If you are, or want to be, a competitive bodybuilder or athlete, this might work for you, but I am aiming this for the amateur or beginner.
Many people who want to “work out” avoid strength training with weights or other resistance training because they feel it is too difficult and that they will have to, as my father once said, “work themselves to death.” Actually, while it’s true that you get out of exercise what you put into it, there are ways to do it without hitting the gym, lengthy workout routines, or a “no pain, no gain” philosophy.
It’s 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, whether you’re a desk executive, a working mom, or a stay-at-home mom, you can get some good-quality strength training done in just a few minutes a day.
Remember, by the way, that a good general fitness exercise routine will also include a cardiovascular (aerobic) component. While she COULD split the two, she can get a lot done in a short amount of time, less than half an hour a day, five days a week, by combining them.
For example, I walk around on my treadmill for about five minutes to get my heart rate up and warm up my muscles. Then I do a little bit of strength training, a basic 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 training the next day.
Did I mention that I am 67 years old and have very bad osteoarthritis?
Now one thing I can’t tell you in the instructions below, 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 get it wrong. You may feel that a certain weight feels “right” at first only to realize halfway through your workout…or the next day…that you should have gone for 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 just feel like 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 of the “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 biceps 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 common person who exercises for health and fitness does not 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 time… 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 incorporate that 48 hour break mentioned in 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. The upper back muscles can be worked with lying pull-overs and rows… 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 his arms from all kinds of angles because in order to compete they have to produce certain effects. You want to be able to play softball on the weekends, carry the groceries, and just have strong arms. So, do a couple of triceps exercises, say a press and a triceps 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 the 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 difficult at first, stretch it to 90 seconds. If that’s still too hard, you may need to lighten the resistor you’re using.
Start with a couple of sets of 10 reps and gradually increase the reps up to 20 and increase the sets to three. Once you can comfortably work at that level for a couple of weeks, move up the weight (resistance). Think “five pounds” total. If you are using dumbbells, that will be a 2 1/2 pound increase on each dumbbell. When the resistance increases, 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 go 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.
Got the idea?
There are many exercises and many pieces of exercise equipment out there, so try different ones, find what works for you, and go with that. 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 attacked differently. I do a different core exercise, low reps (10-12), high sets (4-6), each 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 abdominals, then the transverse 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 one set made up 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.