Time To Get In Shape - Part 2

It has been over a week since I have received my new BowFlex Sport and I have been using it almost daily. They recommend 3 times a week to stay in shape but what about getting into shape? They said you can do more that 3 routines per week but to vary what exercises you do so that you are not doing the same exercises every time. Which exercises should I do what one of the first questions that came to mind. With 60 plus exercises listed in the manual, I wondered if I had to do them all. So I called BowFlex customer support.

"No, you don't have to do all of the exercises," they said, unless I want to. They did recommend their computer software to help tailor a training program and track my performance. Oh, another $60 dollars. The Customer Service Representative was good at explaining the pros of the software and I decided, what the hell, so I ordered it. I spent a lot already on the BowFlex (ok, I charged it and I have lots of payments to make). But, I did get, from the conversation and the web site, a short list of exercises that I should do. They had two lists on their web site, one for strength training and the other for an aerobic workout.

So, after a week now I do feel the workouts. "No pain, no gain" they say and I am sore in a couple of muscle groups. The exercises are easy to do and the time taken between exercises to disconnect and reconnect the various cables, handholds and bars gives a short rest between each exercise. I find this helpful for me.

The hard part so far is to determine what weight (or "resistance" is the term that BowFlex uses) to use for each exercise. So I have experimented. Some exercises I had too little weight (resistance) and others too much. Also, sometimes one exercise tired me for the next. So after some experimenting, and moving exercises to other positions in my routine, I am slowly building a list of exercises to do, in what order, with a known starting weight (resistance) and a specific number of reps. Bowflex told me that lighter weight and more reps for an aerobic workout but more weight with less reps for a strength training workout.

I am probably doing it wrong but I have groups various exercises together because they either have the same weights or are using the same accessories (hand grips, lat bar, etc). I think that by minimizing the weight changes or accessory changes my workouts may get better.

Hopefully when the software gets here (and they said is 10 days before it ships) I will have a better training too in hopes to loose weight. Only time will tell.

So, have I lost weight? After a week, I don't think so and I haven't weighed myself. My goal is to not only loose weight but to loose inches, several of them in fact. I feel like my clothes fit me better now (not so tight) but that might be only perception. Bowflex says to give it a six week challenge so by the end of January I should know something.

The hardest part is staying on a routine and doing the exercises on a regular basis. I think I have placed the BowFlex in a good position that I see it and will be more apt to use it daily. Time will tell.

Time To Get In Shape

Like many of us, I have put on a few pounds over the years that I need to take off. Okay, not a few, more that a few. Okay? Is that better? So, several months ago I started to take a little better care of myself. I started with eating better (less quantity and less greasy), drink more water especially before meals and started to try to get out an walk now and then. Well, that worked for a little while and I lost a little bit of weight but not enough. Now I need to get a little more serious.

I have a friend who has a BowFlex exercise machine and I tried it out a few times. I liked it because I could easily do exercises on it. I have had a NorticTrack for many years and it is the same old exercise and that gets old fast. With the NorticTrack you really have to have a level of balance, something I just don't seem to have when I use it. So, I spent more time trying to stay on it that exercising. But, I found with the BowFlex with the various types of exercises offered with that machine was the way to go.

So I looked around at all the other types of exercise machines out there because, hey, BowFlex is expensive. Will I get my moneys worth from it? So I looked and looked. I looked at others to include treadmills, elliptical and other types of exercise machines. I found cheap machines that work like a BowFlex (and seem to be made of too light material that I would easily break) and smaller machines that target specific areas. Some of these cheap machines were no better that a standard exercise, sometimes worse.

Some told me to join the local gym. I thought about that but with my schedule, and where I live, it would take an extra 1 hour of driving just to get to the gym every time I wanted to exercise plus any gym time. With a home fitness center I figured I could save about 1 ½ hours.

Now I had others tell me that the BowFlex is a “strength training machine” not really I workout machine. What's the difference? With the BowFlex you can concentration on specific muscle groups with targeted exercises. All exercise machines offer routines that target different areas of the body. So I thought and thought and decided. I ordered a BowFlex. I didn't go for the most expensive one (at about $2,000) but I settled on the Sport model (About $800). Boy, that is a lot of money.

About 10 weeks after I ordered it on line (and used their no-money-down payment plan) I got 4 boxes in the mail (3 heavy boxes and one medium box delivered by UPS, total about 208 pounds). I had already decided where to put it (maybe not the best place but where it might get used the most) and then it was time to put it together.

I opened all the boxes and pulled out the many and heavy pieces. I inventoried every piece, bracket, seat, bolt, washer and screw. I got everything so I started to assemble. One thing I will say is that this unit is not cheap, lightweight or flimsy. This is strong solid steel construction. The construction instructions were clear and concise. I did bolt one piece on backwards and didn't discover this until almost done, but it was easily unbolted, turned around and reinstalled. I would recommend assembling it where you want to it. It took about 4 hours to completely unpackage, inventory and assemble. Once you were done you had already had a complete workout. It does require a space about 10' x 10' to setup this up and use (with 7' of overhead clearance).

At this point I have done a few workouts. The documentation listed about 60+ difference exercises that can be done on this equipment, each listing the muscles that are targeted by that exercise. I didn't find any specific training routines in the documentation but the on line site gave some ideas and suggestions for a complete aerobic workout using about 10 of the exercises. From that I built a workout routine and wrote it down. I have a few workouts under my belt and I really feel the workouts, especially an hour or so after I am done. Hopefully this will get me in shape and loose some weight.

One thing I did like about the system was that each of the 60+ exercises listed explained what muscle groups were targeted by each exercise. In time I can use this information to tailor my workout to areas of my body that might need it.

It was recommended to me to track the reps and weight used on each exercise; and then always use that as a minimum. It will take a few tries before I get a good weight and reps setup for me to track. More weight for more strength training and more reps for a more aerobic routine.

For my 3 or so readers, I will keep you informed on my progress.