No matter how many new educational or mindfulness practices I bring into my life, no matter how much I read or write, regular physical exercise remains the one habit that has the biggest impact on my overall well-being.
But I don’t spend hours at the gym every day, nor do I follow a training plan that requires me to track my workouts in spreadsheets.
Let me share a framework that has allowed me to work out almost every single day for the past 7 years.
To maintain this level of consistency, I need to follow just 3 steps:
1: Determine My Day Type
Based on my energy levels and the time I have available, I determine if it’s going to be a mini, plus, or elite day. If you are not familiar with them, these 3 different types refer to the level of effort and/or the amount of time I can invest in a specific activity in order to stay consistent. More on them in future emails.
2: Choosing Movements
I choose 1-3 movements. More than 3 can be fun sometimes, but for most people most of the time, it’s going to be overwhelming. Let’s take, for example, burpees, pull-ups, and butterfly sit ups.
3: Deciding on the workout structure
Lastly, I choose between a "for time" or "AMRAP" (as many rounds as possible) workout structure. Both of these are density training methods, and we’ll cover their benefits in one of the next emails. But here are a couple of examples of how I would use them with the 3 movements chosen above:
For time (mini): 5 rounds of 3 pull-ups, 6 burpees, and 12 sit-ups.
For time (plus): 8 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 burpees, and 15 sit-ups.
For time (elite): 15 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 burpees, and 15 sit-ups.
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AMRAP (mini) 5 minutes: 3 pull-ups, 6 burpees, 12 sit-ups
AMRAP (plus) 10 minutes: 5 pull-ups, 10 burpees, 15 sit-ups
AMRAP (elite): 5 times 3 min. AMRAP of 6 pull-ups, 6 burpees, and 6 sit-ups; 1 min. rest between AMRAPs (19 min. total workout time)
By using this framework for the last 7 years, physical exercise has become a non-negotiable part of my day. And I would say I got some decent physical results from it. But, far more importantly, this habit acted, and still does, as a pillar that brings stability into my life even when everything seems like it’s falling apart, both in my mind and in the real world.
Why This Framework Works
This framework works and has been instrumental in improving my physical vigor, mental health, and overall wellbeing for 3 reasons:
1.No Friction
It allows me to be consistent in one of the most important habits a human being can adopt by removing friction—minimal time and equipment needed and no workouts with 20 different variables that you need to track using a calculator.
2.Time
Not only don't I waste a bunch of time planning what to do, but the workout itself is short. This means more time to allocate for other areas of my life where I want to thrive, grow, and enjoy.
3.Psychological and Physical Benefits
I get both the runners high and the gym pump from the same bout of effort. Meaning, I am maximizing both the psychological and physical benefits that people start working out for in the first place.
It takes around 3 minutes to read this email.
It takes anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your choice, to do one of the sample workouts given above. If you can’t do pull-ups, substitute them for a less challenging movement.
There is really no way to make this any simpler.
Let’s see what you’ll do with the information you’ve been given.
This is the first in a series of emails from my mission to set 1000 people on the right track by sharing my knowledge for free.
I wanted to share this first one via Existential Espresso as well so that it could reach the largest amount of people.
However, all the future ones will be sent out only to those who have downloaded one of my free training programs. That’s the easiest way for me to know that you are actually interested in this. Download any of them for free.
Thank you for reading.
Stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry for yourself.
Talk to you soon.
I really like this framework! Just put it to use by building today's routine, and I can absolutely see how many more applications it has. I'll combine it with some other stuff I know. Thank you!