My Blueprint to Exercising
Let me share a few ideas about resistance training and cardio.
This is part 2 of my two-part series on getting lean. You can read part 1 on nutrition here.
Exercise can be a chore if you aren’t having fun. Fun means progress, people, and pleasure.
Below is how I incorporate these elements into my resistance training and cardio routine.
Resistance Training
We overcomplicate how to get stronger. Other than nutrition, 80% of your results come from three simple things — consistency, focus, and tracking.
Get Stronger
Consistency means making it a priority. My sessions are 50 minutes, 3 to 4 times a week. I plug them into my calendar every Sunday before the start of the week.
Organizing muscle groups and sequencing them is called a (split) routine. There are many types (bro splits, full body, upper/lower, push/pull/legs) but there is no best.
Pick one that works with your schedule and then stick to it. I often switch between PPL and full body.
Like routines, the exercises you perform aren’t a big deal either. Get to the gym and repeatedly do the same ones every week for 8 to 12 weeks.
Across those weeks, you should get stronger by increasing weight, adding reps, or adding sets to those exercises. This is called progressive overload. And you can’t do this without tracking.
Log Every Set
There is a saying, “What gets measured gets managed, and what gets managed gets improved”.
Improvement is also a dopamine feedback loop. The problem is gains at the gym are tiny. Without tracking you won’t detect progress.
You can use a notebook but I am a digital guy. I’ve used the Strong app for 5 years and recently switched to Hevy. Both apps let you build a routine and log in sets and reps.
Both also have stand-alone Apple Watch apps. Leaving my phone in the locker room has been a game-changer. I am not distracted by anything other than my thoughts. This goes with the next point.
Go to the gym with focus and intensity.
Your body can be lifting weights but your mind can be somewhere else. Stay present. Don’t be distracted. Every set. Every rep.
The mindset you come with can help. I like focusing on having an execution mindset. I spend 5 minutes before a session reviewing the routine and tell myself “You are going to hit all these sets and reps, Irfan”.
Cardio
My friend once invited me to a conversation run. I was confused. How can someone run and talk? Then I discovered friend pods. My tongue-in-cheek way of saying substitute AirPods with friends.
Fitness groups are another variant of using people. I’ve been part of different run clubs for the past five years. There is a sense of being in sync with others. 5 miles by myself feels like 3 when I share the road with others.
Since weightlifting is a solo endeavor during this season of my life, I’ve adopted a maxim for running: Every mile should be a conversation.
That can’t always be the case, and this is where a few behavioral strategies are deployed.
Habit Stacking
The two techniques below are wrapped within habit stacking.
Habit stacking is adding new behaviors after an established one. I do cardio after weights.
The gym’s weight room is on the third floor, cardio on the second, and lockers on the first. As I go back down the stairs from lifting, I notice the cardio equipment.
Temptation Bundling
I’ve written about this technique before but it’s dead simple. Pair something you have a deep desire to do with something you "want” to do but need motivation to start.
Low-intensity cardio is what I want to do after lifting. This is where I set a simple rule for myself. Those interesting YouTube videos I watch on my sofa can only be watched on the StairMaster. Time flies by and I don’t mind.
The 3 Song Rule
When I am pressed for time, I ask myself, What would this look like if it were easy?
The answer is three bangers on the treadmill for 1 mile. This isn’t a trick to do more than one mile; it’s to start and end small.
I also get a sweat going. Sweating is one of my simple pleasures. Direct evidence of a body in motion.
Author/professor Scott Galloway has one of my favorite lines on sweating, which I try to adhere to.
The ratio of time you spend sweating to watching others sweat is a forward-looking indicator of your success.
Functional Walking
Walking isn’t my thing. I wouldn’t be a good zombie.
The key I’ve found is walking with a destination. Or what I call functional walking. My gym, grocery store, and public transit are all walkable. So I default to walking.
This lifestyle choice translates to 4,000 steps automatically without thought or effort.
My exercise stack:
Resistance training (50-minute sessions, 3-4x a week)
Cardio (2-3 times a week)
Functional walking (every day)
Yoga (once a week)
I never have a perfect week. Just good weeks to compound over time.
Thanks for reading!
Irfan
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