Out of necessity, I much prefer a high-frequency exercise program because of my lifestyle constraints and personal preferences. Is it ideal? For me? Yes. For everyone? Probably not. For some? Possibly or possibly not. We each have to determine—for ourselves—what works for us.
Today, I want to share what I do and why. Let this be a guide and not an absolute. (May God strike me down if every I try to convince anyone that there are absolutes in exercise.)
I have a 54 mile commute to work (roughly an hour drive to and from campus). I have a 10-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old (soon to be 13) son. My wife is in sales and has a rather varied work schedule. I teach three 4-credit hour courses a term (12-hours in the classroom per week) plus office ours and research. I am typically on campus from before 9 AM to 2:30-3:00 PM. Honestly, I am fortunate, given my commute, that I have some flexibility of scheduling time to get my work done. (I often grade and prepare work in the evening while I wait for my kids to be done with sports practices.) I am up at 4-4:30 AM (most days) so can journal before working out at 5:00. I work out before 6 to be done for my wife to have an opportunity to work out. I then shower, get the kids up and going. Bus stop duty usually falls on me, so I am not on the road until 7:40. If I get out of work in a timely fashion, I can get home by 4 PM to work out before taking my son to practice (or pick him up in the case of middle school wrestling.) So, as perhaps the reader can see, I have two blocks of almost an hour to exercise on most days. I try my best to take advantage of these and still make time for family and other activities. I leave myself flexibility for life to happen.
Scheduling 10-12 blocks a week for exercise works for me. I can split a reasonable volume of exercise up and accomplish some reasonable goals. If, in all likelihood, something comes up—I don’t get enough sleep, oversleep, hit traffic, the kid’s schedules change, a student drops in at the end of my office hours, I have a meeting, etc.—I can adjust. Workouts can be shifted or condensed. If I skip a workout, it is a low-priority workout (e.g., a cardio workout). If a workout is shortened, I can do supersets to save time or cut something (e.g., stretching—don’t judge!). If I tried to schedule longer, less frequent sessions, I would likely come up short on accomplishing what I want/need to do.
So, how do I make use of 10-12 blocks? First, I consider my priorities: muscle strength/endurance, hypertrophy, cardiorespiratory endurance, body composition (fat loss), general motor skill-related fitness, and flexibility.
I shoot for 6-8 weight training session per week. I can always adjust to hit at least a maintenance workout, if I have to condense body parts. I tend to prefer a 2-3 day per week per body part split. Currently, because I am opting for higher volume sessions, I am doing 2-day splits: squats + press, deadlift/Romanian deadlift + rows, and bench/incline bench + calves–Sunday/Wednesday, Monday/Thursday, and Tuesday/Friday mornings, respectively. I do accessory training (e.g., biceps, triceps, trapezius, neck, etc.) one or two days a week, usually in an afternoon session. These are usually done on the days I schedule bench and calves. This is for two reasons: 1) bench and calves aren’t so strenuous (like squats and deadlifts) so the added volume is manageable, and 2) can easily condense the two workouts, if necessary.
This leaves me 4-6 sessions for cardio and HIIRT sessions. These allow quite a bit of flexibility, as they can be dropped or modified to accommodate for changes in the morning routine. Some days, morning weights get pushed to the afternoon and there is either no time for cardio or I do a higher intensity short cardio workout instead. Preferably, I do a couple MISS workouts a week and two Bulgarian bag/HIIRT workouts per week. Depending on how the weight training goes, I might add a HIIT workout (e.g., a 20-min “Tabata” workout on the cycle ergometer) after accessory work.
Flexibility work fits is there where I can make it fit—and as I need it or am so motivated to do it. I am inclined to start subbing a cardio workout for a yoga session. (We’ll see where that goes.)
One will notice that there is no mention of abdominals. This is for several reasons. First, I am not inclined to doing a lot of crunches and ab work, because I don’t prioritize a “six-pack”. Second, I am of an “opportunity costs” mindset. Strong abdominals (more specifically, a strong core) is required for stability and agility. Using the core to stabilize the spine during heavy squats, deadlifts, presses,… well, nearly every exercise, strengthens the core Additionally, I prefer more dynamic core exercises that emphasize the multi-directional acceleration and deceleration of movements. In my case, the Bulgarian bag training works for this. Others might use medicine balls or other tools. I can also accomplish some of this core work in the HIIRT exercises. I don’t find a need to spend 20-30 minutes or more doing abs. If I decide I want a six-pack, diet and cardio will help accomplish this.
I prefer a more undulated microcycle. Hence, I alternate workouts (i.e., my splits) between (sarcoplasmic) hypertrophy, (myofibrillar) hypertrophy/strength, and absolute strength intensities. Thus, I cycle between 5×12 at 65%, 6×7 at 75%, and 7×3 at 85% (I calculate working sets from 90% 1-RM). Thus, I move back and forth between high-volume/low-intensity and low-volume/high-intensity. For example, for a 345# 1-RM squat, the weights for the working sets would be 205#, 235#, and 265#, respectively (rounding to the nearest 5#). The corresponding volumes (weight x repetitions x sets) would be 12,300#, 9,870#, and 5,565#.
There are many ways to accomplish your goals. The only sure way is to do what works for you. What I have set above is what works for me. Adjust according to your schedule and preferences—more specifically, to your goals. Let this be a template for designing your individual exercise program. Keep in mind: opportunity costs and gains require effort. There are no shortcuts, but there are many paths to fitness. Baby steps!
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!