A Balanced Fitness Life

I’ll admit I’m pretty intense when it comes to fitness training. Since I’m an avid hockey player who won’t settle for anything less than elite (in beer league lol), I tap into all types of training to help my game. But it amazes me when I talk to people and they only do one style or one thing. They do the same thing over and over again (which is insanity by the way), and expect either different results, or just get bored and say fitness isn’t for them and quit. I get it, jack of all trades, master of nothing can exist if you’re a professional in your trade. But not as just a casual person wanting to get/stay fit and keep your routine from boring the crap out of you. If you’re into fitness or getting into trying to be a healthier you, variety is the spice of life.

When I started in fitness almost 16 years ago, I wouldn’t have thought I would be even more into all this 16 years later at age 32. I was just starting with some push ups for the girls to notice me. But one of my secrets to staying motivated is adding spice to my journey. Ever since those early days in my room as a kid, I was always trying new things. I was doing internet videos for abs, running at the track, doing weights at school, playing sports like soccer and baseball, and even dipped in gymnastics for a while.

Point is, I started early trying different types of training. Always trying to see what could make me better. It kept me always motivated to start that new program, move or style. To get better results, you have to keep your body guessing with not only a progressively harder challenge, but something different too.

Here’s what I get into on a weekly basis and why.

Calisthenics:
Body weight training is a lot of fun. There is never a finish line. And what can be done with the human body is amazing. Just take a look at any social media with #calisthenics as a hash tag and you will see what I mean.

However, calisthenics, has great benefits. It allows you to do what your body weight is. No need to hammer on the weight. If you want a good workout, you can put together a solid circuit of push pull in no time. With easy mods to make it for you and your current level.

It also is not very hard on the body. It’s good for recovery if you have a nagging injury that seems to always be aggravated with weights. When I started with calisthenics, I had terrible shoulder, wrist and joint pain from years of heavy lifting. But as soon as I was training with calisthenics it all healed up within a few months and I haven’t had any issues since. It helps keep your joints strong and all the small connective tissues and muscles you don’t use when your doing regular weight training. It also is really fun trying to progress to something like human flags.

Barbell Training:
This is where you should really take a look at your routine, as per another blog post, I always do barbell work. usually 2-3 times per week in a push pull splits. Muscle always follows strength and barbell work is where you can progress the fastest. The stronger you can get here, the more muscle you will build.

I learned about strong lifts doing an internet search years ago and its one of my fav all time ways to train. Its a very basic program. As a secondary method though. I don’t recommend such small volume a few times a week as your only training if you’re serious about strength. But add it on top of what you are already doing, and you will see some great results. I have modified barbell training to fit my new ideas ,but I got the basics from strong lifts. Add a barbell move per muscle group. Bench, row, curl, skull crusher, squat. 3 sets, progressive weight as heavy as you can 3-5 reps. GOOD form. Always.

Yoga:
Yoga is one of my loves. I discovered it late as I was one of those guys thinking it was only for women ( sorry ladies uneducated ), but boy was I wrong. Yoga is amazing. I practice 2 times per week. Wednesdays and Sundays. What you get from flexibility and calm Zen like workouts is unmatched. Everything I do has improved because I do yoga. Your muscle and mind will thank you.

One recommendation is keep the marathon hot yoga sessions of 120 minutes to the experts. I do only 30 minute sessions for a nice sweat stretch and leg workout and move on. Keep it short so you aren’t dreading it. 30 minutes is more refreshing then long sessions, but once you start pushing an hour I find it loses its benefits.

Cardio cross training:
Like Insanity. I’m sure everyone has heard of insanity (or P90x by now) so I won’t get into the details. But these type of home video workouts are legit. They are not Richard Simmons DVDs. These are hardcore workouts design as cross training high intensity interval style training. You may think you are in shape until you do one of these workouts. Throw them in your routine and you will be sweating! I do them 3-4 days per week to stay both lean, but also keep my cardio up for hockey. My favs being insanity asylum, p90x 3, body beast from Beachbody.

Between yoga, home DVDs, barbell training and calisthenics through the week my schedule is pretty full, some may even think it is a bit nuts, but for me it’s my passion. But you don’t need to schedule 21 workouts in 7 days to get the benefits. Just adding one yoga session, or 2 barbell workouts, or one DVD per week to your regular training routine ( whatever that may be ) will help keep you motivated and your results coming.

Don’t be someone who thinks there is only one be all to end all for fitness and working out. There is not one recipe. There are so many types and styles of training you can spend a life time trying and experimenting, which is half the fun. Just do a quick search and you will find someone else’s ideas on how they train. Try something new and you may just find your new fitness passion.