Anyone doing a daily exercise routine? No rest days?

[Reindeer]

I've realized that rest days are like potato chips. It takes a seious amount of discipline to take only one - a discipline that I have yet to display. I'm back for yet another attempt at fitness, and this time, I'm going to eliminate my age-old nemesis, my Achilles heel, my eternal lure towards the darkness. I want to do a routine with zero rest days. 

 

I don't really care what it is. I just want to go to the gym every day and do SOMETHING while I'm there. Prepping for gardening class in March is the goal, so aiming for flexibility and functional strength would be nice, but honestly I just need to build the habit at this point. I'll do this for a month and then I can start affording myself rest days. 

 

However... I have no idea what a daily exercise schedule would look like. At least one that won't be counter-productive. Anyone got routines to share? Books, blogs, whatever? I could sure use them. 

[Anim07734]

I'm going to give you a short, generic workout plan, then ask some questions to start tweaking it to your goals and preferences.  My experience is almost exclusively bodyweight training, so hopefully others can weigh in on other training styles.

 

7-day training plan:

Monday - Beginner's Bodyweight Workout (remember to warm up and cooldown every time)

Tuesday - 30min run/walk (use the first 3-5min to warm up, then choose a challenging pace for the remainder.  If you can't run the full time, just keep moving for as long as you can.)

Wednesday - BBWW

Thursday - 30min of yoga/mobility work (you can find free tutorials online; here's one from the Assassin's guild chat)

Friday - BBWW

Saturday - 30min run/walk

Sunday - 30min yoga/mobility

 

Rules to make this work:

-Schedule 1hour a day for your workout.  Write it on your calendar, put it in your phone, whatever you need to do.  Tell your friends/family/coworkers that you are and don't schedule anything to conflict with it.  (Don't plan dinner right after your workout, when you'll want time to shower and change, for example.)

-Never miss a Monday.  Monday sets the tone for the rest of the week, so no matter what, you always do your Monday workout.  It doesn't matter if you missed your last 5 workouts, partied all weekend, and still feel hungover, when Monday rolls around, you go workout.

-Never miss two days in a row.  You're going to have bad days: you're going to be sore, there will be a last minute meeting at work, your kid will get sick, etc etc.  Even if you have to cut your workout short, or reduce the difficulty for a day, do something on that second day.

-Make sure you're getting enough sleep and eating well.  Even with a rotating schedule like this, no rest days can be hard on your body and it needs enough down time and the right fuel to repair itself before you start again the next day.  If you're also trying to lose/gain weight, it's probably worth looking up a BMR calculator and tracking your calories/macros each day.

-Adding to the above:  pay careful attention to your form.  Preventing injuries is more important than adding weight/reps.  And listen to your body.  If you start to feel pain, for any reason, go see your doctor.

 

 

Now the questions:

-Based on your previous attempts, what workout styles do you like/hate?  If you enjoy running, you can do that everyday, if you want.  If you like weight lifting, there are beginner's programs that could replace the BBWW.  If you hate running, it can be replaced with sprinting (which IS a different thing distance running) or swimming or biking or just dropped altogether.

-What are your longterm goals?  Do you want to be able to lift a car?  Run a marathon?  Scale a building?  Just look good in a bathing suit?  All of the above?

-How much time are you willing to devote to fitness each day?  The above suggestions should only take 45min to an hour each, but there are ways to make them shorter on some days (NEVER skip your warm up or cool down to shorten a workout).  Or if you have more time, you can expand some of them.

-Have you considered dedicating a day to cooking instead of exercise?  Diet is 80-90% of the battle, and this could help you clean up that area of your life as well.  An hour of prep work could get you 8-12 simple meals that just need to be cooked when you're ready.  Another hour, and with proper planning, you can have them all cooked ahead of time and just need to warm them up to eat.

 

Alternate ideas:

-If you're already in decent shape, look for a good crossfit box in your area.  Most will have a trial period before they start charging (or possibly a daily rate), so try a few before making a decision.  You can tell a good one by how well they treat their new members, and how much beginner level training they offer.  For example, my old box had an intro course that taught all the lifts commonly used in their WODs before you could attend classes and regularly took newbies aside for one-on-one training.  It was also ~150$ a month for as many sessions as you wanted each week.  (More than a gym membership, but a lot less than a personal trainer.)  And once you drop the money, it's hard to justify not going.

-As above, but if you have a specific interest (martial arts, gymnastics, dance, yoga, etc), see if you can find classes and sign up for them now.  It's harder to skip workouts you've already paid for.

-If you're intested in weight training, shop around for a personal trainer.  This will be your most expensive option, but it will also be the greatest accountability.

-Give a trusted friend $100 and tell them to donate it to *insert charity you dislike* if you don't complete at least X workouts this month.  You only get the money back if you meet your goal (and since you've gone without it for a month, can use part to get yourself a reward, like new running shoes or a couple workout shirts).

[IslandGirl_Becks]

I'm totally with you - doing nothing is not a great activity! My "rest days" always involve walking, and often involve yoga or targeted mobility. 

[juliebarkley]

I make sure that I have some activity on my off days, even if it's only 5 minutes. You're right, keeping the habit going is important. But I try not to do any strength exercises on my rest days, just cardio.

[JefApollo]

You can always split your workouts. For your major muscle groups, the standard is one day for rest and repair, which leaves you a lot of flexibility, depending on your equipment access. Calisthenics don't really have a down time, which makes them great workout fillers.

 

I would love to help you develop a specific custom workout plan, if you would like to discuss it

[Wobbegong]

I tend to have issues with muscle soreness after intense workouts, so I usually do a full period of stretching and foam rolling on rest days. It keeps me active, gives me something to do so I don't "break the chain," and isn't too strenuous if you do it right.