Body of a Warrior: Personalized General Workout Instruction

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Pre-Workout Instruction

For optimal performance within your workouts, avoid gut discomfort by ensuring that you’ve consumed your last meal 90 minutes prior or longer before you begin your metabolic warm up. The larger your pre workout meal, the longer you’ll want to allow for digestion. This meal should also be the meal that contains a higher amount of carbohydrates. If you prefer fasted workouts, ensure that you have had at least 16oz of water 90 minutes prior to beginning your metabolic warm up for good hydration. Expect lower levels of energy in fasted workouts.

Warm Up Instructions

Begin each day’s workout with a 5 to 10 minute metabolic warm up. This means to get your blood flowing and lunges pumping via brisk walk, bike ride, jog, jumping jacks, in-place high knees etc., any movement that can be sustained for more than a few minutes. If 5 minutes doesnt feel like enough, extend the time a few more minutes up to no more than 10 minutes.

Following the metabolic warm up, you’ll want to perform dynamic warm up movements. These movements will be relative to the day’s muscle group(s) being worked. Each day’s dynamic warm up may be different as you rotate through training specific muscle groups throughout the week. So, pay attention to the differences day to day to ensure the proper localized warm up after the general metabolic warm up.

Once you have completed your dynamic warm up movements, you are now ready for some light stretching of specific areas you feel tight. These stretches may also be specific to your day’s workout or to your specific muscle imbalances. Static stretching may potentially make you weaker since you are in fact applying a force to your muscles when holding a stretch. These stretches are not to increase your flexibiltiy but rather to reach your body toward ranges of motion they may need to reach to during your workouts. So, do not hold these stretches for longer than 15 seconds. This would also be a great time for you to foam roll limbs that may be sore, tight or in need of mobility. Foam rolling can be done 30-90 seconds per muscle group at this time.

Workout Instructions

After completing your warm ups, you are ready to begin your workout. The first movement(s) will be very dynamic and “explosive”. Apply this mindset to each individual repetition within each set of repetitions. These initial movements will likely be plyometric or power movements. In a perfect world, plyometrics require a 1:10 work to rest ratio (ie: 5s of work 50s of rest). Your rest intervals may be shortened due to time constraint. Although, please make sure you are resting as much as your program requires you to.

Following your initial power movements, you’ll perform your main movements of the day. Here is where you may apply a tempo to your reps. Every movement of resisitance training includes 3 phases; eccentric (negative), isometric (nuetral), concentric (positive). The eccentric phase happens when you resist less than the external resistance (ie the eccentirc phase of the push up is lowering yourself to the ground). The isometric phase happens between the eccentric and concentric phase (when your chest is touching [not resting!] against the ground). The concentric phase happens when your put the most force against the external resistance (ie: the concentric phase of the push up is when you are on your way up to full extension of the arms). A tempo that requires a 4 second eccentric phase, 2 second isometric phase and 1 second concentric phase will be displayed as a tempo of: 4s2s1s. Where as a tempo that requires a 2 second eccentric phase, 0 second isometric phase and 2 second concentric phase will be displayed as a tempo of: 2s0s2s. The sum of all seconds of each phase of all repititions is equals time under tension for that set. Greater time under tension equates to greater musclular effort which leads to greater musclular strength and growth. So count your seconds! It matters. Sticking to the tempo is tough! It is ideal to stay on tempo but if fatigue and muscle failure prevent from staying on beat, resort to completing the reps at a pace you can manage.

After completing your main movements for the day, you will complete your accessory exercises. These movements will likely involve a single joint to isolate a particular muscle for targeted strength and growth. Accessories may also be used to provide more attention to a specific body part to correct an imbalance. Tempo may also apply to these movements.

Conditioning Instructions

Conditioning may also be considered cardio. The word conditioning is used so as to not limit the idea of cardio to be reserved to only aerobic monolithic movements (ie Sustained Running, Swimming, Cycling, Rowing, Etc). Conditioning includeds anerobic (short sprints) and glycolytic (long sprints) exercise as well. Your conditioning may consist of bodyweight exercises or resistance exercises at certain repetitions with varied rest between sets for an elevated heart rate or appropriate recovery between sprints. Your conditioning may be in the form of steady state exercise (non stop movement at a steady pace/heart rate), sprints (1:3 work to rest ratio), intervals, AMRAPs (as many rounds as possible), EMOMs (Every minute on the minute), For Time (a list of movements and/or number of rounds to be completed as fast as possible), Circuits, TABATA (2:1 work to rest ratio), etc. Minutes of warm up pace and/or cool down pace may be prescirbed to prepare and recover your heart from the conditioning.

Cool Down Instructions

Your cool down will consist of relevant deep static stretches to improve flexibility, help you become more mobile and assist in recovery from resistance training and conditioning. Each stretch is to be held for a programmed amount of time depending on how long you have available and how much progress you want with increased flexibility. This duration of each stretch may be 30-90 seconds per stretch. Benefits from static stretch does not begin to occur until about the 20 second mark. Since that is about the moment adaptation begins to occur, your cool down will typically demand a minimum 30 second hold per stretch. Count your seconds outloud as discomfort can speed up our internal clock and decrease the duration of stretch.

Post-Workout Instruction

After completing for resistance training and/or conditioning for the day, you will want to refuel appropiately. Now is the time to replenish fluids first and for most. Aim to drink about 1oz of water for every minute you’ve exercised within 20 minutes of completion. This amount is in addition to the amount you drink daily. That amount will be easy to track and will replenish what you’ve used to exercise. Working out increases metabolic activity in your body meaning you are well primed to consume fuel! It’s time to ingest a good amount of protein and carbohydrates. Studies show that ingesting 40g of protein after resistance trianing can significantly increase muscle mass over time. Make this as consistent as brushing your teeth (which shoiuld happen daily!). Whether you are aiming to lose body fat or build muscle, each of these practices are ideal to produce results. Post workout carb intake is where guidance may differentiate depending on the goal and intensity of exercise. If you are wanting more muscle mass, you need to ingest a decent amount of carbs post workout (~.8g/LB or 1.6g/KG of bodyweight). Where as if you are wanting to lose body fat you would want to consume carbs still but maybe a smaller amount (~.4g/LB or .8g/KG of bodyweight). Each of these macronutrients can be ingested with compliant ingredients in accordance with your level of meal compliance prescribed by BOW (teirs 1, 2, 3 or 4). Don’t get overwhelmed with exact amounts. Food is not perfectly measurable and we will never be 100% accurate. The big take away from post workout nutrition is that you’ve damaged your muscles including possibly the left ventricle of your heart (the pump). This is a good thing! As long as you refuel with a good amount of protein and appropriate amount of carbs to rebuild and rehydrate the muscle, cardiac and connective tissues that put in the work you commanded them to do. Exercise is enhanced by sports nutrition and use of nutrition is enhanced by exercise. One compliments the other so get consistent and intense with both simutaneously to attack your goals on two front lines.

Thank you for your deepened trust in Body of Warrior’s ability to push you to your individual goals!

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Tucker Krech,
50 BOLD Coach
Third Way Man