Workout Schedules
Written by Mike Cheliak on June 9, 2009 – 12:10 pm -We all lead busy lives and I am no different. This time of year for me is fantastic. I am busy all the time from May – June shooting dance studios and sports leagues. I try to get most of the 6000 kids photographed before school is out so I can have everything processed, packaged and 
delivered by mid-July. Triathlon season is also in swing from the first week of June so all my weekends are pretty much spent travelling and shooting.
This leads me to today’s little post. I usually try to workout with weights on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with some alternate stuff on Tuesday and Thursday (biking, a light jog, yard work, stretching, body-weight complexes…). Yesterday (Monday) was just way too busy for me getting caught up after the weekend Triathlon so I wasn’t able to get to the gym.
Instead of blowing the day off, I “unplugged” and did a series of bodyweight complex circuits for 30 minutes. The basic idea is to take a group of complimentary exercises and combine them (upper, lower, core…) into a circuit. Complete the circuit, rest a minute and repeat as many times as you can in 30 minutes. It is a great workout and a nice way to break up the work day.
Today I got back into the gym and started my Monday, Wednesday, Friday routine except I will work it on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It really doesn’t matter what day, as long as you set a good regimen with ample rest between heavy days. I lift fairly heavy but use a simple method in the gym.
First is that I am out in around one hour including warm up and stretching, second is that I don’t spend a lot of time between sets (1 minute rest), third rule is to try to do super-sets with all your exercises. I have started doing a core exercise after each main movement. The final rule is to keep it simple and to use mostly compound exercises.
I do a set up like this.
1 Push – (Shoulder press, military press, bench press, DB press, dips)
1 Pull - (Chin-up/Pull-up, bent over row, DB row, pull downs, cable rows)
1 Big – (Squat or variation, Dead-lift or variation)
1 Small (Single movements like Bicep curls, calf raises, Leg extensions/curls, Triceps push-downs…)
Between every set (except the squats or dead-lifts) I do a core exercise such as plank, side plank, mountain climbers, Stability ball pike or roll-out or any other exercise that makes you stabilize your core.
The other thing to keep in mind is the variation of angle and alternating to one handed movements like one handed incline presses or one handed dumbbell movements. I have followed the Turbulence Training program for a while now and believe me; IT WORKS!. It has also given me enough confidence to build my own routines that work best for my body type.
The final piece of the puzzle are the intervals. I don’t do any steady state cardio aside from light jogging or biking. All my work is done in 10-20 minutes of intense work/rest interval training. I work 8 out of 10 for 30 seconds and rest for a minute usually but do variations on that. I also switch between treadmill sprints, spin bike sprints and body-weight or dumbbell/kettlebell swings.
Variation is key to ensure your body doesn’t adapt and keeping this type of program is great because the variations are almost endless.
Today’s workout went like this…
5 minutes on the treadmill light jogging followed by ballistic stretching movements for another 5 minutes.
Each set is preceded by adequate warm-up sets (usually 50% of your real set weight). Once you have warmed up, each main set is done in 5 sets. On heavy days I do 25 total reps for each movement on medium days I do 40 and on Light days I do 60.
HEAVY DAY (5 sets of 5 reps)
DB Chest Press – 110 pounds
CORE – Plank (30 seconds)
Weighted Chin-ups – 45 pound weight added
CORE - X-Body mountain climbers (10 reps each side)
Squats – (365 pounds) – I usually do at least 3-4 warm up sets using progressively heavier weight
DB bicep curls – 50 pounds
CORE – Stability Ball roll-out (12 reps)
INTERVALS – Treadmill – warm-up for 2 minutes then ramp up for 30 seconds (11mph) and slow for 1 minute (4 mph), repeat 6 times and then cool down for 2 minutes.
LIGHT STRETCHING – about 5 minutes of light stretching variations working upper and lower joints.
This type of weight training is not for novices, it is a considerable program for more advanced lifters. You should always get a personal trainer to show you the correct way of doing all exercises but especially the heavy movements like dead-lifts and squats. Correct form is everything with these movements and doing them incorrectly can lead to SERIOUS injury!
In happiness and health as always…
Mike C.
Posted in Mike's Posts | 1 Comment »
By Arthur on Jun 9, 2009 | Reply
Yes, that’s an excellent post on workout routine. I’m going to be focusing on school/work next year, so I’ll probably follow something similar. Triathlon doesn’t leave much time for strength work, but really, the best way to get into shape is resistance training!