Here's how the workout looks now, nearly 6 years and 3 gyms later. Yesterday's workout was all machines. Doesn't matter with this kind of training. You can use barbells, dumbbells, machines, bodyweight, or a combination. Your muscles do not know what they are contracting against. I rested less than a minute between each exercise except for leg press and maybe overhead press. I had to wait a little on somebody for them to come open. All upper body reps are done 5 seconds to lift the weight, 5 seconds to lower it, lower body is 10/10. Some people do 10/10 for everything. I have a hard time doing that with upper body movements because they are just shorter movements. No heaving, no jerking, no momentum. That's for two reasons: 1) acceleration and deceleration produce force. The joints take the brunt of that. Slower is safer. 2) Moving slowly keeps constant tension on the muscles. Don't think of lifting as using your muscles to do something to the weight, think of it as using the weight to do something to your muscles. No hurrying through the hard parts and lagging in the easy parts. All sets taken to positive failure. That means you keep going until you can't make the weight move any more without breaking form. When that happens, you slowly and safely lower the weight and move on. It's that simple.
No warm-up. The slower cadence means you simply will not lift as much weight. The first 2-3 reps are your warm-up.
pec deck - 7 reps. This was one more than previous workout. Surprised I got it. Failed on number 8.
chest press- 7 reps. This is a superset with pec deck, no rest in between. I got the same number as previously. Failed on 8 yet again. As long as the pec dec goes up, I don't really expect much progress here.
machine row- 8 reps. Same number of reps as previous workout, but 5 lbs more. Progress! Nearly got #9. Adding 5 more lbs. next time in hopes of getting at least 6.
overhead press- 6 reps. One more rep than last time, but still a little disappointing. Upper body really gassed.
pulldown- 7 reps. One more rep. Failed on 8 and I was really huffing and puffing at this point.
leg press- 10 reps. This was with adding 10 lbs from the previous workout. My heart rate was through the roof at this point.
calf raise- 10 reps. just 5 seconds per rep due to the short range of motion. Breathing very hard, heartbeat extremely elevated.
Total workout time 19 minutes. Could have been less if that guy hadn't been in my way a couple of times.
Today is a day off, though I might go for a walk later on (work permitting) since the weather is outstanding. Tomorrow is the workout of the little things I used to put at the end of workouts, then forget to do them. I solved that by making them their own workout. Neck, grip/forearms. abs, direct lower back work, calves again (they recover quickly), front of calves. The muscles are small enough that it isn't too much of a strain on recovery time. Thursday is another more regular lifting day, but with more of an emphasis on bodyweight and isolation exercises. Starts with dips and pullups, then moves on to isolation stuff, ends with a horrible wall sit. Sunday will be the workout detailed above, all over again. I might go for a hike on Friday and/or hit some golf balls.
The entire workout can be done in well under 20 minutes. I've broken it up in a variety of ways over the years. Twice a week is probably optimal for most people, but even once per week will result in positive fitness benefits. The slower movement makes it a lot safer; moving more slowly makes perfect form easier. It also means you won't be able to lift quite as much weight. Heavier weights do generally mean more muscle; this is a trade-off in favor of form and safety. Everyone has the same initial thought: I'll do three sets like this! No, not if you actually push to failure. You will drop to one set very soon. This workout is VERY good for cardiovascular benefits. You will be huffing and puffing like crazy. You will have thoroughly worked your muscles and CV system without having pounded your knees, ankles, and lower back with any impact at all.
