Lets face it. A regular office goer cannot afford to workout 4-5 times a week, and he most certainly cannot go to the gym 4-5 times a week. At best you can go on Sundays and maybe one day in the week. And you know that one day is a pain. So how does a person who wants to reach physical perfection do it?
First of all, a lot of the high frequency programs are simply not feasible for office goers, no matter how effective they are. This is where I think calisthenics can play a major role in fitness. The fact that no gym is required makes it the perfect choice for the office worker. Here I provide 3 templates.
1. Can Go to The Gym One Day a Week
In the Gym, you will work only 3 exercises- Standing Military Press, the Barbell Back Squat and the bent over row. The template is simple-
Sunday-
1 set of 10 with an easy weight, of military presses and bent over rows.
5 Sets of 4-8 reps with A heavy weight (start with a weight that allows you to do 4 reps, work up to 8 than increase the weight) alternating between the military press and the bent over row.
1 set of 10 with an easy weight- barbell back Squats
5 Sets of 3-7 (Increase the weight once you can hit 7-8 with a particular weight and start over)- barbell back Squats
2-3 Sets of 5-10 Standing Barbell Curls (Increase The Weight After you hit sets of 10)
Finish with flexibility training (Subject of a later post)
Tuesday-
Train Pull Ups and Push Ups before dinner or breakfast, depending on your preference.
1 set each as warm up
3-4 Work Sets of the technique you are presently working on. No cool down will be required. You can do some flexibility training if you need it.
Wednesday-
Train Hanging Leg Raises and Ham Glute Raises before dinner or breakfast, depending on your preference.
1 set each as warm up.
3-4 Work Sets of the technique you are presently working on. No cool down will be required.
Thursday-
Train Pull Ups and Push Ups before dinner or breakfast, depending on your preference.
1 set each as warm up
3-4 Work Sets of the technique you are presently working on. No cool down will be required. You can do some flexibility training if you need it.
Friday-
Train Hanging Leg Raises and Ham Glute Raises before dinner or breakfast, depending on your preference.
1 set each as warm up.
3-4 Work Sets of the technique you are presently working on. No cool down will be required.
Every morning after you take your bath, you will do one set of bridges of the technique you are presently working on. You can skip on Mondays and Saturdays.
This schedule, while it involves working out 5 days a week, is actually really easy. The volume on all the working days is really low and even the number of exercises you will be doing is minimal. There is plenty of recovery time for every body part, and the home workouts will take you 15-20 minutes tops. Maybe lesser. I personally use this system and I do my workouts at the end of the day while cooking dinner. My body is already warmed up from commuting and moving around all day, so my warm up is really minimal. I just do 2 sets per exercise, and that is it. You will barely feel it. And the system works. You just have to think of it as coaxing your body to respond and get stronger, not forcing your body to get stronger. You can force your body when you can ensure recovery and can get a LOT of sleep. But for people like us, coaxing always works and you will almost never reach stagnation points with this. You will need a pull up bar at home though, to perform hanging leg raises and pull ups.
You can also buy a barbell set for your weekend training. You will need a simple barbell with a lot of weights. It will actually cost you less than 4000 rs in India. The bar costs 500 rs and at 25 rs a kg, you can buy 6 20kg plates and 2 10 kg plates. That will last you a long time. Later you can always get more weight. If you have a home setup, don't get a squatting rack. It is dangerous to squat without competent spotters. The presence of a Squat rack will just tempt you. Instead replace barbell back squats with the standard deadlift. (I Will do a post on the Deadlift later). Replace Ham Glute Raises with work on the one legged Squat. (See the post, The Squat).
The Combination of deadlifts and pistol squats is a fantastic one, and one that almost eliminates the chance of over training the lower back. Same with Ham Glute Raises and Barbell Back Squats.
2. De Loading Routine
This is meant to go with the previous routine. Whenever you feel you have hit a sticking point and are not making progress, get back to this routine for a bit. Do it for 2 weeks and you should be good.
Day 1- Upper Body
One set each of push ups and pull ups as warm up
2-3 work sets of push ups and pull ups.
1 set of Bodyweight Rows and Handstand Push ups.
1 Set Hanging Leg Raises
1 Set Bridges
Day 2- Lower Body
One Set of Bodyweight Squats As warm Up
2-3 work sets of Pistol Squats (Progression) and Ham glute Raises
1 Set Hanging Leg Raises
1 Set Bridges
Flexibility Training
Day 3- Rest
Day 4- Upper Body
1 Set of push ups and Bodyweight Rows as warm up
2-3 Work Sets of Bodyweight Rows and Handstand Push Ups
1 set of push ups and Pull ups
1 Set Hanging Leg Raises
1 Set Bridges
Day 5- Repeat Day 2
Day 6, Day 7- Rest
A couple of weeks of this routine should easily get you out of any training rut.
3. 2 Days A Week-
This particular routine is hard and should only undertaken if you are sure you are up to it.
Day 1-
1 Set of 10 each Bent Over Rows and Military press, with light weight.
4 Sets of 3-8 each Bent Over Rows and Military Press. (Work up tp 8 reps with the weight, than increase weight and move the reps back down)
1 Set of 10- Barbell Squats/ Deadlifts
5 Sets of 3-7 (Increase the weight once you can hit 7-8 with a particular weight and start over)- barbell back Squats/ Deadlifts
2 Sets of 5-10 Standing Barbell Curls (Increase The Weight After you hit sets of 10)
2 sets of Hanging Leg Raises and Bridges (Alternate between them)
If You Use Barbell Squats on Day, Perform Ham glute raises on Day 2. If you perform Deadlifts, work on the pistol Squat progression on Day 2.
Day 2-
1 easy set of push ups and pull ups
4-5 work sets of pull ups and push ups
1 Warm up set of bodyweight squats
4 Work Sets of Ham Glute Raises/Pistol Squats (progression)
2 sets of Hanging Leg Raises and Bridges (Alternate)
Each day can be followed by 2-3 days rest. You have to push hard in this system to make gains. You will make faster gains than template 1, but you will burnout faster, as you will be trying to make every workout one that might kill you. Do this routine sparingly and not for more than 4 weeks at a stretch, and immediately revert to template 2 for a couple of weeks.
If you find you can handle this routine very easily, add another workout in your week, in the same format as Day 2. If you think you are superman, do it in the same format as Day 1. Just keep track of your recovery.
Remember, these are just templates that are designed to be balanced. You must modify them depending on your objectives. For examples, guys who want to develop strength only, may do only 2 sets of 2 reps of ultra heavy deadlifts- 4 days a week, combined with 1 set of 2 reps of weighted pull ups and the military press. This will work great to increase your maximal strength, but will probably peak out really really fast. You will have to shift to a higher volume routine after 7-9 weeks. We will talk about this kind of training in some other post. The point is, your routine must be suitable for your objectives and your needs. Don't be a dumbass and just copy a routine. That being said, if you want to just generally get stronger, fitter and bigger, the above routines will work.
Remember- ALWAYS, ALWAYS KEEP A LOG BOOK. You have to beat at least one item on your log book every workout. It is not too hard, out of 3 -4 main exercises, you should be able to better at least 1 every workout. But for this, you must know exactly what you did last time. You also need the record to keep track of your gains and to figure out if you are slowing down a lot. If you are, immediately apply the remedy- routine no. 2. That should re-charge your system completely.
Well, Good Luck And Train Hard.
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