Back to the Basics

Greetings, RAW Warriors,

Its once again a visit back to the basic lifts and getting things done in a fair time frame.

As I'm breaking myself back into a regular gym routine, my focus isn't on tearing into a 45-60 minute session each time. The focus is on keeping it brief, short, to the point, as I always seem to go back to.

I've done the longer workouts and beat myself up more than I needed to in the past. (P90X, anyone?) Right now, I just need to:

1. Get stronger again by hitting the weights, instead of doing mainly at-home workouts as I've done the past few years with bodyweight and kettlebell stuff taking up the majority of it all.

2. Lift 3x a week and run on the days in-between, hitting up rides on my bike as I wish. The bike is my enjoyment factor... you can measure the weights/sets/reps plus time and distance of running workouts like a scientist, but the bike is more of my time to enjoy the benefits of both the running and lifting. Its not my main mode of exercise, but its a fun one. I still have to keep myself in check in overanalyzing my rides, since I'm used to analyzing everything else so much.

3. Keep it simple, silly.... I'm keeping my exercises to about 4 to 5 per workout, compound movements, and the weights in a decent but challenging range.  Case in point, I hit the bench presses a bit too heavy at first, backed off to a more conservative manner last week (followed the 3x5 weights for each set on my predicted max) then found myself handling the weight better this week already when I moved to 4x5 for the phase. 

Right in line with #3, keeping it simple is what I like a lot about the "Indestructible!" program from "Just The Workouts" from my Kindle guides.  The weights, percentages, and sets/reps are all there to follow.  Pick your exercises, plug them in, and go.  Sometimes you just gotta follow a plan instead of overanalyzing which program you need or should be doing next... focus on the one in front of you first.

Grab yourself a copy of JTW right here for less than a buck. Spend another 99 cents and get the accompanying "Just The Chart" Kindle guide, too.  JTC is so handy in the gym or when you are preparing your log books for your workouts. Its a great resource to have on the Kindle smartphone app or your tablets. It is why I spent the time creating the JTC guide to use as such a quick reference.

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Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
RABC
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://tinyurl.com/rkofp - Get all your cool training guides right here!