2009
Workout Plan

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

Eric Armstrong
TreeLight.com/Health

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:

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:

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 by Eric Armstrong. All rights reserved.
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