How To Design A Work Out - Part 1, dividing things up.

Last week we talked about finding the right gym for you. This week we’re going to talk about what to do at that gym.

First thing you need to think about is your workout layout or schedule. What I mean by this is, when are you going to be working out and how often? Will you be at the gym every day? Every weekday? once a week? Ideally, you should go at least three times a week, so I’m going to use this number as we design our workout. However, I’ll try to lay things out so you can modify them to your own schedule. For example, I usually work out 4 times a week which means my schedule looks slightly different than one we’re going to discuss here.

So let’s assume we’re going to the gym three times a week. This is a simple Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. In these three days we want to get our three cardio sessions plus work out all our major muscle groups. We’ll discuss cardio later this week, so for right now, let’s figure out what part of our body we’ll work out each day. There are two things to consider:

• Ideally, you won’t exercise the same body part two days in a row.
• You want to get to each major section of your body at least once a week.

We don’t have to worry about the first rule as much since our schedule assumes a day break between each workout, but we do want to make sure we give our entire body a workout every week. With that in mind, what are the major parts of your body? Well, different people will divide these slightly differently but I like to think of them as:

• Upper Arms
• Shoulders
• Back
• Abs
• Chest
• Legs

For a more detailed breakdown, click on this link.

This grouping works out well for us because we came up with six groups for our three days, which means two muscle groups per day.

Now, how do we divide these up? Well, even though we’ve divided these by body area, some of these groups do share quite a bit. For example, a lot of chest exercises will also work on your shoulders, where as a lot of back exercises will also work on your legs. So let’s try and make sure these similar groups end up on different days. That way, you get to workout certain areas twice on different days. For example, you’ll workout your shoulders on Monday, but then you’ll also get a decent shoulder workout on Wednesday when you work on your chest.

Here’s a sample schedule

Monday - legs, upper arms
Wednesday - chest, back
Friday - shoulders, abs

And there we go. Our basic workout schedule is ready. Tomorrow we’ll discuss how to pick out the right exercises for each of these days.

How To Design A Work Out - Part 2, the exercises.

Yesterday we talked about creating a simple three day workout routine. We used each of those days to work on two areas of our bodies. Today, we’re going to talk about the specific exercises to pick for those areas. We’re going to use our Monday as an example. We chose to work on legs and upper arms on Monday.

Mix It Up or Not?

If you’re going to have a workout that combines different areas of the body, you’ll want to decide whether or not to mix and match. That means, are you going to do all of your upper arms exercises followed by all of your legs exercises or will you mix them so that you’re doing one leg exercise followed by one upper arms exercise and so on? Personally, I prefer the mix and match method. It lets me rest a specific area while still maintaining a quick work out routine. I can do a legs exercise and then follow it up with an upper arms set. My legs get to rest but I don’t have to stop working out. However, what you end up choosing is up to you. Remember that the ultimate goal is to end up with a workout that you like, not one that I like, so try it out either way and see which way you prefer.

Picking Out Exercises

there are hundreds of possible exercises for each area of your body. In fact, even individual muscles have different exercises associated with them. So how do you pick among all of these? Well, you want to try and find exercises that work out the major muscles in the body area you’re working. You also want to find exercises that work a number of muscles together if possible. That way you get a more complete workout. For example, let’s start with the upper arms.

Upper Arms

There are two major muscle groups here, the biceps and the triceps. The biceps are those things you use when you curl your arm. The triceps are the muscles you use when you push your arm out. There’s also a smaller muscle group called the brachialis. Each of these muscle groups can be exercises in various ways, and each of these ways has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, we’re on a limited time schedule here and we really don’t want to spend multiple hours at the gym. We’re interested in a good workout that makes the best use of our time. So we’re only going to focus on the biceps and triceps and we’re going to pick out two exercises for each that will work out the majority of the muscle group.

For the biceps, I’m going to pick out dumbbell curls and concentration curls. For the triceps, I’m going to pick one arm triceps extension and the standard triceps extension . Notice that, while I work out the major muscles, I’m also using a lot of the smaller muscle groups. These exercises will also workout my wrists, lower arms and shoulders. This is part of the reason why I usually prefer free weights over machines, because I tend to use more of my muscles to stabilize myself while working out with free weights. However, your preferences might be different. Feel free to explore the site I’m linking to here. They have a number of other exercises for each body part you can pick from.

Legs

For the second part of our workout, we’re going to take a look at leg exercises. The legs have a number of muscle groups and we’re going to try and get to most of them. If you take a look at the muscle directory, you’ll see that they’ve chosen to further divide legs into thighs, hips and calves. Again, we’re going to try and pick exercises that work out the majority of the leg at the same time. Looking through the possibilities, I’ve selected lunges, squats, seated leg curl and the single leg calf raise. Again, feel free to peruse the exercise directory, research books or just ask your fellow gym goers for other good leg workouts. The exercises I picked may not be the ones you like.

Sets and Reps

Now that we know what we’re going to do, we need to figure out how many times we’re going to do it. I would recommend two sets of each exercise with ten reps in each set. A rep is a single instance of an exercise. So if you did one lunge, you’ve done one lunge rep. A set is a number of reps. So a set of ten is ten lunges without a break. Doing two sets of ten means doing ten reps, taking a short break and then doing another ten. You can do both sets of each exercise consecutively, or you can switch between exercises. So you can do both you bicep curls sets one right after another, or you can do one, then do a set of lunges or triceps extensions, and then go back to do your second set of bicep curls. Again, find the method that you like best.

If you’re looking to bulk up you may want to do less reps per set and workout with a higher weight. If you’re looking to tone up without adding a lot of bulk, something most women are looking for, try less weight but more reps. So for example, if an average bicep curl set is 10 reps at 20lbs each. Someone who is interested in big muscles will do 5 reps of 40lbs, while someone who is interested in a toned but not bulky body will do 15 reps with 10lbs. Make sure that you pick the right eight for your reps. That means you really shouldn’t be able to do many more reps after you’ve hit your goal number. If you’re aiming for 15 reps per set then you should pick a weight with which you can do 15 reps, but not much more than that.

Total workout

Eight exercises, two sets of each, ten reps each set. If you do the math, that means 16 sets or 160 reps. It sounds like a lot but at a reasonable pace, this should take you about 20 to 30 minutes.

Now go ahead and try building your Wednesday and Friday workouts yourself. Don’t worry if they don’t come out quite perfect. Just try them out and see how they feel. You can always changes things around later. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Disclaimer

Got to add this one. If you feel pain during your workout, or if you have any kind of medical issue, please consult with a doctor. I’m hoping to help you get healthy here, not get you hurt. Weight training is an essential part of any healthy life style but it can hurt if you do it wrong. If you’re not sure how to do something, ask. This is why you picked out the gym with the friendly trainers and customers, right? So you can ask them questions if you need to.

How To Design A Work Out - Part 3, cardio basics.

In the first two parts of this series, we went over designing a weight workout. Today, we’re going to talk about cardio.

Overview 

Yes, cardio is important. Yes, it burns a decent amount of calories, but that’s not really its main benefit. In fact, most people will spend 30 to 45 minutes doing cardio work and burn only 300 or so calories. That’s about as much as an average candy bar or two.  The real benefit of cardio is not the short term calorie burn, it’s the medium term metabolism boost and the long term health benefits. Cardio boosts your body, causing you to burn more calories throughout the day. It also increases the health of your heart and circulatory system.  So yes, you have to include some cardio in your workout if you’re really serious about being healthy.

Disclaimer

As always, keep in mind that you might have medical issues or problems that might make a cardio workout a bad idea.  Please, if you have any problems at all or experience difficulty when you try out any of my suggestions, consult with a doctor.  I’m trying to help you get healthy, not unhealthy!

The Basics

Cardio refers to your heart, and indeed, a cardio workout is one where you workout your entire cardiovascular system.  That’s the part of your body, including your heart, that moves blood around.  Your heart is a muscle, and like all muscles it needs a bit of a workout to remain healthy.   So a good cardio workout is one that gets your heart moving fast and keeps it that way for a certain length of time.

In general, you’re looking to get your heart rate going at between 60 to 80% of max for around 15 to 20 minutes.  Longer periods of time are fine, but they don’t give you as much benefit as the first 15 to 20 minutes.  Your max heart rate is roughly defined as 220 minus your age.  So for me, a 33 year old, my max heart rate is 187.   So a good cardio workout for me is between 113bpm (beats per minute) and 150bpm.

One note to remember, is that the cardio portion of your workout is when your heart hits this target range.  So if you start out running, and it takes you 10 minutes until your heart rate is elevated above 60% of max, then those first ten minutes didn’t really count.  They were a good warm up but they weren’t really a cardio workout.  That’s why I run for 30 minutes at a time.  Because the first ten minutes are really just a warmup.

Before or After?

The first decision you need to make is a scheduling one. Do you want to do your cardio workout before or after your weights workout? There’s no right answer here, it’s mostly a preference issue. Doing a bit of cardio before weights is nice because it elevates your heart rate. However, it can also make you sweaty and / or tired, causing you to under perform. Personally, I do my cardio after weights, but that’s mostly because I sweat too much to lift weights after running or using the elliptical. So try it both ways and decide for yourself what you prefer.

Gym Etiquette

Which brings me to my next topic.  Gyms are places where you share resources with other people.  Cardio machines are limited resources that many people want to use.  So keep the following two rules in mind:

• 30 minutes is about all you need for a good cardio workout.  If you want to go longer, that’s up to you, but it’s pretty rude to do so when other people are waiting.  If the gym is busy, keep your cardio workout to 30 minutes or less.
• Clean up after yourself.  This is especially important to us guys.  We sweat.  Some of us, like me, sweat a lot.  You may think that women find sweat sexy, and they may in fact do, but I don’t know anyone who considers a cardio machine covered in pools of sweat anything but disgusting.  Nobody minds the fact that you sweat, just clean up the machine after you’re done.

Tomorrow, we’re going to discuss the various cardio options available to you at the gym. Until then, be healthy!

How To Design A Work Out - Part 4, cardio options.

We’ve been talking about designing a workout this week. We went over weight training and the basics of cardio. Today, let’s talk about your cardio options.

Gym Cardio Options

Most gyms will group all the cardio options into one area. I’m going to review them here and then talk a little bit about some other options that might not be in this area.

Treadmill - The old standard. A treadmill is simple. You choose your speed and off you go. There are a variety of options such as incline, which simulates running up hill, and pattern, which will make the workout easier and harder based on some kind of goal.

• Advantages - Treadmills are great for your overall health and provide an amazing cardio workout. They’re also easy to use and, once you’re on them, they keep you moving at a steady pace without any attention from you. This makes them ideal for people who like to zone out during workouts.
• Disadvantages - The down side to treadmills is the emphasis on your legs. Even though treadmills are shock absorbent, The running motion will still cause quite a bit of impact damage to your feet and lower legs. I first started my cardio workouts by running four times a week. One stress fracture in my right foot later and I toned that down to twice a week.

Stationary Bike - Sit down and start peddling! Like the treadmill, the stationary bike has options that will simulate tougher rides and others that will change settings through your ride to make it easier and harder.

• Advantages - Zero impact. Almost no chance of stress injuries. Very easy to read or even work while on the bike since your upper half is essentially uninvolved in the workout.
• Disadvantages - Since you set your own pace, it’s very easy to find yourself going slower than you intended and not getting a good workout. Also, I find bike cardio to be very hard on the same day that I do my legs weight workout. My leg muscles are tired and pushing those peddles for a long period of time seems impossible.

Elliptical - A relatively recent addition to gyms which has become very popular in the last few years. Elliptical simulate a sort of walking motion but without a treadmill. Ellipticals will usually have levers so you can add arm motion into the workout. Like bikes and treadmills, they will usually have a variety of options to customize your workout.

• Advantages - Amazing workout! The elliptical gets your whole body involved. The elliptical also has almost no impact so stress injuries are very rare. You can do things like listen to music or watch TV while on an elliptical, but it’s not quite as convenient as a stationary bike since your whole body is moving.
• Disadvantages - Like a bike, an elliptical relies on you to set your own pace. That means some people might be tempted or distracted into going slower than they should.

Stairclimber - Sort of like a very short escalator, the stair climber makes you climb stairs. You set the speed and away you go.

• Advantages - Good cardio workout. You’ll be amazed at how difficult it is to climb those stairs, even at a slow pace. Very low impact since you’re not moving as quickly as on a treadmill.
• Disadvantages - Hard to find these in most gyms. Plus the stair climber really only works out your legs. Also, I’ve noticed a lot of people will tend to cheat and hold on to the side of the machine with their arms while doing this. Sorry, but that’s bad form. If you’re hanging by your arms, you’re not really getting a good workout.

Other Cardio Options

These are some other options you have at gyms, which may not be included in the cardio area:

Swimming - If you’re lucky, your gym will have a good lap pool. Jump on in and start swimming.

• Advantages - This is the best cardio workout you can get in my opinion. Swimming gets your entire body involved, even more than an elliptical. There’s zero impact so almost no chance of injury.
• Disadvantages - Need a lot of special equipment and preparation. It’s not quite as easy as stepping onto the treadmill. Also, swimming suffers from the same issue as bikes and ellipticals, you set your own pace so it can be hard to maintain a really good workout. Finally, many people find swimming very boring. You can’t listen to music, you can’t watch TV or read a magazine. All you can do is swim back and forth.

Cardio Classes - These are the various classes offered by gyms. They include things like kickboxing aerobics, spinning jazzercize and so on. First, let’s get one thing straight. These classes are not just for women only. Most men think of these as a weak form of exercise that doesn’t really challenge you. They prefer to sweat alone on the treadmill. However, I would challenge some men in the crowd to join one of these. You’ll find that you can barely keep.

• Advantages - You have an instructor to show you proper form. The class also sets the pace which means you can’t slow down like you can on a bike or while swimming.
• Disadvantages - Now you’re on someone else’s schedule which means it may not be convenient for you. Also, some classes do impact your feet quite a bit.

So What To Pick?

I would recommend trying all of these at least two or three times and then set up a schedule that uses some kind of mix. For example, my old cardio schedule was treadmill twice a week, elliptical once a week and a cardio class once a week. At my new gym, which does not offer cardio classes, my schedule is treadmill twice a week, elliptical once a week and bike once a week.

How To Start?

Start slow and keep your goals low. Then increase with time. For example, when I started on the treadmill I aimed for 15 minutes at 4.5 mph with an incline of 0%. That’s a really easy workout, but it was difficult for me back then. Every two weeks I would improve something. I might add 1 minute or I might add .1mph. These days, my treadmill workout is 40 minutes at 6.5mph with a 1.5% incline. Keep in mind, you’re not going to become a marathon runner overnight. Take your time and improve gradually. And as always, if you have any kind of medical issue, please consult with a doctor before starting any kind of cardio regime.

How To Design A Work Out - Part 5, the little details.

We’ve been building a workout together over the past few days. We’ve gone over weight training and cardio. Today, we’re going to cover all the small details that you may not be aware of but which should make your workout experience a bit better.

Stretching

Stretching is important both before and after a workout. I try to do five minutes of general stretching before I start my workout. I then finish my weight workout with five minutes of stretching specific to the area I just worked out. I find that I avoid many of the aches and pains associated with a hard workout when I do this.

Warm up and cool down

This is sort of like stretching before and after your cardio. You really shouldn’t just start running at full speed. There should be a warm up period before your cardio where you go a bit slow, to let your body get used to the movement. Then cool down period after your cardio to let your body have a chance to slowly return to normal. I usually spend five minutes walking before and after my treadmill running workout.

Increasing intensity

We all like making progress, but how do we make progress at the gym? Well, by increasing intensity. You can do it by increasing difficulty or increasing quantity. With weights, increasing difficulty means increasing the weight while increasing the quantity means increasing the number of reps or sets. With cardio, increasing difficulty means increasing speed or resistance while increasing quantity means increasing time. I have a little spreadsheet that I use to keep track of my workout numbers. It’s not very sophisticated, but it helps me remember what I did last week so I can try to match that or beat it this week.

Just remember that this isn’t some kind of competition. You don’t have to improve everything every week. An easy goal to try for is to make one improvement every other week. That means every two weeks you will take one of the components of your workout and improve it. That could mean an extra minute on the elliptical, 5 more lbs on your biceps curls, 1 more rep of squats and so on. Just go for little improvements. Believe me, they add up over time.

Hydrate

Don’t forget to drink water. No, you don’t need a gallon bottle to drag with you everywhere you go. Just stop at the water fountain every 15 to 20 minutes or so.

Change It Up

Don’t be afraid of changing your routine. I see a lot of people who get stuck in a workout and never change it. Your body will adjust to this workout and stop improving over time. So make some differences. Just like I try to improve something every two weeks, I also try to change something every two weeks. Try a different exercise, do your legs workout on Monday instead of Wednesday, try the stationary bike for a day or take a spinning class for an hour. All of these things will keep your body engaged and they’ll keep you interested.

Safety

Remember that you’re trying to be healthy here, which means avoiding injury. This means be safety conscious. Don’t use machines that look broken. Ask someone to spot you if you’re not sure you can lift the weight. If you feel a pain somewhere, stop your workout. Try to walk it off. Does it seem like something temporary? Is it coming back every time you make a certain motion? If you have a chronic pain, something that comes back every time you work out, go to a doctor.

Make Friends

This is the best part of a gym, there’s people around you who are all interested in the same thing you are. Think about that for a second. You’ve just decided that health and fitness are important, and so has everyone else in the gym. Don’t think of them as people to ignore or obstacles on your way to the treadmill, these are valuable resources. They’re potential friends and workout partners. They’re people you can ask for advice. They’ll help encourage you, motivate and challenge you.

That’s it. Every tip I have for a successful workout. Next week we go over some tips on eating healthy. Until then, be healthy!