2024-11-13

My favorite exercise routine to date

TL;DR: For any exercise, pick a weight that would give you a mild, but noticeable, burn in 20 reps; and don't set the weights down until you do 100 reps.

Longer explanation:

This works for any exercise. Just pick a weight that you could easily do for 20 reps to induce a slight burn. You should be feeling it after 20 reps, but these have to be pretty easy or you'll never be able to make it to the full 100. While doing the reps, you can change your form, take breaks, or move around however you want. The only catch is that you can NOT unload the tension/load/weight until you complete 100 reps!

Here's how this could look for a few different exercises:

• Squats: Maybe you just stand around for a bit with the bar on your shoulders; the weight is still on your body, but it gives you a second to "rest," kick each leg around, or whatever. No sitting, no re-racking until 100.

• Bicep dumbbell curls: Let the weights hang by your side, just don't put them on the ground/bench. Maybe lift them over your head to change the blood flow. Maybe rest 10 seconds between each rep. Change between straight curls, twisting curls, reverse curls, hammer curls, etc.

• Bench press: Load up the Smith machine, which will allow you to "rest" by just locking out your elbows, pushing against the machine in different positions, or even sitting up into a [shoulder press]-sort of position. But never re-rack the weight or rest it on your chest. Maybe take one hand off the bar for a moment, as long as the other hand is holding the weight up.

• Hamstring curls (on prone machine): If "resting," either keep your heels in the "curled" position (near your butt), or legs 99% extended but without the weights resting on the stack. Honestly, sometimes I'll cheat and let the weights sit on the stack: as long as you've set the machine to rotate through the maximum angle and you don't remove your heels from the catches, you'll get such an intense, stretching burn while "resting" after 60 reps that you'd rather just keep pumping toward the 100 mark!

I'm telling your now, PICK A LIGHT WEIGHT. 100 is NOT a small number!

The pros are that, with how light the weight has to be for you to make it all the way through 100, the chance of strain injury is much lower, and the hotel gym is more likely to have the weight you need. Another major benefit is that you'll get a burn in all kinds of ancillary muscles you never knew existed. (You'll probably feel like you can't make it to 100 around the 40 rep mark; be crying by rep 60; sweating and crying by 80; and then just plain mad by 90. You can make it though.) 

Do one exercise per muscle with this method, and I guarantee you won't need to work that muscle again all week! Once you get the hang of it, it'll probably only take 8-12 minutes per 100 reps!

Background:

The strongest, leanest, and most in-shape I've ever been was actually after working through a 90-day program from Athlean-X. (No, I'm not an affiliate.) Ever since I stumbled across Jeff Cavaliere's science-based, physical therapy-minded workouts on YouTube, I've been going back to him for more and more exercise advice. I finally broke down and bought one of his workouts, and it really was all it's cracked up to be! But don't be fooled-- during that 90 day program, I never missed a single workout, genuinely pushed myself to my limits, and spent most of the time in deep muscle pain. The workouts were longer and harder than anything I had ever done before; and there are several exercises per day.

One of the most important things that Jeff turned me onto was the idea that I wasn't doing nearly enough volume. His program was the first time I ever trained the same exercise for 10 sets of 10 reps, for example. The first time I did it, it took me about an hour; because I had always done something like 3 sets of 10 or 5 sets of 5 before. But pushing myself to 100+ reps per muscle was a new technique that finally built my muscles to new levels.

Lately, I've been wanting something to keep my muscles working, but something that doesn't require nearly as much thought, dedication, or time. The plan described above is the simplest, most efficient exercise style I've ever encountered.

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