Building a Fitness Routine?

[MementoMori]

As a newbie who is planning to take part in the next 6 week challenge, I'm hoping to find a fitness routine that will achieve my goals and be reasonable.

So I'll just break down my current schedule into days, and if further detail is required for an honest opinion don't hesitate to request it.

*I don't mind posting the sets/workouts*

Sunday - Run in the Park (Currently 2.5km run, with 2k walk there and back)

Monday - Strength Training (Full-Body, Barbell-based)

Tuesday - Swim (One of four sets that an old water polo teammate of mine made for me) *Today I swam a 2.9k endurance set*

Wednesday - Yoga (P90x Yoga X, chose this as my off day. Had considered doing it daily, but it's an hour and a half long and I'm still sore from monday)

Thursday - Strength Training (Either the same as monday, or a variation based on dumbbells, haven't decided)

Friday - Run in the Park (Same route until I feel I should increase the distance)

Saturday - Swim (a different set than tuesday)

So that's what I'm doing (or at least planning on doing)

What do you guys think?

*Off Topic

Which class would I fall under: Adventurer or Ranger? (I'm not currently doing crossfit, although that may come up once the water polo season starts up_

Thanks

- MM

[bigm141414]

Hey, sounds like an okay plan. How new are you to training and fitness? From what it sounds like you are already in decent shape, but I don't see any rest days programmed in. Rest is important not only for recovery but also mentally because you can burn out and over train.

What are you doing barbell/dumbbell wise? How many sets reps?

With that you could do either ranger or adventurer. Adventurers like to explore their surroundings when getting started, while rangers get fit with a variety of methods (hence the CF designation).

[MementoMori]

I'm not exactly new, but due to the fact that I've never been consistent in maintaining training is why I'm not in better shape.

I did some crossfit stuff on-and-off with members of my water polo team, but that was never too serious.

I did train with the same sets I'm using now a few years back, but only for one summer and it never lasted.

I thought that perhaps the yoga would count as a rest day, or is that not really the case?

I also do work part-time at the moment, so I have a fair amount of time on my hands outside of the workouts.

Anyways, here's the set and the amount of weight I'm likely gonna start using:

Pre-workout warm-up = 5 minute run

Abs - Crunch Twists (15)

Knee to Chest Crunches (15)

Side-Ups (10 each side)

Back - Plank hold with lift (10)

Back extensions (15)

The weights portion I do each set twice (Squats are 12 reps, everything else is 10)

Squats (I used 70lbs, may increase that to 75)

Barbell Bench Press (I used 70, gonna increase to 75)

Seated Barbell Front Press - (I used 70, gonna decrease to 65 if not lower)

Barbell upright row - (Used 70, going to decrese to 65)

Barbell Bicep Curl - (I used 45, going to decrease it to 40)

One armed dumbbell tricep kickbacks - Used 30lbs

Wide grip front pulldowns (with a machine) [used 60]

Leg extensions (with a machine [used 100, may keep it at that point or reduce it to 95]

That's the full strength training routine

Swimming I have split into four sets with identical warmups (900m) and cooldowns (500m)

One is an endurance set, one is a main and sprint set, one is a ladder set, and the last one is a sprint.

Hope that is useful info

Sorry for the long post

[Waldo]

I use Yoga X as a rest day, however it is because it is pretty different than all my other workouts. If you aren't half assing the Yoga X video, it is quite hard.

A pretty significant % of people doing the P90X program don't do Yoga X because it is TOO hard.

But I wouldn't start using Yoga X as a rest day until you've built up a significant amount of work capacity.

[rtalencar]

Your fitness goals seem more partial to cardio type stuff (not that that's a bad thing), what are your goals specifically?

[MementoMori]

I have to agree with you that my fitness regime is fairly cardio based.

I definitely think that has to do with my circumstances and my goals.

I've played water polo for four years, and being fairly short/small means that I can't beat people in terms of strength

for that reason I've had to be fast instead. Ex: I can outswim my coach, a rather buff guy who isn't much older than myself and has an extra 5-6 inches on me heightwise.

The people who tend to outswim me are the former competitive swimmers for the most part.

BUT my problem is that I have fairly poor cardiovascular endurance; I can go fast, but not for very long. Even after one 25m sprint in the pool I will find myself slowing down.

So my main goal is to improve my endurance levels for when the new season starts.

Admittedly, vanity does come in as well, as water polo is a sport where male players tend to not wear very much (speedos, square-leg suits and jammers),

so I do want to look good in a swimsuit as well. So building muscle and burning fat would help I hope.

With that in mind, are there any suggestions as to how I can tailor this regime to my goals?

Thanks for all the feedback, it is much appreciated.

[MementoMori]

I use Yoga X as a rest day, however it is because it is pretty different than all my other workouts. If you aren't half assing the Yoga X video, it is quite hard.

A pretty significant % of people doing the P90X program don't do Yoga X because it is TOO hard.

But I wouldn't start using Yoga X as a rest day until you've built up a significant amount of work capacity.

Any recommendations of what I can do in order to work up to using Yoga X as a rest day?

Should I still try and do yoga, but just not that particular set?

[weirdquark]

If you're interested in gaining more strength you'd be better off doing sets with fewer reps (~5) and more weight -- it's true that you won't be able to out-lift someone who is at a similar level of training who is much bigger than you are, but you can still make the most of what you've got.

Having said that, you'll still get stronger doing the higher rep exercises and if your goal is to build muscle and endurance then 10-12 is a good rep range for that -- more reps will focus more on endurance, slightly fewer, more on muscle building.

[MementoMori]

Do you think that I could eventually transition from one to the other (Muscle Endurance to Muscle Size, and Burning Fat to Bulking Up)

I may eventually change my goals in order to gain more muscle once I've slimmed down.

Or do you guys feel that it would be better to do this the other wat around?

Thanks again for all the advice, I'm definitely going to follow it.

[rtalencar]

I have to agree with you that my fitness regime is fairly cardio based.

I definitely think that has to do with my circumstances and my goals.

I've played water polo for four years, and being fairly short/small means that I can't beat people in terms of strength

for that reason I've had to be fast instead. Ex: I can outswim my coach, a rather buff guy who isn't much older than myself and has an extra 5-6 inches on me heightwise.

The people who tend to outswim me are the former competitive swimmers for the most part.

BUT my problem is that I have fairly poor cardiovascular endurance; I can go fast, but not for very long. Even after one 25m sprint in the pool I will find myself slowing down.

So my main goal is to improve my endurance levels for when the new season starts.

Admittedly, vanity does come in as well, as water polo is a sport where male players tend to not wear very much (speedos, square-leg suits and jammers),

so I do want to look good in a swimsuit as well. So building muscle and burning fat would help I hope.

With that in mind, are there any suggestions as to how I can tailor this regime to my goals?

Thanks for all the feedback, it is much appreciated.

The best way to build your endurance in swimming is to swim. I'm not sure what the routines your friend gave you are, but I'm going to assume they're solid. Are you able to hit the pool more than twice a week? Depending on where you're at conditioning wise, I would suggest doing two routines per session. First a longer and relative moderate intensity distance routine, followed up by a shorter, higher intensity sprint set. I prefer this tactic because it gets you used to punching it when you're tired which ideally should happen a lot in water polo. For me I'll swim a mile easy and then rest for 3 to 5 minutes. Then I'll do 100 meter sprints with a minute break in between until I can't swim any more. I really wish I had access to a big enough pool again because I miss those workouts.

I've admittedly never played water polo, but from what I can tell the players do benefit from strength training. Just because you might not be able to lift as much weight as the next guy doesn't mean you should neglect it. If you're hoping to build mass, heavy resistance training is pretty much a requirement. Additionally if you're cutting weight and want to retain the muscle mass you have...again heavy resistance training. What is your current strength routine looking like?

I try to do steady state cardio on my rest days personally, but that's because I suck at yoga. If you want to do Yoga X, I'd suggest starting with some more moderate yoga programs, many can be found on youtube but I'm not knowledgeable enough to speak on them intelligently.

[MementoMori]

My Strength Routine is mentioned above

Admittedly I will tone it down a tiny it as I'm still sore from Monday...

I work at the pool as a lifeguard, so I have regular access, and I could easily swim more than twice a week by replacing a running day with another swimming day.

If you'd like I can post the sets as well if you'd like to critique them.

Do you think I should focus on swimming and weight training, and put yoga and running on the back burner?

Thanks a ton for all the detailed advice, it really helps me sort things out and get ready for the upcoming challenge.