Here’s my fitness routine. But it doesn’t matter.
You ask, I deliver.
After last week’s newsletter, a few readers asked me to share my workout routine.
I’m happy to do it. But also reluctant.
Because it doesn’t matter.
What works for me right now is not what will work best for you. But if I discuss the philosophies behind my current routine, that might be helpful.
Please treat everything in this article as personal observation, not advice.
Why doesn’t your workout routine matter?
Here’s the big secret about effective strength training:
Bodyweight exercises work
Free weights work
Weight machines work
Even tensing your muscles—using no weight whatsoever—can work.
Everything works. Especially when you’re just starting out.
The key is consistency.
You have to create a program, or a variety of programs, that will allow you to show up over and over again.
That’s the secret sauce. Consistency.
Who the hell are you to talk about this?
An excellent question, or, if stated rhetorically, an excellent point.
I am not a doctor or a certified trainer.
I’m a guy who’s stayed active for 30 over years. I try new stuff. Now at age 48, I can look around and see I’m doing pretty well on the strength and leanness fronts.
That’s it.
Strength training: Why do you only use machines?
Because machines are most readily available to me.
There’s a small gym in our neighborhood community center. It’s a one-block walk. There is no excuse to skip and zero friction to getting there.
In other words: the easy access to machines fosters consistency.
Also, there’s some thought that machines may leave you less susceptible to injury--a huge consideration and goal for those of us huffing and puffing through middle age workouts:
Machines have less risk of injury because you're not freely moving a weight around, and you can give your aching body parts a rest," he says.
Take that with a grain of salt.
But—knock on wood—my only gym injury occurred when I was using poor form with free weights--and swinging around too much weight.
What’s your philosophy on reps and sets?
I like my strength training philosophy like I like my music: mostly from the 1970s.
Arthur Jones, the founder of Nautilus, created his high-intensity training (HIT) philosophy in the early 70s and I loosely follow his principles.
HIT emphasizes strict form and peforming sets to momentary muscle failure. Time-under-tension (TUT)--the time the muscle is at work--is critical. Intensity of effort, not the number of sets, is key.
Repetitions should be done slowly, with at least a three-count through both phases of the motion. No resting at the bottom of the lift. No locking out at the top.
Using this method, you’ll get--in theory--maximum results from a single set. (I do perform some extra sets for some lifts when I’ve hit a plateau.)
In short: work hard, briefly, and under strict control as you take the set to momentary muscle failure.
If you’re interested in learning more about high-intensity training:
Wikipedia has a detailed High-Intensity-Training overview
The book “The New High-Intensity Training” goes much deeper into the underpinning philosophies and science of HIT, and includes tons of potential exercises.
HIT can be done with machines, free weights, or bodyweight exercises.
OK, for heaven’s sakes, what is the strength training routine?
Upper body: Monday and Friday
Incline bench
8 or 9 reps X 240 lbs
10 X 170
Shoulder press
4 X 190
6 X 150
8-9 X 130
Bicep curls
7-8 X 150
4-5 X 160
Rope lat pulldown
7-8 X 140
Facepulls
10-12 X 90
-or-
Standing rows
10-12 X 130
Bar raises
9-11 X 170
Legs: Wednesday
Leg press
12 reps X 235 lbs. (warmup)
9 X 250
Calf raises
40-50 X 190
Leg extension
15 X 180
Leg curl
13 X 120
Rinse and repeat. I now incorporate a “deload” week--same routine but at lighter weights--every six-ish weeks to promote muscle recovery.
What about cardio?
For thirty years, I was a highly amateuer runner.
I started running in high school, so I wouldn’t get winded sitting on the bench as a mediocre football player.
After high school I kept going.
I’d run 4-6 days a week, usually 4-6 miles, lollygagging along at a 10-12 minute pace.
But recently some friends around me, fellow joggers, started getting hurt. Knee problems. All those miles pounding on the pavement, decade after decade--they began to weigh on me mentally.
My knees were fine. But my hips were stiff. I started to feel I was gambling with my future mobility.
As we reach middle age, we have to start considering our long-term mobility.
So I stopped jogging. A thirty-year habit, over. Cold turkey.
What happened?
You can read more about that here, but in short: I lost weight when I quit jogging.
Now my cardio routine looks like this:
Bike sprints: Tues-Thurs-Sat
30 second sprint, 20 second rest, 6 rounds. (You can read more about the benefits of sprint intervals here.
Walking: six days per week
Walk at least 4 miles, usually all at once, sometimes broken up into multiple sessions.
The holes in my workout routine
I don’t have it all figured out. And never will.
First, my flexibility is bad. Envision and apply the expected flexibility limits for a 48-year-old-guy.
I fit the stereotype.
I don’t have a reliable, consistent stretching routine. I’m working on that.
Secondly, my strength training isn’t optimized to work all the muscle groups I should be working. I probably need a coach or other outside input for that.
Third, I should vary my workout intensity as I age. It takes longer to recover from workouts now. I doubt I’m accommodating that very well.
I tend to do the exact same things every week. I’ve recently learned about deloading, and took an “easy week” last week. I plan to do this every six weeks.
The two most important takeaways
Hopefully, you see why my individual workout routines do not matter for you.
Please remember just two things:
First, consistency is 90% of the battle. Show up!
Second: experiment, carefully and safely, and probably, unlike my trials, under expert guidance.
We’re not all the same. We need to build different workout routines that address both our physical and mental needs.
Crafting a program you’ll do over and over is so important. And that looks a little different for all of us.
Now I’m off to the gym. It’s a block away. No excuses.
Thanks to Florian Maganza and Cam Houser for their edits and insights on this essay.