Working out; where to start!

So, your new years resolution is to exercise more; you want to get fitter, stronger, leaner. Although this often seems like a simple thing to do and in the excitement and hype of setting a new years resolution, heck nothing can stop you! But then when you sit down and think about it, you start to wonder how do I actually achieve this? What exercises do I do, how do I avoid imbalances, how do I train all the muscles in my body, reps and sets, sorry what!?

In this blog I’d like to present a simple workout format that is based on ‘primal’ or ‘functional’ movements, the type of movements that are useful in day to day life; movements and activities that humans should really be able to do to be fully ‘functional’ and make the most out of their bodies. By performing all these basic movements you are also able to hit all the different muscles around the body, so no need to worry about the complexity of ‘push pull split days’ or ‘agonist antagonist supersets’ and all that other fancy fitness stuff! This format works great for the gym newbie but can also be adapted for the advanced athlete in the general preparation phase of their periodisation program.

These movements are:

Squat

The fundamental movement that allows us to sit-stand and pick things up off the floor. Adding in some form of squat into your workout is easy, it can be done with just your bodyweight, holding a weight (be it by your sides or on your back), it can be done with two legs or one if you like a challenge, and can be made easier by holding onto something like a chair or door handle. You don’t have to go deep if its uncomfortable, you can always start small and work your way up.

Hinge

The hinge is essentially bending forward at the hips (think like taking a bow or bending forward to pick something up). The focus with the hinge should be movement that occurs at the hips, letting your bum glide backwards such that you maintain a natural arched curve in your low back throughout the motion. Again these can be done just using your bodyweight, or with a weight (like the deadlift). They can also be done with one leg just like how a golfer picks a golf ball out of a hole.

Lunge

The lunge is a common movement used to get down to the floor or into low cupboards. Many gardeners will use it to do the weeds, plus it’s the motion used when proposing to your soul mate! The lunge is a great exercise as it challenges your balance more than the 2 legged squat or hinge. Try adding some of these into your work out, you can lunge forward or backward, or even to the sides. These all challenge your leg muscles slightly differently. Again these can be done with or without a weight depending on what you have available.

Push

The push is used frequently throughout the day, be it pushing doors open, pushing yourself up out of a chair or off the floor, pushing a trolley, a play ground swing, or using a spade to dig a hole. Pushing activities include the push up and it’s many variations depending on your fitness level: against a wall, on a chair, on your knees or in full press up position. You can even alter how wide apart your hands are. If its uncomfortable on the wrists you can perform them on your fists, or put a rolled up towel under the heels of your hands to reduce the amount of extension in the wrists. Other variations of the push involve taking weights and pushing them above your head or lying on your back (à la bench press) or other bodyweight exercises like dips.

Pull

The pull is also used frequently throughout the day when opening doors, picking things up including kids, pulling heavy items around the garden or moving furniture. The pull motion involves the classic vain gym goer exercise, the bicep curl, as well as rowing, pull-ups or bent over rows (which can be done with a weighted rucksack).

BONUS: Carry

The carry is a great bonus that can help develop a strong, stable core that can enhance athleticism of the limbs. Your typical carry’s are the farmers carry (2 heavy objects held in both hands) or the suitcase carry (one heavy object held in one hand). Pick one of the options and aim to make it a challenging weight. Once loaded up you can perform laps or lengths of your room, garden or gym. Carry’s can be made more challenging by holding the items above your head or changing the speed at which you walk ahem slllloooowwweerr ;).

BONUS: Floor work

Floor work can be quite challenging for a novice exerciser as the floor is not typically a place we spend a lot of time on as modern humans, but, what if you have a fall, what if you have to crawl under a car, get down and play with children or a dog on the floor, reach for something under a table and so on, it’s a very important skill to maintain. Some of the easiest floor work you can do is variations of crawling which can begin on the knees (use carpet please) and progress to feet and hands (like a monkey). Floor walk can also be simply going from standing to lying, back to standing, to develop an ease of getting up and down from the floor quickly and efficiently. There are lots of fancy floor work exercises that can be done, as is seen in ‘animal movement’ exercises or Capoeira, but these are more fancy and fun ‘skills’ than anything inherently useful day to day. Start at a level that comfortably challenges you and progress over time as it becomes easy.

So, your simple workout format would be, following a basic warm up (pulse raiser and stretch), pick an exercise from each of the categories (squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, and the bonuses carry and floor work if you like), and perform each of them for a number of reps that you would rate at a challenge level of 7/10 (this typically equates to only having 3 reps left in the tank before you can’t do any more). For the novice gym goer aim to pick an exercise that challenges you at somewhere between 8-12 repetitions. You can either perform the exercises in a circuit fashion, going from one exercise to the next before repeating the same order again, or do the exercise for 8-12 reps, take a short break then do that exercise again, repeating as many times as you want (ideally 2-3 times) before moving onto the next.

The realm of fitness can be very complex, and although there is a lot more fancy stuff that can be done that would never fit in one blog post, this simple format is perfectly proficient at achieving enhanced all round fitness and health, and I hope it has been helpful to some of you. As always if you have any questions or you feel hindered from exercise because of pain or an injury, don’t hesitate to get in touch.