Weight Training

Ok, only a bit. There is no BAT practice today. Yesterday I did my Saturday spin class for the first time in months. After spin I lifted. My lifitng is pretty simple:

Military press, 50 lbs, two sets of fifteen
Curls, 50 lbs, two sets of fifteen
Overhed extensions, 40 lbs, one set of fifteen, one set of ten

That was it. I just forgot to do upright rows. I ended up with some pushups.

A word about weight lifting. There are two ways to lift weights. You can isolate muscles or you can do toal body lifts. The best way to isolate is using a weight machine that doesn't allow you to move anything other than the body part/muscle you are working out. You can also do it with free weights, like dumbells or barbells if you, say, sit on a chair and do curls on a bench. But with free weights you have to keep the weight steady, not move it from side to side, so you use more muscles. The other way to lift is by using as little support as possible, so your whole body has to keep you steady.

My regular lift these days is a simple barbell workout. I actually do an old fashioned standing military press with a straight bar. I stand throughout my whole workout. This not only works out my shoulders and my arms but also my core. The core muscles are far and above the most important muscles used in fighting (and fighting is a good core workout). That's why a lot of dukes do Pilates. If you do a standing barbell workout you can't help but exercise your core, and this, more than my arms, is what I'm going for. I am not trying to gain weight or build bulk. All I want to do is tone without losing flexibility.

I didn't do a leg workout because I had done spin so my legs were dead tired. I didn't do abs, which I normally do before spin. I did do a bit of yoga, because the spin instructor always ahs me lead the stretching after spin, so I usually throw in a few yoga poses. But I didn't do a lot.

There are great exercises that isolate the muscles used in fighting, and I'll cover those later. But right for now I'm sticking with my usual spin, abs, and barbell workout, with Yoga most days. This week I work in a bit of pell work.