Can You Workout Every Day?

I've never had a problem working out.

Maybe it's because of watching the physiques of super heroes growing up, wanting to be strong enough to play football or reading through muscle magazines (steroids or not).

It was probably because I was a kid that enjoyed movement so much, as all kids do. It was just part of growing up.

• Recess

• Playing after school

• Playing outside at home

• P.E. classes (Which became an elective/optional in high school. Of course I signed up for it.)

• Football workouts

• High school weightlifting

For me, training was year round.

When I became a fancy pants Olympic weightlifting specialist, lifting was sadly becoming the only thing I was doing. Luckily I got into it more seriously in college, so I was still playing pick-up basketball or playing intramural sports with friends or at the very least walking around the campus all the time. Being well rounded remained.

After I graduated? Not so much.

Plenty of days of lifting and sitting around started happening. Not the best for mobility or my waist line.

We grow up and we think we have to specialize into a certain mode of training. That may be true for some people, but how much do we actually need to do so? Are you not allowed to run around and play with your kids if you're in the middle of an intense squat program?

The truth is that our bodies crave movement.

I said movement, not necessarily daily training.

We don't have to destroy ourselves in the gym for 5-6 days per week.

But isn't more better?

No.

Diminishing returns are a thing.

Yes we want to be consistent with our workouts and showing up often helps us build consistency, but we also need to make sure we do so without burning out.

You just have to combine training and moving.

Exercise Terminology 101

When people think "workout" they think about something that is done for the day. If their role models are bodybuilders, they probably think it has to be something intense, taken to failure.

It doesn't have to be, and it definitely doesn't have to be every day.

The almost-every-day, 6-day-per-week body part split for bodybuilders isn't necessary for most people. At that level for a body builder, they're probably lifting so heavy and intense that they need the full week to recover. You probably don't.

Nor do you have to do CrossFit/HIIT style workouts every day.

You don't have to do steady state cardio (jogging, cycling) every day either.

Even the people doing those things at the highest level know to take 1-2 days off per week.

Strength is important. Therefore, training it (meaning doing something today, a bit hard but reasonable, to force yourself to adapt for the next session, without going crazy) is important. So set that part of your schedule in stone.

After that, humans still crave movement since we're still animals: walking, outdoor time, mobility, stretching. You can't do too much of that stuff. I know we crave movement because I don't think anyone has gotten out of the car during a long road trip ready to take on the world.

Beyond those two (training and movement) anything else such as HIIT, sprints, cardio is a bonus.

This is the way you don't burnout.

You can have a well thought-out program that makes you work hard but saves some in reserve for the next session and to actually recover. You don't have to destroy yourself and go to failure.

So is a little bit of movement still considered "working out?"

If you want to call a 30 minute walk a workout, then absolutely.

Was walking previously a means of transportation, allowing humans of the past to get a ton more steps than we do today?

Yes again.

Should we say that the standards of humans today are so low if walking has to be considered a form of exercise and write it off completely?

Absolutely not.

It's good for you, gets you outside and is 100x better than sitting on the couch. Besides, if someone has been out of it for years or decades, I'd much rather them start with something that's right in front of them. If it's easy and accessible, it will build consistency, THEN the intensity can increase after that.

How to "Workout" Every Day

All we have to do is combine a serious strength training plan, with goals and standards, with general movement stuff to keep you limber. That's it.

Step 1: Strength Train

Before you go into the gym, you need to figure out what you want out of it. Usually people have 1 of 2 goals.

• Look better

• Perform better

Most people just want to look better, but I'll present another way of thinking about it.

Without going too far into the world of what rep range and frequency to make xyz muscle grow, I'll defer to Greg O'gallagher. He's the creator of Kinbody which is a program (mostly geared towards men) to help you look better. To build the "Hollywood Physique" as he calls it.

The thing that stood out to me in his philosophy is that if you want to look a certain way, you have to hit certain standards. That means if you want your chest to look better, you need to be doing at least 225 on the incline bench (as an example). If you want a bigger/wider back, you need to be doing so many reps and weight on weighted chin-ups. His training program usually involves 3 sets. That's it.

Are they taken to failure? No way. If you think you need to go to failure to grow, then what's the difference between you doing 12 reps and 20 reps? How about 30 reps? Which one of those reps was the determining factor?

What if you could get the same results from 3 sets of 5 reps in terms of strength, then move on to a heavier weight the next time without destroying yourself?

Get your numbers up in a reasonable manner before you worry about going to failure. A chest that benches 225 will always be bigger than one that can only do 135.

That was a bit of a rant, but I hope you understand that you can see steady progress without destroying yourself for the day. Going to failure doesn't make sense if you're doing so with 50lbs and not adding weight the next time.

That was just for the "looking better" category. If you just want more numbers on the bar or more reps on a bodyweight movement, then you already know how simple it can be. Just add weight or try to do more reps the next time.

Confused as to what program to pick?

Use Google.

Step 2: Move More

This will be the stuff that keeps your blood flowing and helps you recover faster. If a strength program is the top of the training pyramid, then this stuff is at the bottom, the baseline of human movement.

• Aim for 8-10k steps or just try to double your current average. Walk on weekends or during a lunch break for active recovery. Ruck if you want (this doesn't have to be super heavy or for super long distances either).

• Stretch, do activation drills, do a bridge, hold the squat, hang on a bar, crawl on the floor. Move your body.

Those two are really it. Do those things and you'll be strong for life.

Different Populations

There are people that may not fit in the categories of starters or just lifters. Here are a few examples

Athletes

• An athlete may need a stenthen-ing off season and/or some maintenance program for their sport. They also have to make sure that the strength training isn't interfering with their sport (which is why strength training usually happens during the off season). During the strength training block, the strength is prioritized while practice or conditioning is done a few days per week after lifting. If the strength starts to suffer, then cut back on the other stuff. If it's in season, then strength takes a back seat to maintenance mode or removed completely.

Competitive CrossFit people

• I talk about CrossFit a bit because they directly have to use the barbell or bodyweight for competitions, making strength training awesome. One would benefit from being stronger with either bodyweight movements or the barbell. Doing 30 clean and jerks at 135 (the workout called "Grace") is much easier if your max is 315 as opposed to 225. Dips in a workout are easier if you can do sets of 20 already. If a strength block is necessary so that whatever you think you need is improved (meaning CrossFit metcon workouts are reduced), then so be it.

Everyone else?

• What about your average Joe or Jane? If you're confused, get your strength up so your muscle, health and appearance can improve. Then tack on a lot of walking or a couple days of more cardio intensive stuff if you want. I put strength training before cardio because for a few reasons.

  • For looks - Everyone wants to "look better," but if all you did do a bunch of cardio and starve yourself, yes you'd lose weight, but what about your health? You want to lose fat, not muscle and fat. You'd also be a smaller version of what you look like now. Building muscle helps you round things out with a better "shape." Building muscle also increases your metabolism so you can burn more fat (and eat more) while you're sitting around not doing anything.

  • For health - Building muscle and strength takes more time than getting your cardio (mile time, 5k, etc) up to par. But once it's built, it lasts longer. You can get a lot of the same health benefits from walking more instead of running and potentially getting wear and tear on your joints. Speaking of joints, falling is a major health concern in the elderly, so stronger legs (walking backwards, calves, squats, etc) can help prevent that. Muscle mass goes down as you age, so strength training is your "anti-aging" hack.

Again, that was another rant, but an important one. Go to any gym and the cardio machines are filled. The squat racks? Not so much.

Just Keep Moving

I think a lot of people stop themselves from working out because they think working out has to be some horrible experience, like you're getting the demons out of your body or something.

Keep it simple.

No one at the top level of any training started by doing the training they're doing today. They had to start small.

So…start small.

If you did a handful of bodyweight movements and walked more, making sure things got harder over time, you'll surprise yourself.

Thanks for reading!

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