A game of fitness

high-level1

I’ve been in a training rut lately. Going through the motions without a clear goal. This either changes now or I may just hang the towel and start something a bit more fun. Fitness, as many other hobbies, should be enjoyable. So, changes ought to be made.

Why make a game out of fitness

Why am I doing this? Mainly to make it fun again. Making fitness a game is a fun way to track, plan and do your workouts. Making a game out of fitness allows me to see where I stand, and where I want and need to go easier. So, I’m making this a game. I’m RPG-ing my workouts.

Why make it like an RPG

The structure of an RPG game makes perfect sense in fitness; you’ve got all the elements. But we’ll focus only on character progression. So we’ve got:

  • Character stats: This shows the present. How strong, conditioned, flexible, mobile, etc.
  • A leveling up pattern: This is when your stats change. You get stronger, more flexible, mobile, better conditioned, better balanced, etc. and you gain new skills and abilities.
  • Miscellaneous skills: These are side skills not directly related (or anywhere close) to fitness. As you did in Skyrm, you can become an alchemist, you get better at wielding weapons, you get better at magic. In real life you can get better at those, true, or we can get parallel: you become a better at other unrelated skills that make your character whole, you learn to cook, you learn to groom, you learn to write. These may not directly affect your fitness, but no good RPG is without its side quests.

So as I said before, it makes perfect sense from a tracking and planning standpoint. Your character starts at level 1/whatever level it is you are at, and you plan accordingly on what you want to improve and maintain. You plan your workouts with that in mind! If you need to be better at flexibility you may start doing yoga as the meat of your workouts while keeping the other skill on par.

How to play the game

Every game has a set of rules, and this is no different, especially since you won’t be getting magic anytime soon to help you out.

Only rule: be honest with yourself

You start where you start, and wherever that is, it’s important to start at your level. There’s no one game in which you can get to the end-boss after two levels, and if you did, you’d get destroyed before your first move. So no, you start killing rats, you start taking out the lowest of the lowest of enemies. Why? Because you can take them, it will be hard at first, but eventually you’ll level up. And as you get better, so should your “enemies”.

On leveling up

This is usually one of the best parts of any RPGish game. You level up, your stats increase and you get new skills. It’d be awesome if this would work that way in real life. You walk 3kms a day and you become overall stronger, more flexible and powerful. It doesn’t. Fitness is more complex. You get better at certain skills that relate to stats. Getting better at yoga will make you more flexible and balanced, but it probably won’t do jack for your strength and conditioning. So this is how it works:

You level up as you practice your skills and these affect your stats. You get better at a skill and you get stronger, better conditioning, more balanced, etc. Some even make you better all around. You go through the progressions of a certain skill and you get the benefits. Practicing pull-ups makes you stronger, once you get strong enough you can start practicing the next exercise in the progression towards the one arm chin or the muscle up, you practice yoga and you get closer to nirvana. That’s how leveling up works.

Skills

As I said before, you practice skills and your stats get better. It’s quite simple. You bench press and as your bench gets stronger you get stronger. Simple right? Well, get to it!

Of course, and as in many great RPGs, once you get up to a certain level in a skill, others will need to get to par in order to keep progressing, this is where accessory exercises come into play. To keep with the bench press example: you strengthen your back, shoulders and triceps to help your overall bench. In RPG terms: your equipment must be up to par (wooden swords are not good for stronger monsters).

Skill progression for a game of fitness

Skyrim is probably the ultimate example of mapping your skills

HP

When you start on any videogame, your HP is freakishly low. Low as hell. That’s why we start slow. You start killing sewer rats and weak monsters, and each hit you take takes a lot of your total HP, but as you level up, your HP increases and your resistance to hits. So, not only do they take a smaller percentage of your total HP but in numbers it is still smaller. You can do more before you have to stop and take a break (or dying).

In fitness it’s much of the same. You start with easier exercises that take enough of you as to elicit an adaptive response. You don’t jump to pistols directly, slowly progress to them.

Recovery

As Hp gets drained you need to recuperate in order to go back out again and train your skills to level up. You do this by feeding, resting and sleeping. So eat enough and sleep well. There’s nothing else you can do as effective as that to regain your HP!

Awards

There’s no RPG without prizes. You go through a dungeon and you expect, nay, you demand a treasure chest filled to the brim with new weapons, gold, and assorted items. In this game, there are no dungeons, and I don’t really know there’s a lot of old pharaonic tombs left to raid. So you’ll have to award yourself for every accomplishment you manage. Just keep a simple rule: Those awards should help you in achieving the next goals (those dungeons on the game were left with things that would help you in your quest). So, award your running victories with new shoes, your barbell gains with more weights, your fatloss goals with a new wardrobe (you get my meaning).

Potions

No role-playing game is complete without potions. But, in a game of fitness you should consider most potions as you would in a Fallout game. Some, the better ones, will help you recover HP with little to no drawbacks, others, will have some serious ones. It’s your game and your life, play it as you wish. Just be well informed.

By the way, potions won’t ever be able to replace food and sleep. They’ll work supplementing them.

Building your Character

Now we get to the stuff. This is the you of the game of fitness. You’ll want to be honest with yourself when you complete it:

  • HP: XX

    Character stats are key for a game of fitness

    Just change the names for the skills you want to set into your stats!

  • Strength: X/100
  • Conditioning: X/100
  • Balance: X/100
  • Flexibility: X/100
  • Mobility: X/100
  • Agility: X/100
  • Power: X/100
  • Recovery: XX
  • Weight: XX
  • BF%: XX%

This is where you start. Embrace it.

Now, imagine how you want to end up as. Have a clear picture of what that end person can do, how he looks and how he moves and his end stats (try not to make it 100/100, that’s like being a god in AD&D). Write those things down (if that’s too hard, imagine a videogame character you’d like to emulate). Now start mapping what skills you’ll need to improve on to get there, and what tools you’ll need to get there.

Once you have those skills, map them, and put all the skills between you and your end goal (example: If a strict muscle up is the end goal, you’ll need to get pretty good at dips and pull-ups and muscle-ups as well). Make a roadmap out of it. Every skill you achieve is a +1 for that stat. Only multi-joint skills counts (preacher curls don’t add to your stats, but will help you to build up on skills that do), and some skills will improve on more than one stat (Pistol squats, for example, will be awesome for balance and strength).

Some tips to win

  • Think of it as an actual RPG game. You’ll have to put in the hours.
  • Better to play smart than strong. Plan according to your goals and focus.
  • Use the tools at your disposal. Don’t leave them for “later” or you’ll end up with a full stock of elixirs that would’ve made the whole game easier.
  • Always face a boss with full hp, play it safe.

Now press start to play

Motus Virtute

Maybe you should take an unscheduled break

This week I decided to do something that would earn me insults, belittlement and some serious caps lock answers in fitness forums around the internet. I decided to take an unscheduled week off. Wednesday came, and I decided that I wasn’t up to it (yes, that’s the desition, I felt worn out, so I decided that I wasn’t up to it. I could’ve decided to push through or to reschedule). I am now enjoying my week of rest. And maybe you should to. Why should you take an unscheduled break?

Why take a break

To recharge batteries

take an uscheduled break

call it whatever you like, just take a rest! Photo by Jim Bauer

This is one’s a given. You rest, you recharge. Sometimes more than a week to deload you need a week off. A week completely off to rest may reignite the passion for fitness (many people I know would be climbing up a wall after a week without working out).

Not feeling up to it at all

Not feeling up to it at all can really be a sign of other things and may mean you should take a break. The important part here is to be honest with yourself. Are you really (emotionally or physically) not feeling up to it? Or are you simply lazy and want to couch it and watch tv? The difference is important.

Come back with a vengeance

As I stated in the first point, a complete week of rest may become a great motivator. You may start missing your workouts, missing the constant effort and missing the feeling of accomplishment and advancement that a successful workout (and competition) bring. So, imagine this as taking two step back to come back with a full charge.

Stop and smell the roses

You’ve probably worked out more than not in the past year or so. What for? Are you really enjoying what you’ve gained? Take a week of to enjoy the benefits you worked so hard in achieving (go for a run, a race, a fight, go trekking, go show off your new body, whatever you like). Start enjoying the benefits of the process and show off!

But, probably more important than understanding why you may want to take an unscheduled week off, you may want to know how to know if you’re needing it.

When to take a break

You lack the physical energy

Take an unscheduled brake!

Sometimes your best bet is to take the day off. Photo by bark

You’re a human being and not a machine. Sometimes your body just won’t go. You’re having shitty after shitty workouts, you can’t complete a good set and no matter how many deloads you take you just can’t do it. It may be a good idea to take a step back and rest for a week or two. Take this time to rethink your goals and how you’re approaching them.

You lack the emotional energy

Usually both physical and emotional energies are tied. As people we process things differently. Problems at work, in our social and family lives affect us in different ways, and it’s even hard to keep them really separated. Some (and sometimes) will throw themselves to the weights with fury, or go for a really long run; while others (and sometimes as well) will want to curl in a ball and hide, and everything in between. Don’t ignore this. If you’re feeling drained, rest and restore your energy wells.

Wednesday in my case, I was feeling emotionally drained (I was feeling like shit actually). So there, I decided to take it off and, you know what? I can’t wait to, start Monday, attack my workouts again with a renewed vigor.

How about you? Have you ever needed an uscheduled break?

Motus Virtute

Simple steps to bulk (how I gained 9kg in 2 months)

Before and after muscle mass gain. How to gain muscle mass

Before and after of my rather clean bulk. Next step, a cut to take out all the extra flab I gained

Aesthetics and fitness go hand in hand. We might kid ourselves into thinking that we’re only looking for strength and endurance, but, unless you’re competing (and I’m willing to bet you’re not), the “look” is something that we’re all interested in. Be it to draw gazes or having the mirror tell us we’re doing ok, it’s what got most of us into the gym in the first place, and something that is at least always in the back of our heads.

On the other hand, while men want to be (at least) a little bit bigger and ripped, women would do well with a small bulk every once in a while (don’t worry, if most men cannot look like Arnold without strong chemical help, and neither do you). So, here’s my step by step into how I managed to gain, pretty cleanly, 9kg in 2 months.

Define your basal caloric needs for the week

I thought a daily count was necessary, but, having been at 81kg for a long while, eating under my calories during the week and compensating on the weekend, I believe that taking longer periods is better. Some day your social life will get in the way (and that’s ok), and you’ll be either drinking or eating more that you thought. Don’t beat yourself up, but take it into account on the rest of the week (ie: compensate in more than one day, not the next day. That doesn’t work either).

How to know your TWEE (total weekly energy expenditure, or how many calories you consume in a week)? Join myfitnesspal.com and have it run the numbers. Multiply by 7 afterwards. Use it as a guideline.

Eat your proteins

I don’t care where they come from. Eat them. Love them. Sleep with them. And, when in doubt, consume more. I’ve been eating some protein during the day and a killer at dinner (usually around 0.5kg of meat + 2 eggs + veggies + cream cheese + 1 avocado). You’ll need the protein, wherever it may come from.

You can always go with the Renegade Diet. I haven’t tried it myself but have heard good things from friends that have.

Supplement yourself

However you see fit. I’ve been consuming one can of tuna fish every weekday for the last 2 months and have been loving it. It also makes sure I hit my protein goal for the day, or stay close enough.

Focus on strength

I’m not a fan of hypertrophy work. So, I focused on strength. And you know what? It probably wouldn’t have changed a bit in the net result

Strength train to maximize hypertrophy

Strength training. Works for lego, works for you – Photo by Pascal

(even more so, it was a bodyweight program). Just focus on doing the work, regardless of what it is. I’m pretty sure a more endurance focus will provide bulking results as well (you’ll just have to eat more). This is what I’m going to see what happens in September. Bigger volumes, less intensity.

Be clean 80% of the time

You don’t need to eat clean 100% of the time. God knows I wouldn’t take it. I was personally looking for a clean-ish bulk. The ish was the magic. I could drink and eat whatever I wanted, as long as I kept it to my weekends (1,5/7 days, around 70% really), and Sunday nights I’d usually eat less, since I was too stuffed from the rest of my weekend binge.

That’s it. There’s really nothing magical about it. It’s more about your diet than your workouts really. Create a healthy surplus and keep working out as you have and you’ll be gold.

If you don’t believe me, here’s the routine I followed:

Day 1

Front lever progression 5 x 10-15 seconds

Handstand progression 5 x 25-40 seconds

Weigthed pull-ups (@ 15kg) up to 25 reps

Headstand push-ups up to 25 reps

Pistols 5×5

Hanging leg raises 5×8

Day 2

Back lever progressions 5 x 10-15 seconds

Lsit 5 x 8 seconds

Weighted dips (very wide, don’t recommend) @10kgs up to 25 reps

Weighted tuck rows @5kg up to 25 reps

TGU 3×3

This 4 times a week in an ABAB fashion. That’s it. No extremes, little to no failures, and I’m happy as hell with the results.

Here’s the pic again.

Motus virtute

A lesson in programming – how to build your workouts

It’s been a couple of months since my last post. The reason for it was, among other things, work. I’ve been swamped and tired and didn’t really stop myself to even think. Last week, as I was surfing through an interminable pile of e-mails with an urgency here, an urgency there and the urgent need to plan ahead for work I had an epiphany. I basically took my fitness programming and applied it to my own life.

An epiphany alright

I’m not alone. And what’s happening to my blog is what most people suffer with their workouts. I, of course, had a myriad of reasons and

A needed lesson in programming

Overworked and tired. Never good for your fitness edeavors. Photo by Tim Caynes

excuses that stopped me from doing something I really enjoy, which was writing this blog (all valid excuses of course, at least in my mind), and I’m sure that the same has happened to you. Be it in your workouts, projects, social life, etc.

Well, as of today I’m saying fuck it. I’m not letting work cut out into something that makes me happy. It just won’t. I’m sure it’ll be hard some days, but I’m keeping it from affecting things that do me well. How will I be doing that? Well, I’m planning ahead, I’m programming my week as if it were a fitness endeavor.

Let’s call it programming, cause it’s more fitnessy

This is kind of building a training program for me, a friend or a client. First order of business: what are the main things that a happy week for me has to have? In no particular order these are spending time with friends and family, having time for my girlfriend (and sexy-time, you have to have sexy-times), working out, writing this blog and successfully promoting it, having a successful work week and keeping up with my reading (I haven’t grabbed a book in ages). Putting this together was of course a big deal, there are only 24 hours every day, and only 7 days to a week. All other things are miscellaneous and not really important (although time consuming). This other stuff is: videogames, housekeeping and future projects, all those go in the back-burner, I’ll keep them active, but once I’m satisfied with the bigger things.

So, as of now, a regular week for me may look something like this:

Monday: Work, working out, promoting the blog, cooking a whole week’s worth of lunches, miscellaneous.

Tuesday: Work, working out, promoting the blog, misc.

Wed: Work, Social life (girlfriend/friends/family).

Thu: Work, working out, promoting blog post, social life (as misc.).

Fri: Work, working out, social life.

Sat: Writing a blog post, social life and either misc. or whatever I missed doing on the rest of the week (yes, I’m flexible like that).

Sunday: Social life and misc. because you need to rest.

I know, I might’ve become a rocket scientist (not!). But doing this keeps me objective and driven. It helps me build good habits and focused. And this is important. Know what you’re doing, I’ll let you keep the why’s to yourself.

Think it as your workout program

What has this to do with fitness (which is after all, the whole point of this blog)? It’s simple, plan ahead for the most important things (to you)

However your programming, remember to enjoy it!

However you workout, have fun. It’s fitness, not talking to your boss! Photo by Arya Ziai

and let the rest fill up where and when you can. Prioritize on what will help you keep forward. If you want draw parallels, see it this way:

Work: this is something I have to do whether I’m enjoying it or not at the moment. This takes up almost 1/3 of the week. If I don’t do it I can’t make rent, eat, basically, it’s what keeps the rest going. Work in your fitness endeavor is what you have to do to do whatever you want to do later. In my case it’s strength training (I’m not competing, so that’s an advantage when I prioritize). This can be meal planning for you, strength work, and road work, whatever it is that you don’t necessarily enjoy (it’s better if you do though) but must do in order to achieve your goals.

Working out and social life: It takes a big piece of the pie as well, 4 regular day of around an hour each. It’s something I enjoy and am good at. It not going to feed me nor pay my bills, but it keeps me sane. This is the part of your workout you regularly enjoy. A favorite exercise? A meal? A TV show? Whatever works for you. But take it seriously.

Writing the blog and promoting it: It may take a long time before this blog takes off and I become a fitness/internet success. If it happens, that’s awesome, and I’m sure it eventually will. This in my training is technique work. I started sucking at hand balancing. Today I’m not particularly any good, but I’m getting there (I’ll let you know, I have managed to keep a 7 second free standing handstand). In your life this is anything you want to become better at. It needs regular practice and work. It’s not always fun, but it’s always satisfying when you get a little bit ahead. Think in what you wish you could do and work towards it!

Miscellaneous: this is something that can or can’t be there. If it can be squeezed in, great, if it can’t, well, that’s ok as well. You’ve probably covered a ton anyways. This won’t really drive your goals nor your life, and the worst mistake I’ve done in several occasions was letting this take too much of my time. In your training this is assistance work. It’s there to assist. But it won’t be what makes you great or progress. Call it your 3rd bicep exercise. It will help your pull-up, but it won’t make that big a difference.

So there you have it. I’ve decided to retake life by the proverbial horns and guide it again. No more bullshit. After I clock out I’m still driven and moving forward, no matter how shitty my workday may’ve been. This will always keep me smiling.

In a nutshell – since you probably skipped the whole thing anyways!

So, after almost a 1000 words, here’s my epiphanic life lesson in a nutshell (fitness written):

Plan ahead and strategize by priorities (this by the way is called Goal-setting and successful programming).

The biggest amount of your training time should go to whatever’s going to keep you in the race (and improving).

Keep working in what you enjoy and improving on it. Keep being driven by it.

Take time to practice and improve on what will bring the biggest satisfactions (like a handstand if that’s your thing, it may be marathon running).

Assistance work may be fun. But remember, it has to assist your goals, don’t confuse it with the important stuff (I’m looking at your 3rd bicep exercise of the week, or your 4th calve exercise).

I know, I know “well, duh!” but sometimes we need to be either called out or hit ourselves with a wall to wake up and pick up the pace again! So here’s what life taught me about programming and the need to plan ahead.

Motus Virtute

7 reasons to keep a training log

I know, I make it sound as if it were optional. But truth is, you absolutely must keep an updated training log. Be it in your computer, online, on a notepad (whatever floats your boat), this is a must have for any trainee, whatever your goals are. Why should you keep one?

Checking where you’re at

This is basic. It lets you know, objectively, where you’re at: what exercises you’re doing, what weights you’re moving (if any), what volume you’re doing, intensity, etc. Everything should be written down. Why? Because tomorrow you may forget what you did today, and you may need to make adjustments.

Checking what you’re doing

This is very important. This will let you know what it is that you’re regularly doing, what you’re paying extra attention to (probably your strong points). This will allow you to adjust and make sure everything you’re doing is balanced (unless you’re doing it on purpose).

It will show you what you’re not doing

As important, or even more so, than the former point. It will let you know what you’re regularly skipping. Ever heard someone make a question about their training and how it’s not giving them results? Here’s where the answer lies most of the time. Check what you’re missing, it will probably be the key to success.

Let’s you see what’s working, and what’s not

Try keeping a log regularly for 3 months and check on your goals. How much closer are you? What’s gotten closer? Then check your log, you’ll see exactly why. Keep what’s working, change what’s not. This is the main benefit of having a training log: it helps you.

Making adjustments

As stated before: you’re going to see what’s working and what’s not. Having a clear status on this will let you know what to change and how to change it.

Tailoring your routine

Eventually your training log will be a huge fountain of information about your training. Showing exactly what works, what doesn’t and for how long. You’ll be able to broscience the whys. How’s this important: you’ll be able to tailor your routine and program to yourself. Nobody will know you better than yourself after this. This is very important when you’re experimenting new things, adding exercises or adding extra days to your routine.

Experimentation

Keeping a track of your training program day in and day out will allow you to experiment and track the results (if there are any). Say you started bridging: you’ll know every change in your range of motion, hip strength, back strength, hypertrophy, endurance, flexibility,… (as long as you keep a very detailed track that is). If things changed according to your goals you’ll keep it, if, on the other hand, they haven’t, then you’ll either drop it or make the necessary changes until it starts working towards your goals.

How to keep a training log

Any good training log needs to have a couple of things:

  1. Your goals: keep them simple and specific (here’s an older post in which I cover goal-setting). Don’t forget to give them a time frame.
  2. Your stats: this will be your before picture if you want. All the stats regarding your goals should be here (weight, 1RM, max pull-up number, etc.)
  3. A blank page: This will be to have a side by side of your before and after. You’ll later fill it with your “new and improved” (lets hope) stats.
  4. The training log proper. In here you’ll put a date and what you’ve done for the day. Exercises, sets, reps, weights, rest periods, notes for your next workout (as in “add reps”, “add weight”). You want to keep it as detailed as you can.

Keep this for a couple of months and you should be able to objectively see your improvement. What are the benefits of keeping a training log? Besides what I’ve written before, it’s a great source of self-feeding motivation. No one wants to quite while they are on a streak!!

Motus Virtute

To strength train or not to strength train: It’s not really a question

Last week a very close friend of mine came to ask for the same thing he usually does: I need a routine he said, I need to start doing something: what can you give me? After several questions I sat down to write in a napkin his new, shiny and of course, repeated routine that he would, again, never use. He claimed he needed only to run and jog to get to his all-around health and fat-loss goals (to which I asked: then why the f*** did you just ask me a new one if you already “know” what to do?! But that’s neither here or there). The answer I gave to him as to why I told him to strength train is exposed (and much better structured) in this post.

Why you need to strength train

Bear in mind, I’m not talking competitive lifting. Especially in regards to health.

It has a larger carryover to all other attributes

Endurance, power, speed and even flexibility should be built from a foundation of strength. You can’t endure if you don’t

Handbalancing, strength train to get strong enough

Hand balancing moves: great feats of balance, only achievable by having enough strength to keep the position

have anything to endure on. If you can’t move something there’s no chance that you’ll move it fast, the same goes for running. And, if you can’t reach somewhere with strength, then there’s no really a point to it, is there? (but kidding aside, just get strong).

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you’ll be breaking world records in marathon running if you solely train for strength. But, you will get more endurance from strength training than strength from working on your endurance. I don’t know if it’s because the relative intensity of other things will be lower, but it works.

Aesthetics

I don’t care if this rates high or low for you, but, relative to body-composition, barring people with health concerns, the goal is mainly for looks. Well, strength training will help build lean muscle mass (not bodybuilder sizes), which in turn will raise your basal metabolism, which will, In turn, burn more calories while you’re resting. This of course, will mean less fat under the same amount of calories consumed. This is especially true for beginners (which my friend most certainly is).

Health

I’m talking about muscle and joint health. As long as you are being consistent and making slow improvements, the low rep approach keeps the joints from being overworked in any range of motion.

By this I am most certainly not saying that other types of exercises are not healthy. All exercise is healthy, if done as it should be, I simply believe that strength training is healthier for the joints and muscles. Cardiovascular health is better addressed with other types of training.

Motivation

This is more personal based than any other thing. But truth be told, there’s little things more invigorating than moving constantly heavier weights or do more complex moves. It was, during a whole year, one of the things that compelled me to keep coming back to the weight room (I was doing PTTP, and the constant adding of weight does wonders for the self-image). Besides, it’s also very cool to still have energy to celebrate the accomplishment and not just smiling while picking up your lungs from the ground.

How to strength train

How often should you do it

This Is one of the most asked questions “how often should/can I work out”. As I’ve said several times before, I’m biased to higher frequency types of training, but you’ll do fine with just 3 times a week (or even two). As long as your overall volume and intensity are balanced you can even practice up to 7 times a week, although this may be too much for most. Try to keep it between 3 and 5 weekly sessions.

Exercises that must be there

This will be no rocket science, only multi-joint exercises apply to these categories.

  • Upper body push
  • Upper body pull
  • A knee bend (SQUAT)
  • A hip hinge
  • Core
  • A carry

You can even divide the upper body into vertical and horizontal pushes and pulls. I don’t care, have at least one of the main categories and you’ll be balanced enough. Any other exercise you may want to do that’s not included in your list before will be tagged as assistance exercise, and their function is either to help build strength for those exercises or to strengthen one of your weaknesses.

Understand that if you’re doing bodyweight only exercises the carry should be done either with an external implement or, switch it with sprints or crawls. If you’re KB exclusive, your hip-hinges will be more ballistic based, and your core exercises should be either windmills or TGUs.

How to incorporate strength training to other types of training

There’s not really a best way to go about this, but will depend more on your context and how you’re working out, just remember that resting is a serious matter and should not be overlooked.

The easiest way would be to add at least 2 exclusive strength training sessions to your week. Make it low volume and go

Carry, whatever, just carry heavy stuff. Photo by Carol Browne

Carry, whatever, just carry heavy stuff. Photo by Carol Browne

through all the movements, doing at least 3 sets for each. Repeat the workout or add weight in the next session.

If by chance you can’t add any more session a week, add 2 completely unrelated movements to your workouts. Push+hinge/pull+squat/Core+carry has worked pretty well for me before.

And that’s about it. I’d love to hear your take on things, so drop a line at the comment section below!

Motus Virtute

(At least) 10 things I learned in 10 years of working out

Everything works

That’s right. Everything. Going for a jog, it works. Swinging a kettlebell, it works (damn right it does). Heavy deadlifting, light deadlifting, even an aerobics class. It all works. At least for a while. You’ll need to change things (going longer, faster, heavier,…) to keep it working. Of course, not everything you do will work for everything.

Dieting is central

I admit I didn’t pay real attention to it until the beginning of this year. Never seemed to need it. I’ve always been kind of lean-ish, and at other times I worked out so much I didn’t really need it, I simply burned everything I put in. Of course, I didn’t really build any muscle nor got the gains I should’ve (hindsight truly is 20-20). Now that I’m paing attention I’ve built more muscle and strength at a pace I didn’t before. I’ve also been recovering better.

There’s no need to get married with a style or tool

I used to be very… let’s call it religious (nothing against religion). At first, it was all about the bodybuilding, then it was all

Training zealot, enjoy your workout

There’s no need to be a training zealot. Enjoy yourself and learn from everything! – Photo by Joachim S. Muller

about sports, the it was all about heavy lifting, followed by kettlebells. In reality, this is a waste of time. You should do what’s best for you and your goals and needs. Right now I’m focusing on bodyweight skills and strength, with some light cardio put in the mix. In about 3 months I’m going to merge kettlebell endurance with bodyweight strength and skills. There will be compromise, but I’ll be better for it.

A little every day goes a long way

I’m a big fan of high frequency training. Actually, I believe it to be, if you can manage it, better. But I do mean a little. Going balls out every day takes a lot of recovery and it will probably be too much. I mean, a little every day. Don’t go anywhere near failure.

Your body has the ability to adapt to everything

The human body is, by far, the most sophisticated machine in existence. And it has the ability to adapt to most things. Just take it step by step, in small increments, and you’ll be fine.

Eat healthy

Eating healthy is the best way shake the extra calories. These are whole foods that will satisfy you a lot more than regular crap. This way, less food, fewer calories will go a longer way. You’ll also get most of your nutrients that way. Just hit your macros and you’ll be fine. Also, don’t be afraid of eating some crap now and then (but not often).

The best program is the one you enjoy doing

This one’s basic. Working out should be something you enjoy, even look forward to (you would be, after all, improving your health). As I said, everything works. Find something that’s a right fit with you!

There’s no such things as an overnight success

We’ve all seen amazing transformations online. We all like getting inspired. But this doesn’t happen over night. The one thing all of these cases have in common is that they worked day in and day out, powered by motivation or simply punching the clock. They ate right, they trained right, they had the right mindset. Even cases fueled by pharmaceutical substances had to work at it. There’s no such thing as a magic program that will put you 20 kg of muscles while lowering your bf to single digits and making you nimble as spider-man. It simply won’t happen.

What to get that success? Read the next item then!

Small milestones

You should have a long-term goal: getting healthier, looking better, etc. But the best way I found to stay motivated is through small milestones. Shorter term, definite goals to be achieved between a month and three. My magic number is 6 weeks. Take small steps to your long-term goal. How to do it? Define what your goal means (what’s getting healthier? Is it being leaner? Reducing your resting heart rate? Probably a combination of things) and think about the milestones you should hit for it. One or two things with every 6 week challenge will work well.

Check out Nerd Fitness’ 6 weeks challenges. It’s where I learned about this, and I’ve been better for it.

Motivation is not what’s cracked to be

Sure, motivation pics will send a surge of energy and get you off your ass once or twice. But truth be told, it’s not motivated people who get it done. It’s the people who are focused on their goals and know that they’ll have to work smart and hard to get them, even when they don’t want or feel like it. Sometimes you have to tough it out. Believe me, if they haven’t come yet, they will.

Fitness motivation

Here’s a jolt anyways!
Image from motivationalquotesideas.com

Of course, this is not all I’ve learnt (I hope) but I think these may be the most important I have. What about you? What have you learnt in your training years?

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The same but different: variation with a purpose

Variation is a fickle lady. Woo her correctly and she will bless you with great progress and advancements in strength, technique, endurance, conditioning, etc. etc. etc. Get on her bad side and you’ll be stuck in the same spot, forever being a newbie, without enjoying the fabled newbie gains. So, let’s do it correctly.

The many ways to change things

There’s many changes you can do to your regular workouts, from subtle changes to more drastic measures. You can change

  • Exercises
  • Rest periods
  • Frequency
  • Volume
  • Intensity

Why you should vary your training

There are several reasons why you should change things up in your training. Basically, you’ve adapted to what you’re doing, you’ve plateaued or you’ve become bored.

You’ve adapted

You’re not getting the stimulus you need from what you’re doing. You should change it. Not drastically, but enough to provoke new growth.

You’ve plateaued

Time to change. If things are not moving forward then they’re moving backwards. Go for a variant of the exercise, or change one of the variables. Maybe even take a longer rest from this type of work. There are many ways to bust a plateau.

You’ve become bored

This one’s tough. This one calls for drastic changes. If you’re bored with your training you should revise your goals first. If you’re still aiming for the same things then maybe change the way you’re doing it drastically. Remember to have fun!

Goblet Squat, Squat, Beginner squat

Goblet squat, one of the best beginner squats in existence. Photo by US Army Central

Why you shouldn’t change your training

There’s also many reasons why not to change what you’re doing.

Too much variation will lead you no-where

Remember to change things up smartly: changing too much too often will lead you no-where. You won’t adapt to the stimulus enough to become (insert goal here).

Muscle confusion is not really a thing

I like to say that if you confuse your muscles too much then they won’t know what they should do! Of course I exaggerate, but I do believe that they won’t know what to adapt to, hence, they’ll give up and simply not adapt at all. All that you should be focused on is the goal at hand. (BTW, of course you’ll never plateu if you’re constantly confusing your muscles, basically because you’ll never get strong enough to plateau in the first place!).

Yep, go ahead shocking the muscles you shocker you!

Yep, go ahead shocking the muscles you shocker you!

How to vary the correct way

As the title conveys, doing the same but different has great results, you’ll keep getting better at what you’re doing for one. Always remember to keep your goals in mind when you’re doing this.

Changing intensity

Going heavier or lighter will change the type of adaptations your body will go through. Going lighter will get you better rested, and building back-up will get you stronger. Sometimes screwing volume to get some real heavy work done will get CNS jacked and yourself stronger in the short run.

Changing Volume

Adding reps, reducing reps, adding sets, reducing sets, or sometimes both. This may be the ticket to bridging between where you are and where you want to be.

Changing Frequency

As I said in another post, doing a little every day can get a long way. I like HFT. It helps me improve by greasing the groove. Getting better at the movement allows me to get stronger in the movement, and to get more efficient at lifting certain ways. (Also, the fabled farm-boy strength comes from daily manual labor, and usually not to the max).

Changing the exercises

This is what we do when we go through exercise progressions (and it’s not exclusive to bodyweight). Going for similar, harder exercises is a great way to keep improving strength. Likewise, going for easier variations helps you focus on the weaknesses of your forms, put more volume and get a good rest. You can look at variations for bodyweight exercises here, here and here. But, for an illustrative case, you could first master the goblet squat – Front squat – Box squat – Back squat (See, there are ways to make this variations with weights :D).

All of this will depend on your goals of course. I cannot stress this enough.

How I vary my workouts

My routine is mainly consistent. I have my goals and change things accordingly. Right now I’m quite focused on getting down the freestanding handstand, front lever, back lever and V-sit. I’m going through exercise progressions and regressions (changing the exercises accordingly).

So, for handbalancing I’m doing as Coach Sommers dictates in Handstand One, for all other exercises I’m following Steven Low’s Overcoming Gravity (Amazon affiliate link – It’s a great source of information if you’re into bodyweight training)

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How to workout for busy people – Muscle mass focus

On this 4th part of the how to workout for busy people (part 1, part 2, part 3) I’ll focus on building muscle mass. It’s not easy, and don’t expect to Arnold-out in a couple of months.

What makes gaining mass hard

Barring pharmaceutical help, gaining mass is a complex science/art. There’s several types of hypertrophy which take in

Photo by Brian Auer

Photo by Brian Auer

account different volumes, rep ranges and intensities. More over, building lean muscle mass takes a lot more than just training. The simple formula would be

Eating at a surplus + plenty of rest + working out = more lean muscle mass

And that’s without factoring in hormonal profiles, etc. Of course, this is as simple as I can make it. Focusing on the working out part, the main variable here will be volume (meaning, how much you put up in total). Of course, given that we’re busy people, we’ll focus on density. Density will be taken in acount as volume/time. (BTW, I was introduced to density as a variable through Pavel’s Enter the Kettlebell, so I’m going to pretty much use that definition).

Building muscle for busy people

This whole idea was introduced by Charles Staley (although it’s probably much much older, as most things in the physical training department… Even bro culture), so, full props to him for being a genius.

For this type of workouts you’ll need, at least, a stopwatch, a piece of paper and something to write.

  1. You’ll pair two antagonist exercises (like Deadlifts and Bench Presses or Squats and Pull-ups).
  2. You’ll set the timer for 15-20 minutes for compound exercises.
  3. Set a weight with which you can do 7-10 solid, correct reps and start doing sets of 5.
  4. Go back and forth between both exercises resting as little as needed. As you fatigue start reducing the reps per set and resting more.
  5. Take note of how many reps in total you’ve done for each exercise. Strive for at least +1 rep every workout.
  6. Once you’ve done 30% more reps than the first session with a given weight, add more weight (2,5-5kg/5-10lbs. no more).
  7. If you still have time after your first 20 minutes (and energy), and insist on adding more exercises. For isolation moves do no more than 10 minutes (pairing curls with tricep extensions, calf raises with wrist exercises… take your pick).
  8. Curse at me. But curse at Charles Staley more, he made EDT (Escalating Density Training… as it’s called) famous. It really is his fault, not mine.

Unfortunately, this type of training works best with a barbell. There’s no way around it. You can use other implements, but truth be told, they won’t be as effective as.

Squat, a complete exercise busy people should never ignore

Any variety of this beautiful exercise should always be in your program. No matter what your goal is.
Photo by US Naval Force Central Command

Share this with busy people you know! With many changes in their lives, their fitness may go to the back burner!

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How to workout for busy people – Conditioning focus

This is part 3 of the How to workout for busy people series (click here for Part 1 and Part 2), in which we’ll focus on conditioning.

Different types of Conditioning

Yes, there are different types. But, for practical purposes let’s focus on long sessions and short sessions. To build an all

Long distance running, conditioning, endurance. Not the best for busy people, but necessary

Steady state for long sessions will get you the desired results. Be them bodycomposition, endurance or recuperating ability

around conditioned body, you’ll have to do BOTH. Since time is an issue in this series, we’ll try to be as efficient as possible.

Training in long sessions will be focused on steady state cardio. I know, I must be from a different day and age if I believe this to be necessary (and you’re busy people, how dare I?). But if you think that it’s ineffective as conditioning (we’re not talking fatloss) then you have a different thing coming. Doing over 90 minutes in a row will not only improve your conditioning and endurance, but will also vastly improve your mental toughness and body composition (there, I said it).

Short duration training is where HIIT will work best. There are literally thousands of routines scattered all over the web. It’s effective, efficient and to the point, which is what busy people are all about. It will be simple, not easy.

Frequency

This one you should be playing by ear, I’d love to say you’ll have to do X amount a week, but truth be told, this workouts should leave you gassed. But I still advocate for higher frequency. So, if you plan on doing 15 minutes per session, think about going 5 times a week with short duration workouts, and once a week for long sessions. I recommend doing 30 minutes of HIIT and 90 minutes of steady state workouts.

The recommended prescription is 3 HIITs + 1 steady state workouts per week.

The Busy People Workouts

I’ll put 3 protocols for you to follow. Even though most modalities can be adapted to them, I’ll put what I found to be the best to apply it.

On the top of every minute

Choose 1 or 2 exercises (that complement each other), and set a timer to announce the start of every minute. You’ll be doing a fixed set and rest what remains of the minute.

Progress: Every time you hit the amount of reps, add 1 to every set. Once you start getting only 20 seconds of rest, choose a harder variation or add weight.

Recommended: Kettlebell swings, snatches, bodyweight squats.

As Many Rounds As Possible

This popularized by Crossfit method is as effective and brutal as they come.

Pick a sequence of exercises that will cover your bases (a push, a pull, a hip hinge, a squat, a core). Set a timer for the allotted time and do between 3 and 5 reps per exercise. You’ll keep going through the circuit until the time finishes.

Progress: Take note of how many circuits you finished. Next time you’ll have to do more.

Recommended: Bodyweight exercises and Kettlebells will probably go a longer way. Pick variations/weights you can do 10 reps with and do 5 per set.

Sprint ladders

Effective as hell but they will beat you. Choose 3 different distances (30m, 60m, 100m (that’s meters)). You’ll sprint the first distance, return jogging to the start line; run the second distance, jog back to the beginning; sprint the third, walk back to the beginning and start over. Do this 5 times. You’ll feel amazing after it (well, maybe not directly after it, it may take some recovery).

Progress: just add ladders, or go by rungs. Ideally you’ll always go balls out and progress will be slow.

You may switch this for kb snatches or swings.

Kettlebell swing, conditioning, full body. Great for busy people

Kettlebell swings are probably one of the best conditioning exercises out there.

Long sessions.

Feel free to keep this as optional, and if needed do it on the weekend. Do 90 minutes of whatever you enjoy the most. Keep it light and keep it constant. Don’t stop before the 90 minutes are up.

What? No tabatas?

No. Hell no. What most people know as Tabatas are a watered down, bullshit ridden imitation of the protocol. There’s four reasons why I don’t put them here:

  1. The tabata protocol calls for 20 seconds of intense, balls to the wall, execution, and 10 seconds of active rest with lighter movement (like jogging is to sprints). Please tell me how you’re managing that with squats. I thought so.
  2. Chances are that, with the exception of sprinting, kettlebells (and I doubt most people can manage it) and a fixed bicycle, you won’t be able to go all out for twenty seconds.
  3. If you seriously can go more than one full out tabata workout, congratulations, you’re better off than probably 90% of the planet. But, doing “tabata pushups”, “tabata pull-ups”, “tabata squats” and “tabata crunches”(I did puke  little bit there), you should be an all star athlete. Seriously.
  4. Most people can’t really handle it. If you can do the tabata protocol (realistic ones, sprint or bikes) then go for it. Chances are you can’t.

No go beat yourself up!

Next one I’ll be discussing on how to get both strong and conditioned for busy people. But chances are you already know how!

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