2009 Workout Plan

A balanced exercise program that keeps you fit and looking good, suitable for long-term use.

Originally published 2009

The focus is on the morning exercises. Those are “required”, but you shouldn’t be spending more than 10 or 15 minutes on them. Evening activities are “optional”, and would involve some form of enjoyable movement for an hour or so, as often as you can manage it.

Note:
This article is an “exercise outline”. Fill in exercises you like in each category. (When I get set up to publish PDFs, I’ll put together an explanation of the exercises I do and sell it for a dollar or two.)

Basic Strength Training Schedule (three weeks)

Follow this schedule for 3 weeks:

Basic Exercises
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
am
Upper Body
Strength
Lower Body
Strength
“Cat Stretch” Yoga & Abs
Joint Rotations
& Obliques
Low Back &
Traps Strength
“Cat Stretch” Yoga & Abs
Joint Rotations
& Obliques
lunch
Walk 15 minutes in the sunshine, dine out, walk 15 minutes back.
Optional Activities
pm
Taiji
Cycle or Golf
eve
Irish dance?
Taiji
Run
Taiji?
Cycle?

Notes:

  • The stretch and rotation exercises are always done on the days scheduled.
  • If I’m engaging in vigorous exercise that day (or did so the day before), I may skip the exercises for that day, depending on how I feel.
    • For stretch and rotation days, that means I may skip the abdominal work.
    • On other days, it means I may skip the whole session.
  • Interestingly enough, some strength training in the morning and some walking in the afternoon seems to be fine for losing weight. I’ve been losing 1/2 a pound a day, or 3.5 lbs a week, with just those exercises and the right kind of diet (a subject for another article). When I add vigorous, long-duration exercises that make me sore, there doesn’t seem to be any affect at all on weight loss. (It’s good to be fit, so it’s worth doing. I’m just saying that it is not strictly necessary to look good and feel good.)

“Variety Training” Schedule (one week)

Follow a different schedule for a week to break things up (or simply take the week off). Here’s one schedule I have in mind:

MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
am
KB
Lite CB
Med CB
Hvy CB
Wrist Strength
“Cat Stretch” Yoga & Abs
Joint Rotations
& Obliques
other
 Same as before.

 

where:

  • KB = Kettlebell (35lbs)
  • CB=Clubbell
  • Lite CB=1..2 lbs
  • Med CB=10..20 lbs
  • Hvy CB=30..50 lbs
  • Wrist exercises cover the 6 ways to move the wrists, plus grip strength.

Note:
Those weights are for a reasonably fit, 200+ lb. guy. Adjust accordingly.

Vacation Weeks

Your body needs time off to recover and grow. Give it what it needs. You should definitely continue doing the stretching and joint rotations, and you can consider doing the abdominal work. But take a week off from everything else.

  • Do the series above twice, then take a week off.
  • After doing that twice, take two weeks off.
  • So the complete schedule looks like this (print and check off weeks as they’re done):
    1. Basic strength training
    2. Basic strength training
    3. Basic strength training
    4. Variety training
    5. Basic strength training
    6. Basic strength training
    7. Basic strength training
    8. Variety training
    9. Vacation
    10. Basic strength training
    11. Basic strength training
    12. Basic strength training
    13. Variety training
    14. Basic strength training
    15. Basic strength training
    16. Basic strength training
    17. Variety training
    18. Vacation
    19. Vacation
  • Rinse and repeat

Copyright © 2009-2017, TreeLight PenWorks

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