My First Time

I'm dedicating this blog to the inspirational body builder – Joe Loprenzi who died at the age of 95 on December 16 this year. Joe's brother Sam built the first gym I ever stepped foot into, and it's still there in the same spot in southeast Portland, Oregon.

Until I was 13, my athletic activities were bike riding and playing chess. In the 8th grade, Bobby, the “popular boy” – who I had an innocent teen crush on – asked me to sign up for the Pop Warner football team with him. The team needed a “big guy” in the front line, (translation: heavy kid) and he was the quarterback. Cool, anything to get to hang out with him and get rides home in his dad’s 1950’s  windowless jeep.

Touchdown Hero

The "football thing" was a huge new venture for me. Every part of it was terrifying, and I’d never succeeded at anything in sports before. I was as determined as a 13 year-old could be because I wanted to succeed so badly and I wanted Bobby to like me. The coach realized that I could remember plays and designed a couple of them where I got to break out from the line and have the ball tossed to me. One time, I made a touchdown. Do you have any idea what kind of confidence builder that was? I was the team’s hero for a day.


My junior year in high school, a new kid moved in next door. Greg was tall, lean and ripped. His family had moved to Portland from a farm in Eastern Oregon, so he’d been tossing hay bales for years. I’d never seen abs like his except in the bodybuilding ads in the back of my superhero DC Comic books. Greg had a few years of weight training experience with his dad, and they liked to go watch bodybuilding competitions at the Portland Armory. Greg and his dad started taking me along to the shows, and that summer, Greg asked me to go to a local gym with him. Ask a high school friend with a major crush on you to go to the gym? Yeah!

Loprenzi's Gym

Loprenzi’s gym in southeast Portland was just a 30 minute bike ride from our homes. Sam Loprenzi  was a celebrity bodybuilder who had started the gym in 1948, and he was still there every day. His brother Joe was about 50 at the time and definitely looked like one of my superhero fantasies. Sam's semi-warehouse gym space was big, hot and certainly didn’t have a self explanatory set of circuit training machines. In fact, I really don’t remember any machines, just lots of heavy weight plates, home made gym equipment and really big guys with wide leather belts doing squats.


Intuitively, I knew how to do bicep curls, but that was about it. I didn’t have a clue about how to perform any other exercise. The whole place was a mystery. Greg took me around a little bit and helped me with a few exercises but because I was so intimidated, I never liked being at the gym. What kept me going there was the bike ride over and getting to spend time with Greg.

Even now when I go to a new gym I get the some of the same feelings. Gyms are like new leather work gloves. It takes a little while to get them to fit comfortably. Every gym is different, the layout, the equipment, the music and the vibe of the people. Even if you’re experienced, it’s a whole new place to figure out. If you’ve never worked out before, it’s even more difficult.

Travel Fit

Since the end of the year often involves travel, I’m giving those of you who have some training a portable workout that’s good in just about any hotel gym. The workouts are primarily dumbbell based because most gyms have them. Take this program along with you. It’ll help you knock out a weeks worth of training anyplace so you can get a quick workout in and stay in shape on the road.


For those of you who are just getting started, get some instruction first, and watch this blog for “how to” writings. (even more as soon as I get that video camera working).  Don’t use this caution as an excuse to sidestep exercise though – every gym has some form of cardio equipment and mats for abs and floor exercises.

Workout Notes

Complete 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions for each weight exercise. Target 2-3 sets of 25 reps for each abdominal exercise. If you can't do that, set a bench mark that's just above what you think you can do and shoot for that number. Do at least 20 minutes of cardio interval training on your cardio days. If you don't have the endurance or time for a 40 minute stretch, get up, grab some coffee and hit the gym before breakfast for a 20 minute cardio blast, then come back at the end of the day before dinner and give yourself another 20 minute cardio blast. You won't feel guilty when you eat dessert that night.

The 6 Day Hotel Gym Workout

Day 1 – Chest & Triceps

5-10 minute cardio warm-up

Flat bench dumbbell chest press

Incline bench dumbbell chest press

Flat bench dumbell flys  (or pec fly machine)

Decline pushups (toes on bench, hands on floor)

Rope triceps pushdowns

Triceps dumbell kickbacks

Day 2 – Cardio & Abs

Cardio 

Abdominals on a mat: 

Bent knee leg raises

Oblique crunches

Crunches

Day 3 – Back & Biceps

5-10 minute cardio warm-up

Dumbbell row  

Cable lat pulldowns

Pull ups – narrow and wide grips

Dumbbell biceps curl

Dumbbell hammer curl

Day 4 – Cardio & Abs

Cardio 

Stability ball abdominal crunches

Stability ball oblique crunches 

Day 5 – Legs & Shoulders

5-10 minute cardio warm-up

Squats

Lunges

Leg extensions (if a machine is available)

Seated dumbbell shoulder Press

Side deltoid – seated lateral raise

Front deltoid – standing forward raise

Posterior deltoid – seated bent over lateral raise  

Day 6 – Cardio & Abs

Cardio 

Flat bench crunches

Flat bench bicycle

Flat bench Russian twist 

Day 7 – Get out and play

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medial professional. You should never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your physician.