For this month's blog, I've chosen to post my workout routine(s) of the month. I recently went through a huge life transition – moving from Singapore to my childhood home in New Jersey, then moving into a new apartment in Boston and starting a new full-time job. I've finally gotten back into a gym routine juggling an office job and teaching ballet class on the side among other responsibilities. As a result, I'm only in the gym on weekends. I've created this perfect 2-day simple A/B split. These are full-body workouts that are structured in a sort of peripheral heart action style, but not in a circuit. Peripheral heart action alternates upper and lower body exercises, usually in a minimal-rest circuit training fashion.
I really like these workouts because they incorporate all the essential exercises in a limited period of time, especially for those who can't make it to the gym multiple times a week. And if you're like me, I'm only able to go on weekends, so this workout plan is doable without a rest day in between since it involves different movement patterns and targets a variety of muscle groups.
For progression, I usually aim to add around 5lbs (I'm in the US now so have to use the English system!) or 2.5kg of weight to upper body exercises and 10lbs / 5kg of weight to lower body exercises the following week. The two heaviest lifts at the beginning of each workout for both upper and lower (deadlifts, squats, bench press, and overhead press) I will do in a pyramid style with increasing weight and decreasing reps each set. For the rest of the exercises, I will perform the same weight across all sets unless an adjustment is needed.
Check it out below!
FULL BODY A
Warm Up
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
Foam Roll: calves, back | 1 | roll 30s, hold as needed | |
Stretch: cat/cow | 1 | hold pose 30s | |
lunge/hamstring | 1 | hold pose 30s | |
arm circles | 1 | 5 | each arm |
leg swings | 1 | 5 | each leg |
Activation (Core + Balance)
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
Bridges | 1 | 40 | 20 normal, 10 single leg R+L |
Dead Bugs | 1 | 20 | |
Resistance
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
Deadlift + Rises | 5 | 10 or pyramid | 60s | superset |
Chest Press | 5 | 10 or pyramid | 60s | |
Hip Abductor + Hip Adductor | 4 | 10 | 30s | superset |
Dumbbell Row + Dumbbell Port de Bras (Lateral Raise)* | 4 | 10 | 30s | superset |
Physioball Knee Tuck or Stir-the-Pot | 4 | 10 | 60s | for STP – 10 circles each way |
*Basic port de bras, 5 reps each way (bras ba-first-fifth-second // bras ba-second-fifth-first)
Cool Down
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
Static Stretch: lunge with twist/hamstring | 1 | hold pose 30s | each leg |
hip stretch | 1 | hold pose 30s | each leg |
spinal twist | 1 | hold pose 30s | each side |
FULL BODY B
Warm Up
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
Foam Roll: calves, back | 1 | roll 30s, hold as needed | |
Stretch: cat/cow | 1 | hold pose 30s | |
lunge/hamstring | 1 | hold pose 30s | |
arm circles | 1 | 5 | each arm |
leg swings | 1 | 5 | each leg |
Activation (Core + Balance)
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
Bridges | 1 | 40 | 20 normal, 10 single leg R+L |
Dead Bugs | 1 | 20 | |
Resistance
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
Squats | 5 | 10 or pyramid | 60s | |
Dumbbell Overhead Press + Bicep Curl | 5 | 10 or pyramid | 60s | superset |
Single Leg RDL + BOSU Ball Balances** | 4 | 10 | 30s | superset |
Lat Pulldown + Tricep Extension | 4 | 10 | 30s | superset |
Physioball Knee Tuck or Stir-the-Pot | 4 | 10 | 60s | for STP – 10 circles each way |
**Start first with a simple one-leg balance on the BOSU ball (in a natural parallel position) for 30s. Then, try some of the following exercises while balancing: passe turn in/turn out, grand rond de jambes, developpes, or fondus.
Cool Down
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
Static Stretch: lunge with twist/hamstring | 1 | hold pose 30s | each leg |
hip stretch | 1 | hold pose 30s | each leg |
spinal twist | 1 | hold pose 30s | each side |
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