So, who goes to the Gym/exercises?

[Legion]

What do you mean by "If you are looking for strength/muscle size then do low reps of higher weights (6-8 reps)"? I thought strength gain and mass gain training are completely different.
You gain strength when you do an exercise with as much weight as you can to do about 5 reps, while for mass gain it's better to aim for a higher number of reps ( 8-12 ) with less weight.

This will depend on who you ask.

The "standard" ways are:

Strength - 6-8 reps
Size - 10-12 reps
Tone - 15+ reps

It is far too lengthy for me to summarize but look up High Intensity Training (HIT) and Mike Mentzer. The gist of it is that you need to work your muscles until failure, anything more than that and you are not helping yourself because your body has already had muscle growth stimulated.

What is important to note is that you will not see weak people with large muscles. You can see strong people with small ones, but you can't really have it the other way around due to the sheer amount of effort needed to gain that kind of size. Strength comes before size, and that's why you don't need to do the "standard" way, because if you are working until failure at 6-8 reps (plus what are known as 'statics' and 'negatives') then your muscle will be growing.

 

[Kingsnake661]

I'm going to the gym again, just recently. Made about 3 weeks stright before i got sick, missed a week.. going back now. *shrug*

At the moment, i'm in my readjusting phase. I'm totatlly out of shape (well, i'm a bit better now then i was.. 3 weeks after all..) so this is more a beginner workout.

I do, 2 excersies per major muscle group, (chest, back, legs.) usually a compound movement (benchpress, rowing, squats/legpress) followed by an issolation.(flys, latpull downs, leg extensions.) 3 sets each of 8-12 reps. Then i do a single movement per smaller muscle group (biceps, tri's, ham's, ect.) Mainly issolation work, 3 sets, 8-12 reps. Throw in abs and some lowerback/core work, about 3 sets 8-15 reps, if there reps. (planks and stuff are just about holding a pose)

Takes me right around an hour. Do that 3 days a week. Usually mon/wen/fir.

I do some cardio at work, (we have a fitness center) i tend to walk on the treadmill 20-30 mins a day, i'm going for 5 days a week, but been doing more like 3. *shrug* I tend to hate cardio. I much more enjoy the challange of resistence training.

I want to do this regularly for about 6 months to get tuned up for a more advanced program, instead of doing a total body 3 days a week, i'll be looking into a split routine, prolly a push/pull system, 4 or 5 days a week, but i'm not nearly ready for that yet. (I'm 32 now, and out of shape, but I was a bit of a gym rat back in my eairly 20's. Then i got lasy... but, i'm trying to get out of that and back into shape... heh.)

It's all about motivation at the moment for me, and besides this minor setback (being sick as a dog for about a week...) i'm feeling pretty motivated. Just need to twick the diet some more too, but, it's all a work in progress. heh.

 

[DustyDrB]

Well, I've been slacking on my exercise the last week or two because I have a knot on the arch of my foot that I'm hoping won't come back when I start running again.

Before that, my exercising was pretty much all cardio. I'm pretty naturally buff (I'm just 5'9, but still weigh 185 at my skinniest), and I'd really rather not get any bigger because I hate the muscle head look (and extra weight would be bad on my feet and knees). I do some push ups and several variations of crunches and that's it. I love to run though, especially on the beach here. I typically run four miles and walk one for six days a week (run for 3 days, take a day off, repeat).

 

[The Afrodactyl]

I do three hours of karate a week, and do about 160 push ups a week.

I should really bump it up to 75 a day, my arms are far too noodlerific.

 

[superbatranger]

I know I should go to the gym more often, but with all the stuff going on in my life I have to take care of before moving back home later this year. That, and I can't really afford to pay for a gym since I have to save up as much as I possibly can. So, to make up for it, I try to go walking a few times a week.

 

[MagicMouse]

I work out at the school gym every other day. My goal is to gain weight; I fluxuate between 125 and 130 but I am aiming for 145 (I'm 5'9").

I mostly do pullups, chin-ups, curls and benching, all upper body/core stuff. My legs get worked out when I run.

My goal is to get strong enough to do 50 pullups; whatever weight I am for that is good enough for me to settle at. I'm at 16 currently.

 

[BreakfastMan]

I don't go to a gym, but I do exercise regularly. I go for a walk in the mornings, and I lift 10 pound hand weights for about 2.5 hours a day. I must say, I lost quite a bit of weight since I started doing this (well, eating better might have something to do with it too, but exercising definitely helps). I have also gotten much stronger as well.

 

[AngloDoom]

I've recently got out of my routine due to a knee injury, but I'm attempting to get back into it:

- Running twice a week
- Wing-Chun three times a week
- Weight-lifting three times a week
- Boxing practise / sparring once a week - trying to improve

I'm hoping to try and get into parkour, and next year when I live near a pool I may replace running with swimming if I have the money to.

The only 'tips' I could give is to stick to the routine you make for about a month before mixing it up when you first start training, simply because if you're anything like me you'll get bored and find excuses not to.

 

[DYin01]

I do some simple muscle training at home with weights and pushups. I plan on adding abs to the mix soon. I picked it up a few months ago and I like it. Me and my brother do it together so we keep eachother motivated. He used to be a real gymjunkie but he's kinda sick of going to the gym every time.

 

[PureChaos]

I have 2 dogs that i walk 2 or 3 times a day, that's about it but it does the job

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

I go at least 4 times a week, and I'm about to go right now for a two hour session.

 

[DYin01]

I do three hours of karate a week, and do about 160 push ups a week.

I should really bump it up to 75 a day, my arms are far too noodlerific.

Don't. There's no point in training your muscles every day. Do pushups one day, take a day's rest, do pushups again, take a day's rest. When you rest, your muscles grow. If you strain them before they're restored, nothing happens. There's a great training schedule on the interwebz that builds you up to being able to do 100 consequetive (is that the right spelling? I don't think it is) pushups. I do 100 in several sets nowadays and I only started a few months ago. Back then, I could barely hit 5 in total before crashing.

 

[LittleJP]

I used to jog and cycle a lot, but with the winter here and whatnot, I'd rather not. Still work on a punching bag in my room a lot though.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I try not to think about it. Apparently stressing about personal fitness is bad for you. I don't eat very often which is probably bad for me. As for exercise, I walk just about everywhere (well, walk and use public transit) For example, I walk to and from work which is about 10 - 15 minutes each way.

It's not a the best thing I could do but it's better than nothing. My metabolism is good enough to keep me from completely going overweight but I'm still kinda flabby and I consider myself out of shape.

 

[PatrickXD]

I ride my bike to school and back, it's a 1 hour journey each way.
Other than that I lift weights just to keep muscle mass, not really to gain it. I'm not huge, but I'm reasonably fit.

 

[Marowit]

I loath the gym. I really detest the idea of exercising and not having fun while doing so. Besides I can't stand the Bros at the gym posturing and whatnot. Just a silly waste of money; obviously personal opinion about the gym - I know several people, mostly bros, who love their benchpressing.

I do exercise regularly though - I play Hockey, snowshoe, ski, rock climb, and jog periodically. And I have a blast with each of them.

 

[Wondermint13]

I swim. Machine training is for people who wanna get noticed and recognised for paying silly ammounts of money per month.
Naw, I swim more than I pretend to row a boat while watching a chat show on a tv at the end of hall as it is less sweaty, more varied and when you're done, just let your gears float in cool water. ...Or hop into the steam room! Yum!

 

[VaudevillianVeteran]

I used to, but I dreaded feeling like people were watching me, so I usually just get my exercise from running errands/cleaning/etc.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I go once a week for about an hour and a half. I do a lot of cardio, some chest, back and biceps exercises and that's about it.

I'm not extremely motivated at the moment, but at least I managed to get my rhythm back after not going for well over 2 months. I really noticed that in the gut department... I might go more when I ever manage to get my driver's license.