Workouts That Fit Your Life

Balancing Life, Work, and Lifting

     In 1998, I was heavily invested in powerlifting.  I loved it.  I was dead-set on being one of the strongest powerlifters in the world.  I was willing to do whatever required of me, training wise, to achieve that goal.  At the time, I was also writing a lot for Ironman magazine and MuscleMag International, two of the largest and most popular bodybuilding magazines of the day.  I had an article in one of them, sometimes both, almost every month back then.  But it wasn’t enough to pay the bills.  And powerlifting, like a lot of underground, niche sports, didn’t pay anything.  Nope.  It was, in fact, quite the opposite.  It cost money—payments to enter meets, along with travel and food costs associated with them, not to mention the money I poured into nutrition, training gear, and, at that time, setting up my own garage gym replete with everything a world-class strength athlete would need.  On top of that, I had a young wife who was pregnant with our first child.  She had some health issues because of the pregnancy, and was on leave from her job as a police officer.  We knew it was a possibility that she may have to even retire from the force.  I needed some cash!

     I found a good-paying job as a maintenance technician at a local manufacturing plant where we lived in Mississippi.  The problem was the hours.  Being one of the low men on the proverbial totem pole, I had the shift no one wanted.  I was placed on the night crew for the weekends.  I worked from 6PM to 6AM—along with whatever overtime might be needed of me—on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I also figured, however, that it came with its benefits.  Though it was only 36 hours, I was paid for a full 40, and when I got off work come Monday morning, I didn’t have to return to work again until Friday evening.  But, man, was I tired every day when I got off work.  It was greasy, laborious, and physically demanding.  And on Monday mornings, I wanted to do little other than sleep all day long.  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to train any on the weekends, or on Monday from the exhaustion, but I was determined to come up with a training plan that would still allow me to achieve all of my powerlifting goals.

     I experimented with a few different strategies, including a 4-on, 3-off schedule, training Tuesday through Friday; a 2-on, 1-off, 1-on, 3-off schedule where I trained on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday; and then finally settled on a simple 2-days-per-week routine that had me lifting on Tuesday and Friday.  I think the 2 days per week regimen worked because of how much hard work I was doing during the weekend.  If I had a more sedentary job, it probably would have been too little.  Besides, if I had had such work, it wouldn’t have been necessary in the first place.

     In the May, 1999 issue of Ironman, my article “Mass & Might: The Complete Guide to Developing Brutal Size, Power, and Strength” appeared.  I wrote it during this period of 2-days-per-week of training—a lot of my articles were published a year, or even two, after initially writing them.  Here is the 2-day routine in it that is almost entirely reflective of what I was doing in ‘98:

Workout 1

Deadlifts: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Bench presses: 5x5

Explosive-rep bench presses: 5x2.  For these, once I was finished with my 5 “straight” sets, I reduced the weight down to about 60% of my 1-rep maximum and performed each rep as explosively as possible using the “dynamic effort” method, while maintaining perfect form.

Push presses: 5x5

Workout 2

Squats: 3x5

Explosive-rep squats: 5x2

Barbell curls: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Alternate dumbbell curls: 2x5

Leg raises: 3x10-15

Hyperextensions: 3x10-15

     I write all of this preamble for the simple reason that it is important to find a routine that allows you to balance whatever is going on in your life.  It might be work, but it might also be health issues, or the fact that you engage in other athletic activities outside of the gym.  For the remainder of this essay, we’ll look at various lifting strategies that might help you in this life/training balance.

     It’s important to find a training strategy that works for you for one simple reason.  Consistency trumps all else.  If you’re not consistent then you won’t make gains, or at least any appreciable ones.  Period.  Consistency is key to, well, consistent gains, i.e. progress.

     If you have a hard time making it to the gym regularly, then the first thing that I advise doing is to train on a full-body routine of some sort.  Lifters who struggle to manage time for training and who use a split routine often find that they miss too many workouts, especially if they don’t like training their legs and/or back that much—the muscle groups that matter as far as size and strength are concerned.  If you’re on a split program, for instance, and find that you make it to the gym for a lot more chest and/or arm days than you do squat and pull days, you’re just not going to make the kind of gains that bring results.  Full-body routines take care of this problem, even if you only train 2 days a week, using something similar to my above workout.  (The above program is actually a full-body split regimen, which we’ll look at soon.)

     The only real “problem” with 2-day, full-body sessions is that it can breed neglect.  If you absolutely love training, this won’t be a problem.  I have seen quite a few lifters, however, who get on good 2-day workouts but then start missing too many sessions.  It just feels too nice, I suppose, to sit around on the couch and stream your favorite television shows or, if you’re someone like me, read a deliciously good novel.  (Well, if it’s me, then it’s a delightfully intriguing work of philosophy, but you get the point.)  If you do settle on a 2-day routine, make sure you do not miss your training days.  If you can do that, such a minimalistic program might even work wonders for you.  You can even do less work than my above program.  Here are a couple of other routines that would work well:

Minimalistic Program:

Workout 1

Squats: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Bench presses: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Deadlifts: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Loaded carry of your choice

Ab work of your choice

Workout 2

Squats: 5x5

Bench presses: 5x5

Overhead presses: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Barbell curls: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Ab work of your choice

Even More Minimalistic:

Workout 1

Squats: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Bench presses: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Overhead presses: 3x5

Ab work

Workout 2

Deadlifts: 5x5,4,3,2,1

Bench presses: 5x5

Barbell curls: 3x5

Loaded carry

     I’ve even known lifters who made good gains on even less frequency.  Yeah, I know, this might seem like an odd recommendation coming from a strength coach who is constantly preaching the benefits of high-frequency training (HFT).  Don’t worry.  We’ll get around to some HFT ideas shortly.  But if you work, say, long hours on a construction site, or any other kind of job that requires extensive labor, you can make great progress by following a full-body routine and simply training once every 3 to 5 days.  You might train on Monday evening after work, and then not make it back to the gym until Friday night.  After that workout, perhaps you don’t get back to lifting until Wednesday of the next week.  Don’t sweat it.  As long as you can do a thorough routine when you do get to the gym, you can still make fantastic gains in size and strength.  Here’s the kind of workout I would do if you find yourself in such a situation:

The Full-Body Whenever Workout:

Squats: 8x5.  Do 4 or 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps and then 3 or 4 “straight” sets of 5.

Bench presses: 8x5, same as the squats

Deadlifts: 5x3.  You can do these as progressively heavier or as straight sets, depending on how much total work you need for deadlifts.

Military presses: 5x5

Weighted chins: 5x5

Barbell curls: 5x5

Weighted dips: 5x5

Ab work of your choice

Loaded carry of your choice—sled drags, farmer walks, sandbag or stone carries, tire flips, Prowler push, etc.

     So, yes, it is possible to make gains despite infrequent training.  But, of course, the more that you can train, the better overall.  I am constantly preaching the benefits of HFT, after all, so what if you want to use some of my HFT suggestions but don’t know how in the world to fit it into your life?  I’ve got a few ideas.

     One of the best plans is to utilize a “hybrid” routine combining gym workouts with bodyweight sessions at home.  You can also purchase minimal equipment for the house, such as a couple pairs of kettlebells or an Olympic barbell set, and do a hybrid gym/home program.  That way, you can still go to the gym as much as possible to get in some heavy squats, bench presses, and pulls, and also take advantage of the benefits of HFT by doing push-ups, bodyweight squats or lunges, pull-ups, dips (even if they’re just between chairs) at home.

     For a full-body program, you can train 3 days a week, and alternate between gym and home sessions.  Let’s say that you train on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  For the 1st week, do your gym session on Monday and Friday and your home session on Wednesday.  In the 2nd week, you can reverse the order, doing the home training on M/F and the gym session on Wednesday.  Your two workouts might look like this:

Gym Session:

Squats: 5x5

Bench presses: 5x5

Deadlifts: 5x3

Military presses: 3x5

Barbell curls: 3x5

Ab work

Loaded carry of your choice

Home Session:

Bodyweight squats: 100-300 reps.  Do these however you wish.  The total volume should be determined based on your current work capacity.  (For more bodyweight training ideas, check out my series Bodyweight Training and Beyond.)

Push-ups: 100 reps total

Chins: 50 reps total

Chair dips: 50 reps total

     If you decide to purchase some equipment at home, you have some other options.  Below are a couple more home training plans.  The 1st is a kettlebell workout and the 2nd is a barbell only session.

Home Kettlebell Session:

Double kettlebell front squats: 100 reps total

Double kettlebell cleans: 50 reps total

Double kettlebell overhead presses: 30-50 reps total

Single kettlebell swings: 50 reps total

Push-ups: 100 reps total

Chins: 50 reps total

Home Barbell-Only Session:

Power cleans: 5x5

Military presses: 5x5

Power snatches: 5x3

Barbell curls: 5x5

     If you decide to purchase a barbell for your home workouts, then feel free to remove the overhead presses and barbell curls from your gym workouts.  You can either replace them with another gym movement or just eliminate them altogether.

     Many lifters prefer—yes, I’m quite thoroughly aware of this—split workouts.  If you’re new to training, I think full-body workouts are the best, but I also believe that 2-way split training is right up there with full-body sessions in terms of the benefits that can be reaped.  They also allow for even more frequent training, which is always good in my mass-building book.

     One of the best “systems” of 2-way splits is (what I often refer to as) “full-body split” training.  Even though you’re splitting your muscles/lifts in half, with full-body splits, you still work the majority of your muscle groups at each session.  One day you might do some form of squats, a “horizontal” press, and some kind of quick lift.  The next session might be a deadlift variation, a “vertical” press, and an upper body pull (chins, rows).

     In addition to the full-body split method, I also like the simplicity of something such as squats/pulls on one day and presses on the next.  Whatever system you decide to utilize, you can just alternate back and forth between each workout, getting in as many sessions as you want before you take an off day.

     Whatever 2-way split method you go with, you can use the “hybrid” technique by having both a gym workout and a home session for each day of your split.  If you were to go the squat-pull/press route, for example, then here are some example workouts for both:

Squat/Pull Gym Session #1:

Barbell squats: 5x5 variation (See my article 5x5 Training Variations for what I mean by this.)

Deadlifts: 5x5 variation

Squat/Pull Gym Session #2:

Front squats: 5x5 variation

Power cleans or snatches: 5x5 variation

Press Gym Session #1:

Bench presses: 5x5 variation

Military presses: 5x5 variation

Press Gym Session #2:

Weighted dips: 5x5 variation

One-arm dumbbell overhead presses: 5x5 variation

Squat/Pull Home Session:

Bodyweight squats: 300 reps total

Double kettlebell cleans: 100 reps total

Press Home Session:

Chair dips: 5 ladder clusters of 2-3-5-10 (for more on this method of training, see my article Skill Training as Size Building)

Push-ups: 240 reps.  For these, do 2 ladders, starting at 1 rep and working your way up to 15, then repeat for a total of 240 reps

Sit-ups: 3 sets of 15-20 reps (do these at the squat/pull session if you prefer)

     If you’d rather perform the full-body split route, then just re-arrange movements as needed so that they “slot” into your particular training day.

Final Thoughts

     I have really just scratched the surface of what’s possible in finding a good system that works for you in your attempt to maintain the proper life/work/training balance.  Hopefully, however, this has given you some muscle-building food for thought that can help you in achieving your goals—whether you’re struggling to find a way to get in all of the workouts that you want or attempting to find the perfect program that works for your life.

     Remember, as well, that I have only discussed training in this essay.  You need to make sure that your nutrition is “on point” when you’re trying to achieve your physique goals.  This is even more important when you have a hectic or stressful work/life situation.  In addition, make sure that you’re getting adequate sleep and rest on a daily basis.  Proper rest aids in recovery and helps to alleviate whatever life stressors you might have.

     The bottom line is that you CAN achieve your goals, no matter what life and work throws your way.  All you have to do is find the will.  It might be a cliche, but where there’s a will, there’s always a way, and this goes for muscle-building as much as anything else.