What's your routine at the gym?

Id love to hear some other replies, I joined the gym today and did about 50 mins (25 mins treadmill walking and jogging, 5 mins on the rowing mahine, 5 mins on the bike and 5 mins on the cross trainer) I also did some strength training but i dunno what the machines are called for that

go 4-5 times a week before breakfast when I'm at college.
jog, bike, or elliptical for 35-ish minutes.
maybe do some pushups, wallsits, lunges or whatever but only a couple times a week.
listen to killer music and think about how awesome I feel and how cool my body's capabilities are throughout.

repeat.

other suggestions: don't go to the gym so much. walk more, do stuff around the house, dance. it costs less.

I typically go to the gym 4 days per week. I almost always just run on the treadmill. Typically 60-65 minutes, 5-6 miles. I mix up the pace and incline so I don't get too bored. On Saturday or Sunday morning I do a long run (6-10 miles usually).

I have been trying to work back into lifting, but I'm just not excited about it like I used to be. I get to the gym and all I want to do is run :-) But, when I'm being "good", I'll often have one or two days per week when I lift weights (all upper body) and then swim.

Before I started Crossfit, my workout looked something like this:

- 5 min treadmill walk to loosen up
- Look over strength training program for the day and do a few reps of each movement with a light-weight to warmup
- 20 minutes or so strength-training. I followed programs that emphasized 5-6 compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, rows, etc. Stuff you will find on stumptuous.com and the New Rules of Lifting books
- 5-10 min stretching

I don't use cardio machines. I'd ride my mountain bike for cardio.

With Crossfit, I don't have a routine, other than a basic warmup and stretching.

I use the YMCA whihc I havent in weeks since I have no vehicle during the week anymore but soon I will have my lovely van back. Anyways the YMCA uses FITLINX system which is great since I would have no idea how to use the equipment without it and it tells me which machines to do and how many repsand so forth. So when I go I do the machines first since I usualy have a time limit and I wanna get that in first cuz I can always walk at home for cardio, then I do whatever time I have left on the eliptiacl or something like that other then the treadmill since I would rather cut off a limb then use the treadmill. My kids are in the childwatch during this time so I always go an hour before it closes so my poor kids dont have to be in there longer then an hour. (though they seem to LOVE that place)

I split my cardio and strength training into two different times. I workout downstairs and/or at work, so there's no real commute to be had. I don't like to grind out the cardio then grind out the workout in one long go. That usually means I'll be way too long and can often neglect one or the other ... just because of time and energy.

My plan is to do 30-50 minutes of cardio in the morning. Often this is simply a 'different' program on the recumbant bike for a different time. Sometimes I do 10 minutes rower, 10 minutes bike, 5 minutes rower, 5 minutes bike, finished with jump rope and jumping jacks etc. Just to change it up. The staple is that bike though.
Then I always spend 20 minutes stretching (which is about 20 different stretches from just your basic stretch, to yoga type moves). This gets the day going well. I make sure I do those stretches which is why, my cardio ranges between 30-50 minutes. It's for both variety and to ensure I get those stretches in.
I also said 'plan'. Some mornings, it just doesn't happen at all. LOL. I don't do this 7 days a week either, I target at least 5. Often, I do cardio on Sunday afternoon to keep me awake past 7pm but skip monday mornings.

Then, 3-4 days a week, I do a strength training workout where the actual workout that lasts about 40-50 minutes. Any more than that can be a waste of time and even harder to fit in .... unless I want to eat dinner at 9:30 or something. The strength training can vary. I have a number of different workouts that I switch out every 2 months. It's like I have 3 sets of workouts or routines, that I switch out to keep things different and interesting.

One set or routines, is just your typical 4 day split of chest/tri; legs/shoulders; back/biceps/calves; core (which is muscles that stabilize spine, not just crunches).

The second set of routines, is a series of different "cross train" type workouts. They are high intesity and have a cardio aspect. These are typically about 6-7 sets long, with a 60 sec rest between sets, but no rest between exercises (a dynamic rest while changing). Each set essentialy goes like this - 50 jumping jacks, 20 squats, 20 push ups, 20 pullup or 20 burpess with jump (coz these are hard), 20 lunges, 20 bicep curls, 20 crunches. Something like that, the combinations are endless and you can either repeat a set, or do different exercises each set. Often, I'll have a trend throughout one complete routine e.g. where it primarily targets chest (where each set has a chest exercise) or maybe upper back or something. The staple in these are multi-joint and compound exercises, typically using bodyweight. Always has that high cardio exercise at beginning and will tyically always have legs for 2nd exercise.

The third set of routines, is just a generic series of fullish body exercises. I'll tend to target upper/lower body with each workout, but each workout covers the full spectrum. i.e. there's always a upper/lower body aspect to it. However, I won't do chest or biceps everytime, I will work in some rest days for body parts.

I have about 8 of each which lasts me about 2-3 weeks to complete. I usually try to cycle through each 8 2-3 times (whatever takes my fancy) then change to a new set of routines. That usually means I cange every ~2 months.

Before and after these workout/routines I do in afternoon, will always be a 5-10 minute warm up, typically on rowing machine, then a number of stretches, then the workout, then a 20 minute stretching regime again. (could be the same as in morning, I have a couple of slightly modified routines).

@oats4breakfast, Thank you for all of the useful info. It sounds like you really keep things interesting and "keep your body guessing".

@mpos, Yes, please keep me posted on the C25K! Also, let me know how you like your HRM, when you get it.

@cln714 - I'm on vacation but still gladly doing C25K even with the challenges of odd schedules. I am now on C25K W8D2 and on Shred L2D2. Just like you said, the FT7 has been wonderful. I like the data part of it. I can't believe that I burned more fat doing Shred than running. However, I still like running since I'm improving my fitness level with it. Setting the FT7 was straightforward. I have yet to figure out how to set my target HR. Also, I need to do some reading i.e. guidelines when you haven't reached the intended HR for particular segments of your run. But for now, I'll just build up my endurance and work on the technicalities of it later.