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Nathan DeMetz

A workout plan for busy people


Man performing biceps curl

Now more than ever life expects a lot from us. The socioeconomic landscape is one of uncertainty more than it has been at anytime before. People are working harder and more to get less from their money.


At the same time there are a lot of people who are letting their health fall to the side. It is understandable to a degree considering the social-economic environment in the United states. However, there is also a way to still focus on your health.


One way is to make sure that you have a workout plan that fits into your life. That is that you have a workout plan for busy people such as yourself.


What the basics should be

When I create a workout plan for anybody including myself I think about four basic movement patterns. These movement patterns encompass the overall movements of the body that we see through every activity in life. These are:


·         Press

·         Squat

·         Hinge

·         Run


The press

Everyday life the press can be seen when you lift something overhead. For example imagine reaching out to put a cup on a top shelf, licking your child overhead, pushing something away from your chest with your arms, or similar everyday movements.


In workouts this could be a dumbbell overhead press, a push up, a barbell bench press, a dip, or other similar movements. The exact movement does not exactly matter as all of these have transferred into each other. In a very general sense completing one or more of these movements on a regular basis will transfer into your everyday life and also into the other movements.


However completing multiple variations of the press will give you a wider range of ability.


The squat

Every time you squat down to look at something or to pick something up, you're performing a squad hence the inclusion of the ward in the sentence. A squat is basically bending the knees and the hips and pushing the button toward the ground while keeping the torso upright.


In workouts there are wide variety of movements that are actually squatting movements or or close variations. For example you could complete one of these movements:


·         Barbell back squat

·         Body weight squat

·         Body weight lunge

·         Leg press

·         Band squat


There are a variety of other movements as well such as performing lunges to the side, back, or front, or using something like the hack squat machine. Performing one or more of these movements will help develop those particular movements and at the same time transferred into the other movements that I mentioned but also transferring to everyday ability to squat, lunge, and otherwise use your lower body.


The hinge

Starting in an standing position, then pushing your butt backward while your torso bends at the waist in the presence of no knee bend or slight knee bend, is essentially the basic movement pattern for hinging.


This movement pattern is seen in everyday life when you bend at the waist to look at something or to pick something up from the ground. This is a very common movement that people are not aware of in daily life and they can be easily lost with time.


Lack of ability in this area as well as with the squad is one of the biggest reasons people have slip and falls and cannot get back up.


In workouts there are a wide variety of movement patterns that mimic this motion and can help improve your posterior and lower body function. Focusing on this can save your body now and in the future are you making you more physically fit and physically capable.


A barbell deadlift, a kettlebell swing, any kind of hip thrust, and even jumping are movement patterns that mimic this real life movement


Running

Running is the simplest movement pattern for most people to envision when I tell them about this simple but inclusive list. It is also the movement pattern that most people list like to do. If you've ever seen somebody running or if you've ever run yourself which I'm sure you have been you know what running is in a very basic sense.


There are not a variety of different movement patterns that are running. Running is one movement, one very specific movement pattern. While there can be some slight variation in cadence and stride and foot strike, and other areas, the overall movement pattern stays the same.


Putting this into a workout

A simple way to put this into a workout plan for busy people is simply to complete each movement and several session three times per week. For example:


·         Monday – squat, hinge, press, run

·         Wednesday – run, hinge, press squat

·         Friday – press, run, hinge, squat


By the age day you might simply approach the overall workout structure with five sets of five reps for the lives and then 10 minutes of running for the run. That might look something like this:


·         Monday – 5 sets x 5 reps of the squat, hinge, press; 10 minute run

·         Wednesday – 10 minute run; 5 sets of 5 reps of hinge, press squat

·         Friday – 5 rounds of a circuit that includes press, run, hinge, squat


Now let me drill that down with the specific exercises included:


·         Monday – 5 sets x 5 reps of the dumbbell front squat, barbell deadlift, push-up; 10-minute run

·         Wednesday – 10-minute run; 5 sets of 5 reps of dumbbell deadlift, barbell bench press, hack squat

·         Friday – 5 rounds circuit that includes 5 push-ups, 1 minute run, 5 band deadlifts, 5 barbell squats


In this example you complete day five by doing each exercise it's a session have been repeating that secession 5 times. So you would do the pushups then the run then the dead lifts then the squats and then repeat the entire circuit again for a total of five times.


Conclusion

And that is how easy it can be to include a workout plan for busy people in your everyday life. Now these details are not set in stone and can be varied greatly. The types of exercises the number of sets the number of reps the days in which you work out how many times per week you workout and a number of other details can be changed.


They can be changed to fit your schedule to include things that you prefer that make the workout more enjoyable or for any other reason as well. At the end of the day all that matters is that you include these basic movement patterns and that they help you track towards your goals.

 

 

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