Fresh Start at the Gym....Once Again

[Primemuscle]

Sounds like a quality product.

I have no doubt you will benefit from using it.

The key, of course, is consistency.

Consistency is what I am shooting for. Workout 1 was strictly push, chest press, triceps press overhead press and front squat. One set with reps to complete failure which is new for me. Since I'm just getting in the groove, I didn't push it too hard. Yesterday, workout 2 was all pull exercises; deadlift, bicep curl, bent row and calf raise. Did a little better with getting to failure on these. The escalating tension is also something new for me. I'm using the lightest band, which is 50 - 100 lbs. and it is challenging. tomorrow is day off, then back at it for two days, then two days off for 12 weeks before starting new workouts. Not going to look ahead yet.

[ThisisOverload]

Bands do work well, i know quite a few people who use them. They are a different style of resistance.

[oldtimer1]

What's your review of the X3 system?  I saw a similar thing but it had individual handles so it could be used as dumbbells. My problem with rubber bands is that there is a small resistance in the beginning of the movement and too much at the end. Variable resistance is a valid concept but the strength curve has to be right. MedX machines was the closest to getting it right.  I do see the value in rubber band training, don't get me wrong. Very interested in what your opinion and experience are.

Combine that with fast walking in your hilly area and you got a complete fitness routine.

[Primemuscle]

What's your review of the X3 system?  I saw a similar thing but it had individual handles so it could be used as dumbbells. My problem with rubber bands is that there is a small resistance in the beginning of the movement and too much at the end. Variable resistance is a valid concept but the strength curve has to be right. MedX machines was the closest to getting it right.  I do see the value in rubber band training, don't get me wrong. Very interested in what your opinion and experience are.

Combine that with fast walking in your hilly area and you got a complete fitness routine.

I'll have to get back to you on a review because I need to give it more of a shot before I can really judge how good this system is. Individual handles might be interesting. Would that work with using only one band and going to failure? Wouldn't one arm fail before the other? Yeah, the resistance isn't much at the starting point and it's a lot more at the finish. But, that's what is supposed to be the benefit of this system. All I know is that I've got a long ways to go before I max out on the resistance of these bands. There are 4 progressively greater resistance bands and I am on the "baby" band. LOL. I guess 100 lbs resistance at the top of a bicep movement isn't nothing, nor is 200 lbs at the top of a front squat nothing. It's just a different way of doing something. I may as effective as a whole lot of other ways of working out, but it something which is always better than nothing.

From what you've said, you spend plenty of bucks on equipment. This system was on sale for $100 off on black Friday. $450 is better than $550 and it ships free of charge.

One thing I need to adjust is my workout time. I like to workout late at night. Moving the metal plate you stand on around on hardwood floors makes some noise. Being an old fart who has had a couple of major falls this year, my 'roommates' get crazy if there is any unusual noise coming from my room late at night. Guess that's not such a bad thing. If I were dying, all I have to do is make some noise and they'd come running. If I lived alone, nobody would hear me or care whether I was just exercising or having a stroke. 

[IroNat]

Get a piece of carpet or those inexpensive interlocking rubber mats to deaden the noise.

[Primemuscle]

Get a piece of carpet or those inexpensive interlocking rubber mats to deaden the noise.

Exactly. Today, I am going to use the bathroom rug because it is handy. And I am going to workout earlier, like before dinner. The hardwood floors in the bedroom have only been in for about a month. I plan to add an area rug soon.  That and the rug pad should take care of the noise problem for two reasons. It will cushion what I set down and the rug will improve the acoustics by absorbing and softening sounds. Right now everything in the room aside from the bed is a hard surface. This magnifies any noise.

[IroNat]

How's it going, Prime?

Are you still at it?

[Primemuscle]

How's it going, Prime?

Are you still at it?

After posting about being consistent, I wasn't following my own advice. Last night, I did the routine with the bands, 4 push exercises, 1 set each with reps to failure. I'm feeling tight today. Tonight, I'll do the 4 pull exercises, 1 set each with reps to failure.

Funny story about last night's routine. I wasn't paying attention to the set up for squats which calls for a single band and I doubled it over. I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't reach all the way to my clavicle for front squats....duh! I ended up doing half squats....the lower half. LOL!

Quite awhile back I did something to my right shoulder, maybe when I tumbled down the rock garden and ended up on the sidewalk about 8 feet and many boulders below the top of the slope. When I mentioned it to my doctor last September and he suggested I give it a month or so to heal....pain to subside. Well, I still have pain there which is actually quite a bit below the shoulder joint. It comes and goes and doesn't seem affected by exercise except that my when I lift my right arm there is one spot where I have no strength and have almost dropped a full cup of coffee because of it many times. I think it is nerve damage. It's been my experience that nerve damage takes forever to heal.