Is my workout routine nonsense?
June 2, 2021 4:42 AM Subscribe
Can some fitness-savvy MeFites please evaluate my workout routine?
A couple of years ago, I started exercising regularly for the first time in my life.
The benefits have been enormous. However, I currently find myself sidelined by a knee injury (exact diagnosis unknown). This has happened before.
I just cobbled my routine together from a two random beginner regimens that I found online – I didn't know where else to begin. So this seems like a good opportunity to sanity-check my routine, and see if there's room for improvement.
My routine is pretty simple: about 25 minutes of body weight exercises, done five days a week, in the morning. (If it matters, I'm a dude in my mid-40s. I'm carrying a few extra pounds, and I'm working on that via diet and the workout.)
First, I do a warmup:
(I'm sure this is nothing for many of you, but it's where I'm at. I'm not aiming to get ripped or anything; I've just been trying to take better care of myself. And, like I said, I've been pretty happy with the results.)
My question for you: is there anything about this routine that you suggest changing?
In particular:
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!
A couple of years ago, I started exercising regularly for the first time in my life.
The benefits have been enormous. However, I currently find myself sidelined by a knee injury (exact diagnosis unknown). This has happened before.
I just cobbled my routine together from a two random beginner regimens that I found online – I didn't know where else to begin. So this seems like a good opportunity to sanity-check my routine, and see if there's room for improvement.
My routine is pretty simple: about 25 minutes of body weight exercises, done five days a week, in the morning. (If it matters, I'm a dude in my mid-40s. I'm carrying a few extra pounds, and I'm working on that via diet and the workout.)
First, I do a warmup:
- 12 bends
- 13 situps
- (I used to do leg lifts here, but I decided that I hate them)
- 8 pushups
- 4 running in place (each rep consists of 75 steps, followed by 7 jumping jacks – I do this on a rubber workout pad, partly to minimize noise for the neighbors)
- 16 squats (hands behind head)
- 8 pushups
- 16 lunges (I've been skipping these lately)
- 8 dumbbell rows on each side
- a 24-second plank
- 24 jumping jacks
(I'm sure this is nothing for many of you, but it's where I'm at. I'm not aiming to get ripped or anything; I've just been trying to take better care of myself. And, like I said, I've been pretty happy with the results.)
My question for you: is there anything about this routine that you suggest changing?
In particular:
- Does this warmup make sense?
- Am I doing too much leg stuff? (I've noticed that my thighs have beefed up a lot.)
- As you can see, I'm doing the exact same routine five days in a row. Is that bad? Should I alternate days on some exercises, to give those muscles/joints a chance to recover?
- How can I avoid injuring myself? (The knee is currently the issue, but I had an issue with my foot before.)
- What should I do when I do get an injury? Right now, I'm basically skipping the workout entirely, in the hopes that it will recover. (Almost all of my exercises work the knee somehow, so I don't want to stress it.) But I hate doing that. After a week without exercise, I start feeling like crap, and losing muscle tone. And it's harder to get back on the wagon afterward.
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!
You've found a workout routine that you can stick with consistently for years. It works the major muscle groups (legs, arms, core) and has a mix of strength and cardio (walking/hiking). Congrats! This is better than most 40 year olds out there, and you should pat yourself on the back! Worries about "too much leg" or "switching body parts daily" are more for people working their body to the max. Others will have suggestions about switching things up, but if it really ruins your motivation, don't feel like you have to do it.
My biggest worry is the repeated leg injuries, since those knock you off your workout routine. Too often, I've seen people stop for an injury, and just never get started again. So ideally I'd love to see you go to a doctor or physical therapist, and find out what injury you have, and what moves to avoid it or protect against it in the future. Also, go to a running shoe store and get yourself fitted for really good all-around or walking shoes - this is worth throwing some money at. Wear these shoes in the strength and walking, and depending on terrain, the hiking too. Finally, be honest - I bet there's still some parts of your routine you can continue without hurting your knee - I'm thinking the arm exercises, plank, maybe walking. Anything you can do to keep up the habit while recovering will make it easier to come back to the full routine later.
I second fabius's comments about the warmup and stretching. I love stretching - the easiest part of a workout, and genuinely good for you.
posted by sdrawkcaSSAb at 6:09 AM on June 2, 2021 [11 favorites]
My biggest worry is the repeated leg injuries, since those knock you off your workout routine. Too often, I've seen people stop for an injury, and just never get started again. So ideally I'd love to see you go to a doctor or physical therapist, and find out what injury you have, and what moves to avoid it or protect against it in the future. Also, go to a running shoe store and get yourself fitted for really good all-around or walking shoes - this is worth throwing some money at. Wear these shoes in the strength and walking, and depending on terrain, the hiking too. Finally, be honest - I bet there's still some parts of your routine you can continue without hurting your knee - I'm thinking the arm exercises, plank, maybe walking. Anything you can do to keep up the habit while recovering will make it easier to come back to the full routine later.
I second fabius's comments about the warmup and stretching. I love stretching - the easiest part of a workout, and genuinely good for you.
posted by sdrawkcaSSAb at 6:09 AM on June 2, 2021 [11 favorites]
Most of what you have/are doing makes sense on it's own. Some of the warm up exercises might be better if they worked a bit more on flexibility/warming up the joints. But with time you're not having any progressions. I'd recommend taking a look at r/bodyweightfitness, they've got a warmup routine, and various exercises with many levels of modifications, so with time you can progress.
SAM are good exercises to do, post running/walking. But as soon as you can, given various covid restrictions/insurance, I'd recommend seeing a physiotherapist.
posted by nobeagle at 6:13 AM on June 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
SAM are good exercises to do, post running/walking. But as soon as you can, given various covid restrictions/insurance, I'd recommend seeing a physiotherapist.
posted by nobeagle at 6:13 AM on June 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yeah if this is working for you, fantastic, stick with it. I will agree that the warmup isn't a warmup, it's just the first part of the workout, and you should look into some gentler warmup movements followed by some stretching before you get into the more intense stuff.
Also I totally agree on getting a physical therapy referral for the knee injury and ask this question of your PT. As a dude in your 40s, I would bet money that you have some specific muscle tightness in your hips/legs that will fuck your knees up good if you don't learn how to work on it, and a PT can evaluate what that is and give you some exercises/tools to do so.
posted by restless_nomad at 6:16 AM on June 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
Also I totally agree on getting a physical therapy referral for the knee injury and ask this question of your PT. As a dude in your 40s, I would bet money that you have some specific muscle tightness in your hips/legs that will fuck your knees up good if you don't learn how to work on it, and a PT can evaluate what that is and give you some exercises/tools to do so.
posted by restless_nomad at 6:16 AM on June 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
Short answer, no, a lot of this doesn't make sense. But also yes, a lot of it does. And of course, if you're actually doing it regularly, yes, it makes a lot of sense. I'm not an expert, but I've done a lot of bodyweight exercise, and I have thoughts.
The biggest eyebrow-raiser for me is the warmup, which is, to be frank, not really a warmup. It's just another set of different exercises. The goal of a warmup is to prepare your body for what you're about to do, which in this case means loosening your muscles and getting your heart rate up. You're doing pretty well on the latter, but really neglecting the former. Look into stretching routines. I once saw an AskMe comment that referenced the book Stretching by Bob Anderson; I bought it and it's been quite helpful. There are suggested warmups for different goals in there. Then maybe alternate stretches with the running in place as your warmup, and move the other stuff currently in your warmup into your regular set.
I was a little taken aback when you asked if you're doing too much leg stuff, because to that point I was wondering why you weren't doing more. If you skip the lunges, you're only doing 48 squats and that's it. 48 squats is pretty good, don't get me wrong, but it's only one exercise. Leg stuff is important because it gives you the base to do other stuff like walking or hiking. All of this is dependent on your knee, of course, but I'd suggest keeping the squats, adding the lunges back in, adding backward and side-to-side lunges and calf raises as well. And if you've got the ability to do some plyometric jumps, I'd do those (box jumps, depth jumps, side to side "skate" jumps, and scissor jumps), too.
I also think you're low on pulling exercises. Which is normal; most people are. It's hard to do bodyweight pulling exercises. The classic is the pull-up/chin-up. If you can install a bar in the room where you're working out, do that. If not, you can get some of the benefit from standing in a doorway. Put your feet in the doorway, your hands on the inside of the door frame, and lean backward so that your upper body is outside the room, then pull yourself back upright. Do that in addition to your dumbbell rows, which are good.
Is there any logic to the number of reps you're doing? If not, one thing you could do is to do each exercise to failure (i.e., when you can't do any more reps). Take the number of successful reps and divide it by two to get your target reps, and then do three sets of the target reps for each exercise. Each week, add another rep to each set.
One thing you're not doing that I've done in the past is full-body stuff. I used to do a routine with burpees, kettlebell swings, and med ball clean and jerks. Each exercise works your whole body instead of targeting one muscle, which is something a lot of people think makes them more functional. When I was doing that, I would generally do that one day, then a bodyweight set like you're currently doing the second day, then some sort of not-very-intense cardio (hiking for you, biking for me) the third day, and resting the fourth.
I don't think you're working yourself hard enough to worry too much about rest days. If you were squatting a couple hundred pounds of weight in addition to your bodyweight, yeah, that's a concern, but this is still pretty leisurely. That said, a two-days-on/one-day-off pattern wouldn't change much (one fewer workout per three weeks), although the five days thing makes me think you're incorporating it into your workday. Maybe take Wednesdays off and do four days a week?
The standard answer to avoiding injury is form - doing the exercises the way they're supposed to be done. Some people suggest videoing yourself doing them to analyze your form. That was always a little too much for me. The whole appeal of bodyweight, to me, is that it's easy, and therefore that I don't have to work too hard to stick to it. But if you're having recurring injuries, it might be worth looking into. Alternatively, I know you're not interested in a personal trainer - I'm not either - but one or two sessions would help you with form. No long term commitment, just a consultation.
Knee injuries in particular are tough, because like you said, nearly everything uses your knee in some way. Someone posted here a few weeks ago asking if they were behind schedule rehabbing their knee injury, and I commented to remind them that, until recently, serious knee injuries were considered career-ending for professional athletes because they're so hard to come back from. Yours probably isn't that serious (I hope!), but still. I would definitely get it looked at, and in the meantime try to keep doing some of the less knee-intensive stuff, like the dumbbell rows, the situps, and the planks. I also have a knee sleeve that I wear when my knee just generally feels sore (which, as a fellow dude in my 40s, is often).
Last piece of advice is to be a little more confident. That "I'm sure this is nothing" really stands out to me because, all my previous nitpicking notwithstanding, this isn't a bad bodyweight routine at all, especially if your goal is general maintenance. There's room to improve, but you're starting from a good spot. And you're doing it consistently, which matters infinitely more than the quality of the routine.
Also, I think you've inspired me to start doing bodyweight again. So thanks!
posted by kevinbelt at 6:53 AM on June 2, 2021 [8 favorites]
The biggest eyebrow-raiser for me is the warmup, which is, to be frank, not really a warmup. It's just another set of different exercises. The goal of a warmup is to prepare your body for what you're about to do, which in this case means loosening your muscles and getting your heart rate up. You're doing pretty well on the latter, but really neglecting the former. Look into stretching routines. I once saw an AskMe comment that referenced the book Stretching by Bob Anderson; I bought it and it's been quite helpful. There are suggested warmups for different goals in there. Then maybe alternate stretches with the running in place as your warmup, and move the other stuff currently in your warmup into your regular set.
I was a little taken aback when you asked if you're doing too much leg stuff, because to that point I was wondering why you weren't doing more. If you skip the lunges, you're only doing 48 squats and that's it. 48 squats is pretty good, don't get me wrong, but it's only one exercise. Leg stuff is important because it gives you the base to do other stuff like walking or hiking. All of this is dependent on your knee, of course, but I'd suggest keeping the squats, adding the lunges back in, adding backward and side-to-side lunges and calf raises as well. And if you've got the ability to do some plyometric jumps, I'd do those (box jumps, depth jumps, side to side "skate" jumps, and scissor jumps), too.
I also think you're low on pulling exercises. Which is normal; most people are. It's hard to do bodyweight pulling exercises. The classic is the pull-up/chin-up. If you can install a bar in the room where you're working out, do that. If not, you can get some of the benefit from standing in a doorway. Put your feet in the doorway, your hands on the inside of the door frame, and lean backward so that your upper body is outside the room, then pull yourself back upright. Do that in addition to your dumbbell rows, which are good.
Is there any logic to the number of reps you're doing? If not, one thing you could do is to do each exercise to failure (i.e., when you can't do any more reps). Take the number of successful reps and divide it by two to get your target reps, and then do three sets of the target reps for each exercise. Each week, add another rep to each set.
One thing you're not doing that I've done in the past is full-body stuff. I used to do a routine with burpees, kettlebell swings, and med ball clean and jerks. Each exercise works your whole body instead of targeting one muscle, which is something a lot of people think makes them more functional. When I was doing that, I would generally do that one day, then a bodyweight set like you're currently doing the second day, then some sort of not-very-intense cardio (hiking for you, biking for me) the third day, and resting the fourth.
I don't think you're working yourself hard enough to worry too much about rest days. If you were squatting a couple hundred pounds of weight in addition to your bodyweight, yeah, that's a concern, but this is still pretty leisurely. That said, a two-days-on/one-day-off pattern wouldn't change much (one fewer workout per three weeks), although the five days thing makes me think you're incorporating it into your workday. Maybe take Wednesdays off and do four days a week?
The standard answer to avoiding injury is form - doing the exercises the way they're supposed to be done. Some people suggest videoing yourself doing them to analyze your form. That was always a little too much for me. The whole appeal of bodyweight, to me, is that it's easy, and therefore that I don't have to work too hard to stick to it. But if you're having recurring injuries, it might be worth looking into. Alternatively, I know you're not interested in a personal trainer - I'm not either - but one or two sessions would help you with form. No long term commitment, just a consultation.
Knee injuries in particular are tough, because like you said, nearly everything uses your knee in some way. Someone posted here a few weeks ago asking if they were behind schedule rehabbing their knee injury, and I commented to remind them that, until recently, serious knee injuries were considered career-ending for professional athletes because they're so hard to come back from. Yours probably isn't that serious (I hope!), but still. I would definitely get it looked at, and in the meantime try to keep doing some of the less knee-intensive stuff, like the dumbbell rows, the situps, and the planks. I also have a knee sleeve that I wear when my knee just generally feels sore (which, as a fellow dude in my 40s, is often).
Last piece of advice is to be a little more confident. That "I'm sure this is nothing" really stands out to me because, all my previous nitpicking notwithstanding, this isn't a bad bodyweight routine at all, especially if your goal is general maintenance. There's room to improve, but you're starting from a good spot. And you're doing it consistently, which matters infinitely more than the quality of the routine.
Also, I think you've inspired me to start doing bodyweight again. So thanks!
posted by kevinbelt at 6:53 AM on June 2, 2021 [8 favorites]
If it makes you feel any better, this sounds like a perfect workout for me as an absolute potato--short and easy, and you've said you've gotten results!
posted by kingdead at 7:05 AM on June 2, 2021
posted by kingdead at 7:05 AM on June 2, 2021
I agree that it's not likely to be what you're doing that's causing the injury but how you are doing it. Adding something like Iyengar yoga to your weekly routine would help with awareness and alignment of your body whilst it's being used, which is really key to avoiding injury. As per other suggestions a personal trainer would be able to point out problems with form but in my experience they will just hit the key teaching points, but if, say, your feet always turn out when they should be straight, that might not be something they would pick up on but will definitely impact your knees. Also personal trainers tend to be young and fit so not had much experience with general injuries and niggles.
Maybe try - when you're walking, try to walk every footstep as well as you can; see what that means for how you hold your hips and shoulders. Work on your posture in general. Elongate the back of the arms and neck (hunching and slouching are really bad for the whole body). Differentiate between sour pain, that's telling you to stop, and sweet pain, that's when something is working in a new way.
posted by london explorer girl at 7:46 AM on June 2, 2021
Maybe try - when you're walking, try to walk every footstep as well as you can; see what that means for how you hold your hips and shoulders. Work on your posture in general. Elongate the back of the arms and neck (hunching and slouching are really bad for the whole body). Differentiate between sour pain, that's telling you to stop, and sweet pain, that's when something is working in a new way.
posted by london explorer girl at 7:46 AM on June 2, 2021
Agree with others that your warmup isn’t really a warm up. Also, the best exercise is the one you’ll do, and sticking with this routine for a while is a great sign!
You have dumbbells, so my suggestion is to increase your squat intensity a bit with light dumbbells on each shoulder (you can hold them there).
posted by bluedaisy at 10:14 AM on June 2, 2021
You have dumbbells, so my suggestion is to increase your squat intensity a bit with light dumbbells on each shoulder (you can hold them there).
posted by bluedaisy at 10:14 AM on June 2, 2021
I think it's incredibly impressive that you stuck to this routine for years! Consistency is one of the most important parts in an exercise routine and it's great you found something you've been able to stick to. Until you get your knee looked at or it's healed, I would probably stop doing the running in place exercises, jumping jacks, squats, and lunges. It would probably be better to give your knee time to heal and perform only low impact cardio exercises in the meantime that are easier on your joints like walking or biking. Once you get your knee looked at or you feel that it's healed, maybe then start slowly adding your leg-related exercises back into your routine.
If you really want to do a body weight exercise for your legs, I've found the static squat hold (or a variation of the Yoga Chair Pose) very effective in firming the glutes and quads while also being easier on the knees.
posted by mundo at 11:33 AM on June 2, 2021
If you really want to do a body weight exercise for your legs, I've found the static squat hold (or a variation of the Yoga Chair Pose) very effective in firming the glutes and quads while also being easier on the knees.
posted by mundo at 11:33 AM on June 2, 2021
You're doing a lot of good stuff.
I would do the plank for a longer amount of time, and possibly vary the hand/arm support position.
Also, I would vary the routine from day-to-day. There are diminishing returns to doing the exact same strength exercises 5 days in a row every week. If it were me trying to adopt your routine as you described it, I would do that routine 3 days a week with a little more intensity, and alternate with 2 days of pure stretching. I started doing a 20-minute full-body (hips, legs, back, shoulders) stretch routine a few days a week during lockdown, and it's been life-changing. My previous stretching 'routine' was touching my toes for 20 seconds and twisting my core a few times after a workout, but it can be so much more. I'm a late 30's male.
I only do leg work (squats, lunches, jumping) 2x a week at most, to allow the legs time to recover between workouts and prevent injury.
Continue the daily walking, that's low impact and great for your health.
posted by smokysunday at 11:37 AM on June 2, 2021
I would do the plank for a longer amount of time, and possibly vary the hand/arm support position.
Also, I would vary the routine from day-to-day. There are diminishing returns to doing the exact same strength exercises 5 days in a row every week. If it were me trying to adopt your routine as you described it, I would do that routine 3 days a week with a little more intensity, and alternate with 2 days of pure stretching. I started doing a 20-minute full-body (hips, legs, back, shoulders) stretch routine a few days a week during lockdown, and it's been life-changing. My previous stretching 'routine' was touching my toes for 20 seconds and twisting my core a few times after a workout, but it can be so much more. I'm a late 30's male.
I only do leg work (squats, lunches, jumping) 2x a week at most, to allow the legs time to recover between workouts and prevent injury.
Continue the daily walking, that's low impact and great for your health.
posted by smokysunday at 11:37 AM on June 2, 2021
it looks ok
I'm not sure what kind of shape you are in now...
is this a workout that you can stick to?
Is it a work out that raises your heart rate and makes you sweat a little?
is it a workout that gives you a little bit of a challenge - that takes, less say, 75% of your strength and endurance?
a couple of items to add:
dumbbell press (push above your head) - these will get at your shoulders and back
dips - to work your triceps and a little back
twists - sit on the floor, lean back just a little, hold your dumbbell and twist to the left and right
you could probably do fewer lunges
One thing I saw above is an observation that you're not doing full-body movements and some suggestions.
That said, a push up can be full-body and your hand positions can do a lot to change what you're working. or move to burpees.
Squats are full body when you hold onto weight - very good at strengthening core and back.
posted by jander03 at 12:23 PM on June 2, 2021
I'm not sure what kind of shape you are in now...
is this a workout that you can stick to?
Is it a work out that raises your heart rate and makes you sweat a little?
is it a workout that gives you a little bit of a challenge - that takes, less say, 75% of your strength and endurance?
a couple of items to add:
dumbbell press (push above your head) - these will get at your shoulders and back
dips - to work your triceps and a little back
twists - sit on the floor, lean back just a little, hold your dumbbell and twist to the left and right
you could probably do fewer lunges
One thing I saw above is an observation that you're not doing full-body movements and some suggestions.
That said, a push up can be full-body and your hand positions can do a lot to change what you're working. or move to burpees.
Squats are full body when you hold onto weight - very good at strengthening core and back.
posted by jander03 at 12:23 PM on June 2, 2021
I think it would help to learn some new exercises and switch things up. Some examples would be to do a side plank instead of a regular plank sometimes, Bulgarian split squats instead of squats or lunges, or burpees or mountain climbers instead of jumping jacks. If you've got dumbbells then you can do more focused exercises like tricep skull crushers, shrugs, and standing calf raises every couple of days too.
I would also try to separate things to give your muscles some rest. If you're hitting the same muscles/all your muscles every day then it isn't giving time for recovery which might lead to overuse or injury.
The fact that you've been able to stick to your workout is the most important thing so keep it up!
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:22 PM on June 2, 2021
I would also try to separate things to give your muscles some rest. If you're hitting the same muscles/all your muscles every day then it isn't giving time for recovery which might lead to overuse or injury.
The fact that you've been able to stick to your workout is the most important thing so keep it up!
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:22 PM on June 2, 2021
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The warmup sounds more like an actual workout than a warmup to me. In my experience warmups tend to be fairly gentle and mostly focus on stretching and un-stiffening whatever’s going to be worked this session. Also, a quick bit of just getting your heart rate up (but probably not enough to get you out of breath).
For example, the HIIT and Strength workouts on Apple Fitness+ (which I’ve been doing recently) will have 2 or 3 stretches/twists and a very brief jump/run thing to get the heart rate up. Push ups, sit ups, and that quantity of jumping/running would be part of an actual workout.
Cooling down with some stretches can, so I hear, also help avoid injury.
Obviously, I have no idea what’s causing the knee injury, but I understand that the problem can often originate somewhere other than a knee - maybe one or both hips are tight and that means you run in a way that stresses your knee. I’ve been doing some of these stretches after running (found in another Ask) and they’re mostly focused on hips.
It is a good idea to vary the workout to give parts of you a rest. And also so you can vary your routines more and work different areas. That’s varying them from one day to the next.
But it’s also a good idea to change routines completely after a while (a few weeks, or a month or two maybe), because your body will get used to doing the same things, and there are probably muscles you’re not exercising that a change in routine would help.
In case it helps give you ideas for how to vary your routines… Aside from Fitness+, which I’m enjoying (I can just about cope with their level of perkiness), I’ve also enjoyed the Johnson & Johnson 7 minute workout app - it’s simple, to the point, well explained, and adjusts to your ability. And doing three 7 minute sets was exhausting!
Good luck.
posted by fabius at 5:48 AM on June 2, 2021 [3 favorites]