The Intelligent Workout

It’s easy to get caught up in a certain routine. Following the same workout schedule day in and day out can become rather mundane or at best begin to yield mediocre results. An Intelligent Workout is constantly changing to keep up with your ever evolving goals and schedule. As Albert said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and

expecting different results.” Here is a simple exercise to help you discover your best workout split and put you back on the fast track to fitness.

First, a Quick two step process to identify what kind of intelligent worker-outer you really are. Read the following descriptions and see which Workout Guy fits your bill.

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Workout Guy A: The Fit Cardio Guy
Fitness Philosophy: Run for Fun
Might be Heard Saying: “Wanna go for a jog?”
Known Professional: Lance Armstrong
Goals: Staying Fit, Better Cardio
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Workout Guy B: The Gym Rat
Fitness Philosophy: The Middle Way…
Might be Heard Saying: “Where’s my creatine at?”
Known Professional: Ryan Reynolds
Goals: Strength, More Lean Muscle
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Workout Guy C: The Muscle Man
Fitness Philosophy: BIGGER is BETTER
Might be Heard Saying: “I just totally baked my hams…”
Known Professional: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Goals: Size, Ripped Muscle Mass
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Here are some general guidelines to consider before selecting your workout split.

Your total sets – per muscle group – per week should be around 15-18. So the fit cardio guy could be doing 3 full body workouts hitting each muscle group with five sets each workout. The gym rat could divide his body into push muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps, quads) and pull muscles (back, hamstrings, traps, biceps) and would be doing 4 half body workouts hitting each muscle group with 8 or 9 sets each time. The Arnolds out there will only be doing one workout per body section a week and hitting them with the full 15-18 sets everytime. Make sure never to forget the meat and potatoes of weight lifting by always having a form of the squat, deadlift, and chest press in your workout routine.

So without further suspense here are four workout splits for your consideration:

Workout Guy A

Monday – Full Body
Tuesday – Cardio
Wednesday Cardio
Thursday – Full Body
Friday – Cardio
Saturday – Cardio
Sunday – Rest Day

Workout Guy B – Split 1

Monday – Heavy Deadlifts with Back, Hamstring and Bicep Exercises
Tuesday – Cardio
Wednesday – Heavy Chest Press with Chest, Shoulder, and Tricep Exercises
Thursday – Cardio
Friday – Heavy Squats with Quad, Calf, and Ab Exercises
Saturday – Rest Day
Sunday – Rest Day

Workout Guy B – Split 2

Monday – Heavy Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Quads
Tuesday – Heavy Back, Biceps. and Hamstrings
Wednesday – Cardio
Thursday – Light Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Quads
Friday- Light Back, Biceps and Hamstrings
Saturday – Rest Day
Sunday – Rest Day

Workout Guy C

Monday – Arms
Tuesday – Legs
Wednesday – Abs and Calves
Thursday – Chest and Shoulders
Friday – Back
Saturday – Rest Day
Sunday – Rest Day

Bonus – Crossfit - I haven’t delved too deep into the Crossfit realm, it’s cold in Chicago and hard to find a decent place to sprint in the winter. I did do a slightly modified version of this introduction to Crossfit for two weeks which made me feel like a million bucks. The third day rocked my world, it’s such a fantastic and simple way to tax your whole body. Crossfit has several benefits as it is timely and effective although their mascot is “Pukey the Clown” so there is definitely no chattering on cell phones or namby pamby style lifting.

My suggestion after selecting your ideal split would be to try a different split. It will bust you through any plateaus and you might find that you like the pump as much as AHnold Does

Stay Intelligent as I will be posting several sample workouts over the next few days… so savor those splits and keep up with your great workouts.