What’s A Good Workout?

I get this kind of question a lot “here’s my routine, is it good?”  The routine in question can vary.  Some people tell me about their cardio routine, others tell me about their weight lifting days.  I even get questions about things like Wii Fitness workouts and the SEAL training regimen.  The answer to all of these is “well, it depends.”  There’s no specific set of exercises or routines that is good or bad.  Yes, there are a few exercises that are more injury prone and a few that are less effective than others, but almost any workout can be good if done correctly.  So rather than go into specifics, I’d like to present to you a few general rules on what makes a good workout routine.

Cardio

Yes, cardio is a must for any workout routine.  Three to four times a week, you should be engaging in high level exercise that elevates your heart beat to around 70% of max, give or take a little.  You should maintain this for at least 15 to 20 minutes AFTER you reach this heart rate, which could mean an additional 15 to 20 minutes of warm up.

Running, biking, playing basketball, swimming, aerobics, jazzercise, spinning, whatever you pick, it’s all good as long as you follow the above rule.  Each of these activities has its advantages or disadvantages and you’re going to have to try them and decide for yourself which one you like best.  You can even mix and match like I do, doing running a couple of days and elliptical the other days.  As long as you’re doing something that gets your heart rate up, you’re good.

Weight Training

Yes, you do need weight training and yes, even if you’re a woman.  At least two times a week would be my recommendation and three or four if possible.  Now weight training does not necessarily mean training with weights, so I suppose I should call this resistance training if I want to be more accurate.  For example, doing push ups is great resistance training even though it involves no weights.  Some forms of Yoga are good resistance training, as are some forms of pilates.  Whatever you pick, it needs to challenge your muscles.  You’re basically trying to work your muscles to the point of failure.

You know that point where your arms are quivering and you’re not sure you can lift anything else?  Yes, that’s the point of failure.  You want to do that with all the major muscle groups in your body and you want to do it multiple times a week.  By the way, guys should know that there are muscle groups other than chest and biceps and girls should know that there are muscle groups other than ass and legs. 

Seriously though, you should be challenging every muscle group in your body to the point of failure multiple times a week.  Preferably in a variety of ways.  So for example, a good chest workout means three or four different types of exercises each done to the point of failure.  The reason for this is because a muscle group is just that, a group.  It’s not just one muscle.  Each exercise trains and challenges different muscles in different ways, even within the same muscle group.  Lifting weights straight forward trains muscles differently than lifting them out to the side, which means different muscles in the same muscle group are being used.  So doing multiple types of chest or leg exercises means all the muscles within those muscle groups are trained, not just one.

Also, if you’re curious, the main muscle groups most people train are upper arms (biceps and triceps), Shoulders, Chest, Abs, Back and upper legs (which includes your butt).  Sure, you can train the lesser muscle groups like calves and lower arms, and if you have time, I highly recommend that you do.  However, for those of us with limited time, focus on the major muscle groups.  Even better, do compound sorts of exercises that train multiple muscle groups at the same time.  For example, squat down with dumbbells in your hands.  Now slowly stand up.  As you stand up, extend your arms up, lifting those weights over head and keep straining up until you’re standing on your tip toes.  Guess what, you just training multiple muscle groups (upper legs, shoulders, triceps and calves) all at the same time.

Keep Active

Yes, a workout doesn’t just include your time at the gym.  You need to use those muscles you built.  That means that when you’re not in the gym you should still keep active with things like walking, yard work, dancing or really energetic sex with your partner!

Rest

Your body does need a break from time to time.  Pick one day a week and try to take it easy that day.  No hikes or dances and keep the sex to a slightly less than energetic level

Read more
How to design a workout
Four day workout

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If you’re curious, my current workout include resistance training three times a week for about 45 minutes each.  Jogging twice a week for about 45 minutes each and elliptical three times a week for about 40 minutes.  Plus I stay active on non workout days other than Sunday, that’s my rest day.