Your workout should not be a job. Sure, you won’t want to work out some days. Often it will be a grind to get started, but exercise should not just be a long list of checkboxes standing between you and a preconceived notion of fitness.
Your workout should not be a job. Sure, you won’t want to work out some days. Often it will be a grind to get started, but exercise should not just be a long list of checkboxes standing between you and a preconceived notion of fitness.
This is the primary issue that limits success and fulfillment in life. We want some vague outcome, so we set up a plan with that outcome in mind. We have no real intent to grow as a person or experience the process. In school, we want good grades, but ignore the deep, meaningful learning experiences and cognitive skills that color our world more vividly. At work, we want to be good at producing, promoting, or selling some arbitrary product we may have never used because we want money. There is no surer route to sap your passion for life than the standard, purposeless drive to these flashy, yet empty outcomes.
You Were Made to Move
The optimal route in fitness, as in life, is to find great work. The goal is to learn to love the experience; to be guided by a purpose and a curious sense of play.
Why do you work out? Certainly, we appreciate the aesthetic results. No shame there. But for a lasting fitness practice and sense of joy in movement, the purpose must be deeper. Exercise is part of your humanity. It’s deeply rooted in your biology as an assumed part of existence, prerequisite to emotional and cognitive function. You were made to move, and are not whole without consistent movement.
Exercise, fitness, and health magnify every other area of your life. You will have more energy for your work, more excitement and purpose in your projects, and more levity and humor in your interpersonal relationships. You will be a role model for the people you love. With the right plan, you’ll start to see the world in a completely different way.
Your fitness plan can reflect a respect for human nature and play. Certainly, you will still have “punch-the-clock” days, and nobody’s saying it will be easy. Once we begin to honor our nature, we come to understand that our entitlement to comfort and convenience does not serve us. Therefore, an indispensable tenet of a fitness practice must be regular interaction with discomfort. Intentional development of your capacity for thriving in discomfort is part of the good life. It’s the type of funny tradeoff that seems to characterize the human experience.
Lift Forever, Anywhere, Anytime
With these principles in mind, I put together the Lift Forever, Anywhere, Anytime Plan. It is a mindful, skill-based approach that requires only a few kettlebells, parallettes, and a pull up bar. Every workout is full-body and has its own unique themes. It is a comprehensive, adaptable program that will keep you motivated. I must give credit to Max Shank, whose Ultimate Athleticism template inspired the organization for this plan, and Andrea DuCane, whose RKC prep program got me in the best shape of my life.
Daily Warm Up
- Rocking with neck nods (a la Original Strength) – 5/side
- Quadruped knee circles – forward and back – 5/side
- Bear crawls – forward, back, side to side – 20-60 seconds
- The Cal Poly Hip Flow
- Handstand kick-ups or crow practice
Day 1: Hells Bells Day
Always start the week with one of the toughest challenges, a buy-in that gives awesome momentum for the week. This is also my favorite workout to do outside. That changes everything!
Specific Warm Up
1-arm kettlebell swings – 10/side
Metabolic Block
10 Minutes of (2-arm) kettlebell swings (30 seconds on/30 seconds off x 10)
Strength Block
Turkish get ups – 5/side (alternating)
*get ups with tired forearms present a unique, fun challenge, but safety first
Finisher
Weighted carry variations – 6 x 30-second intervals
*I like to mix variations: farmer’s walks, seesaw carry, waiters walk, 1-arm waiters walks, bottoms-up 1-arm kettlebell carry, suitcase carry, rack hold carry, 1-arm rack hold carry. Lots to play with and much more interesting outside
Finish with 3-minute cold shower
Day 2: Ultimate Athleticism Day
Specific Warm Up
Turkish get up – 2/side (alternating)
Dynamic Block – 4 rounds
- Kettlebell snatch – 5/side
- 1-Leg RDL w/quad stretch – 5/side
Strength Block 1 – 3 rounds
- 1-Leg deadlift – 5/side (kettlebell, dumbbell, or barbell)
- L-sit to handstand progressions – 3 reps (if no parallettes just practice handstands and do hanging leg raises)
- Kettlebell deep squat to knee distractions – 5/side
- Kettlebell curls in deep squat – 5 reps
Strength Block 2 – 3 rounds
- Airborne lunge – 5/side
- Front lever progressions – 5 (if you struggle with pull-ups start with pull up progressions)
- PVC overhead shoulder stretch – 30 seconds
Strength Block 3 – 3 rounds
- Dragon walk, blast-off push ups, typewriter push ups or other push up variation – 10 reps
- Kettlebell/dumbbell rows, inverted rows, bent-over rows or other row variation – 10 reps
Finish with 3-minute cold shower.
Day 3: Let Go
Typically I take this day for light mobility and active recovery. I also recommend a little meditation.
Day 4: Push Grinds
Specific Warm Up – 2 rounds
- RKC plank – 30 seconds
- Turkish get up – 1/side
Strength Block 1 – 3 rounds
- Kettlebell press- 4/arm (heavy)
- TRX feet-together, knees-together deep squat hold – 30 seconds
Strength Block 2 – 3 rounds
- Airborne lunge – 5/leg
- TRX chest stretch – 30 seconds
Strength Block 3 – 3 rounds
- L-sit to handstand practice – 3 reps
- Prone PVC wand extension – 10 seconds (lie on stomach, hold PVC pipe behind back, squeeze shoulders down and scapula together.
- Kettlebell deep squat to knee distractions – 5/side
Finisher – 2 rounds of Kettlebell Complex Pyramid
3 kettlebell clean, 3 front squat, 3 press
Perform in pyramid. Progress from: light bell, medium bell, heavy bell, medium bell, light bell).
(For me it is: 16kg, 24kg, 32kg, 24kg, 16kg)
Day 5: Earn the Weekend!
As with the beginning of the week, I always end the week with a gut-check challenge. I like to loosen the structure on the weekends. I’ve always thought that a little luxury is only enjoyable after its earned. Earn the weekend.
Specific Warm Up
- 1-arm kettlebell swings – 10/side
- Heavier 1-arm kettlebell swings – 5/side
Strength Block – 3 rounds
- Heavy 1-Leg deadlift – 5/side
- PVC overhead shoulder stretch – 30 seconds
- Front lever progressions
- Quadruped knee circles, forward and back – 5/side
Metabolic Finisher
Maximum 1-arm kettlebell swings in 5 minutes
Switch hands as much as you like. Men use 24kg, women use 16kg. This is a play on the RKC snatch test requirement. It’s a wonderful beast, but I prefer swings because you can do more and there is less that can go wrong. This is where you earn it.
Days 6 and 7
These are similar to day 3. I always intermittent fast and usually try to get out on a jog, or over to the park to play around a little bit.
I created this plan to optimally highlight everything I want and love in a plan. It is interesting, safe, environment-transforming, and always available provided you have just a few items. Bodyweight and kettlebell training require heightened body awareness for these fun and skill-based exercises. With a rekindled, child-like love for movement, you may start to play with little skills in throughout your day (handstands, crows, planks, fingertip push ups, front levers, or quick kettlebell flows). Regardless, this plan will enhance your life by promoting the multi-dimensional, multi-planar strength you need to thrive.
