My Training Regimen and Why

We’re all busy people, so I’ll jump straight to it. Below is my current self-prescribed and individually-designed training regimen with explanations for why I am following this plan. Workouts that can elevate your heart rate and make you sweat are a dime a dozen. Here is what it looks like to craft a unique plan for an individual that is tailored to their personal goals.

Goals:

1. Raw strength - get back to (and surpass) my pre-hit-by-car-while-cycling strength levels

   • Strategy: spend time in the 3-6 rep range at the beginning of the session, long rest intervals to replenish ATP-phosphocreatine energy stores, supplement with creatine

2. Anaerobic threshold - improve fitness capacity and muscle tone

   • Strategy: Interval training with 2-3 rounds of high intensity effort followed by 3 minutes rest

3. Aerobic threshold aka Zone 2 training - cardiovascular health

   • Strategy: High-rep low-intensity circuits, steady-state cardio sessions, daily step goals

4. Feel good - address aches, pains, and personal injury history

   • Left knee (medial meniscus degenerative tear - frequent exposure to deep squats and warmup well)

   • Left thumb (hairline fracture affecting grip strength - ditch the lifting straps, be mindful of bone vs muscle healing times, avoid vibration by riding stationary bike vs outside, no slamming the bar when deadlifting)

Weekly checklist:

1. Squat

2. Hinge

3. Lunge

4. Push

5. Pull

6. Carry

7. Gait

Day 1: Vertical Push

Overhead press 5x5, rest 3-5 minutes

Push Press 3x10-12, rest 2-3 minutes

Circuit (no rest between exercises, 1 minute rest after the last station, heart rate at or below ~130 bpm)

• Shoulder Fly x 15

• Dumbbell Overhead Press x 15

• DB Shrugs x 15

Day 2: Hinge and Horizontal Pull

Deadlift 5x5

Hang Clean x 5, High Pull x 5 (3 rounds)

Circuit:

• DB Row 3x15 each arm

• DB Curl 3x15 each arm

Day 3: Horizontal Push

Flat Bench Press 5x5

Narrow Grip Bench Press 3x10-12

Circuit:

• Wide Pushups x 15

• Triceps Rope Extension x 15

• Barbell Overhead Triceps Extension x 15

Day 4: Zone 2 Training

30-45 minutes low-intensity steady-state cardio (stationary bike, walk/ruck, row)

10-15 minutes core work (planks, side planks, supermans, crunches)

Day 5: Vertical Pull

Wide Grip Pullups: weighted 5x5 or bodyweight rep scheme 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5

Cable Pulldown 3x12

Circuit:

• Straight Arm Lat Pulldown x 15

• DB Incline Bench Low Row x 15

• Band Lat Pull Around x 15

Day 6: Squat and Lunge

High Bar Back Squat 5x5

Low Bar Back Squat 3x10

Circuit:

• Split Squat or Lunge x 15 each leg

• Kettlebell Swing x 15

Day 7: Zone 2 Training

30-45 minutes of low-intensity steady-state gait training (cycle, walk, ruck, row)

10-15 minutes core work (planks, side planks, supermans, crunches)

On a weekly basis, strength is improved by increasing the weight on the bar. Anaerobic thresholds are improved by either reducing rest intervals or increasing rep count. Aerobic thresholds are improved by adding an additional round or increasing rep count.

The Minimum Effective Dose

The Minimum Effective Dose (MED) is, in short, the smallest dose that will produce a desired outcome. In pharmacological medicine, the application is obvious. Two pills in the morning lower your blood pressure to a “safe” level, so why take 5? You’re only causing yourself potential danger. But this concept can be used in many other ways. For instance, it can represent the minimal amount of work needed to finish a job. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. 100 degrees is the M.E.D. for boiling water. To heat water to 130 degrees with the intended goal of simply making it boil is nothing but a waste of energy. That extra 30 degrees won’t make the water any more boiled. If avoiding a speeding ticket means driving under 65 mph, doing 30 doesn’t make you even less likely to be pulled over.

The most interesting application of the Minimum Effective Dose falls in the strength and conditioning category. Ever met that guy who only goes to the gym 2-3 times per week and somehow achieves results quicker than those spending 5-7 days per week busting their butts? Or how about those people who exercise for 10-20 minutes per session while you spend 3 or more hours trying to shed belly fat, and nature seems to favor the others? It’s not coincidence, and it’s not entirely genetics either. Sometimes less is more. Unless you are a competitive athlete, your fitness goals likely include some sort of change in body composition, in which case the MED is intensity-specific. If your goal is fat loss, the MED is the stress level required to initiate a catabolic hormone response. If you want bigger muscles, tax the muscles with the minimum amount of work required to trigger both a local and systemic anabolic hypertrophy response, then go home. Use the extra time you would usually spend skyrocketing your cortisol levels by doing something more productive. If an overloaded muscle needs 48+ hours to recover and adapt to a training session, there is no hypertrophic benefit in bench pressing two days in a row, assuming you got it right the first time. In contrast, if your goal involves technical skill development and athletic performance, perhaps a few extra sets of clean and jerks can further smooth out that coordinated mind-muscle connection and grant you better insight into your mechanical faults. The MED for athletic training is the number of repetitions it takes to learn what is wrong with your performance and learn to adjust it.

How about strength development? Do you need to huff ammonia capsules and push/pull until you’re blue in the face in order to gain strength? 70% nerve activity is high enough for motor units to recruit all 3 muscle fiber types - the physiological goal in strength training. So anything beyond an absolute 70% power output during any lift is just exposing you to a greater chance of injury with minimal physiological benefit. It’s nice to blow off some steam every once in a while, but there’s a reason smart lifters avoid their 1-rep max until they are in competition, and they seem to gain strength just fine by hanging out in the 3- and 5-rep range.

Dieting? If consuming 500 calories less than you burn each day results in 1 pound of fat loss per week, then why not create a daily calorie deficit of 3,000 calories? Your stress hormones will spike, you will go into shock, and your health will crash. The most effective weight loss strategy is the one you can stick to over the long term while minimizing physiological stress.

The point of this post is to inform you that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Minimalism is not laziness; it is efficiency. Bill Gates once stated, “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.”

Work smart, not hard. Consult with a professional.

TJ Williamson, DC MS CSCS

Build a Stronger Back

So today I tried out a new leg and lower back workout I designed, putting a strong focus on strengthening my lumbar spine and pelvic region. I experience lower back pain from time to time, especially if I am sitting down for too long, and I’ve learned that strengthening these areas with certain exercises combined with a little mobility work helps relieve my aching joints and gets me back to feeling good. While I firmly believe the spine is designed to bend and twist freely and fluidly, I also know that the heavier the weight being lifted, the better it is to minimize spinal motion. With that being said, the entire time I was working out, I was repeatedly telling myself to keep my core stiff and my back as flat as a board. I will post the weights I used to serve as an example, but be sure to use what’s right for you and your current fitness level.

Warm up:

3-minute mile on bike. Moderate resistance.

Trap Bar Deadlift, superset with 10 swiss ball sit ups:

335 lbs 3 x 5

385 lbs 3 x 3

405 lbs 3 x 1

Back Squat, superset with standing hip abductions x 10 each leg:

225 lbs 3 x 8

Front Squat:

135 lbs 3 x 8

High-Rep Circuit: (no more than 20-30 seconds of rest while changing stations)

225 lbs leg press x 20

Hip abductor machine x 20

Hip adductor machine x 20

95 lbs good mornings x 20

30-60 second water break, repeat for 2 more rounds

By the time I reached the end, I was out of breath, drenched in sweat, and my quads and lower back were on fire. Tomorrow when I warm up for my upper body workout, I will start with a 2-minute 500 meter row. That should help get some blood pumping back into my legs and relieve some of the soreness while also preparing my upper body for the additional pulling exercises I plan to do.

Give it a try, scaling the weight as needed, and let me know how it goes!

New Year, New Me Squat Workout

Looking for a little inspiration to your New Year’s fitness plan? I challenge you to try this workout! I wrote it specifically to be high-intensity and quick to complete. The main point of this workout is to finish it as quickly as possible and to time yourself. This way, you have a time to beat next time around (once your legs no longer feel like Jell-O and you regain feeling in your rock-hard lower back). Here’s how it goes:

Warmup:

Start with some light cardio - whatever it takes to loosen up your legs, hips, and midsection

Bike - 3 minutes

Deep body squats - 3 sets of 10

Stretch anything still tight and shake it out

Here comes the fun part… Start the timer.

You’re going to pick a weight to back squat for 100 reps… the reps should looks something like this: 25, 20, 20, 35.

If you like being told what weight to use, I say try 135 lbs. If you’re a beginner or that sounds too heavy, stick with a weight that works for you - even if it is just your own body weight. 

Rule #1: every time you run out of breath and have to pause for more than 5 seconds at the top, rack the weight - you earned yourself a “rest set.” Every time you have to set the weight down, you must do a set of 10 burpees and 10 hanging knee raises. Catch your breath and get back under the bar. The clock is still ticking. Once you’ve reached 100 reps, complete one more rest set then stop the time. How long did you take? Write down your time. Can you beat it next time? 10-15 minutes is a pretty decent goal.

The hard part is over, but the workout is not. Go ahead and take a 5 minute break and walk around. Grab a drink. It’s time for the bonus round. You’re about to lunge 200 meters. That’s 100 lunges per leg. I split it up into 4 sets of 25 lunges each leg. Take your time and practice good form. Did you finish? How many lunges did you do before taking a break? Write it down. Can you beat that number next time?

One last movement for all the overachievers. Flutter kicks. Lay on your back, arms at your side, crunch up slightly and raise your legs so that the only thing on the ground is your butt. Point your toes and kick them as quickly as you can like you’re swimming. Faster! Your hip flexors will be screaming, your abs will tighten up, and your quads will be giving up on you, but this is your last workout so go all out. Complete your reps in the following fashion with minimal rest periods in between: 50 (each leg), 40, 30, 20, 10. Done! No more. Congratulations! Be sure to write down all your numbers so you have a goal to surpass next time. Now cool down, keep moving around for the next half hour, stretch as needed, then go be productive.

2024 is your year. Stay motivated and stay educated. Contact me if you need any help along the way.

TJ Williamson, DC MS CSCS