Elements of a Good Workout

Too many people wander about the gym or workout area without knowing whether their program is actually working or not. My advice is to always, always, always create and have a good plan. An exercise magazine workout is not what I would consider a "good plan".

When designing a quality workout protocol there are three main elements of a good workout to consider.

Progression- progression through movement patterns
Variety- help progression and keep the body challenged in different movement patterns
Precision- keep technique clean and accurate rep after rep no matter the movement

Then the workout according to time begins.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Russian Kettlebells are the single best piece of training equipment that will show you the most muscular strength and endurance, joint stability, cardiovascular strength and endurance, power, agility, coordination and simply the ultimate overall fitness conditioning that your body could ever receive. If there is one training piece of equipment that I can use for the rest of my life and never anything else again regardless if it was a sophisticated machine, tractor truck tire(for flipping), cables, ropes, dumbbells, barbells, medicine balls or whatever- the Kettlebell would be it! Kettlebells are, simply put, a tool. There are many tools out there and many roads to fitness. This is just one of those tools and will take you down a great, great road.

Sample Workout:

6 Minute One Arm Long Cycle (Clean & Jerk) Swing Set (3 min per arm)

3 Min. Single-Arm Press Set

1 Min. One-Arm Swings- R & L

Renegade Rows 20x(10R/10L) 1 Set

Planks as a finisher

Then:
8x Tabata Sprints on Treadmill
-4 min. of total sprinting. 20s sprint followed by a 10s rest times 8.

Optional:
1. 15x Pushups
2. 15x Diamond Pushup on MB
3. 15x Suicide Pushup
Take a 3 minute break and then perform it again if you can.

Cooldown:
-Always finish with some stretching and/or yoga.

In order to get good at something you must practice, practice, consistently practice. The body (brain and nervous system) remembers actions that it repeatedly performs. In order to improve and get better at something that action must be repeated. If you want to be good at basketball you must throw the ball at the net thousands of times. If you want to be good at swimming you must get wet and perform the strokes for thousand of laps. If you want your body to get strong and fit then you must practice movements and protocols that will make you that way. You must keep it consistent and keep it constant.

People who exercise only 2 or 3 times a week and expect to see changes are not going to see anything much at all compared to being active, even a little bit above what we normally do, every day. Being active and moving toward fitness strength takes consistent daily effort alongside an even stronger nutritional lifestyle. Eating 5-6 small meals a day will never accomplish this because every time you eat you spike your insulin which in turn stores fat. The only thing going for most people who abide by that eating plan is that they typically eat very few calories, but who wants the burden of counting calories? Not me! Of course I’ve previously written a lot more about nutrition so I won’t tangent off on that now.

I’ve given you a good mixture of things to do in the featured protocol. Remember to keep your intensity high during your workouts in order to experience all the benefits of efficient strength training. When you stretch out the time intensity lowers and you will never reap all the rewards or it will surely take you much longer to do so. If you want to know what I mean just go into any local gym and look around.

Most folks have been trying for years to get into shape, or that last bit of flab off, but can’t seem to do it. They even try different gyms hoping that will do something more, but of course that won’t work either. It’s not the venue- it’s the person and their protocol. Don’t be stubborn- be intelligent and learn to work that way too. Have fun and let me know about your progress.