Miscellany: My workout regimen

After experiencing it for half a year now, I've come to the conclusion that regular strength training is key to maintaining overall health. Whenever I slack off and skip workouts, my gut starts to balloon and my weight starts to rise. I never used to get these kinds of results with just pure cardio (running and biking). Then again, every body is different.

I warm up for 10-15 minutes with a light run - not wind sprinting or anything, but a good pace that works up a sweat. I follow with some stretching. Many debate about this, but it works for me. The most important thing about stretching is that ballistic stretches, where you rapidly go in and out of a stretch, are for experts - I prefer the slow, supported, methodical kind.

Then it's to the exercises, all with dumbbells. Dumbbells are the cheapest way to start training in my opinion (well, short of doing crunches, pullups, and pushups), but they require good technique. I put on some music (an album that lasts an hour is perfect) and start - bicep curls, bench presses, shoulder presses, lateral raises, pec flys, the works. I usually do three sets of 12 reps, but I skip sets if my muscles start to feel iffy. I also use a flat weightlifting bench for some exercises - it works a lot better than just lying on the floor.