Exercise! What is your favorite? What about machines?
 

With all this talk (between the political and religious rants) of some of us trying to improve our diets, get more exercise cutting back or off the alcohol got me thinking.

For me by far bicycling is my favorite... I don't do it nearly enough but nothing more fun than cruising the bike path, getting some fresh air, and checking out the lady joggers. Between doing that and using the stairs at work my lower body is in pretty good shape.

So I would like to firm up my upper body a little (not going for Mr Olympia here)

I have been trained old school with free weights and the logical side of my brain says if I pick up a bench and a couple of dumbbells and work out three nights a week that would be cheap, easy, and get me where I want to be physically, a little stronger/firmer in the upper body.

However the gadget-boy in me sees the neato machines on TV with the ripped guys and gals smiling and pointing at it saying "only twenty minutes a few times a week". I also know these things can be picked up cheap because so many people buy them and then they end up in a garage sale or on craigslist.

I suspect most of you will vote for free weights but I was curious if anyone was using an exercise machine and liked it... or do they all end up a cloths hangers? ;)

I find "working out" way too boring.
I started playing volleyball again twice a week, lost 12 lbs and toned everything up, and I'm almost 47

Steve

Easiest on the joints? Swimming...I should do that, but can't hack the chlorine...arthritus in ankles, knees, and other places...court games a non-no.

For me it’s free weights and multi-joint exercises.
Try to decide what you want to work on then this site can help you with what exercise to do.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/MMale.html

just click a muscle

the rest the site is very useful as well.
http://www.exrx.net/

There's a reason for your statement above.

Why not just keep riding your bike and supplementing with some dumb bells. That's what I have been doing and my upper body is getting stronger.

Also, I think the biking will eventually help you loose weight which will help the whole body (including the upper body),

I mix road and mountain biking for complementary aerobic, endurance, and anaerobic workouts. I also am old-school and still prefer my free-weights in the garage for resistance training. I never could get into the "machines".

see? PPOT is healthy!

Yeah I know, when I was a construction worker I could do and eat anything and stay in good shape... of course that was twenty years ago!

Problem is I'm tech and other that running around the building and occasionally throwing some boxes around that is about all the exercise I get at work.

Same here, I checked out the local pools but the smell was a big turn off.

Even at my young age I had some problems with my legs from all the running so lately I have been trying to spend 1hr a day on the elliptical machine. I really like it.

I like moving body weight to build muscle.

Pull-ups and push-ups, when done correctly, are extremely effective and comprehensive for the upper body!

Just need a pull-up bar and some push-up "handles" to save your wrists.

NordicTrak for me!!!

+1
...and get gloves and a heavy free standing punching bag. Add this to biking and your are set.

Make sure to drink a glass of water or two before bed.
I've heard your an inch taller in the morning because of extra spinal/joint fluid.

Biking and swimming.

I can't stand machines. If I'm going to pedal a bike, the scenery better change. I can ride the road bike or the mountain bike, and never get board. Three minutes on a machine means the last two were torture.

My wife and daughter are serious swimmers, so I jump in the pool a few times a week and swim in the lane that's not quite as serious as the people training for competition.

I've always had problems with machines, mostly due to my size. I'm 6'5" and that is either at or over the upper size limit for machines. You will find when working with a highly educated personal trainer you don't need machines. In general machines are designed to be placed inside membership gyms, the average person can come in and get a workout of some form even if they have no idea what they are doing.

Am I an expert? No but my wife is and we own a fitness facility. I am not a fitness person, I fix what needs to be fixed, and attempt to arrange financing/investors...basically a jack of all trades. Our trainers all have bachelor's degrees or higher and are certified by NASM or ACSM. Most of the trainers use functional training utilizing stability balls and free weights. One of our trainers was one of the first body builders using a stability ball for his bench press to build functional muscle. He does his entire workout using minimal equipment.

You might look into getting an educated trainer to write up a workout program for you based on your physical history. Any good trainer can develop a program for you that will utilize common things in your home for a work out.

If you are short on time and concerned that you need constant direction I would check out CrossFit. I really don't like doing regular workouts, I can't stand running (unless I'm chased) but I really like CrossFit because I get an awesome workout done in an hour. They use a variety of equipment and the goal is to bring you to a well rounded fitness level.

Sex

Nah, I prefer women.

Exercise ball for crunches, pull ups and push ups with occasional bow flex and lot's of cycling does it for me. Oh yeah and the occasional track day in the 911 or race weekend in the formula vee :cool:

+1
Running/Eliptical

I cycle, typically 3-4 days a week. I do free weights 3 days a week at a health club. I have dropped 15 pounds in the past year. In addition to exercise, reducing my alchohol intake (wine) did reduce my weight.

EDIT: I think I also increased my caffeine intake when I got an espresso maker for Christmas. I started drinking decaf green tea at night instead of wine as well.