When the warmer weather comes in, things change. It’s lighter longer. It’s warmer. You can go outside without freezing your you know what off. So, naturally, it’s a time for change.
In this case, some brief analysis of some problem areas: lower legs, ankles, feet, and neck. These are areas that are weak. My legs are too strong, so I’m dialing that back. My shoulders I’d like to have a little more muscle mass, particularly on my left side which was damaged by a torn pec. Finally, I’ve had good results from doing a lot of horizontal pulling and I realize that was a motion I neglected.
Spring is also about movement, so I’ve been walking more and doing other movement stuff, like throwing kicks, doing side shuffles, and stuff like that.
I’m still working the 5×5 plan I’ve been writing about. While I’ve felt stronger in my life, I definitely feel strong now, stronger than I’ve been. And it’s all usable strength. You know, functional fitness. I feel like I have total control of my body and can exhibit strength in nearly everything I do.
But, now I’m thinking about my next few months or so. Let’s figure that out.
Wednesday
warm up: swings followed by 2 sets of five side kick (it can never hurt to be able to throw a good side kick!) I throw these low, from either the knee cap level or the stomach level.
- Kb military press
- Tbar row or bent over dumbbell row
- Barbell military press
- Deadlift or power clean
- Some kind of crawling or shuffling movement
Friday
- Dynamic stretching
- Pull ups (I put these here but realistically I just do sets of pull ups throughout the week)
Sunday
- Incline bench press dumbbell
- Dumbbell row or renegade row
- Barbell military press
- Pistol
- Some kind of crawling or shuffling movement
Explanations: This is just a sample. Each exercise gets 4 sets. Every now and then I do 5, but there are diminishing returns with 5 sets. 3-4 sets is a good number. Sometimes I vary the exercises from set to set. For example, I’ll switch to a barbell military press from a kettlebell military press. Or from a deadlift to a power clean to a really heavy deadlift. Or to a double clean. Same motion, different exercise, different focus, more fun.
It really doesn’t take much. These workouts are 20-30 minutes. Then I take walks. Still not at 10K steps per day, but around 6-8K which is better.
Every exercise I do has full intent and concentration. No “phoning it in.” For dumbbell movements like the incline press or single arm military press, I really focus on my left side, trying to bring that side stronger.
This is a pretty simple template to put together—pick the solid movement patterns, select exercises that fit into the pattern, create two workouts, workout twice per week, follow the 5×5 protocol.