Training day(s)

For a long time now conventional wisdom has stated that when it comes to resistance training we should be doing it on a three day split. Though should you be working out everyday? It is said that when a person trains everyday it could lead to over training. This potentially comes with risks like a compromised immune system, weight gain, muscle loss and some hormone imbalances. I fit my training in as and when, some weeks it’s three times a week other times I’d do it throughout my day.

There’s a term I quite like, called ‘farmer’ strength. Let’s say we have a farmer. They don’t work out, not in the conventional sense of hitting the gym. They would just do their day to day routine. If they were throwing haystacks around all day, they would build quite an impressive upper body and arms, right? That’s not to say they would be able to compete in the crossfit games. What if, over the long term, it was more about little and often? You would do a little of something every day, and over time you would become quite strong and look good too. It’s just like any habit that we get ourselves into. We brush our teeth twice a day everyday, we would class that as having clean teeth. If you only brushed them three times a week, is that still having clean teeth? So doing small daily workouts/movements would make you fit, strong and healthy if you didn’t want to exercise three times a week, would it take longer than a ‘normal’ exercise programme? It might, or it would take the same amount of time or actually get you there faster, as you would be less likely to miss doing it because you’re tied or running late or any other excuse that pops up.

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During the pandemic of 2020. Everything was shut down, we were all in lockdown. Not the best time for the plant. Where this affected a lot of people mentally, those that use training as a form of meditation struggled as gyms were closed. A lot of people started doing home workouts as best they could. a big chunk of people put a little extra weight on, or didn’t bother working out. As far as my training went, I couldn’t go to my local park as that got boarded off. It was recommended by the government to get out an hour a day and walk, in true prison fashion. I wasn’t overly motivated to do long workouts though being stuck indoors sort of does that to me, like most I’m sure. I decided to do 3 pull ups in my kitchen every time I went in there. At first I did a lot of pull ups. This actually helped me eat less too lol. Over the next few days I decided to do so many squats, push ups and pull ups a day. I started at 50. In a normal hour session this is still a lot, though over the span of the day it wasn’t a struggle. I never had that voice in my head trying to convince me to put it off and eat some cake. Instead I went to make coffee and did 3-5 pull ups. If I was watching TV I would do 5 -10 pushups between shows or 10 squats. Even while I was playing video games I did the same thing. I stayed in good shape, I’d even go as far as to say I was in better shape during the pandemic than I was before. Even today between writing this and doing some house work I have already managed to fit in a few movements with my kettlebell.

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Think of it as the 80/20 principle. 20% of effort gives you 80% of the reward. Doing that 20% wouldn’t even be too over whelming or inconvenient. While brushing your teeth in the morning and evening, do a couple of squats. Waiting for your coffee or tea to brew, a few push ups on the counter would fit right in. If the idea of doing long workouts or even going to the gym doesn’t sound like fun to you, I would highly recommend doing this.

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Going back to goals. If you want to be a professional athlete, you go and practice those skills. If being a little fitter and healthier is the goal, like most people then just do a little something everyday and you’ll see results.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Will Durant

“Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex.” – Norman Vincent Peale