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Welcome back fellow Gen Xers. Today, we are gonna dive into the world of flexible and efficient workout routines that are designed to help busy Gen X guys. We're gonna break down some old school mindsets. We're gonna embrace. We're gonna try to embrace, anyway, some adaptable, efficient, and enjoyable fitness routines. Okay? They're gonna work into your schedule. So let's start with a quote That sums up the reason for today's podcast. It's by a great stoic philosopher, Seneca. I like this guy. He says, It's not just because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult. So let this be a reminder to dare to prioritize your fitness amidst a busy schedule.
Now let's dive into today's Transformative moment. And I don't have to go very far back to think of a time that I've been swamped with work. I'm pretty sure that perhaps you might be swamped with work today, yesterday, or Tomorrow. And, the thought of hitting the gym, feels more like climbing a mountain than actually, you know, taking a refreshing dip in a pool. But I realized A long time ago, like many of you, I realized a long time ago that I still feel it, and I still feel it as powerfully today, That flexible workout durations, even a 20 minute workout, is gonna rejuvenate not just your body, but your mind as well. Okay? This is a game changing mindset, And it's not just for me, but for everybody who prioritizes their health and workouts. Right? So let's try to unravel some of the solutions Forgetting you busy people, time to live a fuller fitness lifestyle, and getting into great shape. So let's start with some of the why we wanna actually do this And some of the global health benefits, and you can tell me whether or not you can send me a comment to let me know whether or not you use a little bit of this.
Okay? Now you've heard me say that regular exercise promotes mental health and overall well-being. Why? Because it reduces cortisol levels, Which promotes a positive attitude, and it boosts your endorphins for an overall sense of happiness. Okay. Happiness, anyone? Hands up. Yep. Okay.
Now first, let's talk about accountability, okay, and the enjoyment tips that are gonna help you find some time to work out. Finding a workout or an accountability partner. It doesn't necessarily have to be somebody that you're in the gym with or you're doing your workout with. It just could be somebody perhaps that has Similar goal, who who wants to help you on your goal, and they hold you accountable. How? Well, you can tell them about your workout. They can be interested. They can pretend to be interested. They can actually be interested, but they gotta be there for you and listen, and you gotta feel accountable to them.
They gotta hold you accountable. Hey. Did you do this? Yeah. You did. You didn't. Great. Okay. I've had fantastic results on being both on both sides of this coin. Okay? And I I like to hold people accountable. Why? Because when Somebody's accountable. When you are accountable, you feel that you're measuring. What is measured actually goes forward. Okay? Now you can also practice self accountability, which Becomes much easier when you set realistic goals with achievable targets. So you can even set rewards for achieving them. Now my only suggestion is not to set sabotaging rewards. So nothing that would go so far against your goals as to put you on a demotivating hamster wheel. I'll give you an example of that. I'm gonna have a piece of chocolate cake every evening after I walk around the block after supper. K? So you get it. No self sabotaging.
Next in the accountability and especially enjoyment is do what you love. Okay? Fitness is us this big. Okay? I talk about mobility. I talk about resistance training. I talk about nutritional awareness. There's There's also a cardio component inside of training. I talked about all these things. But at the end of the day, yes, they're super important, but you gotta do what you love. And I and I hope I really hope for your sake that you are using resistance training. And I know that if you do, you'll love the effects it has on your body. But after that, Choose whatever you enjoy. I don't know. Is it dancing, swimming, cycling? Do something that makes you happy, and it'll never feel like a chore. This is gonna keep you motivated. It's gonna make your workouts more enjoyable. Okay? And no matter what it is you're doing, I don't know, you're doing line dancing or whatever. Resistance training is gonna make you a better line dancer. It's gonna make you a better swimmer. It's gonna make you a better triathlete, a better runner, a better everything. It's gonna keep your body together.
Here's one of my favorite hacks, having multiple workout environments. Let me give you a couple of examples. Gym workouts. Is there only one place that you can have a gym? Okay. Let me give you some some examples. You have your home gym. You can also have A gym outside. Right? You can have a a local gym. You can have a gym near work. You can go to a couple of different places. You don't gotta hold, like, yearly memberships to all these places you walk and you You slap down your $10, $20, whatever it is. It's a good place. Use it to the max and, you know, you're good. You're done. Right? Outdoor workouts. Outdoor places to workout. Explore workouts in parks, trails. They got these parks now that they have, like, you know, these calisthenic areas, and, you know, you can just, like, go on a a trail walk That's pretty good and everything.
Next, travel workouts. Okay? It's another it's another one of my favorite hacks. Okay? Working out on the go. Travel. Carry a set of resistance bound with you. They take literally no space. I don't care if you just have, like, a, a suitcase. I don't care if you just have a briefcase. You can bring some Some some bands with you. I mean, it doesn't really take much. Chances are if you're traveling, you're traveling for at least a day and you're gonna have a small carry on bag that's gonna have, you know, Toyotry is change of this, change of that. You can throw in your elastics there. You're good.
And, of course, home workouts. And I think I touched on when I said gyms, but There's actually a category into itself. You know, this is my favorite right across the board because you can have everything. Do everything from body weight with a couple of and a couple of bands, Having a dedicated space with weights and a rack and all that stuff. Having a home gym for different people is gonna mean different things. If you're in an apartment and you can't, like, you know, Deadlift and slam, you know, like iron weights on the floor. That's okay. But you can deadlift with bands. You can get a great workout there. Right? So these are different environments, and the combination of these have so many benefits. There's literally countless. There's it's endless customization for your your workouts, and you can literally work out anywhere at any time, Which is super important when you're too busy, stressed, and don't have time to work out. Right? Well, we're we're proving you have time to work out. All those places, those are places to work out, And you can fit it now.
Let's let's go farther. We're gonna tell you how to schedule this. Okay? Now, of course, understanding your schedule will help you with your workout routines. And what I mean by and your schedule. Let me give you a couple of example. Okay? 1st is you gotta do a self-assessment. Okay? Start with understanding what your weekly schedule is. If you don't know what your weekly schedule is because you're doing shifts that are controlled by a manager or they're you know, like, you're an entrepreneur or something, I get it. I understand. These things happen. But you should be able to identify at least a couple of time slots within your week to work out. Identify where those time slots are. Be prepared to create flexible routines. Develop a routine that can be adjusted based on your daily commitments. K. There's not there there's more than one way to work out, more than one way to write a program. And last but not least in the understanding your schedule category are quick workouts.
Okay? Having a set of workouts that are ready for extremely busy days can assure you don't skip on exercise. Okay? So having a couple of Workout variations that you can grab the one that you that you need. Now your next step is to schedule your workout. There's a lot of benefits to scheduling your workouts. Okay? 1st, it's gonna help in setting nonnegotiable time for workouts. It's gonna help you in avoiding procrastination. And all you gotta do is just Set a calendar reminder. I put my training sessions in Outlook. You know, you might be using something else, Google Calendar or, you know, Apple Ical or whatever. Just set it in there. It's an appointment of yourself. Okay? Next up is playing with the duration of your workout. There's a lot of benefits. You don't always have to be Training for 45 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes. It's great. It's fun. Sometimes it's really cool. K? It's like but we don't always have time for that. This morning, I had about a I had a 60 minute workout that I crammed and compressed into 40 minutes. Why? Because I had to, and I did. I just adjusted a couple of things, removed a couple of sets in places where I I felt that I could make it up a little bit later on with a little, you know, a little extra volume down the road. And away I went. I just shaved off 20 minutes, and I got my 40 minute workout in. Bang. Done. Did I have a great workout? Did I get a good pump? Do I feel better? Absolutely. And did I maintain consistency? Yes.
Now if you don't have 40 minutes for right now, it's going to some 20, some shorter examples Of what you can do in 20 minutes. There's a lot of benefits of short workouts. Right? They're efficient. They can be manageable. You can easily squeeze them at the busy schedules, and they can help you maintain your consistency, which is Super important. Another thing about short workouts, you can start your day off with them. Okay? You can start your workout off in the morning. You keep the distractions at bay, And you make a concerted effort to just get it in. Brian Tracy, he wrote a book called Eat That Frog. It's about doing the hardest Thing first. So right? So if it's gonna be hard to work to get your workout into your day, get it done in the morning. Okay? You can even split the workout up. You can break down your workout into 2. Let's say you got you wanna get a 30 minute session. Get break it down into 2 15 minute sessions to manage your time more effectively. How do you do that? Well, listen. Where there's a will, there's a way. You can do 15 minutes in the morning, do 15 minutes Before supper when you get home from work, there's there's options. Right? Like, it's it's not set in stone. You got options. So here are a couple of examples, what you can do in 20 we have 20 minutes.
Okay? So let's take a home workout for example. You can or a workout anywhere. You can simply mix Three exercises. You can take 3 exercises that you know. Let's say you wanna spend a lot of energy. Okay? You can and you have no equipment. You can do some push ups, squats, and burpees. K. Let's say you don't have a lot of energy, and you wanna create some energy in 20 minutes. Well, maybe what you do is an activation session, okay, a light band session, Then you do maybe a 5 minute on mobility flow. Can you get the blood going, feel good, get the kinks and, creaks out of the body? All of a sudden, you're feeling energized. Your energy's flowing well. 20 minutes, you just probably made up 20, 60, like, a lot more time in your day because you're gonna be more energized. Now if you don't have access to equipment or anything like that, that's I mean, there's hundreds of body weight exercises that you can do. You can your body weight exercises can challenge even the most advanced, you know, Trainees. So, I mean, listen. We could do this. There's a way. We can do this. Okay? And if you're on a rest day, that's okay too because if you're like me And you wanna move even if it's a rest day? Well, that's okay. You can literally just go for a walk at that point. You have dozens of quick and easy workout options. You can do An activation session. There's a ton of things that you can do. Okay? A little bit of mobility. It's all good. Right? Just get something in. There's a study supporting the Validity of short workouts. Pretty interesting. I'll leave a link today. You can check it out. Alright. At some point, you're gonna wanna work out a bit more. So let's open some different workout splits And see what they have to offer you. Okay? And I want you to take what it is that you like from these, and I want you to make them yours.
Okay. So maybe you have 20 to 30 minutes A day, and you really want results. What can you do now? You can do a 5 day split. Okay? Now the benefits of a 5 day Split, it actually allows for focus training on each body part. It can lead to some impressive gains because of your dedicated focus. Now here's an example. Okay? Monday to Friday. You You have a Monday to Friday routine you assign each day a specific part. For example, Monday's chest, Tuesday's back, Monday, international chest. Everybody knows that, but I do legs. Why? Because eat the frog. Right? Anyway, another story. Won't go down there. So, you know, let's say Monday, chest, Tuesday, back, and so on and so forth down the road. K. Now you also you have it gives you the weekend to do other things. Right? So that's like it's a 5 day split. K? And if, let's say, you have to skip a day or something, not the end of the world, you can maybe double up, do a little bit of what it is you missed in the next Today's going down the road, and you can you can catch up. Right? You're still gonna get your whole body in that week. One of the things you can also do during a 5 day split Is you wanna make sure that you're pairing your training with proper nutrition to support your muscle growth, and you can also have plenty of time for rest and recovery to ensure that you have adequate rest to Avoid overtraining.
Next up, so that was a 5 day split. Next up, let's look at the upper lower body split. Now the benefits in of an upper lower Body split are, you're gonna train all your muscle groups within a single week. It offers the flexibility to do double sessions During less busy weeks, and here's some examples. You have a 2 day routine where you alternate between upper and lower body workouts across 2 days. K. So maybe you're only doing 2 days of resistance training. Maybe you'd wanna try an upper and a lower split for those 2 days. Now let's say you had 4 days. You can simply expand the 2 day routine with more exercise and repetitions, or you can simply do the 2 day routine twice During the week, there's nothing wrong with that. That's okay. Alright? Now and you say, okay. 2 days, 4 days. What about 3 days? Oh, no. 3 days. That's gonna mess me up. No. It's not gonna mess you up because you can Simply do one day twice, the other day once, and the following week, you just simply reverse it. So it's all good there too. Right? Now Now chances are if you're doing this type of a split, you might have a little bit more time, so you might also consider incorporating some some good recovery techniques, some stretching, some foam rolling to aid in your recovery, stuff like that. Goes without saying that I'm giving you a very wide overview. There are proper warm ups. There's proper cool downs. There's a lot involved here to unpack. But for In the interest of time and giving you as much as possible, I'm just going over the larger scale mechanics of the operation. Okay? So Now after that, we've touched on 5 day split. We looked at the upper-lower body split. Alright.
Next up, full body weight training. Now what are the benefits? 1st, you got versatility. You can accommodate both limited and ample training schedules, and you're gonna ensure a balanced workout targeting all your muscle groups. How do you go about this? Right? You say to yourself, okay. Am I really gonna train full body 5 days a week, 2, 3 even 3 days a week? Aren't I gonna overtrain? Well, no. And this is why. First of all, you're gonna create 2 full body routines. 1 that has a focus on the upper body And a second that has a focus on the lower body, and you're gonna work use those workouts across 3 days. You're gonna focus mostly on compound exercise, all that incorporate things like squats, deadlifts, exercises that work on multiple muscle groups, and you're able to work these workouts across 3 days alternating between the 2 of them. Now this is an interesting scenario, and it's one that's really easy to add a lot of accessory work into. You know, the one thing that you wanna do is that if you actually find yourself with a little bit more time than what you expected, You might wanna, you know, just make sure that you do have those rest and recovery days because you wanna ensure that you have sufficient time between your workouts to recover properly.
Now the 3 options that we've discussed, and there's others, but we're gonna stop at those 3. Okay? Offer such a wide variety of training frequencies, and they're so customizable That, realistically, there's no real reason why you would need to go outside of that. Now if you do, that's fine and everything. On a slightly technical side note, There is data that shows similar muscle growth with variety of trained frequencies as long as the total volume remains equal. So you can even split up like we talked about earlier. We you can split up your training day into 2 sessions. Really great results. Feel free to experiment with different frequencies to find what works best for you. I'm gonna drop a link into an interesting study on that topic in the show notes, which brings me to my next point, efficiency over optimality. 2 things here. Something is always better than nothing, and some forms of exercise is gonna give you greater benefits. K. First off, let's talk about compound exercises. Compound exercises like bench press, rows, squats. These are gonna target multiple muscle groups. And as a result, You're gonna have a little bit more energy expenditure, but you're gonna get a bigger bang for your buck. And there's circuits. You can create a quick circuit that can be done in less than 30 minutes, less than 20, 15 minutes that can give you a great workout on busy days. K?
And consistency over perfection. Now I'm not talking about, you know, Perfection, you know, like poor form, sloppy form versus good form. Never ever ever sacrifice on form. We're talking about your health here. Okay? But I'm talking about consistency, just getting something done. The emphasize the emphasis on being consistent rather than having the perfect workout routine. You know, if you're, like, You know, struggling over, oh, what should I do? Should I do, you know, like, you know, a 15 degree angle incline bench? Or should I do A flat, you know, dumbbell bench. Not just just just get under just get under something, get it done. You know? If the bar is all set up, use the bar. If not, grab the dumbbells, go to town. You know? Just get it done. Sometimes, you know, like, it's consistency over perfection.
Okay? And in keeping with today's topic, fit in no time, workout solutions for busy people, sometimes we don't have 20 minutes, 30 minutes. Sometimes we don't even have 10. Is there is there anything that you can do in 5 minutes? Yeah. There is. Here I have some literally some micro solutions for you. Okay? 2 mindfulness exercises that you can do anywhere that will have a positive impact on your overall fitness and well-being. Number 1, we're talking about breath awareness meditation. We've talked about this before, boxed breathing. Well, find a quiet space. Sit comfortably. Heck, you can stand comfortably. Focus your attention on your breath. If your mind wanders, gently bring your focus back to your breath. K? One of the things I like to do is as I inhale, I focus on Taking all the tension out of my extremities from my toes to my fingertips, inhaling that tension into my stomach. And then as I exhale, I visualize the exhalation of all that tension out through my breath. Do that a couple of times. You guys you're gonna feel better. Another cool thing you can do is a body scan. You don't need to be in a an airport or in a hospital tube or anything like that. You can do it while you're sitting down, lying, standing, whatever. And it's really good to do after a couple of deep breaths. Okay? Just take a mental scan of your body from head to toe. Make a mental note of everything. Don't judge yourself for what you do or do not This is meant to promote a feeling of relaxation and a deeper connection with your body. Another thing that you can do is you can take a few mindfulness minutes Just to think about your diet for the day, how can you pair your exercise routine, what you have or have not done, with what you're gonna eat today To enhance the benefits of whatever it is that you are able to do. Perhaps you're just able to walk around with good posture for today. K? Maybe it's Gonna be a forced rest day. K? You can still focus on walking around with good posture. How can your nutrition support that? Now the key with mindfulness is to remember just Simply be present to engage fully with the current moment, and don't judge yourself or anything else around you. Just to be there in the moment With yourself. It's not muscle building. It's building peace, and that will help you maintain your physical health and build your muscle. Okay? I'm gonna leave a link Mindfulness also in the show. Nice. Pretty cool.
Alright. It's time for our q and a segment where we're gonna address some of the burning Questions that you have in the realm of fitness. Now today, we have a question that veers a bit off the path of today's topic, but it's the one that I got, and it's important. So question. You talked about benefits of hydration for overall health. I did another podcast. Can you explain proper hydration? How proper hydration, sorry, can aid in Fitness, and what are some tips to stay hydrated for someone who is not a big fan of drinking water? Okay. I get Absolutely. Hydration is indeed a cornerstone of not just general health, but also your fitness, journey. Right? And the benefits, first of all, muscular efficiency. K. Adequate hydration helps in maintaining the fluid balance in your muscles, which enhances their efficiency during workouts and life in general. Right? You're gonna feel better. Temperature regulation. K? Staying hydrated aids in regulating your body temperature, preventing overheating during Tense exercises and recovery. Proper hydration is gonna help you speed up recovery post workout, which reduces your muscle for Soreness and fatigue. So all those things are good, but you told me that you're not really a crazy fan of water. Okay. So if plain water isn't your thing, Infusing your water with some fruits or some lemon slices, some mint leaves, strawberries. You know? Like, there's stuff out there. Right? Try having foods with higher water content. I get a lot of my water actually from my shakes. I have a couple of days, so I know I I got at least a at least a couple at least a couple of, couple of glasses in there. Watermelon's good. Cucumber, oranges. Okay? It's gonna help with hydration also. And I know this is gonna sound really simple. Okay? But use a container. K. Use a refillable container. It'll remind you to drink. I have 1 wherever I go. It's a constant subtle reminder that just works. Okay? So, Yeah. Here's my container right here. Gray container. It just works. Okay? Now the amount of water that you need can depend on various factors including the climate you live in, your overall Health, how active you are. But a general guideline is think of the 8 by 8 rule, which is simply 8 8 ounce glass of water a day. I like to go top heavy in the morning. You know, I suggest it as much as possible. If you can do 1, 2, 8 ounce glasses first thing in the morning, You go top heavy, and once you get into the flow, your body is just gonna like and fit you know, the way that it feels. You're gonna like the benefits, and it's gonna become a whole lot easier. So I really hope that helps. I'll leave, I'll leave a link for a water bottle in the show notes. I mean, just any water bottle. You know? If you can get one that, You know, keeps it cool. It's it's a bigger bonus also. But just having it around, you see it. It's just it's a constant subtle reminder. I think that's good.
Alright, my friends. Our time is almost up. But today, we delved into the world of fitness tailored for those of us who are Constantly racing against the clock. I hope we unravel some of the secrets to staying fit amongst the hectic schedule and prove that where there is a will, there is indeed a way. As we wrap up, let's quickly recap the golden nuggets that we unearth today. Remember, it's not just about physical health. It's a gateway to a happier, more balanced life. Your workout space is what you make of it. It can be literally anywhere fitting seamlessly into your lifestyle. Sometimes a short consistent workout It's gonna have a lot more benefit in the long term than an irregular, lengthy session that's you know, happens whenever, maybe. And, of course, scheduling your workouts. Guys, treat your workout sessions with the same importance of a business meeting. It's a nonnegotiable, and it's a priority. And we also dug deep into the strategies that busy individuals like you and I use, understanding our schedule, tailoring workouts That fit our daily life, not just around it. And we talked about different workout splits. We talked about the 5 day split. We talked about the upper, lower split. And we also Looked at the whole body training and how we could tailor it to work into a 3 day whole body routine. So we have a lot of options there. And we also touched on efficiency over optimality. So remember, something is Always better than nothing. We even give you a couple of things that you could do when you're standing in the checkout line somewhere. Okay? So there's no reason why you can't do something for your health and fitness Today, you need to do something for your health and fitness. Promise me your will. Okay?
So before we say goodbye, I wanna invite you to be part of our next episode. Do you have any questions? Perhaps some personal anecdotes to share? We're all ears. Reach out to us through our website, through social media channels. I really value your input. I'd love to feature your questions in our next q and a segment. Before we say goodbye, I wanna invite you to be part of our next episode. Do you have questions or perhaps Some personal anecdotes to share. We're all ears. Reach out to us through our website or social media channels. We value your input, and we'd love to feature in our next q and a segment. So I just wanna thank you for choosing to spend your time with us today. Remember to subscribe, share, and leave a review to help us reach more people like you We're eager to control their fitness journey amidst the hustle and bustle of life. Lastly, I encourage you to take small, consistent steps in your fitness journey. Small actions repeated lead to big results when you just start. Talk soon. You've been listening to the Just Start. Early in life. Neil D went from a skinny to a muscular physique. When trends and lifestyle choices led him down a path of fat gain and lost nation. His determination to end the madness became a transformative system and a passion for helping Gen X Live the fitness lifestyle for fat loss, mobility, and muscular development. We hope you liked the show. If you did, like, rate, and review. For more info and to reach out to coach Neal Dee personally, find us on Facebook and Instagram. See you next time on Just Start.
