There are too many different ways to exercise! What's right for me?

“Training with an athlete’s mindset – even if you don’t see yourself as one”

You’ve finally decided to take care of yourself this year and start exercising. Great! You go online for inspiration, looking for a simple exercise routine to kickstart your journey. You scroll a bit for the right fit. Then you get overwhelmed.

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“The best exercise plan for beginners!”

“Easiest and most efficient 15 minute program for fast weight loss!”

“Running kills gains --> do this instead for better results!”

“Greatest science-backed weight loss routine with guaranteed results!”

Catchy slogans and big promises are constantly being thrown around in the health industry. Everyone’s fighting to be heard. It’s hard to stand out nowadays without some kind of clickbait, as coaches and fitness influencers from different schools of training all try to show you why THEIR method’s the best (and others aren’t). 

But that’s not your issue now is it?

What you’re looking for is something that suits you – a plan that fits your schedule and brings you closer to your very personal goals. 

In this week’s short sharing, I hope to give my two cents on how to choose your training routine and help simplify this intimidating process for many who are just starting out.

1. Identify your goals (the more specific, the better!)

As a coach myself, I don’t really believe in better or worse exercises. They all serve some kind of purpose, but what makes it a good exercise for you is if it helps you reach your goals. 

Inversely, a bad exercise is an action you take that doesn’t help you reach your goals, or worse yet, could bring you further away from your goals. 

Take something fairly specific, like wanting to improve your batting average in baseball. I haven’t played the sport (besides messing around in a batting cage) so I can’t attest personally, but baseball is ranked on a poll by a panel of experts by ESPN as the sport with the highest level of difficulty in hand-eye coordination. Makes sense, as players have to try to strike or catch a small ball moving at speeds exceeding 100 km per hour. 

Now if our goal was to become a better batter, training by just swinging the bat as fast as you can might be the first thing you’d think of. However, the most crucial part is actually getting contact. That is, control, or hand-eye coordination. In order to reach the goal we set for ourselves, we can’t just mindlessly swing away hoping that one day we’ll make contact and hit a home run. We have to work on reaction speed, coordination, and a whole lot of other skills to reach our goal. We don’t want to become a “practice player” – someone who can only perform in certain controlled situations (a concept I discuss in another article).

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But Freeman, that has nothing to do with us. We’re not honing a skill. We’re just trying to shed some weight.

Fair enough. But consider this: each exercise you complete in the gym IS a skill you learn. And what’s next after you reach that goal? Why do you have this goal in the first place? Are you tr

ying to be healthier? Not be out of breath after walking a few flights of stairs? Be fit enough to run around with your kids? Not get injured as often? Fix some postural issues that have been nagging you since Covid?

Everyone has things they need, things they want to learn, and skills they want to improve on. 

In this section, I want to challenge you to dive deeper and think of some specific goals that are special to you besides just weight loss. And don’t be worried about not reaching them - you can always adjust as you go. 

Here are the goals I’m currently working on, for reference.

• Improve overall athleticism:

• Body composition: Cut and maintain body fat percentage to 9-10%

• Explosiveness: Improve vertical to 40+ inches

• Health: Keep right knee below 3/10 pain throughout training cycle

2. Start finding methods that can get you to your goal

With your destination set, we can now search for directions to get there. 

Should we train with heavy weights in the gym, go out for runs, play sports, or do crossfit?

Your goals should help you narrow down those choices.

If your goals are strength-related, working out with heavy weights in the gym would be highly effective. However, if the strength-related goal is dependent on having better control of your body, then calisthenics (strength training using one’s own bodyweight) might be more suitable. Conversely, a stretching class won’t help you reach your strength goals. 

Indirectly beneficial activities

That being said, just because an activity doesn’t directly contribute to our goals doesn’t mean we should completely avoid them.

For example, while running to lose weight doesn’t exactly translate efficiently to weight loss (since you can’t outwork your cheat meals), running DOES improve your cardiovascular and respiratory health, allowing you to perform more physically taxing exercises in the future. It just shouldn’t be the main focus in your routine. Again, it depends on what your goals are. 

In reference to my own goals, my weekly plan consists of:

• Balance and stability training for injury prevention

• Knee and ankle isometrics for tendon health

• Plyometrics days for explosiveness and coordination

• Heavy lifting days for maximum strength

• Basketball & volleyball sessions for enjoyment and skills training

These are the workouts I’ve planned to best meet my goals. Some people like to periodize linearly and rotate between strength cycles and plyometric cycles. I prefer to mix them up.

However, I’ve gone through a lot of experimenting using trial and error (and injuries) to develop this plan. You may initially start off with a routine of your own, but you can always reach out for advice if you’re ever unsure about anything. 

3. Determine your level of commitment and adjust accordingly

“The best ability is availability,” said ex-NBA star Charles Barkley.

I can’t believe I’m quoting Sir Charles here, but consistency always wins long term. One session with reduced intensity won’t make or break your path to success – but an injury could.

Training intensity is something you’ll have to get a feel of and ramp up accordingly. I, like most people chasing performance, tend to start off too strong, resulting in overuse injuries that derail progress. The key here is really just learning to be patient.

For those of you who are just starting out, 1 day of exercise a week might already be a lot - but there’s no shame in that. A lot of programs you find online start with at least 3 days of exercising a week (and go up to 6-7 days). Of course, that would be necessary since those programs promised you results in a month. 

But I’m sure you’re aware that going from the couch to 3 workouts a week is quite a drastic jump – a jump that most people aren’t ready for. So adjust it! Start with 1 workout, or maybe even half of it. It’s your own body, and your own health journey. Go at your own pace and build momentum. 

4. Enjoy it!

Here’s another clichéd line. Learn to enjoy the process! If you talk to any competitive athlete, they’ll tell you they’ve all come to enjoy the journey. Experiment with different forms of exercise and find one that suits you. If you prefer front squat over back squats, just do front squats! It’s cardio day but your friends asked you to play basketball? Replaced!

If you start enjoying the process, the menial actions to reach your goals start becoming a part of who you are. Before you know it, you’ll be looking back thinking how far you’ve come, and THAT’S when you’ll know you’ve found the right exercises for you. 

So get to it! You got this!

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My content here is free, so a donation of any amount would mean the world to me as it gives me the confidence that what I’m doing is making a difference!