted to an exercise facility. Usually there is a treadmill or exercise bike (sometimes both), facing an elevated television set. In the center of the room is a multi-purpose workout apparatus, something similar to a Universal gym but cheaper. It probably has four exercise stations. So it’s not Gold’s. On the other hand, in all of my car travels I've only twice had to share the exercise room with other guests. It won't be crowded. You can get in a decent workout, spare as the room may be. What I usually do is decide on an exercise circuit that I will do for 20 to 30 minutes. The key to a good circuit that works your entire body in this space is to select four or five movements and repeat them with little or no rest between exercises. One that has worked well for me is the following:
For lat pull-downs or rowing, I do 10 to 12 reps with a weight about 75 to 80 percent of what I would normally use in a workout when I rest between sets. The push-ups are in sets of 10 to 20 reps. Sit-Ups, 20 reps. Body weight Squats, 15 to 20. The circuit: Begin with treadmill jogging or bike pedaling for 2 minutes. Stop. Quickly, move to lat pull-downs or rowing for 10 to 12 reps. Stop. Quickly, move back on the treadmill or bike for 2 minutes. Stop. Quickly, drop and do 10 to 20 push-ups. Stop. Quickly, hop back on the treadmill or bike for 2 minutes. Stop. Quickly do sit-ups, 20 reps. Stop. Jog or pedal again for 2 minutes. Stop, do 15 to 20 Bodyweight Squats. That completes one circuit. If you keep moving, 20 minutes should take you through the circuit about twice. Thirty minutes, 3 times. You are in and out of the motel’s exercise room in half-an-hour or less. Shower and have breakfast. You’re feeling great, knowing you have treated your body with the respect it deserves. It's summer in the western hemisphere. Enjoy it. Defeating "Turkey Flap"Jim writes . . ."I just discovered your wonderful site!!! I have started exercising again. Over the past five years I have been inactive and have gained 30 lbs. and the extra skin that comes along with it. I have great posture so I do not look fat. As my arms get bigger, what is the best way to get rid of the turkey flap under the triceps. Thanks for the great new part of my training education." -Jim Jim's question represents a common concern: Upper arm turkey flap. It strikes overweight men and women alike, usually with women being more vulnerable in this regard than men. Look around the gym and you'll probably see overweight exercisers doing inordinate numbers of sets and reps of triceps press-down type movements. Unfortunately, turkey flap rarely responds to the onslaught. What is the answer? To begin with, attaining a healthy bodyweight and staying in firm, muscular condition minimizes turkey flap issues as we age. And exercises that bring the triceps into play do help. However, please remember that "spot reducing" is a fantasy. It does not exist, except by way of the surgeon's knife. Although endless sets of isolation exercises such as triceps extensions may seem logical to correct the problem, as fat burners they do very little ... and, sad to say, they won't make loose skin disappear. A reasonable amount of triceps isolation exercise results in muscle development, of course, and that helps. But most of our workout time should be invested in exercises that bring multiple muscle groups into play all at once. Upper body work that requires pushing weights away from your body (pressing weights or your own bodyweight at various angles) will provide more bang-for-your-buck than isolation movements. So get muscular and firm, everywhere - total body. You will look and feel great, even if a smidgen of turkey flap remains. However, if too much loose skin still flaps in the breeze, a visit with a plastic surgeon may be the honest answer to the problem. But don't even think about it until you've already gotten fit and firmed up. Technology run amok in people's lives is common these days, and it is a bad thing. The following Matt Furey article provides some ways to avoid the pitfalls.
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