While Tannys was off at her conference, I decided to do another workout to pass the time. Actually, that's not the only reason I did it. Whenever we're travelling, we have noticed that the food, although delicious, is never very healthy (e.g. last night, for the first time ever, I tried a fried pickle, which unexpectedly showed up as a side dish at dinner!). It's tough to eat all of your meals at restaurants. Even when you try to make healthy choices, you have less control than when making things at home and those extra calories add up. There are temptations around every corner! Thus, holiday/vacation workouts are somewhat of a defensive system against gaining weight and losing ground in our fitness.
At the start of the week, when we arrived in Orlando, we hit one of the outlet malls and loaded up on UnderArmour gear. Why UnderArmour you ask? Well, we're likely victims of good marketing, but when I saw their compression shirts, I thought they looked pretty cool. Trying them out, they're comfortable in the gym and do a good job of wicking sweat and regulating your body temperature. The only downside to the brand that we've seen is the cost - their gear (when buying in Canada) is expensive! That's why whenever we're near an outlet mall in the States, we load up. So, suited up in my new 'Heat Gear' shirt, I hit the gym just before lunch.
I'll describe the workout I did shortly, but before that I'll stick with the topic of 'gear'. At the gym, I was asked about my footwear. Have you ever seen these before?
These are my Vibram, Five Fingers, Bikila shoes. They're a minimalist shoe that Tannys and I got at the outset of the summer. The sole is approximately 7mm thick (I guess thin would be a better descriptor!). They are completely different from a traditional running/exercise shoe in that they don't have padding. As they're not built up, you actually have to adapt your running stride and run as children do - lightly, on the balls of your feet, instead of a heel strike and roll. It takes a while to get used to and you have to slowly build up your mileage as you use neglected muscles, but once you've gotten used to them, I'm pretty sure you'll be hooked. We use our Five Fingers for runs, as well as working out (when not barefoot in our basement). They really let you stay in touch with the ground, which is helpful for a lot of lifts (especially free weights and more dynamic moves). They're also light and flexible, so are easy to pack. You can even machine wash them and let them air dry. Woah - this is starting to sound like an advertisement, so I'll stop there. Nonetheless, I was happy to chat with this guy about them and describe the benefits. I'll readily admit that they look different - even funny - but have grown to love them.
Today I did a traditional workout, focusing on chest, shoulders, and triceps. Why 'traditional' you ask? Well, this was similar to the workouts that I've done over the many years before I discovered functional fitness, kettlebells, and crossfit style workouts. This traditional workout is the kind you'll see in countless gyms across the country and is associated with bodybuilding. I did my exercises one at a time, taking plenty of rest, so that 18 sets (6 exercises, 3 sets each) took an hour. In our usual fitness routine, we'd accomplish that much work in about half that time. It was fun to switch it up and do a traditional workout, as it brought back memories and was better suited to the hotel gym than something more innovative. Here's what I did:
Smith-machine incline press
- Smith-machine incline press
- Weighted dips (using a 50lbs dumbbell)
- Shoulder press (seated, on a machine)
- Triceps V-pushdowns (cable station)
- Dumbbell split press (for shoulders)
- Bosu-ball pushups
Bosu-ball pushups (demonstrated by a random fitness person courtesy of Google Images)
I attached some pics showing the first and last exercises. Overall, I found the workout was very pleasant and relaxing. I went into the gym knowing what bodyparts I wanted to work, then designed the routine based on the equipment available and how busy it was. I think it's important to be flexible when you're working out while travelling. We always look into which hotels have gyms (looking for pics to see what equipment they offer - caution, as some only have cardio equipment). The gym where we're staying was fairly nice. Instead of free weight barbells, they had a smith machine, so I did my heaviest chest work on that with the incline press. I managed to do 5 reps at 250lbs + (not sure how much the counter-weighted bar actually weighs). I find the smith machine is easier than a regular barbell, as the range of motion is defined and restricted (i.e. you don't have to balance the weight and use those stabilizing muscles).
The V pushdowns were fun (although too easy as the weight-stack was limited to 150lbs), since I used to enjoy doing those in highschool and undergrad. It had been over a year since I had done many of these moves. The bosu-ball pushups were a good finishing move, as my chest was starting to get tired at that point and it was a good challenge to balance on the bosu ball.
Tomorrow, we are hoping to do a leg workout together. That should be more challenging, as we've gotten used to having lots of kettlebells and freeweights available for our leg workouts. We'll have to be innovative with the equipment (standard Precor machines) and limited dumbbells (up to 50lbs). It's always good to have to try something different though, as it forces you to think and adapt and perhaps face new physical challenges.
- Alex
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