First of all I might as well introduce us:

Cameron, 6′, 185lbs, an intermediate trainee, coming back from a long layoff. Been back in the gym regularly for about 4 months now.

K, 5′ 7″, ~130lbs, never touched a barbell before 2 months ago, former distance runner and avid Ultimate Frisbee player.

Today we started off as always with a dynamic stretching routine. This is about 8-12 movements and positions designed to raise body temperature, lubricate joints, and generally get the body ready to exercise. While the individual components may change we always make sure to include spine, hip, and shoulder mobility as these are often trouble areas.

After that we began our first strength training exercise: Standing Press.

Cameron: Warmup with just the bar (45lbs) and then 95lbs. Finally, 3 sets of 3 reps @ 140lbs.

K: After warming up with a smaller bar (30lbs), she did 3 sets of 5 reps with 60lbs.

Then it was time for deadlifts (or as K calls them “happy lifts”).

Cameron: After warming up with 135lbs, 225lbs, and 305lbs. 3 sets of 3 reps @ 330lbs, 360lbs, and 375lbs (only got 2 reps at this weight).

K: Warmup with just the bar (35lbs), and 65lbs. 3 sets of 5 reps @ 135lbs, 145lbs, and 150lbs.

And that’s it for strength training for the day. Looks easy when down on paper, but believe me it was hard. Notice how similar our two workouts were. K is still a beginner lifter so she typically does more reps than I do (although I don’t have any use for sets of 12-15 to build “muscle endurance”). But for the most part we keep things about the same besides loading of course. K is getting strong fast, but lifting 150lbs off the ground 5 times, although intimidating for many women, is actually very obtainable. Proper instruction, good nutrition, and plenty of rest will let almost anyone get there very quickly.

After a short break we headed over to the Concept2 rowing machines for some interval workouts!

Cameron: Six 100m sprints with 45 seconds rest. Brutal, but done with quick. Each sprint took about 18 seconds.

K: Four 500m intervals with 2mins rest. Less intense, but lasting much longer – a very tough workout. Each interval took her about 2mins.

By this point, both of us were exhausted and ready to go home, but not until we finished up with some stretching – focusing on our quads, hamstrings, and back.