Getting Into a Back-To School Routine

Ah September. The month I always dreaded as a kid and young adult and the month I look forward to now in my 30’s. I am a person who craves routine, as long as the routine mostly consists of activities I want to do. 

As an adult, the summers feel a little chaotic. There’s a sense of urgency to fill the weekends with activities and take advantage of the good weather, and while I love summers, by September I feel ready for the pace to slow and for routine to kick in. Next to the New Year, the start of the school year is the biggest time when people attempt to create some positive structural changes in their lives. 

For this blog, I wanted to go over the benefits of short, but regular workouts that fit into our busy schedules better than 1-2 hour exercise sessions a couple times a week. I love this format for people getting into a workout routine either for the first time or coming back after summer break because it feels less daunting, and, if you miss a day, you are only missing one of many workouts during the week rather than one of two. Most people can find 15-20 minutes in their day for a workout, but it’s a stretch to find hour chunks. 

The science behind 5-6, 20 minute workouts a week has to do with adaptation. It has been shown that the more regularly we can use our muscles (without going to total fatigue), the more muscle gains we see. When done correctly, it sends a continuous muscle building signal to our brains. Now, we do have to be careful that the volume and intensity of our workouts are not too high so as to never recover, so careful planning is needed. 

When I program this style of training for clients, it goes something like this:

• Pick 1 main, compound lift to do each of the 5-6 days of exercise. This can be squats, deadlifts, bench press, rows, lunges, split squats, overhead press, pull ups etc. Any exercise that uses multiple muscle groups is perfect. Complete 4-5 sets of this exercise resting 1-3 minutes between sets.

• Pick 1 accessory lift to do after the compound lift. This can be anything that works a single muscle group and can be based on what you want to see improve. Bicep curls, tricep extensions, core work, lateral raises, calf raises, donkey kicks, hip abductions, lat pulldowns, etc. are all great (and there’s lots more!). Complete 2-3 sets of this accessory lift.

And there you have it! You should aim to do about 7 sets total every day which shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes including a few minutes of warming up. I like alternating my compound lifts between upper body and lower body to ensure enough recovery time between. 

Lastly, since you’re working out 5-6 days a week, the intensity of these workouts should be moderate. Definitely don’t approach them with an all-out attitude or you will burn out quickly. I like to say no more than a 6/10 in terms of exertion level. 

If this style of training sounds like it would be a good fit for you but you don’t want to have to think about programming, fill out the online training form and I will be in touch!