What shall I do in the gym… 45 mins!

Offandonagain · 2022-10-15T19:17:25+00:00

My daughter goes to gymnastics in a uni sports centre for 50mins a week. There’s a gym there that’s only £4 per session. I thought I’d take advantage of this. I’n a runner and a cyclist but not no gym work at all. What would you recommend as a bit of a routine to compliment my sports? Also, is 45mins a week worth it?

Cranarc · 16/10/2022 12:51

Given your sports are lower body dominant and a strong core benefits running I would suggest a weights program designed for upper body and core. Yes, 45 mins a week is worth it, and you could supplement it by some bodyweight work at home if you are so inclined (planks, pushups)

Original poster

Offandonagain · 16/10/2022 16:11

Thank you @Cranarc … I’m certainly off the sporadic type when it comes to body weight exercises at home. I think I go to the gym I’m more inclined to do more at home too.

Do you go to the gym? What upper body exercises would you recommend? Free weight?

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RayKray · 16/10/2022 16:34

I do free weights. At the moment upper body is shoulder press, lat raises, dumbbell rows, hammer curls and skull crushers. But I'll change that every 6-7 weeks maybe. It's best to be consistent for a while. For 45 mins a week I'd probably focus on doing what I enjoyed.

Cranarc · 16/10/2022 18:36

RayKray's current regime covers all bases. Push, pull, lats, bicep, tricep are the main ones to cover. You can get quite a lot of bang for your buck depending what exercises you pick. For instance, lat pull downs or pull ups (assisted, even) will work plenty of muscles. Diamond grip push ups (on your knees if necessary) will work core, pecs, shoulders and arms (especially triceps) A program of 5 or 6 exercises, 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps with a minute rest in between would probably take about 45 mins.

I go to the gym and mostly do free weights, but my program is set by a PT and based on power lifting and my desire to achieve pull ups (nearly there now).

Original poster

Offandonagain · 17/10/2022 16:47

Thank you.

My first session is this evening. I’m tempted to follow a Caroline girvan vid whilst in there….. is that okay etiquette wise?!

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RayKray · 17/10/2022 16:58

I've seen someone follow along something at my gym once and I have followed asking my mobility programme before. But if you need lots of dumbbells of different weights I think it would be poor etiquette to hog them all. The person I saw at my gym one time did do that which was a pain. Personally I'd only have two sets max at a time and then put them back which might mean you have to break up the programme. Hogging one set for 45 mins would also be a bit annoying - someone at my gym did their entire programme using one set the other day and it was annoying as it meant I couldn't access that weight the whole time. People usually do 3-5 sets using a weight, then move on, so there's a natural churn round.

RayKray · 17/10/2022 17:03

And have fun! More importantly, than my lengthy overthought reply 😆

RelentlessForwardProgress · 17/10/2022 17:12

If it helps there are lots of youtube videos of weights sessions, I'd find it impossible to follow along with a routine in the gym (although I do think caroline is epic) but i've watched a routine on youtube before and understood from it how to work specific machines, which order to use them in, how many reps to do etc and then just gone and done it with a little note on my phone of what I'm doing

I use this set quite a lot:

Dalaidramailama · 17/10/2022 17:13

Intervals on the stair master. Brutal.

Original poster

Offandonagain · 17/10/2022 20:24

RayKray · 17/10/2022 16:58

I've seen someone follow along something at my gym once and I have followed asking my mobility programme before. But if you need lots of dumbbells of different weights I think it would be poor etiquette to hog them all. The person I saw at my gym one time did do that which was a pain. Personally I'd only have two sets max at a time and then put them back which might mean you have to break up the programme. Hogging one set for 45 mins would also be a bit annoying - someone at my gym did their entire programme using one set the other day and it was annoying as it meant I couldn't access that weight the whole time. People usually do 3-5 sets using a weight, then move on, so there's a natural churn round.

No, this is really good to know! Thank you!

It’s thankfully a small quiet gym, with 2 sets of weights so lots to choose from.

I had fun!… 10mins rowing, 10mins cross trainer then 15 arm weights of 3 reps.

Next week I will spend less time on the cardio… maybe just 10mins warming up. As I felt it wasn’t long enough with the weights

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RayKray · 17/10/2022 20:31

You don't have to do any cardio if you don't want. Or save it till the end so you have max energy for weights. I warm up for squats by doing some mobility stuff and then squatting with just the bar so it's lighter before going for proper sets. But really whatever you enjoy is best.

Original poster

Offandonagain · 17/10/2022 21:01

RayKray · 17/10/2022 20:31

You don't have to do any cardio if you don't want. Or save it till the end so you have max energy for weights. I warm up for squats by doing some mobility stuff and then squatting with just the bar so it's lighter before going for proper sets. But really whatever you enjoy is best.

Thank you… I’m only doing the cardio to warm up. I do enough cardio during the week to not need to do it in the gym too.

I’ll have a look at mobility exercises for warming up. Thanks

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jeffersonsam · 18/10/2022 12:40

Really 45 min's is a worth for your daughter. Doing simple warm up and taking a proper supplement for your daughter body fitness will providing good results in the future. All the very best

Cranarc · 18/10/2022 17:35

Cardio as a warm up is a waste of time imho and I never do it. I only do cardio if I want to do cardio. Although rowing is not a bad option if you do want to do it as a warm up. It's a decent range of movement patterns.

I warm up by doing body weight movements or very light weight reps of the exercises I plan to do. You just want something that reasonably mimics the movement patterns you are going to be performing. For upper body I roll my shoulders, swing my arms around my front as if hugging myself a few times, clap hands behind back with straight arms then raise hands above head with straight arms so backs of hands meet above my head. Then one very light set of weights for each exercise as a specific warm up for that exercise.

Original poster

Offandonagain · 18/10/2022 18:21

Cranarc · 18/10/2022 17:35

Cardio as a warm up is a waste of time imho and I never do it. I only do cardio if I want to do cardio. Although rowing is not a bad option if you do want to do it as a warm up. It's a decent range of movement patterns.

I warm up by doing body weight movements or very light weight reps of the exercises I plan to do. You just want something that reasonably mimics the movement patterns you are going to be performing. For upper body I roll my shoulders, swing my arms around my front as if hugging myself a few times, clap hands behind back with straight arms then raise hands above head with straight arms so backs of hands meet above my head. Then one very light set of weights for each exercise as a specific warm up for that exercise.

Thank you. I’ll give that a go next time

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ReviewingTheSituation · 21/10/2022 12:35

Do they have TRX straps? They are great for such a wide variety of bodyweight exercises.