This week has been a bit of a crazy one with limited access to go to the gym. And I know, I know. Excuses. But I’m sorry, if I’m working until 7 most nights and then have to go to a work event AFTER that and barely have time to scarf dinner I actually don’t have time for the gym. There are some times when we are just making excuses, and there are some times when we legitimately don’t have the time. So what to do on those occasions?
My plan of attack involves 3 things:
- Get the diet spot on so the extra cardio won’t go amiss and ruin your weight loss efforts
- Try to get in some at home exercises when you can, even a couple sit ups is better than nothing.
- The few times you can get to the gym, do more body parts.
That last one is key for me. Normally, I split my weeks into a pull day (back and bi’s), a push day (chest, shoulders and tri’s), a heavy leg day and a plyo leg day with maybe some yoga done in there and cardio on most of those days.
Well that only works if I’m in the gym at least 4 days a week!
This week will probably be more like 2 times. Knowing this, yesterday I decided the normal split would not cover me, so I did a full upper body workout plus a pretty intense interval session. Today I plan on doing a leg workout that incorporates some heavy moves and some plyo ones so all my bases are covered.
Doing a full upper body workout can actually be nice. You work each muscle fewer times so you can go a little heavier/harder in each set than you might otherwise. I usually switch between a push movement and a pull movement each exercise so the alternate muscle group has a chance to recover. Yesterday’s workout was awesome… here’s what I did.
Cardio
30 minute interval run – I warm up for 2 minutes, then do 4 minute intervals increasing the speed from 4 mph to between 7-9 mph depending on the intensity I want. I do 5 of the 4 minute intervals, bringing me to minute 22 and then walk for 2-3 minutes and end with a tabata at 10 mph. By the end I’m usually drenched and feeling pretty good about myself!
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Weight |
Lat pull down | 3 | 12 | 85/100/100 |
Bench press | 3 | 12/10/6 | 95/105/115 |
Bent over row | 3 | 12 | 70/80/80 |
Bench dips | 3 | 15 | Body weight |
Lateral raises | 3 | 12 | 15 lb dumbbells |
EZ-bar curls | 3 | 12/10/8 | 40/50/50 |
Since I did cardio first I was already pretty tired for the workout, but I must have pushed hard anyways because my whole upper body is definitely sore today.