The four day workout - Tuesday, abs and back
This week we’re going to go over a relatively basic 4 day workout. This workout has a good general makeup that allows a person to cover all the major muscle groups. It’s not geared towards any specific goal and it uses a minimum of specialized equipment. When I do this workout, I usually do four sets of each exercise with ten reps in each set. That means a single set is ten repetitions of the same exercise without a break for rest. After those ten you rest, do another set and so on for a total of four sets. By the way, even though the article titles are going to have specific days in them, there’s no reason why you can’t change the days around. Feel free to make Tuesday your legs day put some of these workouts on a weekend day. Remember, the best schedule is the one you’re comfortable with. Now let’s take a look at today’s workout.
Abs and Back
Abs and back are your core. This is where much of your strength and stability comes from. Unfortunately, many people don’t pay enough attention to this area. They’ll do a few crunches and move on to more visible areas like arms or legs. Well, your core area holds the majority of your large muscles. These are muscles that contribute to other exercises and they’re also muscles that will burn quite a few calories if you work on them. So whether you’re looking to increase your strength or to lose some weight, core area training is a must.
Workout Basics
I like to alternate my muscle groups as I work out. That means one exercise will work a specific area and then I’ll move on to a different area with the next exercise. For today, that means these exercises will alternate back and forth between back and abs. I like this method because it lets me rest a specific area without halting my workout. That way I maximize the use of my time in the gym.
The Exercises
Leg Raise - A very simple exercise that can be done at home. Does not require any equipment and relies on body weight for resistance. Keep your legs straight and make the movement slow and smooth.
Dead Lift - Now we switch over to lower back. Again, this is a very simple exercise that can be done at home with a simple dumbbell set. The video linked here shows a stiff leg dead lift. I prefer a bent knees one. So make sure to keep your knees bent a bit. Don’t lock them up.
Crunches - Back to the abs with a few standard crunches. By the way, you can add weights to these exercises if you’re looking to add resistance. For example, I usually do crunches with a 10lb plate on my chest. Alternatively, you could simply add reps.
Single Arm Row - Middle and upper back this time. Another simple dumbbell exercise that can be done at home with minimal equipment. Keep your movement a bit slower and smoother than the video shown here. Your arm should be the only thing moving.
Side Sit Ups - Basic sits up with a bit of a twist at the end to get the obliques engaged.
Back Extension - and back to the back to finish it up. This is the only exercise for this workout day that might require some gym equipment. However, there’s an alternative version of it that does not as shown right here.
Summary
There you go, a good workout for your back and abs that can be done at home or the gym. If you’re going to add one more day of workout to your routine, I would recommend just duplicating this day and doing it twice a week instead of once. Just make sure you get at least two or three days between instances to allow your muscles to rest.
EDIT - Thank you to Greg for pointing out my mistake. I wrote chest twice when I should have said back. Error corrected.
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The four day workout - Wednesday, biceps and triceps
This week we’re going to go over a relatively basic 4 day workout. This workout has a good general makeup that allows a person to cover all the major muscle groups. It’s not geared towards any specific goal and it uses a minimum of specialized equipment. When I do this workout, I usually do four sets of each exercise with ten reps in each set. That means a single set is ten repetitions of the same exercise without a break for rest. After those ten you rest, do another set and so on for a total of four sets. By the way, even though the article titles are going to have specific days in them, there’s no reason why you can’t change the days around. Feel free to make Tuesday your legs day put some of these workouts on a weekend day. Remember, the best schedule is the one you’re comfortable with. Now let’s take a look at today’s workout.
Biceps and triceps
Biceps and triceps tend to get too much attention, especially from guys. We tend to think women look at nothing but our upper arms. We also think that if they see some bulging biceps they’ll just swoon and fall into our arms in joyful bliss. Well, the truth is that most women don’t care as much about biceps as we think they do. In fact, there are a number of recent studies that show women look far more often at a man’s back, butt and shoulders than they do at biceps. However, be that as it may, the upper arm area is still an important part of your body and needs to be worked out.
Workout Basics
I like to alternate my muscle groups as I work out. That means one exercise will work a specific area and then I’ll move on to a different area with the next exercise. For today, that means these exercises will alternate back and forth between biceps and triceps. I like this method because it lets me rest a specific area without halting my workout. That way I maximize the use of my time in the gym.
Also, keep an eye on your form. Biceps are one of the most commonly abused areas during a workout. You’ll see people lifting more weight than they should and then get their whole bodies involved in the movement. That’s just plain silly. Try to keep the rest of your body stable and engage only your arm in the movement. Yes, you might not curl quite as much, but you’ll get a far better workout.
The exercises
Bar curl - We start with a simple curl using a barbell. If you are doing this at home and do not have access to a barbell, you can substitute two dumbbells. Look at the video included with this exercise. Do you see how the guy’s body swings back and forth as he lifts? That’s something you want to avoid. Your lift should be smoother, slower and more stable than the one shown in the video.
Skull crusher - Staying with the barbell but moving on to our triceps, we’re going to do an exercise called the skull crusher. Don’t be intimidated by the name, it’s actually very easy to do. Again, if you’re doing this at home, you can substitute two dumbbells for the barbell.
Hammer curls - Back to biceps for one of my favorites, the hammer curl. It’s a simple exercise done with dumbbells. Keep your body stable and your lift nice and slow.
Standing Extension - And now the opposite exercise for the triceps. Notice how this works? One exercise for a muscle group followed by another exercise for the opposite muscle group. It allows you to rest a muscle without stopping your workout. You could even alternate sets if you want. One set of biceps followed by one set of triceps, whatever feels comfortable to you.
Concentration curls - We finish up biceps with concentration curls, another dumbbell exercise. At this point, if you’ve been using the right weight, you’re going to have a lot of trouble getting that weight up, especially on the fourth set. That’s good, it means you’re working out to just the right level.
Kick back - And the last triceps exercise, the kickback. By the way, you don’t have to use the same weight for all these exercises. Many people find that their triceps are stronger than their biceps. So you may want a heavier weight for those exercises.
Summary
And there you go, a simple biceps and triceps workout, most of which can be done at home with just a set of dumbbells. Again, feel free to modify this workout to suit your needs. For example, you may want to do 3 sets of 15 instead of 4 sets of 10. I often see women do fewer but longer sets because that’s supposed to increase muscle tone while not bulking you up. If that’s what you want, feel free, and as always, enjoy.
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The four day workout - Thursday, legs
This week we’re going to go over a relatively basic 4 day workout. This workout has a good general makeup that allows a person to cover all the major muscle groups. It’s not geared towards any specific goal and it uses a minimum of specialized equipment. When I do this workout, I usually do four sets of each exercise with ten reps in each set. That means a single set is ten repetitions of the same exercise without a break for rest. After those ten you rest, do another set and so on for a total of four sets. By the way, even though the article titles are going to have specific days in them, there’s no reason why you can’t change the days around. Feel free to make Tuesday your legs day put some of these workouts on a weekend day. Remember, the best schedule is the one you’re comfortable with. Now let’s take a look at today’s workout.
Legs
Legs are an area that either gets too much attention, usually from women, or not enough, usually from men. Many men seem to believe that it’s all about the upper body while many women seem to believe all they need are toned legs. The result is a mismatch between our bodies’ needs and what we actually provide. The reality is that legs are a vital part of our support system. They provide us with the strength and stability to perform other physical activities. Legs also take a lot of abuse from activities like walking and running. So it’s key to give our legs the right balance of exercise and rest.
For me, that means working on my legs once a week. That might sound low but remember that most of my cardio involves leg work of some kind, plus I do a great deal of walking. So my legs get quite a bit of activity. If you’re not quite as active, you may want to add an extra day of legs workout to your schedule.
Workout Basics
I like to alternate my muscle groups as I work out. That means one exercise will work a specific area and then I’ll move on to a different area with the next exercise. For legs day, that means the exercises will alternate between different areas of the legs. First you’ll be pushing and then you’ll be pulling.
As with biceps, make sure you keep an eye on your form. With legs, the tendency some people have is to move too quickly. They launch into any exercise putting all their energy into the initial movement. They then coast for the rest of the exercise, allowing their momentum to keep them going. This is very bad form which provides poor exercise and is prone to injury. As always, keep your movement slow and steady. If you need to decrease the weight, do so. It’s far better to exercise with good form and a low weight than bad form and a high weight.
The exercises
Lunges - We start with what I think is the best legs exercise ever made, the lunge. Lunges work your entire upper leg and also engage your lower leg to provide stability. They’re a relatively simple exercise that can be done at home. You can do them with simple body weight or you can use a pair of dumbbells to add difficulty.
Leg curl - We move on to the back side of your leg, the hamstring. This exercise is meant to be done in a gym since you’re unlikely to have access to this machine at home. If you are doing this workout at home, you may want to substitute the Dead Lift here. It’s not quite as good for your hamstrings, but it’s very good nonetheless. Yes, even women can do the dead lift. I realize the name is a bit silly, but it actually refers to the fact that you’re lifting the weight up from a dead stop, without any help from your legs. Trust me, it’s a good exercise.
Squat - Anther great leg exercise. Like the lunge, this one engages your entire upper leg. It can be done at home with just your body weight or you can add dumbbells or a barbell for added difficulty. Make sure to keep your movement slow and stable on this one. Many people seem to jump straight up when they start the squat. This is bad and can lead to injury. Just move up and down slowly and with consistent speed.
Calf raise - Now we move down the leg a bit to work on calves. This exercise can be done with just body weight, but you can add dumbbells for added difficulty. If you do add dumbbells, you may want to add a step of some kind to position your toes on. Trying to do this on a level floor without the benefit of leaning up on a wall will make it impossible for you to go through the full range of motion.
Thigh abduction - Of course, one can never forget about the butt. Guys, if you think you’re too good to work on your rear end, keep in mind that most studies show women appreciate this part of your anatomy far more than they like big biceps. If you want to add difficulty to this one, just add reps. Although to be honest, 4 sets of 10 of these is more than enough for me.
Lying leg adduction - And the opposite of the previous exercise, the lying leg adduction. Another great exercise that guys tend to ignore. I like to alternate sets of these with sets of the thigh abduction. Again, for added difficulty, just add reps. By the way, this is another exercise that tends to have bad form. People tend to do it too quickly because the range of motion is so narrow. Just keep your motion slow and steady and remember that it’s not about speed, it’s about form.
Summary
That’s it. A complete leg workout, from top to bottom. On Saturday, when I review the cardio that goes along with this workout, you’ll note that legs day is also my lightest cardio day. That’s because by the time I’m through with this workout, my legs are sore and need some rest. However, if I manage to get to the gym a fifth day in a week, I do this legs workout again.
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The four day workout - Friday, chest and shoulders
This week we’re going to go over a relatively basic 4 day workout. This workout has a good general makeup that allows a person to cover all the major muscle groups. It’s not geared towards any specific goal and it uses a minimum of specialized equipment. When I do this workout, I usually do four sets of each exercise with ten reps in each set. That means a single set is ten repetitions of the same exercise without a break for rest. After those ten you rest, do another set and so on for a total of four sets. By the way, even though the article titles are going to have specific days in them, there’s no reason why you can’t change the days around. Feel free to make Tuesday your legs day put some of these workouts on a weekend day. Remember, the best schedule is the one you’re comfortable with. Now let’s take a look at today’s workout.
Chest and Shoulders
Similarly to biceps, chest and shoulders usually get too much attention from men and not enough from women. However, unlike biceps, this is one case where the men are closer to the being right. Chest and shoulders are another one of those extremely important areas like your core muscles in the abs and back. Chest and shoulders anchor and stabilize every movement we make with our arms, which is quite a bit when you think about it.
Workout Basics
I like to alternate my muscle groups as I work out. That means one exercise will work a specific area and then I’ll move on to a different area with the next exercise. For chest and shoulders day, that means one exercise will be chest and the next will be shoulders. However, these two areas are relatively hard to separate. Many chest exercises also involve the shoulders and vice versa. So I go further and separate between push and pull. You’ll see what I mean when you look at the specific exercises.
Now I tend to stay away from bench presses, even though they’re a great chest exercise. I do that because I try to design my workout to need as little gym equipment as possible. That way I can complete it even if I’m on the road and have access to a minimal set of gear. The bench press is also one of those exercises which is better done with a partner. Finally, I think the bench press intimidates many beginners. However, if you’re a bit more experiences and have access to the gym, feel free to substitute the press for some of the push chest exercises.
The exercises
Dumbbell Press - Like the standard bench press but done with dumbbells. Make your up and down movement very slow and steady. If it helps, try a slow count of three seconds on the way up and again on the way down. That will help you keep good form and movement.
Rear Fly - We pushed the weight forward with the last exercise, now we’re going to pull it back with this one. That’s what I mean by alternating push vs. pull with this workout. That way you get to rest certain muscles without stopping the workout. The rear fly is a great shoulder exercise done with a minimum of gear.
Press Up - Also known as the push up, one of the best chest exercises ever made. Doesn’t require any gear and engages your entire body as you push up and down with your chest and shoulders. Seems to be ignored by most women, I think because it’s been associated too much with over testosterone’ed men. Well, ignore those army training videos, push ups aren’t just for men. They’re a great exercise for anyone looking to get in shape.
Bent Over Row - Back to pulling with the shoulders. The bent over row can be done with either a barbell or dumbbells, depending on your preference. Make sure to keep that bent back and knees, otherwise you’re doing the standing row which is a slightly different exercise.
Dumbbell Pullover - Back to the chest with the pullover. This one does require a bench of some kind for the best possible results, but I suppose you can do it on the floor if you really have an aversion to the gym.
Arnold Press - And finish it up with the wonderfully named, Arnold press. This is a bit of a push exercise rather than a pull, but I like it because it really engages the shoulder in a different way than the rest of the exercises we’ve done so far.
Summary
That’s it, you’ve just gone through a great chest and shoulder workout. If you did these with good speed and few breaks, you could have done the entire thing in less than 30 minutes. Hope you enjoyed it. Tomorrow we finish things up with a discussion of cardio.
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The four day workout - Finishing it up with cardio
We talked about a good four day workout last week. We covered the various exercises you should do as well as some tips and tricks for each. Now we’re going to finish it up with cardio. Yes, cardio is important for anyone serious about their health. You can eat healthy and lift all the weights you want, but you’re not done until you add some form of cardio.
I’ve covered some cardio options in the past in this article and I’d recommend you go back and read it. It will give you some overall information about the various cardio possibilities. However, for today’s article, let’s go with a bit of everything. Remember, you don’t have to do this at the same session as your weights workout. In fact, you don’t have to do these on the same day. Your weight sessions could be Monday to Thursday while your cardio is Thursday to Sunday. You could also do cardio before or after your weights. It’s all up to you and what you feel comfortable with.
The Exercises
Day 1 - Running. This means jogging on the street, running on a trail or spending time on the treadmill. 5 minute warm up at a slow pace, 30 minute run at a moderate pace and 10 minute cool down at a slow pace or walk.
Day 2 - Biking. Again, can do this on a stationary bike or you can actually go out there and bike. 5 minute warm up at a slow pace, 30 minute ride at a moderate pace and 10 minutes cool down at a slow pace.
Day 3 - Walk. This is slightly different from standard walking. It’s faster and harder. That means you need to find a tough hiking trail or an elliptical machine. Alternatively, you could find a set of stairs and then go up them for a while. Same setup, 5 minute warm up, 30 minutes of exercise and 10 minutes of cool down.
Day 4 - Run or bike but interval style. Interval style means exercise as hard as you can for a short period of time followed by a few minutes of slower exercise and so on. So for example, I usually run at 6.5 mph. On Day 1, I would simply run for the entire 30 minutes at 6.5 mph. On day 4, when I’m doing intervals, I will run for 1 minute at 7mph and then 4 minutes at 6mph. Do that 6 times and you’ve gone the entire 30 minutes. Intervals can be a bit tough at first, so if you’re just starting out, you may want to be careful here. Take it easy and don’t push too hard.
Summary
That’s four days of cardio right there, plenty for a whole week. Now doing this doesn’t mean you can sit on the couch for the rest of the week. You should still be out there, as active as possible. Go hiking for fun, dancing with a special someone, walk up the stairs at work and take a short hike after lunch. These are all things that should be part of your everyday life and have nothing to do with the amount of exercise you perform every week. Still, a structured exercise plan is a good thing to have, so take this four day workout that we’ve laid out in this series of articles, modify it to suit your needs, and then follow it every week.
We’ll finish up this series tomorrow with some tips on how to customize and modify the workout to better match your specific requirements.
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The four day workout - Some last tips and tricks
We’ve covered a standard four day workout over the past few days. We looked at how each day’s worth of exercises is constructed and we looked at cardio options as well. So what’s left? Well, nothing except a few tips and tricks to keep you motivated and interested.
Tracking - Tracking progress is vital if you’re going to keep at this. It doesn’t have to mean a journal or anything complex like that, it can mean a simple spreadsheet where you list the exercises you do each day, the weight you use and the number of reps you plan on performing. If you want to track all this online, there are a number of sites that can help you do so, like FitDay. Personally, I think FitDay is a bit of overkill, but to each his own.
Improvement - When something becomes easy, raise the difficulty. Yes, you should constantly be challenging yourself and your body. Now that doesn’t mean you should push yourself at all times, but it does mean that you should look for gradual and steady improvement. My philosophy is to look at my workout plan each week and improve one thing. Perhaps I will raise the number of reps of pushups I do per set or maybe I’m going to increase the weight on a specific set of exercises. Whatever it is, I just choose one thing and improve it while keeping everything else constant. Next week I choose something different and so on. Slowly but surely, my entire workout gets harder, but the change is so gradual that I never notice it.
Change - When it comes to workouts, change is good. You’ll find yourself hitting plateaus or finding specific exercises that just don’t agree with you. Also, it’s nice to change things once in a while to keep yourself interested. For me, I try to change out one exercise every month and replace it with something else. Of course, you’re going to need to replace it with something that works out the same muscle group, but that’s easy to do. There are various online resources that can help you find exercises for specific areas of the body. I use EXRX and Cooper’s Guns (Cooper’s was brought to my attention by a reader here at 60 in 3 and I can’t recommend it enough, it’s a great site). You can also ask other people at the gym for advice, you’ll find them very willing to share.
Schedule - I really recommend that you find a schedule and stick to it. Too many people think that a four day workout means that can keep putting it off. “I’ll just start my workout on Tuesday…” is the common line I hear. Except they never start on Tuesday, they keep pushing it off and it never gets done. Decide which days you will work out on and stick to that schedule. Yes, if you happen to miss one it’s ok, you have three more days in the week to catch up, but that should be the exception, not the rule.
That’s it, all the tips I have about this specific workout. If anyone else has anything to share about what keeps them motivated and interested, I’d love to hear about it.
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The fifth day: Why rest counts as part of a workout
First of all, my apologies for our technical issues yesterday. We’ve since resolved them and are now back to our regular posting schedule.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a series of articles about the four day workout. In it, I described a relatively simple workout that was split up over four days with each day working a different part of the body. I also mentioned that the fifth day could be used for rest or for an additional workout. Yesterday, I got an email from a reader asking me which one I would recommend, rest or workout.
Why rest?
The reason for rest is because our bodies need a period of no activity in order to recover. Even if you’re not working out the same part of your body every day, you’re still straining it overall. You’re still wearing out some areas every single day. For example, our feet and legs are strained with almost any kind of workout. Our hands are worn down by holding weights even if we’re working on our chest or back. Our circulatory system is exhausted from keeping up with the demand for blood and oxygen during all of our cardio workouts. So in order to let all of these systems recover, we need to spend a day resting.
Without proper rest, our muscles do not recover. This means that your performance won’t improve and you’ll find yourself more and more tired. It’s not the “I need sleep” kind of tired, it’s the “my body is worn out” feeling where you can barely move your legs and everything seems to ache just a little bit. In other words, resting is actually a crucial part of any workout routine since it allows our bodies to reap the rewards of the workout. Without the rest, all we’re doing is slowly wearing ourselves down.
Why another workout?
Why should you spend another day working out when you’ve spent four days covering all the major areas of your body? Well, because this additional workout day can provide you with a chance to do all of the things you couldn’t during the week. Now is the time to check out new types of exercises and see if you like them. Now is the time to try out a higher weight or speed and see if you can maintain it. You can even use this time to experiment with all new types of workouts. Maybe you could go to the pool and try out water aerobics or finally attend that spinning class. An extra day can also be a great time to work on a specific area that you’re having issues with. You can spend it doing some extra leg exercises if you feel that’s your weak point or some more sets of back workouts if you’re having issues improving your performance in that area.
So which one should I pick, rest or extra workout?
The answer really depends on the rest of your week. You need at least one rest day, and preferably two, during each week. Are you going to get that? For example, I work out during the week. So when I consider what to do with my extra day, I’m going to take into account my plans for the weekend. Do those plans involve a lot of physical activity? If so, then I should use my extra weekday as a rest day. If the weekend plans are relatively sedate, then I’ll have another workout.
This weekend I’m going to be volunteering at a horse show on Saturday which means a lot of time spent walking around, and carrying heavy loads. On Sunday I’m going to be hiking. Both of these activities are physically demanding and place quite a bit of strain on my body, especially my legs and feet. So I didn’t work out yesterday because I wanted to give my body a day of rest. Last weekend I spent most of my time at home working on various computer related issues. That’s a low strain activity, so I actually worked out five days that week since I knew I would get my necessary rest on the weekend.
Summary
Always rest at least one day every week. That means zero or minimal physical activity that day. If you know you’re going to get that day, then by all means, add an extra day of workout to your routine.
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