In case you didn't already know, keeping the same fitness regime is not the most productive thing for you. As Tony Horton pointed out very clearly in his P90X workout series, muscle confusion produces results. And if you stick with a routine for too long, you start to plateau, your muscles get used to the exercises and the routine, and you begin wasting your time. Therefore, I have decided to switch things up a bit away from the traditional "K program". Here's my new workout routine I've been doing for the past two weeks:
Note: I always start each workout day with a 5 min. warm-up run and about 30 minutes of stretching and finish it with 5 min of slow jog for warm-down and about 10-15 minutes of stretching.
- Monday
- Abdominal strengthening workout
- 40 min on treadmill (finish at least 4.5 miles)
- Warm-up for 5 min (gradually increasing speed)
- Perform a pyramid (sometimes also called a "ladder") with gradually increasing then gradually decreasing speeds for 10 min (this means starting at for instance 7 mph, then going progressively up to 8 mph then back down to 7 mph all in the span of the 10 min)
- Small break - reduce to slower jogging speed for 1 min (just enough to give your heart a small break - if you really need to reduce to walking, go ahead but do your absolute best to not stop)
- Perform a pyramid/ladder with increasing incline for 9 min
- Small break - slower jog for 1 min
- Perform an increasing pyramid (no decrease this time) with larger speed increments for 4 min [You should be going faster than during the first pyramid; and you will be exhausted after these 4 min]
- Small break - slow jog for 1 min
- Perform an increasing pyramid (no decrease here either) with larger incline increments.
- Small break - slow jog for 1 min
- Finish the last 4 min at increasing speeds and steady incline, with the last minute ALL OUT!
- Tuesday
- Weights workout: Biceps, Chest and Triceps
- Wednesday
- Abdominal strengthening workout
- 20 min run on treadmill HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
- Alternate between a jog speed (e.g. 5.5 mph for me) and run speed (e.g. 9 mph for me) for about 5 min, then increase either jogging speed or running speed for the next quarter
- Continue to increase either jogging or running speed for the remaining two quarters, then finish off the last minute ALL OUT!!
- Thursday
- Weights workout: Legs and Shoulders
- Friday
- Timed long distance run (time = 1 hour, distance = at least 6.5 - 7 miles)
- This is a good run to do outside because the change of scenery keeps my mind active and prevents me from getting bored. If I do it indoors, I usually change the speed and intervals at random to continue challenging myself throughout the hour and keep things interesting.
- If running outside, you can always use Google Maps to map out the distance and route beforehand if you're unsure of the distance.
- Saturday
- Weights workout: Core (Abs + Back)
- Rest on Sunday
That's my workout for now. I will begin actively training for a mud run in about two weeks and will post my training workout once I have that finalized. That's all for now.
