One of the great challenges of fitness is simply getting a routine. How many times per week should you be in the gym, running, or working out? It’s a question that has heaps of possible solutions.
There are several things to consider when planning your training schedule. Most importantly, we don’t want to overtrain or make working out a chore. It should be something we look forward to—a respite from stresses, work, and the like—and perhaps paradoxically, a rejuvenating experience rather than an exhausting one. Sure I’m tired after my workouts, but I also have enhanced mental clarity and many times after an hour or two of rest I get a rush of energy. In the mornings, working out can jumpstart your metabolism and I’ve found that when I’m working out regularly, I’m more productive at home and at work.
We also want to make sure we allow enough time for our bodies, joints, and muscles to recover and progress in between workouts. Eating well and getting enough sleep when you’re not training is essential if you want to meet your goals. Different people and body types will respond to different routines, so experiment and see what works best for you. Maybe you’ll find great results with 2 days on, 1 day off, 3 days on, 1 day off. Maybe you need 2 days to recover between training sessions if you’re just getting into the swing of things.
I’m going to be the guinea pig and experiment with different training schedules over the next two months. I invite you to join in. Starting today, I’m going to try the following: 1 work day, 1 rest day. This means if I go in on Sunday and workout, Monday will be a rest day, then Tuesday will be another training day, and Wednesday will be a rest day, and so on. After a month on this schedule I’m going to switch to 3 working days consecutively, then 1 rest day. In this case, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I’d be working out, then Wednesday I would take a break, and Thursday I’d be back in the gym for 3 more consecutive days.
My goal is to be in the gym for not much longer than an hour to an hour and a half on any given day. I’m also not applying a weightlifting split to this schedule which means I’m not mandating that Sunday is chest day, Tuesday is back day, Thursday is leg day etc. Sometimes I’ll work back 2 or 3 times in a week (this is a principle of crossfit training, which I’ll post extensively on in the future). However, feel free to use a more traditional weightlifting split with these routines if you want.
Two final notes:
1. A ‘rest day’ simply means you’re not doing your typically intense gym or home workout. On rest days you could go for a short run or bike ride, swim, play soccer, or do yoga for instance.
2. If for some reason you get off your workout schedule, like sickness, your job, or that rare bout of laziness, just get back on and don’t make yourself feel guilty about it. We all have responsibilities and obligations and we all are human, so don’t sweat the small stuff, just get back on the bandwagon and back to busting your ass.
Two things, firstly, if you love to run, I recommend keeping your total miles in a week under 25 (maybe you can push it to 30), except in very special cases. Any more than this and Scorpio warns that the risk of injury is greatly increased. Interestingly enough, it seems there are ways to prep the body for long distance runs which don't require logging the miles. More on this later.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I encourage everybody to focus on a sport, martial art, or other pursuit like backpacking. The training we do at home or in the gym doesn't need to be the focus at all. It simply helps us prepare, prevent injuries, and excel at the things we love to do. That's why I'm encouraging less time in the gym as well as making the best use of your rest days.
Oh, and I'm STILL at work (9:51 pm), so I think I'm going to skip starting the experiment tonight, get some rest, then go at it hard tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I have on deck for tomorrow evening...
Monday, May 11
warm-up:
3 rounds of 10 pushups, 10 situps, 10 squats
skills:
Practice the Burgener warm-up
*5 reps of each step in the sequence
Then the work:
“Towelie Gets Dirty” (I named this one : P) based off a squat clean and rope climb WOD from CrossFit Vancouver:
5 rounds for time of
9 hang squat cleans @ 155 lbs
15 towel pullups
For reference:
*Learn about the Burgener warm-up here: http://journal.crossfit.com/2007/01/the-burgener-warmup-mike-burge.tpl
*Check out this video on towel pull-ups http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_TowelPullupVariations.wmv
On the hang squat clean, towel pullup WOD I clocked 22:24, but I had to reduce the weight on the bar after the first round.
ReplyDeleteSo round 1 as rx'd, the last 4 @ 135 lbs.
This was tough and my first experience with towel pullups. They are a beast! Hard on the grip and exhausting at high reps, especially when paired with the cleans.
The Burgener warm-up is a good tool for training the Olympic lifts and actually getting the body primed and ready to go. I used a 45 lb, 22 kilo bar instead of a broom or PVC pipe.
**Posting on Scorpio's behalf...
ReplyDeleteScorpio's WOD from Tuesday, May 12
Warm-up: stair run, 5 floors, 5 minutes (4:45 to be exact), 3 reps, down and up is 1 rep!!
Tabatas:
Push-ups 16-14-12-6-8-7-6-6 (6,75)
Jumping Pull-ups 9-10-9-9-8-8-9-10 (8,72)
Squats 10-10-9-10-10-10-10-10 (9, 79)
Situps 12-11-10-10-9-9-9-10 (9,71)
Lowest rep score: 32
All reps total score: 297
awesome work!
warm-up:
ReplyDeleteshort run
skills:
pullup max: 12 dead-hangs
Burgener warm-up with bar, 5 rep sequences
then WOD:
"Bear Complex"
5 rounds, for max load:
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press
**One run-through of all exercises constitutes 1 repetition. Each round is 7 repetitions, the bar cannot rest on the ground throughout the entire round, only for touch-and-go. Resting it on the ground constitutes the end of the round. Rest as much as needed in between rounds, go for max weight.
88 lbs-110 lbs-132 lbs (brief pauses due to grip exhaustion) -155 lbs (paused between reps for safety: avg 15-30 secs; error on 4th rep, re-repped 4 and went on to complete round) -132 lbs (3 continuous; rested 10-25 secs between each subsequent rep)
notes: 4th round, 4th rep, grip failed, had to safely release bar
finish:
pullup max: 10 dead-hangs
tabata decline situps: 16-16-17-16-16-16-14-14
lowest rep score: 14, total score: 125
Thursday WOD
ReplyDeleteBurgener warm-up
10 one-legged squats, each leg
"Diane"
21-15-9 reps of:
225 pound Deadlift
Handstand push-ups
13:15
Notes: my first attempt at Diane; the deadlifts were quick, with only a couple pauses; HSPUs need WORK: most of the time was spent trying to slog out the handstand presses. They're tough, but the HSPUs are a great exercise, I recommend working on them as soon as possible. A good introduction when you start out is just to do handstand holds against a wall.
Saturday WOD
ReplyDeleteBurgener warm-up
"The Old Down and Up"
3 rds for time:
135#, ground to overhead, 10 reps
1x rope climb
20x box jumps
Chris: 12:22
Notes: my first attempt at this WOD. I substituted a short run (maybe 20 meters) and 9-rung ladder climb, up and down, (no assistance from my legs) for the rope climb.