Basic exercise guidelines

Feeling de-motivated right now? Feeling like every day is Armageddon day? You’re not alone. Unusual circumstances have everyone confused and bewildered as to what the next step is. One thing is for sure, exercising is still good for you. I firmly believe there is nothing better than physically challenging the body. It will provide a positive knock-on effect to your whole life. If you are a regular exerciser or gym-goer, you know what I am on about. But there is a good chance that your feel like you are regressing at a rate of knots because of this no-gym fiasco. Before we spiral into a negative mental loop, let’s back up, not all is lost. 

What is needed to be healthy?

The basic guidelines around exercise are as follows: 30-60 mins X 5 days

Whether it is fat loss, cardiovascular health, muscle gain or a combination of these, this is a good starting point. When you first learn to drive you normally start in a car park and learn to use the clutch and progress to the road and so on. You wouldn’t jump straight into Mondello Park. Exercise is no different. Nail 5 days of 60 mins before we need to start specialising in anything. Even for anyone who has become focused on a set goal in recent times, this offers a good reference point to come back to the basics. Likewise, if you have found your routine shaken up then maybe look at taking a step back the guidelines before looking to go forward. Having a good all-round base is very much under-valued. Becoming a specialist in any one area has its drawbacks, never forget that the peak is only as good as its base. 

Off the pity pot and into action. Make exercise an attainable part of your day and you will never look back. In the current climate, where gyms are closed, there has never been such a wide variety of training modalities happening. Whether that is using children as weights or squat racks made of chairs, neither of which I endorse but do find funny. The point is that people are making sure they are getting their exercise in, and they are doing so because they value and prioritise their health. This level of prioritising comes with practice. Eventually this prioritising will merge into discipline and once you have discipline you will be unstoppable. Motivation comes and goes; discipline is what the guys training 30+ years have. That’s what we are all aiming for. Here are 3 thoughts that can serve just about anyone. Even if you are on the more experienced side of the spectrum, you can take value from this approach. If you are lost right now and feel like you are getting un-fitter by the day. Start with these 3 simple steps and you will be back on the road to success. 

1)    Frequency of Exercise. Recommended frequency is 5 days. The more exposure to good exercise protocols the better for our health. It doesn’t say a 2-hour Sunday stroll and then forget about it till next week.  Frequency is key. Regular exercise is massively important to a healthy life. Small frequent doses will serve us better than random bursts. By exercising regularly, we are ingraining a habit of exercise. Forging a habitual and repetitive relationship with exercise is without doubt one the biggest factors to long term success. Discipline comes from habits. Have a plan made out that spans over 5 days and stick to it. Greasing the groove is a term used by a Russian Kettlebell Coach Pavel Tsatsouline. Simply it translates to not fully exerting yourself in each session, but more so an 80% and repeating that same intensity gain. The winning comes in the accumulation!

2)    Vary The Components of Fitness. There are several components but the big 5 are muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility and body composition, there is a few more thrown in but to keep it simple well focus on these.  Hitting the road for a 5km run 5 days per week is going to take its toll on the body, and more negative than positive I would imagine. Solely focusing on one aspect (if general health is the aim) might leave you short on other sides. The simplest approach would be to take one aspect per day, Monday is strength day, Tuesday is flexibility and so on. If you can put 60 mins of honest intelligent exercise into each component, you will be in a great place.  You can also merge the days to allow you maximize the session; “Muscular Mondays- strength & endurance” has a nice ring to it! Using your imagination can allow you get more bang for your buck timewise. 

3)    Minimum Necessary Dose. What is the absolute minimum required to stay healthy? If you are genuinely that time restricted, which I doubt you are, we can still get some work in. If you are just not feeling exercise today, what is the bare minimum to keep on top of your progress? Put aside 30 mins every day and really focus on a high-quality session with minimal rest. This is probably the reason HIIT is so popular. Get out the stopwatch and put a plan in place. 30 min x 5 = 2 ½ hours a week. Over a year its 130 hours. Can you afford to ignore 130 hours of exercise? If you believe you can get nothing from 30 mins, you haven’t exposed yourself to a proper coach. Certainly not one of my conditioning sessions. . . . . .  Some days you will feel amazing, really get after it then but on the days, you are not feeling so hot then just get the minimum necessary dose.

“Be grateful you have an opportunity to try”

Sample Weekly Breakdown

Monday: 60 min Full Body Strength Session. (Main Focus = Squat) 

Tuesday: 30 min Jog/Walk Combo. (Jog for 3 mins, walk for 3 mins x 5) 

Wednesday: 45 mins Flexibility Session (Static Stretching/Yoga)

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 60 min Full Body Strength Session (Main Focus= Bench Press/Push Up)

Saturday: 45 min Muscular Endurance Session (HIIT Style session, high reps and short breaks with lots of sweating!) 

Sunday: Rest 

Step 1: Assess. What does your current schedule look like and from that make adjustments that will prompt a positive response in the body. Don’t go from no training to 5 days per week, of if you are making sure it is at low intensity. Be honest with how your current schedule looks right now, not pre-Covid. Take stock of what the past few weeks have looked like and plan for the next few. 

Step 2: Where is the low hanging fruit? Where can you most easily progress? Maybe you are doing tonnes of walking right now; great your cardiovascular health is loving you! Maybe throwing in some strength and flexibility training sessions will help compliment the walking. Design a week of exercise that will promote a more holistic approach to being healthy, not just one aspect. 

Step 3: Action. Put it into action. It doesn’t have to fancy or frilly. Set out a weekly schedule and go after it. Include aspects that are challenging but don’t forget aspects of fitness that you enjoy. Adherence is the single most important ingredient to a healthy lifestyle.

Enjoy the gains, you deserve them : )