Strength Training... Keeping it Interesting

I have whined blogged in the past about my lack of exercise space on the sailboat.  It is the reason I like to give when I question myself as to why I don't devote more time to strength training when we are staying on board.

In the summer I can take my dumbbells out into the cockpit or onto the dock and do some work with them.  Or I may row the dinghy to get in some arm work.  Handling the sails takes strenth, too and I often get a good workout when it's my turn.  I am pretty uncommitted to strength train during the warm months, which is quite silly really... as this is when my arms and legs are likely to be on display.  Yes, I am that vain.

During the winter, we are usually land-lubbers from November through the end of April, and I do lots of resistance work during that time.  I have a variety of workout DVDs that I use regularly, and I often find new routines on the internet that I will try out from time to time.  I have even borrowed DVDs and VHS tapes from the library to try out.

But this year, we are staying on the boat 6 weeks longer than we normally would and although I have been doing a strength workout a couple of times a week, I know it is not enough... and quite honestly, I am getting tired of the one I made up.  I thought I could put up with it one more week, but I just cannot.  But I don't want to just give it up entirely for a week.  I feel like I have made some good progress the past several weeks and don't want to abandon it.

So, today I started going through some records and found this workout that I copied from a library book  last year, and used a few times during the summer.  If you are not familiar with Kathy Smith, she is a long time producer of workout videos and author of several fitness-related books as well.  I have owned and used a variety of her workouts in the past... floor aerobics, STEP aerobics, interval training with weights, yoga, and one of my very favorites, a boxing workout.  I sorta feel like I have grown older with Kathy sometimes!

These are the notes I made from the book, and this is the routine I am doing tonight:

From Kathy Smith’s book… Getting Better All the Time…



Strength Training Workout - modified for the boat Pushups
Bent-over Row
Upright Row
Pec Deck
Basic Crunch
Cross Crunch
Bicycle Crunch
Squat
Plie Squat
Reverse Lunge
Bicep Curl
Triceps Kickback
Lateral Raise
Inner Thigh Pull
Standing Side Lift
Frontal RaiseAlternate 30 seconds of movement with 30 seconds of walking on the spot

I will be going through it twice, so that works out to 32 minutes of actual exercise, and then I will add 3 minutes of stretching to it afterward for a total of 35 minutes.

Do you strength train?

Do you have a set routine or do you change it up?

Do you tend to do more in one season over another?

What do you do to keep your workouts interesting and fresh?