Alternatives to a Crowded Gym

I was watching the CBS 5 News last night and they were reporting how the fitness gyms in this month has been so crowded, not just because of the New Year resolutions but also because of the unemployment rate. They covered a Santa Clara gym that is filled with people working out on treadmills, stairmasters and on the zumba classes. And they interviewed this one woman sitting on this half recliner, half cycling machine that was commenting on how going to the gym keeps her sane and happy while she goes through interviews to get a job. She talks about how by working out, she can be healthy, get in shape and ensures she looks good on her next job interview.

Kudos to her and everyone who exercises to be healthy, but let's be real here. You don't get results by sitting down on a cycling machine for 30 minutes (or even an hour) while you read a book and watch TV. Same case for elliptical machines, stairmasters and treadmills. These machines actually limits you. Think about it. You can't run as quick as you can, you can't go up the stairmasters with the intensity that your body is capable of. It basically limits your workout with a certain pace in the alloted time; which basically lets you to be lazy. Plus it wastes your time because you are doing a workout that you can probably complete in 30 minutes if you went all out but instead you push it out until 1 hour, with low intensity.

So here's what I propose to you. Get out of your regular gym and use your own body weight and  places around you to get you a workout. The truth is, you don't need an elliptical machine or a static bicycle to get a heart rate rising. Nor do you need 1-2 hours hanging out at the gym watching Wheel of Fortune on TV to do that. All you have to do is get back to basics, utilize the  exercises that you were forced to do in high school, the regular push-up, sit ups, jumping jacks and variations of them.

Here are a couple of body-weight workouts you can do outside your gym:

• Run 1/2 mile 50 air squats. Repeat for 3 rounds.
• 10 push-ups 10 sit ups 10 squats. Repeat for 10 rounds.
• 200 air squats as fast as you can. Record your time.
• Run 200m, 10 squats, 10 push ups, for 5 rounds.
• Sprint 200m and do 25 push ups. Repeat for 3 rounds.
• Tabata squats and tabata pushups. Note: Tabata is 20 seconds workout, 10 seconds rest. Repeat for 8 rounds. Find Tabata Timers here.
• 50 air squats x 5. Rest equal amounts as it took to do each 50.
• Run 1 mile and do 10 push-ups every 1 minute.
• Sprint 100m, 30 squats. Repeat for 8 rounds.
• 10 sit ups and 10 burpies. Repeat for 10 rounds, measure time.
• Handstand hold, 30 seconds, squat hold 30 seconds. Repeat 10 rounds.
• 250 jumping jacks as fast as you can. Record Time
• Find more here

Try the workouts and post your results and thoughts. 

Here's a good video about the Paleo/Primal Lifestyle. 



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Diablo CrossFit WOD 1/11/2010
800m run
100 push ups
400m run
100 sit ups
200m run
50 push ups
100m run
50 sit ups

Record total time.

Thoughts: Running outside was cold! I definitely could have done a lot better push up forms. I think when I reached 30 on that first 100 push ups, my form became worse as it became harder to go all the way down and push to full extension. And note to self, next time, do not try to do 100 sit ups without resting. I felt like puking after that workout and my abs was so tight the whole night. Not as much as a good feeling as I thought it would be =)

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Post WOD Meal - 1/11/2010
2 pieces of Grilled Chicken Breast
Carrots and Mushroom soup
Vegetable mix with Fish Cake
Indonesian tempe

Sorry, not so Paleo. My in laws are in town and I just couldn't say no to it =)