I need a workout for a busy dad/husband/goalie!

[GoalieAtWork]

Hello all - there is a lot of great info here about workouts, slide boards, etc - believe me, I did a search.

BUT, what I am looking for is of a different "speed", so to speak.

Here's the story:

I work 8 hours a day in a cubicle, at a computer.

I'm married, with 2 small kids (ages 2 1/2, and 3 months).

We are a one car family, very middle class, so money is always fairly tight.

More importantly, TIME is tight. Here is a VERY typical day for me:

7-8 am - Get up, get ready for the day. Get the kids up, and get everyone dressed, fed, organized, etc.

8:30/ 9am - 5 or 6 pm: Commute and Work

Mondays:
6-8pm - get dinner, clean up the house, etc,etc
8 - leave for hockey
11 - back from hockey, shower, feed cat, bed.

Tuesdays and Thursdays:
6-7pm - get dinner, clean up the house, etc,etc
7- 8:30 - wife has an excercise class, so I watch the 2 kids
9pm - get kids to bed, then some free time.

Wednesday and Friday:
Evening just needs dinner, cleaning, kids to bed, etc. Usually we need someone to go shopping at some point too, although we aim for weekends for that. Often some free time around 9pm.

Weekends: A mess, shopping, family visits, etc. Could steal 1/2 a day though.


SO:

I need an excercise routine that fits all THAT.

i.e. - no gym (money and time)
no new expensive excercise equipment (money, space)

This needs to be something I can do 1/2 hour a day, 4-5 days a week, and goalie specific.

(I also cannot afford the time to show up an hour before games to stretch...)

Areas I need to work on:

Stamina
Leg Strength
Flexibility
Back strengthening
Shoulder muscles

What I have at my disposal:

A powered Treadmill
An area of carpet.

Now, if its important and the price is reasonable, I could get some more equipment such as a CHEAP, or homemade slideboard, or that thing endorsed by Mrs. Gretzky and Jackie Chan .

If usefull, I can also get a hold of a rowing machine and weights from my parents (who never use them).

So, can anyone suggest a workout that fits all the above?

[sloth2946]

I have one for you. It gets monotonous, but it will do the trick. It is something we did in college as a warmup and you can use it to get into some good shape and it totally fits all your requirements. We called it Russian Circuits, but you can call it whatever you will.

How it works is this: 1 circuit consists of 10 jumping jacks, followed immediately by 10 squat thrusts, then 10 push ups, then 10 situps, then 10 frog jumps(basically you squat down and explode up as high as you can jump). These are all done in succession without rest between the exercises and the subsequent circuits. You want to do them as fast as you can with obvious good form. Start off with 5 on the first day, it will be tough. Stick with 5 circuits a day, everyday until it is easy then add an extra 3 circuits. Get to the point where you are doing 15 in a clip for a day and I will bet you any amount of money you will be a lean, mean Goalie at Work machine. If you can get over 15 and go up to 20 or so, god bless ya!!! I know when we were getting up to 15 a day I would want to barf and many guys did. It is a real intense full body workout and can be accomplished in well under your half hour time limit.

[stripes]

Wow, sloth, that sounds pretty good actually.

Quick question: What's a squat thrust?

[kevinthenet]

Great work, Slothy!
I'm going to try this at work!
You know, in lieu of working......

[GoalieAtWork]

Sounds very interesting, Sloth!

Just to clarify:

1 (typical) circuit = 10/10/10/10/10

15 circuits a day = excellent

circuits are done immediately after each other, i.e.:

BEGIN
circuit 1
circuit 2
etc..
curcuit 15
END


You recommend I start with:

1 circuit = 5/5/5/5/5
5 circuits a day as follows:

BEGIN
circuit 1
circuit 2
circuit 3
circuit 4
circuit 5
END


And work my way up.


Did I get all that right?


Sounds like a great workout -my only concern then is stretching and flexibility. What kind of warmup/stretching would you suggest prior to these?

[sloth2946]

Looks like I need to clarify this a bit.

1 circuit = 10/10/10/10/10
5 circuits = 10/10/10/10/10 X 5
15 circuits = 10/10/10/10/10 X 15

For a warmup run for about 5 minutes and a 10 minute stretch, then circuits.

The exercises work consecutive, when you finish the 10 jacks, you immediately transition into the squat thrusts, then the pushups, then the sit ups, then the frog jumps. Circuit #1 is done, start #2 immediately with no rest, repeat until you vomit. I hope that clarifies things a bit.

STRIPES: In case you aren't joking, a squat thrust is you start in a standing position, drop to put your hands on the ground in a squating position, then get into a push up position, then pull your legs back into the squating position then stand up. That is 1 squat thrust.

[daveB]

one time.. we had one hell of a gym teacher. during PT days (every other week day) we would spend the whole 40 minute gym time doing squat thrusts.. leg lifts.. or are they abdominal lifts.. dont remember but we would all do them for example, we would do the legs six inches off the ground for sixty seconds, if someone dropped their leggs he would start the count over. We also did the squat thrusts like that, if he saw someone slacking off or doing them improperly he would justs start counting over again. We did the same for push ups and sit ups and other PT crap. However all the stuff mentioned above was done right after a good quarter mile/half mine run. (time was short so a 2 lap run, where everyone ran was done) Trust me.. a half mile run might not seem so bad but for those who werent physically active, running a hundred yards was a challenge. And those of us who were trying to do the things right got REALLY mad at the slackers.

Good motivation, but im glad i only had that guy for one semester.


Whoops I forgot to mention that he wouldnt let us get dressed until we were done on the current excersise

[Timberwoof]

Stripes had a Quick question:

What's a squat thrust?

Squat Thrust is an exercise designed principally to destroy your knees. I always hated them as a kid and was delighted to read an article somewhere that said that the exercise does more hard to the knee joints that it does good to the rest of the body.

[streethockeygoalie]

Originally posted by stripes
.Quick question: What's a squat thrust?

Don't you watch Gary and Ace?

[GoalieAtWork]

Hmmm - well, Sloth's workout sounds good except for anything I'd need to jump for (squat thrusts) which are also warned against by Timber...

Right now I'm playing with the following:

10 min stretching and improving flexibility (anyone have pointers on this? It isn't a pre-game stretch, but rather a flex-increasing one)

5 min walk/jog on treadmill

10 min of an altered Sloth's Russian Circuits

5 min wind-down walk on treadmill


Any suggestions, corrections, improvments?

[Clyde]

Yeah,

Borrow some dumbells from your parents and substitute lunges for the squat-thrusts. Do them with good form and fast, with a good amount of weigh in each hand and you will get great results.

[G-Man]

Here's a couple of short workouts that don't require anything more than a set of dumbells, a barbell, and about 15 minutes. They don't cover everything you are interested in but you can mix some of these exercises along with the other suggestions you get to keep things interesting.

Dumbell Workout

Barbell Workout

[sloth2946]

Point of order your honorable Timber!!!! Please show me where you heard that squat thrusts are harmful to knees???? They are good for the quads and the lower abs, but I cannot for the life of me find a way that they are bad for the knees ever with bad form. People say running and squats are bad for the knees. I don't buy it. I have a genetic condition in my knees that gives me weak ligaments in the ACL and PCL(that is posterior cruciate ligament) and I used to baby them by staying away from running and other high impact things that were deemed 'bad for knees'. I never had so many problems with them until I started running, doing plyometrics and squats. It is actually good for your joints to shock them in a moderate way because the trauma causes the joints to secrete fluids and lubricate the joints and keep them that way.

Simply put, I don't buy the 'bad for the knees' comment. But if you have evidence I am more than happy to hear it!

[RichMan]

Got a question?

www.iartonline.ca

Speak to Brian D Johnston. Tell him buddhamonkrich sent you.

'Nuff said.

[RichMan]

G.A.W. ...i just put together a little something for you to your discretion.

AT HOME WORKOUT:
With dumbbells:
- dumbbell squat
- toe raise
- push up(no weight)
- one arm bent dumbell row(looks like starting the old lawn mower)
- dumbell side laterals(shoulder muscles...resembles trapper/blocker saves, but not done as so)
- tricep extension(overhead) or kickbacks
- bicep curl
- crunches(safer and more effective than sit ups)

Whitout dumbells:
- stair lunges(put your foot not on the first , but second step and lunge up. After 10, switch leg)
- side lunges(stand feet apart larger than shoulders, toes slightly pointing out, lunge to the side and then the other. Try to keep the back straight. Good for abductor and adductor muscles)
- toe raise(on steps)
- push up
- chin up(or find object to emulate dumbbell and perform rows as stated in prevoius workout)
- side laterals(grab the back of 2 chairs or fill plastic bags with waterfilled pop bottles)
- tricep ext.(use pop bottle or big can of juice)
- bicep curl(use pop bottle or big can of juice)
- crunches

***All exercises should be performed in strict form at a tempo of 3-1-5(3 sec. positive,1 sec. pause,5 sec. negative). Do 10 reps to start, going up to 15-20 after accostumed to. This is a conditioning routine...not a "beefer upper".

I'm in the same situation as you are. Hope this helps some. Still, i recommend the web site i posted above.

Good luck and have fun.