Barbara Keller 
What’s the best workout plan for you?
Do you know?
It’s okay if you don’t.
In fact, a lot of other people don’t. Like not even professionals. There’s a lot of debate on what the “best type of workout” there is.
Gretchen Reynolds had actually written about what the best exercise is in the New York Times.
A variety of exercises, ranging from the butterfly stroke in swimming, the squat, high intensity exercise, burpees, and even brisk walking were thrown into the mix.
Now mind you, all the people in this article are smart as hell. Like, well respected health professionals who have been studying the best way to take care of the human body for their entire careers.
And none can come up with the “right” answer.
So then, what is the best type of workout for you?
Well, the reality is that all those exercises mentioned above have their own benefits.
There isn’t one up there that isn’t good for you.
It really all depends on you.
Since you’re a modern professional though – you probably need a kick ass workout in a short amount of time.
Your schedule is packed, but you still need to look and feel good at the same time.
Word up. I feel ya.
So today I’m going to go over three tips to let you, the modern professional, know that your workout plan is the best for you.
Dealing with a packed schedule along with having to look and feel great at the same time is tough. So here are the guidelines to let you know that you’re covering all your bases:
- Conditioning
- Strength
- Efficiency
Conditioning
Really?
You’re putting this first?
Coming from the guy who advocates lifting heavy?
I know, hear me out though.
Chris Shugart wrote a great article on T Nation about the benefits of conditioning over cardio. And just to clarify the difference – conditioning is an intense amount of work in a short amount of time. Cardio, is a steady amount of work over a long amount of time. You can read my thoughts on why running doesn’t make you sexy, I won’t get into it here. Essentially, Chris is talking about high intensity interval training.
Some women might read the article and say it’s the workouts are a bit manly for them. Agreed, the publication is a bit meathead, I’ll give you that. However, that doesn’t undermine the benefits of conditioning for females. Or the results that you’ll get from it either.
Quite honestly conditioning is the perfect fit for the life of a modern professional. Spending less time in the gym, getting a healthy and sexy body, all while fitting everything else that that’s going on in life into your busy ass schedule.
The benefits that you receive from conditioning are awesome. And that’s an understatement.
- You increase your basal metabolic rate
- You burn fat rapidly
- You change your body composition
Why?
Because conditioning allows you to do A LOT OF WORK in a VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF TIME. You just rest up and get after it again for a short time period. Short being 15 to 20 minutes.
Another reason I’m a big fan of conditioning is cause you can do it anywhere. In the gym, the comfort of your own home, one time I got in early to my office and did a quick conditioning workout.
Just playing.
Unless you think that’s cool . . .
Whatever, enough about me.
The more important thing is this – it’s a great way to know that the type of workout you’re doing is best for you. Primarily because of all the benefits that come along with it.
Here are some ideas to get you more conditioned:
- Do as many burpees as you can in 10 minutes. Just got your workout for the day in.
- Sprints (bonus points if you can do them up a hill or on sand). Go hard for 15 to 30 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, go hard for another 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat this for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Jump Rope and fast. Go for 60 seconds, rest up for 10 and then keep getting after it.
Those are just a few ideas, but enough to get you going. Try it out!
Strength
Obviously.
Wasn’t going to leave this out.
It’s an important part of any workout program you’re doing because you build muscle. And building muscle helps you to get lean and sexy.
So lift heavy. That goes for you ladies too.
Preferably with a barbell. A barbell that has a lot of weight on it.
Now if you don’t have a barbell set up in your garage, or don’t have access to a gym, or maybe you just don’t want to pay for a gym, or maybe you just can’t lift heavy (for some medical reason) – it’s cool.
Work to do more repetitions with your body weight. You’ll still get stronger.
The benefits of incorporating strength into your program?
- You increase your basal metabolic rate
- You burn fat rapidly
- You change your body composition
You can do the conditioning aspect during or after your strength workout. I’d highly recommend NOT doing it before your strength session.
Here are some ideas to get you stronger:
- Try lifting a certain weight on one exercise (i.e squat) for 3 sets of 5. Once you hit your 5th rep on the 3rd set, tack on another 5 lbs. to the total weight you are lifting during your next session. Make sure you do only compound movements – essentially it’s Mark Rippetoe‘s Starting Strength Program.
- Do (insert number of reps here) of (insert bodyweight movement here) and continue to add one more rep each time. Your last rep should be FAR from easy to finish.
Efficiency
You’ll notice that I put in the same benefits for conditioning and strength twice. The reason being is that you want to burn calories and get a workout even when you’re not working out. It’s key to maintaining a sexy, lean, and healthy body in life of the modern professional.
Raising your basal metabolic rate helps you to keep your metabolism up even while resting. Which in turn burns calories when you’re doing something as simple as sitting down. Or better yet, doing nothing.
Burning Fat Rapidly helps you to focus on burning fat and nothing else. When you are working at a high intensity, either by doing a lot of work in a small amount of time or lifting a lot in a small amount of time, your body is forced to burn fat and nothing else. I do want to preface that there can be a line in which this isn’t true, but for the most part you’ll be burning fat.
Changing your body composition helps you to get the gains you really want. Instead of worrying about losing weight and getting skinny, you’ll get muscle and curves in all the right places. You’ll be lean, strong, healthy, and sexy.
Can’t beat it.
Is that it though?
Just get conditioned, strong, and be efficient?
It’s not.
There is one more important factor in knowing how your workout plan is best for you.
And surprisingly it’s got everything to do with you.
It’s to . . .
Have fun.
Steve Kamb, author of Nerd Fitness wrote a great post on how to determine your perfect workout plan. Though I totally agree with Steve that the most important factor is follow through, it’s really about you having fun.
Having fun determines follow through. Because having fun is something you look forward to getting done.
Chilling by yourself after a long week of work.
Going on a date.
Going out with friends.
Those are fun activities that you want to do. You’re never not looking forward to meeting new people, vegging out by yourself, or just kicking it with buds. The same should apply for fitness.
I enjoy working out. However, I’m always looking forward to chilling with my friends at the gym and working out with them. It’s an additional incentive to ensure I get a workout in.
There are so many exercises that Gretchen stated above that incorporate, or can incorporate the 3 tips we went over today. Pick one, any one, and get to it.
So really, what’s the best workout plan for you?
One that makes you more conditioned, stronger, is efficient, and most importantly . . . is fun.
Only you’ll know that.
Get after it this weekend and most importantly – have fun!
Thanks for reading and talk to you guys soon,
