Nutrition and fitness discussions between TLN Founder Phil LeClair and Correspondent Mike Davey.
Phil: Mike, you called very excited the other day to tell me about how great your new weight training routine is working for you. Please share with our TLN readers what you are doing now, and why it seems to be more productive than previous routines.
Phil: Mike, you called very excited the other day to tell me about how great your new weight training routine is working for you. Please share with our TLN readers what you are doing now, and why it seems to be more productive than previous routines.
Mike: Yes Phil, it was time to shake things up just a bit. I'd been in a rut with the workouts because I've always been guilty of sticking with what I'm comfortable with. However, after returning from vacation in December in the midst of the holiday season my enthusiasm for working out had reached a low point. Of course I wanted to work out and I did work out, but I felt like I was having too many uninspired workouts while seemingly fighting one nagging injury after another. Two clear cut signs of being in a workout rut.
So, two weeks ago I went completely outside of the box in my approach. I knew it was time to take a break from the chest/tri's, back/bi's, etc., routine. Sound familiar? Probably. I think we've all been doing that kind of routine since we first ventured into a gym! I've never had a routine of doing all upper body excercises in one day because I was afraid it just wouldn't be enough to sustain that burn you get from working out. I was sure it would feel like I just wasn't doing enough throughout the entire week. But feeling desperate to try something new and inject a little life into doing what I loved, I decided to give it a shot. Thank god I did. Read on for details on Mike's new routine!
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Yes Phil, it was time to shake things up just a bit. I'd been in a rut with the workouts because I've always been guilty of sticking with what I'm comfortable with. However, after returning from vacation in December in the midst of the holiday season my enthusiasm for working out had reached a low point. Of course I wanted to work out and I did work out, but I felt like I was having too many uninspired workouts while seemingly fighting one nagging injury after another. Two clear cut signs of being in a workout rut.
So, two weeks ago I went completely outside of the box in my approach. I knew it was time to take a break from the chest/tri's, back/bi's, etc., routine. Sound familiar? Probably. I think we've all been doing that kind of routine since we first ventured into a gym! I've never had a routine of doing all upper body excercises in one day because I was afraid it just wouldn't be enough to sustain that burn you get from working out. I was sure it would feel like I just wasn't doing enough throughout the entire week. But feeling desperate to try something new and inject a little life into doing what I loved, I decided to give it a shot. Thank god I did.
Basically my routine looks like this:
Day 1 - upper body
Day 2 - cardio 20 mins
Day 3 - legs/abs
Day 4 - cardio 20 mins
Day 5 - upper body
Days 6 and 7 - cardio one day, off the other.
What I have found is that I have more energy for the 3 days I'm hitting the weights and the burn I've been feeling has been the best I've felt in a long time. For each body part the reps go 12-10-8-6-12 (then 12 reps for the same body part but a different excercise). With only 1 minute between the majority of the sets it turns out to be a real intense workout, something I was lacking - big time. The cardio workouts are just enough to keep the momentum going between working with the weights, and I've also added extra ab days as needed. Two weeks into this routine I do not feel like I'm NOT doing enough. The burn/pump I'm getting from upper and lower body workouts are carrying me through nicely until it's time to do them again.
I look forward to seeing how I feel a month into this but so far I would definitely recommend it to anyone who feels they need to shake things up and shock their body!
Does that routine look familiar to you? It might, as it is the Body-for-LIFE routine made popular by Bill Philips. In my opinion it is certainly worth looking at if you're in a rut!
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