Exercise Update! What I've Been Up to the Last Six Months

Exercise Update!

Recently I finished doling out my favorite fifteen workouts, one at a time. It made for a fun series for me, but one of the exciting things is how quickly such a list can become obsolete. If you were to ask my favorite fifteen workouts today, my list would be considerably different from when I started the series. That’s bound to be the case as I keep learning and trying new things. The more new things I try, the longer my list of favorite drills and movements becomes.

So it’s time for an update. I’ll bring you up to speed on what I’ve been doing in terms of exercise since January and in my next post I’ll let you know what my current program looks like.

December 30

I injured my back and had to lay off the kettlebells for a while. That was a major, major bummer. I immediately lost about five pounds. Muscle? Fat? Both? Who knows? I know that when you introduce a change of routine you can sometimes shock your body into another fat-burning gear. I’m not sure. So what’d I do?

January

I did a bunch of yoga…about seven times each week. No program was particularly long, but I’d do it frequently. It is low-impact, fun, and feels great…especially when my back is hurting. I use a cool app I have on my iPhone called Pocket Yoga – Practice Builder. I got it for free when it was a Starbucks Free App of the Week, but it’s worth the price at $9.99.

Anyway, I can make my programs as easy or as hard, long or short as I’d like with this program, so it was great while I was trying to rehab my back.

February-April

My back wasn’t really getting better, so I went to the chiropractor for about 10 weeks. Very quickly I was able to reintroduce some kettlebells, first with balanced (bilateral) stuff, then unbalanced (unilateral) stuff as my back got stronger. It’s still not 100%, as the road to full recovery is long, but it’s much, much better than it was las winter!

March-April

Double kettlebell routines, baby. Very simple stuff, like…

15-minute Countdown: (53#) * 4 Double Cleans * 2 Double Front Squats

20-minute Countdown (53#): * 4 Double Cleans * 8 Double Swings

You know, stuff like that. And it was great. I found that I liked doing the same thing for several weeks, and I put on a few pounds of muscle in the process.

May

When May rolled around, I wanted to reintroduce more bodyweight movements into my program for two reasons:

I actually enjoyed the bodyweight movements (including a lot of yoga) that I had been doing while rehabbing my back.
I read Convict Conditioning *(review of the book forthcoming) and had a bunch of new ideas and cool progressions of bodyweight drills to incorporate.

So I “only” used kettlebells for some metabolic finishers to some of my workouts. After practicing my bodyweight skills, I’d maybe do five minutes of high-rep swings to get my heart revving before I was done.

So that brings us up to speed. Now we’re in June and I’m doing a calculated program that incorporates bodyweight movements and kettlebell drills, but with more BW stuff than I’ve ever done before. I’ll give it to you more completely next time.

For now, some parting thoughts and reminders:

I am still committed to variety, but not simply for variety’s sake. I’ve found that I like sticking with a plan for a series of weeks before switching it up.
The new (to me) bodyweight drills I’ve incorporated have put a bit of a spark in my workouts. They’re still challenging but they have captured my interest in a new way.
Don’t forget the importance of sustainability. If you decide to do a short program that’s super demanding, feel free to follow it up with something simpler. This waves your intensity, which is good, but it also keeps you from burning out.
Think long-term. You’re in this for the long haul, so approach your workouts like practice sessions; approach strength like it’s a skill (because it is); don’t beat yourself up if you miss a workout because you’re looking to for small, positive decisions compounded over time to reap big rewards…like being able to chase your grandkids without creaky knees. 🙂

That’s enough for now! If you have a question, fire away in the comments section below.

Happy training!

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