Lifetiquing

Ok, not really. I'm not even really going to claim that my routines would get you into great shape, but I'm in pretty damn good shape myself, and my haphazard routines have been going on for years.

My mantra is, "The most effective workout is the one you're not doing right now," and I'm also extremely A.D.D. (i.e. prone to boredom) about my workout routines. What this means is that I revamp my workout routine every 1-3 months, and my weeks usually involve a little bit of everything. Finally, I do almost exclusively advanced-level workouts except on my easier cardio days. For cardio, I want to spend some of my time in my anaerobic zone. For strength, I am sure to use the heaviest weights and deepest movements that I can handle while still maintaining form.

My general routine structure:

• Strength training 3-4 x / week (30-60 minutes) – typically cardio & weights circuit training because I <3 it, but sometimes aerobic weight training, conventional strength training or barre
• Tough cardio 2-4 x / week (20-60 minutes) – advanced step aerobics, kickboxing, HiiT, interval training or floor aerobics
• Easier cardio 2-4 x / week  (40-60 minutes) – lower impact and/or more moderately intense step aerobics, kickboxing, dance or floor aerobics
• Stretching daily (10-15 minutes) – comprehensive no matter what type of workout I did

If you'll notice, my routine is pretty much a non routine, which gives me the freedom to do whatever the heck I feel like doing on most days.

Here's is a typical week from my non routine right now:

• SUN: rest + stretch
• MON: HiiT + lower body barre + stretch
• TUES: Tough cardio + upper body barre + stretch
• WEDS: Easier cardio + stretch
• THURS: Cardio & weights circuit training + stretch
• FRI: Tough cardio + stretch
• SAT: Cardio & weights circuit training + stretch

And in case you're curious, here's a typical week from my Insanity month and a half:

• SUN: rest + stretch
• MON: HiiT + full body barre + stretch
• TUES: HiiT + stretch
• WEDS: HiiT + stretch
• THURS: Easier cardio + full body barre + stretch
• FRI: HiiT + upper body conventional strength training + stretch
• SAT: HiiT + stretch

(Gosh, no wonder I got sick of it… look at the lack of variety there!)

Note: Lately, I've been dropping conventional lower body strength training in favor of barre, which has made it more difficult to find cardio + weights circuits because so many of them are just loaded with squats and lunges. I'll still do plyometric lower body work, but all those squats and lunges off the step with two risers + heavy weights eventually gave me large, powerful, muscular legs (not the look I'm going for). Luckily for me, several of my workouts have upper body premixes, so I've been saved!