What would you do and what could you achieve if you had a few more weeks every year, months every decade, or years over the course of your lifetime to spend however you choose?
Would you spend the extra time with your family and friends? Participating in activities and hobbies you enjoy or discovering new ones? Catching up on the pile of books you’ve collected but haven’t found time to read? Achieving personal, academic or professional goals?
If you’re new to high intensity training and have been following conventional workout programs, you’re wasting most of the time you’re in the gym. Time you can never get back. Time which is in limited and unknown supply. The odds against you existing to begin with are astronomical, and the relatively short time you have here is all you get. Every minute of your life is invaluable. Think about that for a moment before reading on.
If you follow the current guidelines of most professional exercise and health organizations, the workouts in popular health and fitness magazines, or training programs like P90X you will spend around three to six hours per week working out, with many averaging around five (one hour a day, five days per week). Some bodybuilding magazines even recommend workout programs which take up to ten hours each week to complete.
At only five hours per week you would spend over 250 hours working out per year, even if you took a few weeks off due to illness or injury or for vacation. This does not including driving time to and from the gym, which adds about an hour if the drive only takes you five minutes, bringing the total up to over 300 hours per year, or a little over eighteen days.
In one decade you would have to invest over 3,000 hours. If you divide those hours by the time most people are awake each day—around sixteen to seventeen—it adds up to over 180 days.
That’s over half a year.
By comparison, most high intensity training workouts take less than thirty minutes to complete, and many HIT programs only require between one and three weekly workouts to produce better results than conventional, higher volume programs.
If you average two thirty-minute workouts per week you would only spend around fifty hours working out per year. If you live within five minutes of the gym drive time only adds about sixteen hours, for a total of sixty six hours per year, or four days.
In one decade you would have to invest 660 hours, which adds up to only forty days; almost five months less than most conventional programs require.
In one year a proper high intensity training program would free up two weeks of your time. In a decade it would free up five months. Over a lifetime it would free up years.
What if I told you you could free up even more time?
Earlier this year, the BBC special The Truth About Exercise generated a lot of buzz when it showed only three minutes of high intensity interval training per week (not high intensity strength training, as some writers mis-stated) was required to effectively improve cardiovascular efficiency. The time requirements for improving muscular strength and size and through it overall functional ability (including cardiovascular and metabolic conditioning) with high intensity strength training are similarly low. The results you get from exercise are mostly related to intensity of effort and not time spent working out; if your intensity is high enough not only is very little exercise necessary for best results, but keeping your workouts brief becomes a requirement to avoid overtraining.
There is a practical minimum, however. To have balanced strength development throughout the body you must perform enough exercises to effectively address all the major muscle groups. This is fewer than what most people suspect. Contrary to popular but uninformed opinion it is not necessary to perform separate exercises for every single muscle group, much less a wide variety for each, but just a few basic compound movements which provide meaningful work for all the major muscle groups, and a few simple movements for some of the smaller muscle groups.
This can be done in a single workout, requiring less than 30 minutes to complete, or divided into two shorter workouts you can alternate between, requiring less than 15 minutes to complete:
- Leg Press (or Squat)
- Compound Row (or Barbell Row)
- Chest Press (or Push Up)
- Wrist Flexion
- Wrist Extension
- Neck Extension
- Neck Flexion
This can be alternated with the following to provide more direct work for some of the hip and thigh muscles, the lower back and calves, and pushing and pulling movements in different planes:
- Trunk Extension (or Deadlift)
- Overhead Press (or Standing Press)
- Pull Down (or Chin Up)
- Trunk flexion (or Trunk Rotation)
- Heel Raise
- Dorsiflexion
- Gripping (Support, Crush, or Pinch)
If you wish to focus more on the development of specific muscle groups or areas of the body you can add exercises for them at the end of these workouts or alternate these workouts with similarly brief “specialization” workouts with exercises directly addressing those.
If done two times a week your total weekly workout time would be less than half an hour; that’s less than twenty five hours per year. With drive time you might still only need to devote around forty hours per year to exercise. That’s 260 less hours per year, a half-year less per decade, and several years less over an average lifetime than conventional workout programs require. That’s time you put to better use living your life.
As I’ve written elsewhere, “Proper exercise is a requirement for living the longest, happiest life possible. It is a requirement for self-actualization – realizing your full human potential and achieving the ideal of a sound mind in a sound body.”
Exercise can and should contribute to your enjoyment of life, not be the focus of or take up an unnecessarily large part of it. Train hard but train briefly, then go out and live.
Comments on this entry are closed.
I’ll be passing copies of this for friends who ask about my workout.
Thanks Mark,
I’ll be timing my next few workouts and posting the durations here as an example, using these and a third specialization routine.
One thing I can’t help but think while reading this though: what if you LOVE to exercise? And want to exercise in a manner that allows you to exercise the most often for the most amount of time while keeping you safe and healthy?
I totally get the point you are making, as most people want fitness to take a backseat in their life, as Doug McGuff would say. But is there a place for high intensity exercise in the life of someone who actually enjoys working out?
I mean, most days if the majority of the day is spent at work, a long workout is the highlight of the day.
Thoughts?
Vartan,
If someone loves to exercise they are doing it wrong.
I recommend finding other activities which you enjoy rather than compromising the effectiveness and efficiency of your workouts by trying to make them fun.
Drew wrote “If someone loves to exercise they are doing it wrong.”
The more I do it right, the more I understand this great one-liner.
Hi Drew,
I noticed you recommend the barbell row as an option. Barbell rows are tough on my lower back. Is there a reason that you didn’t recommend dumbbell rows?
Thanks,.
Marc
Marc,
If a person can’t perform a barbell row or bilateral dumbbell row due to lower back problems or fatigue a supported one-armed dumbbell row would be fine. Normally I would discourage unilateral exercise, but this is a case where it may be preferred, provided it was done in strict form.
Inspiring post Drew.
To most, quality above quantity is a hard to grasp concept. Those that understand the rationale behind it, find themselves to comfortable in their time consuming routines to give it a proper try.
The group that I find most willing to do this type of training are women past their fourties. Save, effective and efficiënt appeals to them more than to youngsters. Or they just think I’m cute.
Men often seem to proud to follow my instructions directly, but it happens that in the corner of my eye I see them mimmicking my movements while I’m working out.
I find myself in great physical condition, while only working out about 30 minutes a week. And as a personal trainer, recommend this type of training to everyone.
Daniël,
High intensity training is a huge paradigm shift for many people, and change can be difficult. It doesn’t help that the majority of the fitness industry appears ignorant of how to properly exercise and of how little is actually required when you do and continues to promote a volume and frequency of training far above what is necessary for best results.
The best we can hope to do is lead by example and educate as many people as we can.
Hi Drew,
do you think that even for a natural bodybuilder with the goal of building maximum muscle mass, the volume and frequency of exercise you recommend above is enough?
Is an even further reduction of volume and frequency of exercise necessary for advanced natural bodybuilders?
Thank you very much!
Andy
Andy,
If they are eating correctly and training hard enough, yes. A few additional exercises or occasional body part specialization workouts may be required for balance and symmetry, but for general strength and size increases little volume is required.
Drew,
thank you for your answer!
You wrote above: “There is a practical minimum however…” and “If done two times a week…”
For the case of an advanced natural bodybuilder, do you see the need to reduce the frequency of training even more and maybe reduce the volume a little bit?
Andy,
As trainees become more advanced and capable of working at a higher level of intensity it is often necessary to reduce workout volume and increase recovery time between workouts, but the amount depends on the individual. Some may require a significant reduction in volume and frequency early on, others little or no change even after a significant increase in training intensity.
It’s now appearing that the “exercise vs recreation” issue runs deeper than I thought. People want their workouts to be a getaway from their work week, not what they perceive to be yet another job, (and it is!). Ironically,(at least in my experience),the best way to leave the stress of everyday life behind is to exercise intensely.
Mark,
While exercise is an effective stress reliever, too much is a negative thing if you want the best possible results. If you want to relieve stress on the days between your workouts I recommend a trip to the gun range.
Drew,
Excellent post; the point is clear, unfortunately still not grasped by many (who don’t take advantage of blogs such as this or McGuff’s).
A related point (generated by the exercises you list): I occasionally read trainers who say that bodyweight exercises such as, e.g., chins are superior to something like a lat pull-down because you’re “moving your body through space” which hits the relevant muscles differently than using those same muscles to move a weight (such as the lat pull-down). Is there anything to this?
Will,
From a purely physical standpoint there is no advantage of a body weight movement over a machine or barbell movement which would load the muscles similarly. There are safety, efficiency, learning and psychological advantages and disadvantages to each, but that’s something that might be better addressed in a separate post.
The advantage to pull-ups is that the pull-up station in the gym is always available!
This a very good post Drew. Exercise should enhance one’s life, not take away from one’s very precious time any more than necessary. Like you said once that time is gone, it’s GONE. If one wanted to really minimize or eliminate the driving time to the gym along with the workout time a very good home setup of a power rack, barbell, generous amount of plates, a good leg press machine, and maybe a pulldown machine, would in my opinion be a very good investment. There would no longer be the drive to and from the gym. No waiting for equipment. You would be able to perform the big basic exercises safely. No more cost of gym a membership and very, very little time spent on exercise.
Donnie,
Well put. Interestingly, shortly after writing this I started reading Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens and on the page before the table of contents it reads,
“Live all you can: It’s a mistake not to.” – Lambert Strether, in The Ambassadors
The key is determining both the volume and frequency of exercise and the training arrangements that maximize the overall benefit to the individual. Depending on numerous factors this might mean a gym membership, a home gym, one-on-one personal training, or some mix of them.
As promised, I timed my workout on Thursday. I moved from exercise to exercise with no rest in between, taking only long enough to record the repetition count total on the first three:
1. Leg Press
2. Pull Down
3. Chest Press (Ventral Torso Machine)
4. Static Neck Extension (90 second TSC)
5. Static Neck Flexion (90 second TSC)
The entire workout took less than 11 minutes.
Don’t have a neck machine at my gym but would really like to do neck work. Will you briefly explain how to do static neck flexion and extension exercises without a machine? Would you simply give resistance with your hands or a towel? Is there a squeeze tecnique of some sort with the static hold? Do you lie on a flat bench with your head off the bench?
Thank you! This is the missing piece in my routine.
Angie,
This is something I will be writing about soon.
I love to train. I go to gym two times a week and those 1 hours are very good. I tell you, If this workout would make better results (i doubt though) I wouldn’t follow it.
And Im affraid your book won’t convience me…
I love to see a squat or deadlift with this candence…
Wood,
Like I wrote earlier, if someone loves to exercise they are doing it wrong. If you wouldn’t follow a different workout even if it produced better results then what is your reason for working out?
A squat or deadlift performed at this cadence with proper turnaround technique is brutally hard, and requires a significant reduction in weight. That’s the point, though. It’s the relative effort that matters, not the load.
I work out because no toher activiy give the same feeling, like the pump.
Its like you say why make sex for 1 hour (ok just example :-)) when you can come in 5 min and the result is the same…
Wood,
If you exercise for enjoyment you are completely missing the point.
Leo,
There are many reasons to move slowly other than minimizing unwanted variation in force. If anything wear would be greater with faster cadences over a similar duration due to increased mechanical work.
Drew,
What’s your training frequency? There’s allot of evidance supporting 1X per week HIT training. The only downside that I see with 1X per wk is de-conditioning.
I somtimes wonder if I should cut back to 1x HIT and hop on an exercise bike and do sprints 1 or 2X per week.
I’m near 60 now but remember back in the 70’s and 80’s with 8 to 12 Nautilus machines, mostly pre-ex and training 3X per wk. Now that might have been overkill for adding muscle size, but it was great for conditioning.
I feel with a 10/10 cadence along with slow turnarounds that the inroad is too intense to continue to train without at least 4/5 days to recover. If I employ an A/B routine(B routine mostly iso)and space them out more than 5/6 days apart,the loss of conditioning is more apparent because isolation exercises do not promote the effects as compounds do.
Allot of this is my age, but as I said this deep inroading really takes allot of time to fully recover.
What are your and anyone’s thoughts on this.
Brian,
I currently train around once every four to five days, depending on my schedule. There are many factors involved, including genetics, age, nutrition, rest, intensity of workouts, etc. and individuals vary considerably in their ability to recover from and respond to workouts. While I believe twice-weekly is a good starting point for most people, the only way to know what is best for any individual is to keep accurate workout records and adjust volume and frequency according to progress.
Drew
What would be your estimate of what a person who squats 300×20 in 2/2 sec format should be using in 10/10 style? (after a break in period)
Also what warmup would you have him do prior to that set?
Thanks, and hope you are doing well.
Jim,
It would depend on what their form looks like. To give you an idea of how much harder squats are when done slowly and with proper turnarounds, try the following:
Stand, feet about shoulder width, toes angled out slightly, arms folded across your chest.
While keeping your back flat, take 10 seconds to slowly squat down until the tops of your thighs are parallel with the floor.
Do not allow your pelvis to tilt back. Do not “sit” on your calves.
Hold yourself motionless in the bottom position for at least three seconds.
Begin the positive as slowly as you can without stopping – so slowly someone watching would have a hard time telling you’re even moving.
Take 10 seconds to go up only between 2/3 and 3/4 of the way, then immediately but slowly reverse direction.
Repeat until you are unable to stand up out of the bottom position.
I’ve had people do this who can squat a good deal of weight at typical cadences with typical form, and it is an eye opener. If you’re not sure about the cadence use a metronome (if you have a smart-phone there are a variety of free metronome apps).
This should give you an idea of how much the weight needs to be reduced to squat with a strict 10/10 cadence and proper turnarounds.
Hi Drew,
This is a summary of a weightlifting program outlined from a fitness magazine I compared to a HIT program
Fitness program
1. Total sets 31, 8-12 reps per exercise
2. Average time per set 30 seconds tempo 1-1 (my estimation)
3. Recovery between sets 2 minutes = 62 minutes recovery
4. Total time 1 hour 10-20 minutes (approx)
5. 4 x per week
6. Weekly total (approx) 5-6 hours.
Most of the time spent doing the fitness magazine program is the rest time between sets not actual work time. Actual work time could be as low as 15-17 minutes per session. I don’t see this program as very productive time but a lot of wasted time that can never be gotten back.
You have outlined a HIT program.
Steven,
I’ve observed people spending less time than that on sets and more than double resting and socializing in between. The majority of time most people spend in the gym is not spent productively.
Hi Drew
What is your thinking on the research at McMaster University regarding volume of training? They studied the effects on MPS with protocols of 1 and 3 sets where the 3 set group had a much longer time of MPS after the W/O (up to 24 hours) as compared to the 1 set group. Dr. Winett’s Master Trainer has written about the McMaster’s research over the last two years. 5 to 6 exercises,once or twice a week may not be enough to reap the all the metabolic benefits resistance training has to offer. Thanks for your time and website!
Be Well
Terry
Terry,
I can’t comment on the study without reading it first. If you could provide a reference I’ll check it out.
It is important to consider the protocol I recommend is very different than what usually passes for exercise in research. One set at 10/10 with strict turnarounds and squeeze technique for about one to two minutes is going to have a much greater effect than three sets done in typical fashion.
Drew
Is there a reason why Neck Extension goes before Neck Flexion? I remember Robin McKenzie (author of Treat Your Own Neck) saying that Extension should always follow Flexion.
John
John,
I’ve always done extension before flexion following the guideline of working larger muscle groups before smaller ones. What are McKenzie’s reasons for recommending the reverse?
Drew
I’ll have to go back to the book to see what he reason was. What you said made sense. I feel doing neck extension and flexion with the TSC protocol is very effective and safe and when the RenX staff gets the read out (measurement)of the force produced it will be even better.
Thanks
John
Drew
Could the neck exercises be done before the Big 3 to warm up the neck muscles. I find the compound pulling exercises place a lot of stress on a tendon, near the location where the neck meets the skull, when I’m reaching and hitting failure. Many times I get a stiff neck with a slight headache from the last 20 seconds of the exercise. It happens36 hours after the workout. Long ongoing problem.
Thanks
John
John,
If a person is experiencing a lot of tension in the neck during these moving the neck exercises to the beginning of the workout may help.
If you ever start feeling any kind of head or neck pain during exercise stop immediately and wait for it to completely subside before resuming the workout.
If you regularly experience delayed onset of head or neck pain I suggest dropping the exercises for a few weeks to ensure it has completely passed, then resuming with reduced intensity and gradually working your way back up in both duration and perceived effort. If the delayed on set stiffness and headache returns, note the duration and perceived effort and after it passes resume performing the exercise at the highest level that did not cause it.
John,
When you do please let me know. As soon as Renaissance Exercise publishes anything on the force measurements during neck extension and flexion with timed static contraction protocol I will link to them and discuss them here. They are working on a lot of different things right now and I have no idea when any of these will be made public, but I think people will be very excited when they are.
Drew
Did TSC Neck Extension followed by TSC Neck Flexion before doing Compound roe, ventral press and leg press. I’ll see how it helps with neck tightness. I’ll do the same next week when I workout because the pulldown causes a little more stiffness than the compound row does. I was thinking if I do get the stiffness to do the TSC Neck and Extension on Friday when the stiffness will be at it’s worst.
John,
Repeating the exercise may help with the stiffness, but if you’re experiencing a headache hold off until it completely passes just to be safe.
Good luck, and let me know how it goes.
Drew
The headache isn’t an exercise induced headache. I have a tendon very high up in the neck that attaches to the skull. I feel there’s probably a tear I had from years ago that has formed scar tissue and sometimes it (the scar tissue) tears again when those muscles are contracting at a high level of effort.
John
Winett’s approach is to think in terms of multiple sets (e.g., 3-4) per bodypart or movement, rather than multiple sets per exercise. It’s an approach I’ve moved toward over time, and one that I like quite a lot. I most definitely do not like the 10/10 cadence (for a number of reasons), but I think the evidence is fairly clear that perceived effort (rather than external load) is the key to achieving optimal training effect. Two or three different exercises (with slow, controlled – but not ‘superslow’ – repetition speed) per bodypart done a couple times a week can produce very good results: strength, muscular hypertrophy, conditioning).
Will,
While that many exercises per muscle group or body part may not be necessary, as long as it does not exceed what an individual can recover from and adapt to or require an excessive amount of time and is producing the desired result it’s fine.
The most important thing is that your training produces the results you want, without undesirable outcomes like injury, excessive wear or cellular damage, etc., and without requiring an inordinate amount of time.
Agreed.
Also, to Leo regarding Squats: give Drew’s approach a try; I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. If you need external loading, I’ve found the ‘Goblet Squat’ (using a dumbell) to be a good approach
Your illustration of the bodyweight squat is very telling.But how likely is it to generate muscle or strength?
Leo,
I’m not sure if you mean the protocol in general or body weight squats in particular, but the answer to both is it depends if it’s done hard and progressively. If the answer to that is yes, the answer to your question is yes.
Keep in mind the key is effort and not simply weight, which is only one of many factors. You can increase the effort required by increasing weight, but you can also do so by refining and optimizing your form – the manner in which you move the weight.
Yesterday’s workout also took less than 11 minutes to complete. Biceps and triceps were performed using timed static contraction for 90 seconds. No rest was allowed between exercises:
1. Biceps
2. Chin Ups
3. Triceps
4. Push Ups
5. Squats
Drew,
(1) were these chin-ups, push-ups & squats bodyweight or weighted?
(2) i see no abdominal-specific exercise in your workout (nor in the previous one you posted a few comments earlier under this same article [leg press, pull down, chest press, static neck extension, static neck flexion]). Is this absence of ab-specific exercises in two consecutive workouts customary or an outlier observation?
Thanks!
JLMA,
1. They were done with bodyweight. Even very strong trainees will require very little additional weight for those exercises when using a 10/10 cadence.
2. Read Getting Ripped Abs With No Direct Abdominal Exercise
Hey Drew
Point taken about the 10/10 + squeeze may be equal to 3 sets. In regards to the most recent McMaster University Research, If you will be so kind to look at Dr. Darden’s site – the study is listed under the thread – Load does not determine Hypertrophy.
Thanks and Be Well
Terry
Terry,
I used to be skeptical of this but the evidence is clear; relative effort is more important than absolute load.
Repetition cadence and time under load are not mentioned in the abstract and I have not read the full text yet, but if they used typical movement speeds three sets of 20 to 30 reps would have an average cumulative time under load around two to three minutes. It would be much more informative and more helpful if this was standardized and reported.
Journal of Applied Physiology April 19, 2012, Resistance exercise load does not determine training-mediated hypertrophic gains in young men
Cameron J. Mitchell1, Tyler A. Churchward-Venne1, Daniel D.W. West1, Nicholas A. Burd, Leigh Breen, Steven K. Baker, and Stuart M. Phillips
http://jap.physiology.org/content/early/2012/04/12/japplphysiol.00307.2012.abstract
Drew,
I appreciate that you keep an “open mind” with training. That’s why I enjoy reading different views and methodologies. I was attracted to HIT over 30 years ago due to its efficiency. I do find it sad that there is a lot of decension in the HIT camp. It seems that there are those HITTERS that are so invested in their method both mentally and monetarily that they will never be able to keep an open mind….sad for HIT.
Keep up the good work!
Be Well
Terry
Terry,
Any method of training done hard and progressively with a reasonable volume and frequency can eventually produce good results. Not all methods will produce the same degree of results as quickly, efficiently, or safely, however. My biggest concerns is that people get the results they want quickly and efficiently and without hurting themselves or undermining their long term health and functional ability in the process.
Drew
How do U progress on Push Ups, once you hit the desired reps, say 6 on a 10/10 cadence(roughly 120 sec TUL). Adding more reps is not a solution as it will not create proper inroad. What’s the safest way to add resistance to push ups. The Squat, Chin and Calf raise work well with weight belts. Or does one move to Dips?
Karthik,
Resistance could be increased using a weighted vest or the exercise could be made more difficult by pre-exhausting with timed static contraction triceps extensions or chest fly.
When performing my current arm specialization workout I pre-exhaust biceps and triceps with timed static contraction immediately before chin ups and push ups and it increases the difficulty considerably.
Your reply above, and an older comment re you beginning a body-weight exercise program, lead me to believe that you’re now well into such a schedule. If so, can we expect a report on your progress?
Mark,
I include body weight exercises in some of my workouts but am not currently following a purely body weight routine. Once Elements of Form is finished I have a long list of topics I will be writing about for the site as well as several reports, booklets and books over the next year, and body weight training will be one of them. One of those articles will detail what I am calling the ‘A3’ Routine (almost anywhere arm routine), a pre-exhaust arm routine incorporating timed static contraction exercises for the arms requiring no equipment other than a chin up bar.
Drew,
What do you think of my abbreviated workout:
A. Bench press, row and squat alternated with
B. Weighted dips, weighted pull ups and dead lifts.
Johnny,
I would add timed static contraction neck extension and flexion to A and a heel raise to B. If you have access to good machines substitute leg press for squat and trunk extension for deadlifts. Other than that, it’s a solid routine.
Hi Drew,
I know that your extremely busy at the moment with EoF but this question was raised the other day by one of my students. To increase muscle mass(words to the effect) “I will add an amount of body fat and than cut the calories down which should help increase my muscle mass. I was somewhat taken a back as to why you would want to add fat with the end result of trying to add muscle mass. Is this some type of “gym myth” of “bulking up” as he seemed to be of the opinion that everyone does this or have I missed something. Hope this makes sense.
Steven,
It is easier to add muscle size with a calorie surplus, but it is not necessary to eat so much as to add a significant amount of fat. It is a popular practice with bodybuilders to bulk up a bit during the off season before cutting for competition, with some gaining as much as 30 or 40 pounds or more (often with much of it from fat), but a more sensible approach would be to gradually increase calorie intake from fat and protein while paying close attention to appearance, body weight, and abdominal skin fold measurements.
Assuming proper training and diet if one has not reached the maximum muscular size they are capable of they should see relatively steady muscle strength and size gains over time with little increase in body fat. If strength and muscle size are not going up protein or overall food intake needs to be increased. If fat is going up more than just a little, then it needs to be decreased or the types of foods being eaten need to change.
This is something I get a lot of questions about and plan to address in more detail in a separate post.
Drew,
You mentioned in a previous post that a cadence of 5/2/5 was good for achieving results but now you are saying 10/10. Can you clarify which is better and why? Also do you recommend doing deadlifts that slowly? Thanks. Robert
Robert,
Most people need to move at least as slowly over a typical range of motion as a 5/5 cadence will allow to perform acceptable turnarounds. To perform good turnarounds requires moving even more slowly. In a nutshell, up to a point moving more slowly allows for better control meaning more consistent tension on the muscles, more efficient inroad and overall higher intensity, and lower risk of injury. I go into this in detail in Elements of Form.
Hi Drew,
Long since I am training with your abbreviated routines. I like to play basketball on the courts outside. I am wondering if I can keep on training heavy my legs with Squat and DL mixing basketball. How do you suggest the Legs WO to avoid the overtraining?
Thank you.
Fabio
Fabio,
Keep your leg work to a minimum and try to train legs on days you don’t plan on playing. If you are able to make good progress on squats or deadlifts doing either of them once weekly there is no need to do more except maybe a heel raise for calves.
I am 60 years old and need a good high intensity routine to build strength,can please help me. Thank you!
Hey Mike,
You can find several examples of basic high intensity training workouts in my article What Is High Intensity Training? and specific training guidelines for seniors in Q&A: High Intensity Training for Seniors.