Exercise

Regular exercise is paramount to optimal health. Cardiovascular fitness such as running, jogging, or swimming is a necessary part of a well-balanced exercise routine, but it should not be the focus. The true focus should be on weight lifting. Weight lifting is the fountain of youth. It provides structural support to your body, helps prevent injuries, increases your resting metabolic rate, improves insulin sensitivity, increases testosterone and growth hormone secretion, improves immunity and is neuroprotective to your brain.

Let’s Work Out

Lift 2-3 times a week. More is not better. If you feel like your over-training, you probably are.

The focus should be on injury prevention so you can continue to lift for life.

Run, jog, swim, etc… 2-3 times a week for 30-45 minutes. Cardiovascular fitness is a necessary evil. It burns calories and builds a strong heart. Just as lifting goes, more is not better. The goal here is injury prevention so you can continue to be active. Your goal should be to work up a good sweat and get your heart rate up. If your knees start to hurt, stop and rest for a few days, don’t push yourself into an injury.

Get plenty of rest, aim for 7-9 hours of sleep a night. You cannot recover and build lean muscle without rest. Healing occurs while you sleep. If you are not resting adequately, you will predispose yourself to injury and see a lack of progress. This will also decrease your IGF-1 levels which is needed to build tissue. If your IGF-1 Levels are under 200, growth hormone optimization could be beneficial for better quality sleep and recovery. Make sure to have 2-3 days of rest a week for optimal recovery.

Recommended Routine

Day 1: Push/pull: Bench 5x5 (80% max), pull ups or cable pull downs 10x3 (last rep to failure), incline press 10x3 (last rep should be almost to failure), rows 10x3 (last rep to failure), cable flies (last rep to failure), scapular retraction with a band (last rep to failure).

Day 2: Cardio 30-45 minutes.

Day 3: Legs: Squat 5x5 (60-80% max depending on back health), one legged or traditional deadlifts 5x5 (60-80% of max depending on back health), calve raises 15x3 (last rep to failure).

Day 4: Cardio 30-45 minutes.

Day 5: Shoulders and Abs: Standing overhead press with a barbell 5x5 (80% of max), lateral shoulder raises 10x3 (last rep to failure), rear deltoid raise 10x3 (last rep to failure), planks for 30 seconds x3 and lying leg raises 10x5