If you're struggling to exercise consistently, I suggest the following:
Train – a little bit – every day.
Make exercise convenient and sustainable.
Keep the training sessions brief. 15-30 minutes per day.
Don't worry about going near failure.
Don't worry about doing lots of volume.
Just focus on showing up and checking the box of exercising for 15-30 minutes every day.
If you train daily for 90 days, you'll develop a habit – or a positive addiction, even.
THEN you'll have more luck training hard 3-5 days per week without constantly falling off the wagon.
Going from the couch to hardcore gym rat can be overwhelming.
Rather than taking that huge leap, break it up into shorter, more sustainable daily habits.
A 7 day schedule could be something like the following:
Day 1: upper body – 2 sets of pushups, dumbbell bench press, or overhead press; 2 sets of pullups, pulldowns, or rows; 2 sets of bicep curls; 2 sets of tricep extensions
Day 2: legs – 2 sets of body weight squats or goblet squats; 2 sets of kettlebell swings or leg curls; 2 sets of lunges; 2 sets of calf raises
Day 3: 10 minutes of kettlebell swings, cleans, or snatches – doing 5-10 reps per set, every minute on the minute
Day 4: upper body again
Day 5: legs again
Day 6: 10 minutes of kettlebell swings, cleans, or snatches – doing 5-10 reps per set, every minute on the minute
Day 7: ride a spin bike or do another 10 minute kettlebell swing, clean, or snatch EMOM.
This is just an example.
The point is this:
Do something every day. Keep it short. Don't worry about taking your sets near failure at this stage in the game. But, definitely do so if you feel like it.
Then, come right back to workout the next day, even if you're sore. Just take the following day lighter/easier.
What we are trying to do in this situation is build the habit of exercise so that you stop jumping off and on the wagon so many times without making real progress.
Ease yourself onto the wagon and stay comfortable there by showing up daily and building confidence and enjoyment while simultaneously building the habit.
Over time you can increase training duration by doing more volume, more exercises per session, or simply using a higher intensity (training closer to failure for 2-3 sets per exercise) which would necessitate longer rest periods between sets.
The next step I recommend is the following plan:
Sunday: Kettlebell EMOM
10 minutes of kettlebell swings, cleans, or snatches – doing 5-10 reps per set, every minute on the minute
Monday: Upper A
Ex 1: kettlebell military press variation (single arm, see-saw, 2 arm MP)-2-3x5-10
Ex 2: pullups-3x5-10
Ex 3: flat DB bench press or deficit pushups-2-3x6-12 (2-3 x failure if pushups)
Ex 4: incline DB curls-2-3x6-12
Ex 5: cable pushdowns-2-3x10-20
Tuesday: Lower A
Ex 1: Bulgarian split squats-2-3x6-12
Ex 2: leg curls-2-3x10-15
Ex 3: reverse lunges-2-3x6-12
Ex 4: calf raises-2-3x12-20
Wednesday: Kettlebell EMOM
10 minutes of kettlebell swings, cleans, or snatches – doing 5-10 reps per set, every minute on the minute
Thursday: Upper B
Ex 1: incline DB bench press-2-3x6-12
Ex 2: single arm rows or gorilla rows-3x6-12
Ex 3: cable lateral raise or unilateral KB upright rows-2-3x10-15
Ex 4: standing DB curls-2-3x6-12
Ex 5: cable overhead extensions-2-3x10-20
Friday: Lower B
Ex 1: curtsy lunges or front foot elevated (FFE) reverse lunges-2-3x6-12
Ex 2: single leg RDL or 1 hand swings-2-3x10-15
Ex 3: front foot elevated (FFE) split squats-2-3x6-12
Ex 4: calf raises-2-3x12-20
Saturday: Kettlebell EMOM
10 minutes of kettlebell swings, cleans, or snatches – doing 5-10 reps per set, every minute on the minute
The upper body and lower body sessions are designed to take around 30-40 minutes per session. That's 4 days per week of hard, high intensity lifting and 3 days per week of short, athletic, ballistic kettlebell training that will help improve your cardiovascular conditioning.
I also recommend walking 7,000+ steps per day.
There you go. That's a free plan that you can take and make great gains with and develop a healthy habit of productive exercise. Please follow it and let me know how it goes. I'm always here to lend support.
Thanks.
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