If you are, or want to be, a competitive bodybuilder or athlete, this might work for you, but I am targeting this for the hobbyist or beginner.
Many people who want to “work out” avoid strength training with weights or other types of resistance training because they feel that it is too difficult and that they will have to, as my father once said, “work themselves to death.” In reality, while it’s true that you get what you put into exercise, there are ways to do it without going to the gym, lengthy workout routines, or a “no pain, no gain” philosophy.
It is true that if you ARE training to compete, as an athlete or bodybuilder, you may have to endure a lot of pain and sacrifice to reach your goal. However, if you’re a desk executive, working mom, or stay-at-home mom, you can get in a good-quality strength workout in just a few minutes a day.
Remember, by the way, that a good exercise routine for general fitness will also include a cardiovascular (aerobic) component. While she COULD split the two, she can do a lot in a short amount of time, less than half an hour a day, five days a week, by combining them.
For example, I walk a bit on my treadmill for about five minutes to get my heart rate up and warm up my muscles. Then I do some strength training, a core exercise, and then about five more minutes on the treadmill. I do this for about 20-30 minutes a day, five days a week.
And I feel great afterwards and my wife gets tired of hearing me say how much I look forward to the next day’s training.
Did I mention that I am 67 years old and have very bad osteoarthritis?
Now, one thing I can’t tell you in the following instructions, or even what I wrote above, is how intense to exercise or what weight to use for an exercise. YOU will have to “exercise” some judgment on that and, especially at the beginning of this show, you will sometimes be wrong. You may feel like a certain weight feels “right” at first only to realize halfway through your workout… or the next day… that you should have chosen a lighter weight. It is better to start with a weight “too light” and gradually increase, than to start too high and hurt yourself, or simply feel that there is too much effort or pain involved.
My once a week twice a week strength training is based on a few well-established exercise principles.
1. A muscle needs to rest for at least 48 hours after exercise to strengthen and repair itself.
2. High reps with low weights (resistance) are better for fitness and fat burning.
3. Most “muscles” need to be worked from a couple of different angles.
4. Some muscles don’t need as much work as others.
5. A “muscle” only needs to be trained to get stronger once a week!
I put the word “muscle” in quotes in #3 and #5 because when we think and talk about muscles, as in “I worked out my biceps muscle,” we overlook the fact that many muscles can actually have two or more components. , often referred to as “bosses”. Take the bicep muscle for example: it has two heads (bi = two cep = head) and a bodybuilder will have to do different exercises to fully work both.
The average person who works out for health and fitness doesn’t have to go to the extremes of a professional bodybuilder, but they and we are going to use the same principle. We will train each muscle from a couple of different angles. That is how…
STRENGTH TRAINING
For the sake of discussion, let’s say my training week is Monday through Friday. I want at least two days of total rest in my exercise routine. That would be Saturday and Sunday in this example. With the training plan that I am going to detail, you can also make your rest days Wednesday and Saturday, or any other schedule… that depends on you.
Okay, now that I have a break from formal exercise built in, and you shouldn’t just sit in front of the TV on your “off” days… go do something… I need to build that 48 hour break mentioned into 1. Let’s put the # 3 too while we’re at it. So if I do a chest exercise, like a dumbbell fly (one angle) or a bench press (another angle), I’ll do them a few days apart… say Monday and Thursday. Upper back muscles can be worked with lying pull-overs and rowing… on different days a couple of days apart. The thighs can be worked with squats and lunges, again a few days apart.
Oh #4? Your arms. A bodybuilder will work their arms from all sorts of angles because to compete they have to produce certain spin. You want to be able to play softball on the weekends, carry groceries, and just have strong arms. So, do a couple of triceps exercises, say a triceps press and extension… with rest days in between, of course, and do some curls. If you’re bench pressing and rowing, your biceps and triceps (front and back of arms) will be working hard. Focus on your upper chest, upper back, and thighs.
Do your first exercise and then your second exercise without resting. Then rest for 30 to 60 seconds and do another set of each. Start with 60 seconds of rest and gradually work your way down to 30. If two is hard at first, stretch it to 90 seconds. If that’s still too hard, you may need to lighten up the resistance you’re using.
Start with a couple of sets of 10 reps and gradually increase the reps to 20 and increase the sets to three. Once you can comfortably work at that level for a couple of weeks, move the weight up (resistance). Think “five pounds” total. If you are using dumbbells, it will be a 2 1/2 pound increase on each dumbbell. When you increase the resistance, decrease the repetitions and build again. If it just feels “too hard”, go back to your previous level and stay there for a couple more weeks and then try to move back up.
So do two exercises a day, work specific muscle groups a few days apart from a different angle, don’t work the same muscle groups on the same day, and take two days off each week.
Do I have the idea?
There are many exercises and many pieces of exercise equipment, so try different ones, find what works for you, and go with it. I personally have a set of adjustable dumbbells and a bench. That is my gym.
THE NUCLEUS
There’s no good workout routine without something for your core. Most people think of “crunch” when they think of working their core. However, the core area contains several different muscle groups and these have to be targeted differently. I do a different core exercise, low reps (10-12), high sets (4-6), every day I work out. One day I do ordinary sit-ups. These work the upper rectus abdominis muscles (six pack for you). The next day it’s the obliques, then the lower abs, then the transversus abdominis, then the entire rectus abdominis.
THE GRAND FINAL
So, you start with some cardio, just to warm up. About five minutes will be enough. Then do your two strength exercises, doing a composite set of both exercises in a row and then resting before doing the next set. Then do your basic exercise for the day and finish with some more cardio…at least five minutes. Then a little later in the week, you work the same muscles again, but from a different angle with a different exercise.