Nov
23
New Workout Idea
Filed Under Exercise, Motivation, Work Out
For the past two years, I’ve been doing a workout schedule that’s been relatively similar to the 4 day workout I talked about here on 60 in 3. There were some minor variations in the specific exercises I used, but overall, my workout routine was almost identical to what you see in that series. I worked on back and abs one day, legs the next, biceps and triceps the third day and chest and shoulders the fourth day. It worked relatively well for me but I’ve had a few issues:
Hard To Progress
I’ve had a hard time increasing the weights or number of exercises I do. With four sets of each exercise, it was difficult for me to improve performance and get better at something. With a heavier weight, it was impossible for me to do my fourth set, even after a few weeks with this new weight.
Difficult Schedule
My schedule over the past few months has gotten a bit more hectic due to work. Some weeks I was only able to work out three times while other weeks I had all five days available. I tried to keep track of which days I missed out on in a specific week and then try to make up those days the next week, but that never worked very well. I would forget which days I missed or I would have a bad workout because I was trying to do two chest days in the same week.
Variable Difficulty Days
Some days of my workout seemed easy and some seemed like a killer. Biceps and Triceps day was relatively easy, especially compared to legs day after which I felt like I was dying. I was making the same amount of effort each day but there just a lot more weight involved with legs day.
Hard To Combine Cardio and Weights
Partly due to the last two reasons, I was having difficulty doing cardio after some workouts. Legs days was especially rough and there was just no way I was getting on a treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike after that day. Normally this was ok since I would do cardio the other three days, but with my schedule being all messed up, my cardio routine was getting out of control as well.
Solution
What I’ve been trying to do instead is the entire four day workout in one day. Sounds a bit crazy, but stay with me a second. The four day workout was four days with 6 exercises on each. Each exercises had 4 sets. That’s 24 sets total each day. So instead of doing 4 sets each of 6 exercises on a day, I am now doing 1 set each of 24 exercises. Essentially, I’m running through the entire 4 day workout in a single day but only doing 1 set of each exercise. I’m still doing 24 sets in a day, but each one is different. I’m still working out 3 to 5 times a week, so on average, I still get the same amount of exercise in per week. However, I’m seeing a number of benefits.
Progress
First of all, my performance is improving. Part of that is due to only doing 1 set a day. However, even with that taken into account, I’m still seeing much more progress.
Faster Workout
I don’t need to rest as much between each set because I’m workout out different muscles and never repeating the same set more than once in a day. That lets me finish 24 sets in about 25 to 30 minutes, which is important with my current job.
Less Pain
A lot of the pain I used to associate with post workout recovery is gone. My muscles don’t feel as sore as they used to.
More Even Workouts
Each of my workouts is now the same. I never have days on which I feel completely wiped out or days on which I feel as though I didn’t work out enough. Which leads me to my next point.
Easier Cardio
My cardio workouts are easier and less uneven. I’m not out of breath and sore when I start some runs. This means my cardio performance has seen some improvement too, something I did not anticipate.
More Motivated
I used to dread certain workout days, especially legs. This new workout routine eliminated that. It also made workouts more interesting somehow. Instead of working through multiple sets of the same exercise, which would get boring after a while, I am doing something different on each set. That keeps me focused and interested in what I’m doing. I noticed that I’m using my iPod a lot less and the workouts seem to fly by quicker.
Time to Experiment
If I workout more than 3 times in a specific week, I use the fourth day and fifth days as experiments. I’ve already worked out my entire body so there’s nothing I feel obliged to do. Instead, I can focus on trying out new exercises or completely new routines.
Summary
Overall, I’m really liking this new routine, which is why I wanted to share it with all of you. It’s faster, more efficient and seems to be a lot more fun. It seems to be just as effective, but that will take a bit more time to determine.
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