3 month summer fitness plan ideas
October 7, 2010 5:49 PM Subscribe
Help me put some structure into my vague summer fitness goals. I'm a male student in my early twenties, and while I'm not overweight or incredibly unfit, I'd like to put on a bit of muscle and improve my fitness over the coming summer break (3 months - I'm in the southern hemisphere). I have heaps of workout options available to me, and I need a bit of guidance!
At the moment I cycle everywhere and every few months will take up running ever second day for a few weeks or so, without too much difficulty. Uni and my job always seems to get in the way of that though so it hasn't been very consistent or given me any noticeable changes in fitness.
Over the next three months I'll have beautiful weather to motivate me and very little work to do, and I want to give my body an overhaul rather than idly sitting around drinking beers and smoking pot in the sun.
Ideally I'd like a fitness plan that involved doing something every day (mon - fri) and was spread out over a variety of different activities. I have a good bike, lots of places to go running, and I'm considering a membership to the city gyms which are spread around the city and have gyms for weight training and big lane pools for swimming (2 things I have no experience with). I want to be doing as much as possible without hurting myself - I could easily spare a couple of hours per day towards this goal.
I've looked around online for 3 month plans but they all seem to involve losing heaps of weight in a short amount of time through psychotic dieting and a bit of cardio work, or putting on crazy amounts of muscle - I'd like to put on some muscle and familiarise myself with lifting weights, but I don't want that to be my primary focus.
Any fitness plans that include a good variety of activities you could direct me towards would be great, or even if you could give me a rough idea of how much of each activity to be doing on which days. Any other tips are welcome as well!
Thanks in advance :)
At the moment I cycle everywhere and every few months will take up running ever second day for a few weeks or so, without too much difficulty. Uni and my job always seems to get in the way of that though so it hasn't been very consistent or given me any noticeable changes in fitness.
Over the next three months I'll have beautiful weather to motivate me and very little work to do, and I want to give my body an overhaul rather than idly sitting around drinking beers and smoking pot in the sun.
Ideally I'd like a fitness plan that involved doing something every day (mon - fri) and was spread out over a variety of different activities. I have a good bike, lots of places to go running, and I'm considering a membership to the city gyms which are spread around the city and have gyms for weight training and big lane pools for swimming (2 things I have no experience with). I want to be doing as much as possible without hurting myself - I could easily spare a couple of hours per day towards this goal.
I've looked around online for 3 month plans but they all seem to involve losing heaps of weight in a short amount of time through psychotic dieting and a bit of cardio work, or putting on crazy amounts of muscle - I'd like to put on some muscle and familiarise myself with lifting weights, but I don't want that to be my primary focus.
Any fitness plans that include a good variety of activities you could direct me towards would be great, or even if you could give me a rough idea of how much of each activity to be doing on which days. Any other tips are welcome as well!
Thanks in advance :)
You're on the right track with switching things up often. A gym membership would be great for the swimming and weight training, and they sometimes have a free session with a trainer to start, so they could help you out, too.
If you're going to be exercising a lot, like 1-2 hours several days a week, I'd make 2-3 days bikerides of varying length/hilliness/speed. That gets you outside in the great weather and doesn't tax your system as much as 2 hours of really intense cardio or strength.
2-3 other days should be strength - could be upper body one day, lower sometime when you're not going to be biking/running/otherwise needing those legs a lot the other day. You don't have to lift Tons, but overall strength will help you with endurance and make your cardio efforts easier - and it's Satisfying to see the results in your biceps.
The other days I would recommend switching it up with running and swimming, and if you can stand it, something like yoga or pilates or tai chi that will give you low-impact stretching and body-awareness. Again, if you join a gym they might have classes like these for free, as well as things like boot camp classes that can help with cardio/intervals and strength.
Try to give yourself a day of rest at Least each week - overtraining will just make you tired. But mostly, make it a priority and do the things you either Really Enjoy, or Really Hate because they're hard and you need to build up those skills. As you try different things and talk with different people you'll get a better sense for how you need to modify your plan for yourself.
posted by ldthomps at 6:00 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
If you're going to be exercising a lot, like 1-2 hours several days a week, I'd make 2-3 days bikerides of varying length/hilliness/speed. That gets you outside in the great weather and doesn't tax your system as much as 2 hours of really intense cardio or strength.
2-3 other days should be strength - could be upper body one day, lower sometime when you're not going to be biking/running/otherwise needing those legs a lot the other day. You don't have to lift Tons, but overall strength will help you with endurance and make your cardio efforts easier - and it's Satisfying to see the results in your biceps.
The other days I would recommend switching it up with running and swimming, and if you can stand it, something like yoga or pilates or tai chi that will give you low-impact stretching and body-awareness. Again, if you join a gym they might have classes like these for free, as well as things like boot camp classes that can help with cardio/intervals and strength.
Try to give yourself a day of rest at Least each week - overtraining will just make you tired. But mostly, make it a priority and do the things you either Really Enjoy, or Really Hate because they're hard and you need to build up those skills. As you try different things and talk with different people you'll get a better sense for how you need to modify your plan for yourself.
posted by ldthomps at 6:00 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
As always, here is the inevitable link to Starting Strength and Stronglifts.
You should also consider joining a climbing gym. It'll put on some upper body muscle and should complement your biking/running.
posted by just.good.enough at 6:08 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
You should also consider joining a climbing gym. It'll put on some upper body muscle and should complement your biking/running.
posted by just.good.enough at 6:08 PM on October 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Skip the weights and go right to bodyweight strength training. not only does your gym travel with you anywhere you go, it's a really excellent program that starts with baby-steps and ends with beastly levels of functional strength.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 11:16 PM on October 7, 2010
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 11:16 PM on October 7, 2010
I'd recommend a solid workout routine in the gym, using free weights. With a very simple set of exercises you can get extremely good results over three months. This year I started going to the gym for the first time in my life, and also for the first time I have muscles, strength, and definition. It is definitely worth it, and while it takes some determination, concentration, and persistence, it was surprisingly easy and enjoyable for me.
Firstly, you need to go to the gym 2-4 times per week, regularly. Make a schedule and stick to it. Secondly, you need two different exercise routines to alternate between - each routine targets a different chunk of your body. Thirdly, you need to work your muscles to fatigue. By this I mean, you should be using just the right weight so that you can perform the exercise 8-12 times (reps) with correct form, with the reps becoming progressively more difficult until you fail and physically cannot complete the last rep. It is crucial to work your muscles until they fail, because that is the only way your body will adapt and rebuild itself larger.
As far as the specifics of your exercise routines and exercise methods, these are complex subjects you can learn about by reading sites like bodybuilding.com. If you want some stock exercise routines you can memail me, I'll just pass on my old routines.
Also it is excellent to have someone who is close to your strength level, but perhaps has some gym experience and knowledge, to go with. Especially good if you enjoy their company and both commit to firm schedules.
posted by schmichael at 8:22 AM on October 9, 2010
Firstly, you need to go to the gym 2-4 times per week, regularly. Make a schedule and stick to it. Secondly, you need two different exercise routines to alternate between - each routine targets a different chunk of your body. Thirdly, you need to work your muscles to fatigue. By this I mean, you should be using just the right weight so that you can perform the exercise 8-12 times (reps) with correct form, with the reps becoming progressively more difficult until you fail and physically cannot complete the last rep. It is crucial to work your muscles until they fail, because that is the only way your body will adapt and rebuild itself larger.
As far as the specifics of your exercise routines and exercise methods, these are complex subjects you can learn about by reading sites like bodybuilding.com. If you want some stock exercise routines you can memail me, I'll just pass on my old routines.
Also it is excellent to have someone who is close to your strength level, but perhaps has some gym experience and knowledge, to go with. Especially good if you enjoy their company and both commit to firm schedules.
posted by schmichael at 8:22 AM on October 9, 2010
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There are various theories about weight training, but my opinion is that high weights done to failure in 8-10 reps, 3 sets per exercise, 2-3 exercises per muscle group is a really good place to be. You'll see muscle and strength gains without having to go crazy.
Also, if you're training with weights, a good rule of thumb is nothing longer than an hour to 90 minutes, otherwise you'll risk overtraining.
posted by xingcat at 5:57 PM on October 7, 2010