Baraka_Guru

Quite a few of you go to the gym quite often. As I stated above, I go 3 times a week. It would be 4, except I'm now biking with the weather being so warm.

I lift those 3 times.

For 2 of the sessions, I warm up for 10 or 15 minutes, do a full-body lifting routine for about an hour, and then do high-intensity cardio for another 10 or 15 minutes to work out the lactic acid.

For the last session, I do a supplemental arm and shoulder workout because they are lagging behind. I also throw in some core work since the session is shorter by nature.

This is based on the program my trainer is having me do. It's a bit against my philosophy of "less is more," but it seems to be a good program for a short-term booster.

My trainer's sessions end at the beginning of September. At that time, I will only be lifting once or twice per week full-body, or two or three times per week split routine. I will drop some of the isolated lifts and focus mainly on heavy compound lifts—possibly even slowing my reps down. I hope to bring my session time down from 1 hour of lifting to 30 to 45 minutes.

Outside of the gym, I walk up to 60 minutes a day, so I don't need much cardio work. I figure if I get in one long high-intensity session per week, that should do it. Lifting itself builds the cardio system and burns lots of calories, so it all works out in the end.

So, once I get my own program up and running, I'll be going to the gym no more than two or three times per week in the warmer months, and three times per week in the winter. That sounds about right.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot