Sample Workout Plan At End of Article
Are you struggling to adapt to a life almost entirely at home? You're not alone! For many of us, Lockdown Life has changed almost everything:
how we work
how we socialize
how our kids learn
whether or not we wear pants
I'm here to suggest, since linear time as we know it has ceased to exist and 2020 stretches into infinity, that you re-think some other concepts you may also take for granted. Specifically, I'd like you to examine your concept of "working out."
And no, I'm not talking about how you don't have a squat rack in your living room. I'm talking about re-thinking your entire concept of what "working out" even means, and re-imagining how it fits into your life.
The idea of "doing a workout" only exists because of the way our modern lives are structured: sedentary jobs, sedentary recreation, and a gym membership. Exercise exists in a realm separate from our regular lives. We set aside blocks of time and Do Workouts. Whether or not it's ideal, that's how it's been.
Now that we're entering week six hundred and forty-twelve of lockdown, are you still thinking that working out has to happen in blocks of time?
Hasn't it sunk in yet? You don't have to do anything that remotely resembles your pre-lockdown life routines! Let go of your preconceived notions of what things are and how we do them! Pajamas are business attire! Pork rinds are a breakfast cereal! Workouts don't have to be separate from life anymore!
If you are still working out in blocks of time and it's working well for you, great! Keep it up! If you are struggling, or looking for a change...
Try this instead:
Instead of doing a workout full of exercises for 30-90 minutes all at once, choose one to three exercises and do sets of them intermittently all day long, or over the course of a few hours. Rest/carry on with your day between sets (about 20-90 min).
That's it. That's the idea. It's pretty simple, but I'll break it down step by step, and also explain what goes through my mind when I'm considering a day of this for myself. This stuff looks complicated when it's all written out but really it should be stuff you naturally consider every time you exercise.
Infinite Lockdown Workout, Step-by-Step:
Choose one to three exercises
Decide on a number of reps you will do each set. (probably different for each exercise)
Do a set of each exercise at the decided number of reps
Log your sets/reps
Rest, anywhere from 20 to 90 minutes. Carry on with your day.
Repeat. Over the course of a few hours, or the whole day.
Try for at least five sets in a day, but better if you shoot for ten or more.
Review how many sets and reps you did, evaluate how you feel, and use that to plan the next time you choose that exercise/muscle group.
Rotate back to the same muscle group, not necessarily with the same exercise, every 2 to 4 days.
Infinite Lockdown Workout, How-to:
How to choose your exercise(s)
Choose one to three exercises that target the muscle group or skill you want to focus on for the day. I recommend compound exercises, exercises that incorporate multiple planes of motion, or exercises that incorporate multiple modalities, like strength combined with balance.
On days when I do a more complex exercise, or an exercise that uses larger muscle groups (legs), I will usually do only one exercise.
How to plan your split (rotation through the muscles targeted from day to day):
I recommend cycling through opposing muscle groups (anterior and posterior, for example), and/or different sections of the body (upper, lower, and core, for example) from day to day. That way you could do this almost every day. You can focus on a different target muscle or skill each day, while allowing rest and recovery of the previous target.
How to determine sets and reps
It helps if you are familiar with the exercises and how challenging you normally find them. I recommend a number of reps that is about half the number you can comfortably perform when fresh and rested.
For example, if you know you can usually do about 20 squats before your legs start to burn a little, then try doing sets of 10 squats, intermittently, all day long. Make an honest effort to hit your target reps, but if you're feeling the burn in the first two or three sets, you should probably adjust to doing fewer reps.
If you find that you are allowing too much rest time between sets, then struggling to squeeze in sets later in the day, use a timer to keep you on track.
Since you should be logging your sets and reps each time you do them, there are exercise logging apps with built-in timers right where you need them.
I've been using Simple Workout Log for years. You can set any custom amount of time, and start it manually (click start) or set the option for the it to start automatically every time you log an exercise. It beeps when it's done, and doesn't beep again unless you start it again by logging your next set.
Benefits
These days we know a lot more about how bad it is for humans to sit for extended lengths of time, and this is one way to get around that, in an environment like Lockdown where you aren't even doing a lot of the movement you took for granted in pre-lockdown life.
Instead of the classic model of doing a workout where you'd be sitting for 4-8 hours and then do a concentrated burst of intense activity followed by hours of sitting again, we're taking frequent breaks to insert small bursts of moderate activity throughout the day.
Building Muscle
The number of reps of any given muscle group that you may do in a week with this method can be relatively high, without focusing all that intensity into a short amount of time. Building up the volume of work done over a period of time is a big factor in building muscle.
That being said, this workout style might be good for a beginner, or someone who is looking more to maintain muscle, burn calories, and generally stay healthy/active. If you're serious about building muscle, I would recommend a more traditional approach.
Listen to your body
Exercise and fitness is ultimately about building a better relationship with your body, so it really depends on you paying attention to the signals your body is sending you. If something hurts, stop doing it. If you get overly fatigued, scale it back, if you aren't feeling challenged, step it up! You're in the drivers seat here. Good luck!
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