#6 The Anatomy of a Workout: How To Create Your Own
Friends -
More of an a-la-carte approach today. Much like how a dinner has the appetizers, the main dish, and the dessert, the anatomy of a workout can be broken down into sections. After we understand the basics of each section, hopefully you will be able to plug-and-play exercises of your own. And, you’ll have a masterpiece of a workout for yourself! So, let’s get cooking. .
I am going to highlight some of the main sections of a workout and then provide some examples of what you can do to fill-in each section.
To make things simple, let’s say you have the movement prep (the stuff you do to warm-up for your intense exercise), the workout, and supplemental work (think finishers, stretching, cardio, and etc.).
MOVEMENT PREPARATION -- this is a list of mobility (ex: foam rolling, stretching) and stability (ex: core work, movement patterning) that is designed to prepare you for your main focus(es) of the day. During this time, you also need to literally warm-up your body temperature to prepare your muscles, tissues, tendons, and joints for exercise. This, of course, decreases injury risk.
Choosing x1-3 exercises for each category (mobility, stability, warming-up body temperature) would be a great starting place for most people. For example: foam roll quads and mid back, full plank to down dog, elbow plank, bridges on foam roller, Squat to medicine ball slam.
Looking at the movement prep above, I would guess we will be doing some squats in the intense portion of the workout. The great thing about the movement prep is that it reduces injury risk while helping correct and prevent muscle imbalances. People ask me all the time what day of the week I do “core.” Following this approach allows one to perform their core work regularly as a preparation to the workout. You might add more core work into the intense workout or the supplemental section at the end too.
THE WORKOUT -- There are a few general guidelines to follow. You will generally want to perform your biggest, most complex exercises first such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, and etc. Then, you’ll want to try to balance your workout by moving in different planes of motion. So, add a side plank, a lateral lunge, a reverse cable fly, or a cable rotation opposed to doing a squat, a reverse lunge, a forward lunge, and an in-line lunge all in the same workout.
A very common strategy is to curate x1-3 circuits for your workout. A circuit is a grouping of exercises done one after one another. Most commonly, people will group between 2-4 exercises together in each circuit.
An example: barbell back squat, machine assisted pull-ups, and incline push-up on bench. I would say this person is looking for a well-rounded full body strength workout.
Another example: bench press, standing pec fly, seated cable rows, and standing cable reverse fly. Hitting back-to-back chest and back exercises, I would say this person is trying to increase their muscle tone.
Using this strategy is really nice because it allows for maximum time efficiency, will stimulate the metabolism, and will teach you how to create circuits based on your own gym layout. You can have an awesome circuit of exercises that you do at the squat rack rig or the bench press area.
SUPPLEMENTAL -- This section is literally where you add-in whatever you want to improve. Some examples could be stretching, core, arms, cardiovascular bursts, as many reps as possible (AMRAP), shoulders, conditioning circuits, meditation, and etc. Adding a supplemental section to your workouts will allow you to maximize the amount you can get done during your weekly workout split.
Generally, you will want to pick one theme per workout for your supplemental section such as stretching, core, or conditioning. Then, devote a time period such as 5, 10, or 15 minutes to your theme. It makes things super efficient and productive. If you want bigger arms, then do supplemental arms two or even three times weekly; the same goes for abs or cardiovascular conditioning.
A simple way to summarize the anatomy of a workout would be to create circuits for each of the three main sections: movement preparation, workout, and supplemental.
Bon Appetit!
Equinox Fitness Training Institute Curriculum
