Strength

Weights – 10 minutes.

This part changes each of the three days in the week. Try legs on the first day, back/shoulders on the second and chest/arms on the third. At the beginning, I don’t think you should do more than 6-8 sets, but if you can manage 8-10 without wiping yourself out, go for it. Again, the goal is to get just enough of a workout to make you feel energized and ready to come back the next day.

I'll post a future blog on specific weight-lifting exercises, but I'm talking about the standard stuff most workout programs obsess over – squats and hamstring curls, rows or pull-ups, dumbbell raises, presses and bicep curls. Stick to the basics and you can’t go wrong.

Most workout programs focus too much on weights and not on the other two areas, but you do have to do them, especially if you’re interested in losing fat and building muscle. And hey, who isn't? People who say they only want to get "toned" are effectively saying they want to lose fat mass and gain muscle mass. That's how your muscles bulge out against your skin and make you look athletic, or toned.

Endurance

Cardio/fat burn – 20 minutes.

I like the elliptical machine, but you can use whatever you like. It should be low-impact and get your heart rate up to about 70% of your maximum. For me, that’s about 150 beats per minute. Bike, treadmill, jogging, whatever. Just make sure that whatever you’re doing doesn’t cause impact damage and that you don’t overdo it.

There are many advantages to doing your cardio first, primarily that it's a nice way to warm up your muscles and joints before the higher-impact weight and stretching sessions.

The Workout

To start out, plan to hit the gym three times per week. That’s it. Any more than that and you’ll likely get overworked and undermotivated. That might not seem like much, but talk to me after you’ve hit the gym three times per week for eight weeks straight. I bet you’ll have lost five pounds and are wondering where all this crazy energy is coming from.

The workout is pretty simple and divided into three parts. You’ll do these every day you go into the gym:

1. Cardio/fat burn – 20 minutes
   
2. Weights – 10 minutes
   
3. Stretching/abs – 10 minutes
   

Again, that’s it. Keep it manageable and you’ll keep coming back. Overdo it and you’ll find your brain giving you all kinds of reasons why it’s a good day to eat a cheeseburger at your desk.

What's Wrong with Most Workout Programs

The problem with most workout programs is that they’re designed to “Get X Fast!”. Get strong fast, get lean fast, get ripped fast, etc. Some of them actually work, but at the end of the program I’m usually physically and emotionally exhausted, often to the extent that I don’t want to go back into the gym.

This program is designed to be something you can work at gradually and put more time and effort into as your enthusiasm grows with your results. My philosophy is that what matters is that you do more good things (exercise, low-fat and low-sugar foods) than bad things (sitting on your ass, eating junk food).

We’re not monks, or at least I’m not. Some chili-cheese french fries and a milkshake are pretty nice every once in a while. However, if your bodyfat isn’t going down as quickly as you would like, it’s probably a good idea to cut back on the french fries and opt for a nice lean protein salad with low-fat dressing. Then, reward yourself with your high-sugar, high-fat treat once or twice a week.

What's this all about?

Some friends of mine at work asked me to write down the exercise program I've been following for the last couple of years. While I was working on that, I thought "Hey, this would be a great blog!". You may or may not agree, but here goes ...


This program is what’s working for me and is the result of therapy I began after my last back spasm, which was probably in 2005. I had lost as much as 30 lbs at one point, but now it’s more like 20 and I suspect that’s because I’m building muscle, although I haven’t had my bodyfat measured in a while.

The goals of this program are:

1. To improve fitness in three major areas:
   
   
   
   1. Endurance
      
   2. Strength
      
   3. Flexibility
      
   
   
2. To be really easy to remember.
   
3. To make you want to go to the gym.
   
4. To grow with you as your fitness level improves.
   
5. To do more good things than bad things.