So today's conversation is going to be a little less formal than usual, for good reason,
and that's because so many of you have asked me to share my workout routine.
And rather than overthink this video, I figured the best way to share this with you,
would be in a straightforward, less poetic conversation.
However, I'm still going to organize this video in a way that makes sense so it's
easy for you to follow and get a good grasp of why I do things the way to do.
So first, I'm going to break down my training style and why I train the way I do.
Secondly, I'll show you the equipment I own and use,
and lastly, I'll walk you through what a typical week might look like for me.
Alright, so before I jump into the training style that I currently follow. It might be helpful if I
add a bit of context to this conversation in regards to my workout and training history.
Growing up, I was an athlete from the very beginning. Playing just about every sport
from football to baseball, to basketball and I started running track in high school. And
because of my deep-rooted interest in athletics, I also began lifting weights early on as well. So
weights and I had a pretty close relationship for the first two and half decades of my life,
however, in recent years, my training style has grown to be much different.
So what training style do I currently follow and have been following for the last 3 to 4
years. Well, I do something called intuitive training,
that's centered around calisthenics and weighted calisthenics.
Now, what is intuitive training?
It means you look to your body for direction on what you should be doing,
and how hard you should be working, and when. Rather than doing an extra-tough
workout just because your fitness program says so.
Now I use to follow fairly strict workout programs in the past. Where
every Monday was the same, every Tuesday was the same, every Wednesday, and so on,
with the only real goal of adding weight each week in an effort to increase my 1 rep max.
However the day I decided to give calisthenics and this idea of intuitive training a try,
I'm not going to lie, it took some adjusting to because I was so used to doing things one way
my entire life. But I can honestly say that I've grown to love it,
and arguably feel stronger and healthier because of it.
Instead of following a strict program and doing what it tells me to do, I simply train hard
when I'm feeling up for it and easier when I'm feeling a bit off. Now I do want to add that I
still have a structure within my workouts so that I'm always moving towards my fitness goals. I'm
not just making this up as I go, there is a rhyme and a reason. But I'll talk more about that later.
Alright, now let's talk about the fitness equipment that I own
and use. Starting from left to right. Your left, my right.
First thing first, I have a foam roller. This is great if you're a runner or work
out a lot especially if you get sore muscles in your legs or your lats. This muscle here,
if you do a lot of pull-ups. This is great for that, to relax those muscles,
to roll out the soreness before you start your next workout.
Next, I have a pull-up bar, this is one that hooks on the door frame. Because we live in
an apartment this works perfectly for me. I don't have to worry about damaging anything.
You can also tell that I use this a lot because the handle is tapped here,
it started to rip on me but hey, it still gets the job done.
I also have these grips here, these are thicker, you can kinda see that there.
Sometimes I put this on the pull-up bar, just like this, so when I'm doing my pull-ups not
only am I working on my back because I'm doing the pull-up, but I'm also challenging my grip
strength and strengthening my forearm because this grip is much wider so that's always fun to
use. And then I can move this in three positions on the pull-up bar as well.
Alright, next, I have a 10lb medicine ball.
I mainly use this for abs. It's not much to say about this but yea, 10 lb medicine ball.
And then I also have a jump rope here. Now one thing you should know about me is that I love to
jump rope. This is extremely challenging especially if you do it in a way that's
challenging. So this gets a ton of use, out of everything that I have I've had this the longest.
You can probably tell because it's a little green and muddy and
dirty here at the bottom but um this gets a lot of use and I love the jump rope.
Next, I have these resistance bands here so these here come with handles
so I have two handles here as well and then I also have a door anchor which allows me
to hook this resistance band into the door and do lots of movements like that as well.
Now these resistance bands do come in different uh weights of resistance so this one is 50 pounds
I also have a 40 pound a 30 a 20 and a 10 but I'll tend to do this when I don't want to do weights or
anything like that so I'll do rowing movements with this, I'll do shoulder presses with this,
I'll do squats with this sometimes if I don't want to use my kettlebells which
I'll show you later but this is a really handy tool it's also extremely versatile I can travel
with these I've thrown this into my suitcase and taken it with me on trips because it's
something I can easily do in a hotel if that hotel doesn't have a fitness center, so a pair those.
I also have other rubber bands here so this is a smaller yellow one and then this thicker purple
one these also have this different resistance sometimes I'll squat with these sometimes,
I'll use it as a warm up so I'll take it like this and I'll warm up my shoulders by doing something
kind of like this to warm up my shoulders but this is really versatile as well sometimes I've
thrown this in my suitcase and taken it with me on different trips so like I said I have
the yellow one and the purple one here and then I also have these smaller bands here.
These are great to warm up your hips maybe you've seen this before in videos but
sometimes I put this around my ankles around my knees and I do opening movements or sidewalks
to help strengthen my hips and just loosen my hips up before I do squats and things like that.
Then I have a set of parallettes here this is really fun to use. I mainly use these for
push-ups, for L-sits, for planche holds which is a calisthenics movement um but these are really fun
to use these get a ton of use as well. They're not as versatile, I can't really throw this in
a suitcase and bring it with me but whenever I'm here at home these do get a lot of use.
Next, I have a golf ball. So quick tip for you. If you're a runner, if you workout
and your feet hurt, the arches of your feet.
Grab a golf ball and roll your foot out. Put a little pressure on it, and roll it out.
You can thank me later.
Alright, next I have two kettlebells here, I have one that is 53lbs and one that is 35lbs.
So these guys here, they are the newest addition to my fitness equipment.
They're really fun. I've never really used kettlebells before.
But I'm starting to get into them. You can do a lot of movements with these.
So I do things like squats, I do things like kettlebell cleans, kettlebell swings,
snatches. I also do a movement that's called a Turkish getup.
This is a really great movement stabilizing the muscles in your shoulder, and working on balance.
I'll overlay some b-roll here so you can see what that looks like.
But these are really cool. They are challenging, they're a little heavy,
they're a little awkward so if you've never used them please be careful. Fair warning.
But they are a really fun tool to use as a part of your fitness or training routine.
Alright, next, here I have a 20lb weight vest. This thing is old.
I've had this for years. But I mainly use this for push-ups,
pull-ups, squats, single-leg squats, things like that.
The individual weights in here are removable,
so this can go all the way done to no weights are all the way up to 20lbs.
But it is old like I said, I do plan on getting one that is
a little heavier, but this gets the job done for right now.
Next, I have an ab roller here. So again, pretty straight forward just like the
medicine ball. I can do abs with this if I don't want to use the medicine ball.
And lastly, I have, let's talk about these guys.
So I have two gymnastics rings and two dip bars. Now,
these gymnastic rings are really, really really fun.
If you've never used these before, I highly consider you getting a pair.
They're not that expensive.
Again I'll leave links to all of this, as much of it as I can down in the description for you.
But these here and mainly used for push-ups, pull-ups, rows, dips, and the reason I like
these gymnastic rings is because, not only can you do various movements with them, they are
very versatile, you can throw them on a tree, your door frame, the pull-up bar that I have.
But they also add a different dynamic to your workout, so not only are you doing the movement,
but they also add some stability challenges.
So for example, if I'm doing dips. I'm doing the dip movement so I'm strengthening my
body doing the dip movement, but I'm also working on stability.
I have to stabilize myself because these gymnastic rings
are solid, they move. They're not just going to stand there like these dip bars.
So it definitely adds some challenges to the workout,
but I truly enjoy them and they're really fun.
Them lastly here I have these dip bars. These I've had for years as well. But
I do things like dips on here, rows, L-sits, abs, different things like that.
My wife will use these as well. So she'll do dips and her movements also because
this is a little challenging for her, the gymnastic rings but she loves uses these as well
and yea, that is my fitness equipment.
Ok, let's talk weekly workout routine. What do I typically do in a week? Well first
let's break down the structure within my workouts that I mentioned earlier.
So, currently, I'm following an upper body, lower body split.
All that means is on day 1, I do upper body exercises and on day 2, lower body exercises.
The remaining 3 days are usually a mix of yoga,
and an activity such as running, basketball, tennis, rocking climbing, things like that.
I'm also thinking about getting a bike so I can through that into the mix as well.
Now, keep in mind that I do train intuitively so not every week is the same.
Sometimes I'll do more than this, but at a bare minimum, this is generally what it looks like.
At this current moment, one of my fitness goals is to do a handstand pushup. So one of my upper
body days during the week is usually geared toward exercises that support that goal. Meaning, I do
all of my handstand work and push exercises first followed by back and pulling exercises second.
For example, after warming up, I'll start with 4-5 sets of 30secs handstands against
the wall so I can continue building up my static strength in position.
Following that, I'll do a few sets of pike pushups and other various movements, before doing anything
back-related. I also tend to superset many exercises as well depending on what I'm doing.
On lower-body days, I'll usually switch between an explosive-focused day
and a strength-focused day. However, because of my intuitive training style,
if I feel like going hard on both days I'll definitely step it up but if my body is
telling me to take it easy then I'll do that. This also goes for upper body days as well.
Now an example of an explosive day, which are usually pretty fun, will look something like
this. I'll jump rope or jog as a warm-up. Then I'll follow that with a few sets of jump squats,
split jump squats, kettlebell swings, kettlebell cleans, and other explosive
movements. Before finishing with a unilateral exercise, such as pistol squats, or lunges.
Now sets and reps truly depend on how I feel that day
so my unilateral movements might be 2 sets of 8 or 4 sets of 10-15.
And lastly, I also finish up every upper body and lower body day with core exercise.
Now on the days that I don't specifically do upper or lower body, I generally do a
yoga flow for about 30 - 45 mins, which is also a form of strength training in itself.
Or I'll go outside and do activities like basketball or tennis if I'm not
particularly in the mood to run for miles during the warmer months of the year.
Well, there you go that is my minimalist workout routine including the training
style I follow as well as the equipment I own and use. Again,
links to mostly everything will be down in the description below.
If you enjoyed this less formal format in this video,
comment below and let me know. Keep growing, keep learning and always stay true to you.
I'll see you in the next one.
Peace!