Workouts

Keeping it Simple – A Workout Template and Awareness Questions
Over the weekend I met a friend for coffee and at the end of our conversation we were talking about the pandemic, gyms and shut downs. What I heard was that her workouts were home-based and self-designed, which for some people can mean that they are not effective in providing the desired muscular stimulus to stay strong.

I told her that designing your own workout is super simple. It boils down to 5 basic movements. When you have the template I’m going to share with you here, you will not only have the basis for working your whole body, but also a formula to design your own workouts for endless variety.

Below are the movement categories around which I design my personal workouts for maximum effect. Of course you can always add other movements based on your goals and needs. For any of these, you don’t need weights or you can get fancy with barbells, squat racks and other fun tools.

Knee Dominant – These are movements like squats. Of course you can add a kettlebell or do barbell back squats, single-leg variations and other variations, but the primary movement is a pushing with the legs.
Hinge – there are things like deadlifts or good mornings; anything where your are hinging at the hips and using the back of your body – referred to as “pulling”.
Upper-Body Press – The simplest example of this type of movement is a push-up. Of course, if you have access to the equipment, a bench press or overhead shoulder press works as well (see how things can be varied ?) And, by the way, there is no shame in elevating the hands onto a bench or even the wall if your shoulders are not yet strong enough to support most of your bodyweight.
Upper-Body Pull – My favorite here is the bent-over row using weights or a loop band. Pull-ups are also an option.
Full-Body Carry – This one often gets neglected, but puts the whole body into action for movement integration through the arms, legs and core. Examples are the farmer’s carry or suitcase carry.

That’s it – super simple. If you are new to resistance training, you might want to start with no or light weights and do 8-10 repetitions of each exercise for 1-2 sets. To advance, you can add weight, sets, repetitions or variety to the exercises… and that is where training and coaching come into play (and where I can be of service!); to help with overall program design based on your desired goals and outcome.

Personally, I do my formal bout of resistance exercise right before breaking my fast (yes I Intermittent Fast daily) as I want to maintain my muscle mass for health, insulin sensitivity, weight management, brain health and bone strength.

Simplicity applies to all of my pillars, Sustenance, Optimal Mind, Activity and Rest

For example with Intermittent Fasting, I am designing my Fasting Accelerator that kicks off October 22, around these 5 questions:

Why – Why you would use this style of eating? What are the benefits? What do you want to achieve through this style of eating?
What – What is food that will enhance your “rest” during this period of time and what foods will disrupt a fasting period?
When – How do you figure out when to fast and when to eat? How do these windows of time affect mood, energy, productivity, performance?
Who – Who might benefit from fasting and who shouldn’t be fasting?
How – How is your mindset around eating and not eating? As this affects your desired outcome with the program.

The program is a guided introduction to Intermittent Fasting with ample time and space to explore and get curious about patterns, beliefs and benefits of this way of life. I will guide you through a two-week period of using a pre-made schedule of fasting.

Through the end of August, the cost of the program (running October 22 – November 12) remains at $97. Once September hits, the cost will increase to $117. You can view more details and register here: https://go.juliebergfeld.com.

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