I wrote a few weeks ago that, now that I have my eating marching orders, I’ll be taking a look at my workout and changing the things that need to be changed. So I took a look at my workout, and then another look and then another. The surprising thing was, I didn’t find anything I really wanted to change.
First, let me give a brief description of my workout routine.
- Four days a week
- 30 minutes of weight training
- 60 minutes of cardio
30 Minutes of Weight Training
I do 1 set each of 24 different exercises for a total of 24 sets. Each set is 10 to 12 reps. The weights are chosen to get me to failure or damn near to it by the final rep. The 24 exercises are divided into 7 groups, with each group working out a different portion of my body. This means that each workout is identical and all parts of the body are worked out every day. That’s not ideal from a workout perspective but it’s the most time efficient method I found and I needed a workout I can fit into my busy schedule.
60 Minutes of Cardio
I used to run, now I do the elliptical. The problem with running was pains in my hips on nights following my runs. I suspect that this was related to my weight and so I plan on getting back into running (I really enjoyed it) when I lose a bit more weight. In the meantime, I will continue using the elliptical post my weights workout.
So What’s Wrong?
And the answer is, absolutely nothing. My strength is continuing to improve and my overall health is excellent. I am losing weight now that I pay attention to what I eat and except to lose more when I start running again. So why should I change anything? Could I tinker with the exercises I do? Sure, and I probably will as time goes by. I like switching in new things on occasion and seeing how much I like them. Could I improve the overall workout? I suppose I could. I might try doing one part of the body per day and more sets, but these would be minor improvements at best. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, my workout is doing everything I could possibly ask of it. It’s keeping me fit, helping me lose weight, keeps me interested in working out and fits perfectly into my schedule.
And that’s today’s lesson. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Sure, you can come up with some theoretically ideal workout that focuses on every single muscle in your body and gives you the PERFECT exercise each time. However, the REAL ideal workout is the one that fits best into your life and the one that will keep you coming back for more.
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It’s summer time and next week I start thinking about weekend workouts!
