Exercise is one of the key elements of the “Health Circle.” I believe it is the second most important proactive thing you can do to maintain your long term health (nutrition is first in my opinion and experience). In achieving your richest life possible, exercise is simply not optional. It has to be intentional, unless you are one of the few people who get a substantial amount of exercise in your work-life.
On this page, I’ll share with you what I do on a regular basis to stay fit. While I do not coach health or fitness, I did at one point receive a very high level personal training certification for my own educational benefit. That has played a role in how I workout, which has evolved over the 30 plus years I’ve been doing it.
I workout on average six days per week in the gym, and also lead a very active lifestyle where I am kayaking, rowing a boat, playing with my dogs, or walking many miles in the water with a crab net, many days in the week. The gym work takes time and discipline. You have both and there are few things you could discipline yourself to do that would reward you more than dedicating this time.
I workout on average an hour per day. This consists of 30 minutes of resistance training and 30 minutes of aerobic exercise most days. I used to workout twice this long, but found that I could maintain a high level of fitness in less time doing what I currently do. The majority of my training is body weight exercices.
In General:
I am a fan of working out in the morning. After I get up, take care of the dogs, have some quiet time (spiritual and reflection), and my morning pre-workout concoction, I head to the gym. Working out in the morning ramps up metabolism and energy for the day and is also great for centering and mental energy.
5 Days per week are resistance, core, and cardio. One day is cardio and stretching. One day is rest. I superset most of my workouts so there is very little rest during the hour.
Monday and Wednesday:
This is the day I work chest/shoulders/triceps. I also mix in some leg work (I do very light leg work) and core work. A Typical superset is pushups, then legs, then dips, then core. No rest in between each exercise, and then 30 seconds of rest between sets. Most days I do what I call “7s” which means I do at least seven full supersets and in the case of this workout day, eight of the pushup/legs/dips.
Typical Mon/Wed: 25+ Decline Pushups (4 sets), 25+ Dips (8 sets), 12-16 Walking Lunges with 15lb. dumbbell in each hand (4 sets), 25+ Fly Pushups (4 sets), 15 Calf-raisers with 25 lb. dumbbell in each hand, 150 Core Crunch blend of bicycles, straight crunches, and oblique side touches (7 sets). Then finish up with 30-40 minutes of cardio on an exercise bike using intervals where I pedal steady with medium resistance for the first five minutes, then each odd minute, starting at the five minute mark, I sprint for 30-45 seconds.
Decline Pushup
Fly Pushup
Dip
Occasionally, I will mix in some cable exercises and machines that work the same muscle groups.
Here is a recorded workout you can model if you’d like at home:
Tuesday and Thursday:
These two days the focus is on back, biceps, and lats. Again I mix in some sort of light leg work and also core. I use the “7s” concept here as well with supersets. The sets consist of wide grip pull ups, chin ups, air squats with a hold at the bottom, and the core crunch blend.
Typical Tues/Thurs: Pyramid set of alternating chin ups and pull ups with ten second rest in between (example: 6 chins, 7 wide pulls, 8 chins, 7 wide pulls, 6 chins), 3 deep air squats with a ten second hold at the standing seated position, 150 core crunch blend (7 sets). There is no rest in between except for the movement to the next thing. Then finish up with the same cardio as above.
Occasionally I will mix in a day with machines instead, but for this work out day that is rare. Instead, the way I mix it up is change how I’m doing the chins and pulls. Some days, I’ll do straight sets of 20-25 chins or pulls, then legs (which I also mix in hip work sometimes), then core. All in all, a typical day will have on the low side 150 pull ups and chin ups, and on the high side 250-300. If you are new to chin ups and pull ups and want to incorporate them into what you do (because they are phenomenal for you physically) you can start with machines that assist you in doing them so you can work up to your full body weight.
Chin up
Wide grip pull up
Here is an outdoor modified pulls/chins workout you can model:
Friday: This is normally a cardio and stretch day. 45-60 minutes on an exercise bike, either interval or steadily increasing the resistance. Then 15 minutes of stretching.
Saturday: Supersets that are a mixture of all muscle groups. An example might be pull ups, dips, legs, chin ups, pushups, legs, core blend. That would be one set. Typically I will do 4-5 supersets and the upper body reps will be less than during the week but slower reps to still maximize the work. So it may be 10 pulls, 20 dips,10 chins, and 20 push ups. Legs will be the same as during the week and blend in everything. Core blend will be at minimum 200 per set or as many as 300 (the total for the workout always exceeds 1000).
Hydration and Supplementation: Before I go to the gym I have a very specific set of clean fitness and nutrition powders I mix together and drink. This includes all base line nutrients (essential for performance) a pre-workout, and an electrolyte blend. Post workout I drink a BCAA blend to immediately nourish the muscles. I drink 12-16 ounces of water prior to the workout in my powdered blend, a liter of water during my workout, and another 12-16 ounces right after. To see the workout supplements I use click here
If you would like more ideas for workouts than my routine, my friend and trainer of trainers, Kevin Myles, has put together a free PDF that is a good start that will have resources to offer to go even further if you’d like. He is a tremendous resource. You can access the PDF by putting in your email below.