Designing Your Own Workouts

Given the above, I thought it was high time for me to put together a "done for you" resource which makes designing your own workouts a cinch. I’ve created a couple of templates for all of you, along with video play lists, which, hopefully, will allow you to put together your own workouts rather easily.

Before I present the templates I want to make it clear these full body strength training workouts are for healthy adults seeking to maintain and/or enhance their general muscular fitness. The majority of my demographic is comprised of adults from their mid 20’s into their 60’s who are simply looking for a practical fitness regimen which will allow them to maintain their muscle tissue (so their resting metabolism won’t slow down), keep their bodies functioning properly, prevent or reduce chronic joint pain, and decrease their chances of gaining excess weight as they age.

These workouts are not for bodybuilders, power lifters, high level performance athletes or the “extreme” fitness enthusiast. Although the templates and workouts could certainly benefit all of the aforementioned individuals at certain times, they are probably not optimal year round.

Ok, on to the templates:

Workout 1

1A. Upper Body Horizontal Pressing Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
1B. Lower Body Bi-lateral Quad Dominant Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
1C. Core Stability Exercise (lateral/rotary emphasis) 2 sets (time and/or reps are dependent upon your initial level of fitness)
*alternate sets of the A, B & C pairings in circuit fashion resting 1:00 between sets

2A. Upper Body Horizontal Pulling Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
2B. Lower Body Single Leg Posterior Chain Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
2C. Core Stability Exercise (anterior emphasis) 2 sets (time and/or reps are dependent upon your initial level of fitness)
*alternate sets of the A, B & C pairings in circuit fashion resting 1:00 between sets

3A. Upper Body Vertical Pressing Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
3B. Lower Body Single Leg Quad Dominant Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
3C. Core Stability Exercise (lateral/rotary emphasis) 2 sets (time and/or reps are dependent upon your initial level of fitness)
*alternate sets of the A, B & C pairings in circuit fashion resting 1:00 between sets

4A. Upper Body Vertical Pulling Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
4B. Lower Body Bi-lateral Posterior Chain Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
4C. Core Stability Exercise (anterior emphasis) 2 sets (time and/or reps are dependent upon your initial level of fitness)
*alternate sets of the A, B & C pairings in circuit fashion resting 1:00 between sets

5A. Upper Body Scapula Stability/Shoulder Prevention Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
5B. Lower Body Glute or Lateral Hip Emphasis 2 sets of 8-15 reps
5C. Bicep Isolation Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
5D. Tricep Isolation Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
*alternate sets of the A, B, C & D pairings resting about 30 sec. between sets

Workout 2

1A. Upper Body Vertical Pulling Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
1B. Lower Body Bi-lateral Posterior Chain Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
1C. Core Stability Exercise (lateral/rotary emphasis) 2 sets (time and/or reps are dependent upon your initial level of fitness)
*alternate sets of the A, B & C pairings in circuit fashion resting 1:00 between sets

2A. Upper Body Vertical Pressing Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
2B. Lower Body Single Leg Quad Dominant Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
2C. Core Stability Exercise (anterior emphasis) 2 sets (time and/or reps are dependent upon your initial level of fitness)
*alternate sets of the A, B & C pairings in circuit fashion resting 1:00 between sets

3A. Upper Body Horizontal Pulling Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
3B. Lower Body Single Leg Posterior Chain Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
3C. Core Stability Exercise (lateral/rotary emphasis) 2 sets (time and/or reps are dependent upon your initial level of fitness)
*alternate sets of the A, B & C pairings in circuit fashion resting 1:00 between sets

4A. Upper Body Horizontal Pressing Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
4B. Lower Body Bi-lateral Quad Dominant Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
4C. Core Stability Exercise (anterior emphasis) 2 sets (time and/or reps are dependent upon your initial level of fitness)
*alternate sets of the A, B & C pairings in circuit fashion resting 1:00 between sets

5A. Upper Body Scapula Stability/Shoulder Prevention Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
5B. Lower Body Glute or Lateral Hip Emphasis 2 sets of 8-15 reps
5C. Bicep Isolation Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
5D. Tricep Isolation Exercise 2 sets of 8-15 reps
*alternate sets of the A, B, C & D pairings resting about 30 sec. between sets

Choosing Exercises When Designing Your Own Workouts

Below, you’ll find video play lists containing numerous exercises for each category listed in the workouts above. All you have to do is choose an exercise based on your fitness level, personal preference, and the equipment you currently have access to. Most exercises do not require any specialized equipment or machines. I’ve tried to list a variety of exercises for each category which can be performed using barbells, dumbbells, resistance bands, cables and one’s own bodyweight.

For barbell, dumbbell and some of the cable exercises, fitness level really isn’t an issue: if you are a beginner, you’ll use lighter weights; if you are intermediate or advanced, you’ll use heavier weights. Some of the body weight and stability ball exercises presented and demonstrated are advanced, but there is certainly something for everyone.

Here are the links to the video playlists for each category for you to use when designing your own workouts:

Upper Body Horizontal Pressing Exercises

Upper Body Vertical Pressing Exercises

Upper Body Horizontal Pulling Exercises

Upper Body Vertical Pulling Exercises

Upper Body Scapula Stability/Shoulder Prevention Exercises

Upper Body Bicep & Tricep Isolation Exercises

Lower Body Bi-Lateral Quad Dominant Exercises

Lower Body Bi-Lateral Posterior Chain Exercises

Lower Body Single Leg Quad Dominant Exercises

Lower Body Single Leg Posterior Chain Exercises

Lower Body Glute or Lateral Hip Emphasis Exercises

Core Stability (Anterior Emphasis) Exercises

Core Stability (Lateral/Rotary Emphasis) Exercises

*BE SURE TO CHECK THE PLAYLISTS FREQUENTLY AS I SHOOT A LOT OF VIDEOS AND I’M ALWAYS ADDING NEW EXERCISES TO EACH CATEGORY…YOU’LL NEVER BE SHORT ON VARIETY.

Frequency of Workouts

These workouts are meant to be done 3 days per week in a rotating format with one day of rest in between each workout. So, for example, during week 1, you would do workout 1 on Monday, workout 2 on Wednesday, and workout 1 again on Friday. Going into the next week, you start with workout 2 on Monday, workout 1 on Wednesday, and workout 2 again on Friday.

Choosing Proper Resistance/Weight When Designing Your Own Workouts

For each exercise, you should select a resistance which is challenging for the number of repetitions you choose to perform on each set (anywhere from 8-15...it‘s up to you). Once you've selected an appropriate resistance (and, if you don't know, just go with a rough guess), there are a couple of ways you can go about performing your sets:

Option 1: do the heaviest set first and then reduce the weight for the 2nd set and try to get the same number of reps you got during the 1st set (or more).

Option 2: do the heaviest set first, keep the weight the same on the 2nd set, and try to get about half the reps you got on the first set.

Rotating Exercises & Variety

For workout 1, you should perform the same exercises for each category for 4 weeks. For workout 2, you should choose different exercises for each category than you chose for workout 1, and perform those exercises for 4 weeks. At the end of 4 weeks, choose entirely new exercises for each workout in each category (but different ones between workouts 1 & 2). This gives you 30 different exercises to perform each week, and 30 new exercises to perform every 4 weeks.

Record Keeping

You should log all of your workouts: the exercises performed, the number of sets, the reps achieved in each set, and most importantly, the resistance you used.  You can use a notebook, excel spreadsheet, your blackberry/iphone, your cell phone, etc. Whatever works for you. By keeping accurate records, when you switch to a new exercise, you’ll be able to refer back to the old exercise when you re-introduce it into your program. This approach allows you to effectively gauge long term progress.

Progression

Whenever you are able to achieve your goal number of reps on the 1st set of each exercise, I would advise increasing the resistance by 1-2%. Doing this may cause you to drop down a rep or two for the next workout, but that’s ok. Just stay with this resistance until you work your way back up to the goal number of reps. Alternatively, you can also keep the resistance the same and try to add reps using this same resistance. I personally don’t prefer this method, but that’s just me.

Whatever method of progression-weight or reps-you choose, you definitely need to try to do more work over time. You don’t have to try to progress every week or every workout…or on every exercise in your workouts for that matter…but an attempt needs to be made to get better over time. Also, as long as you pay attention to your exercise technique, you will not get hurt adding resistance to your exercises. I absolutely do not advocate altering your exercise form or body alignment in an attempt to do more work…you should EARN your progress and do things the right way. Getting sloppy and lifting heavier weights doesn’t mean you are getting stronger-do things the right way.

If you reach a level of muscular fitness you are happy with, feel free to stop progressing and just maintain (but don’t regress). Again, these workouts are meant for the adult population interested in achieving and maintaining adequate muscular strength and fitness. The goal of resistance training for adults, in my opinion, is to maintain lean muscle tissue-NOT to try to gain more muscle tissue (although this can happen and it's certainly not a bad thing). Maintaining the muscle you currently have can be done with workouts of a very modest intensity and progression scheme. Gaining muscle, which is hard for anyone to do in the first place, is a whole different ball game.

By just maintaining the muscle you already have, you can be assured your metabolism isn’t going to slow down as much as it otherwise would have. This means you are going to have an easier time maintaining your weight and fending off excess creeping weight gain as you age. This is the goal. Following these workout templates consistently will easily allow you to achieve this goal. Furthermore, you are going to remain functionally strong, have a body more resistant to both chronic and acute injury, and be able to engage in the activities you enjoy (golf, tennis, skiing, etc).

Length of Workouts and What to do If you are Short on Time

The workouts, as written above, should take about an hour or a little longer if you adhere to the rest periods prescribed. I understand many adults are busy and may not have an hour or more to devote to each workout. If you are running short on time, you can eliminate the 5A-5D series in each workout. If you are REALLY short on time, you can just do 1A-1C & 2A-2C tri-sets. This would provide adequate stimulation to all of the major muscular structures in your body.

Well, that’s about it. I hope you find this resource for designing your own workouts helpful. For those of you interested in trying to lose weight/fat, or, if you are just attempting to maintain a weight loss, be sure to check out my “Weight Loss 101” article series. Combining these workouts with the approach I outline in “Weight Loss 101” will leave you looking great, feeling great, and performing great in the game of life! Now, go get to work!