A good friend of mine called me lazy the other day. Now some people might be offended by such as statement, but I took it as a complement.
She said, “I don’t understand how you stay in shape… you’re so lazy! I hardly ever see you work out and here I am busting my ass everyday in the gym and I’m still overweight.”
I wanted to explain to her my ‘secret’ for staying in shape, but since she was in a hurry, I simply said, “It’s genetics.” I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t impressed.
I can’t tell you the number of clients who have come to me seeking help with weight loss, proclaiming that “they’ve tried everything!” but they just can’t seem to lose any weight. Once I review their case history and see what they’ve actually been doing to try and lose weight, the reasons for their failed efforts become obvious.
Often, it’s simply a matter of poor exercise program design. And it’s not for a lack of trying; many of these individuals really have tried every new exercise program that is printed each month in the fitness industry magazines, with the high hopes of looking like the impossibly fit Photoshop enhanced cover models.
So what’s the solution?
The answer might surprise you because it comes not from a celebrity fitness guru, but from an obscure economist who died almost 100 years ago.
Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist and philosopher who lived from 1848-1923. During that time he invented a mathematical formula demonstrating that 80% of society’s wealth and income was produced and possessed by 20% of the population. Vilfredo soon discovered that this same formula could also be applied outside of economics and in fact, could be found almost everywhere he looked.
It become known as Pareto’s Law or the 80/20 principle and when applied to getting into shape, it means that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your effort; the other 80% of effort is just wasted time and energy.
"Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction."
~ Kenichi Ohmae
Most people have never heard of Pareto’s Law, much less applied it to their workout routines. As a result their exercise programs often look like this:
Monday:
- 30 - 40 min. of cardio
- Bench press x 4 sets
- Incline dumbbell flyes x 4 sets
- Pec deck flyes x 3 sets
- Triceps push-downs x 3 sets
- Triceps extensions x 3 sets
- Crunches x 3 sets
Tuesday:
- 45 - 60 min. cardio
Wednesday:
- 30 - 40 min. of cardio
- Seated row x 4 sets
- Lat pull-downs x 4 sets
- Standing barbell bicep curls x 3 sets
- Dumbbell concentration curls x 3 sets
- Hyper extensions x 3 sets
- Crunches x 3 sets
Thursday:
- 45 - 60 min. of cardio
Friday:
- 30 - 40 min. of cardio
- Leg press x 4 sets
- Leg extensions x 3 sets
- Leg curls x 3 sets
- Seated shoulder press x 4 sets
- Lateral shoulder raises x 3 sets
- Crunches x 3 sets
Saturday:
- 45 - 60 min. of cardio
Rest between each set of exercises is usually 2 minutes or more if talking to other gym members about last night’s episode of Dancing with the Stars.
A quick glance over this program and it’s clear that this is way too much volume for the average fitness enthusiast. Not only would this person be spending upwards of 1.5 hours in the gym, but it would also shift their hormonal profile from an anabolic state (muscle building and fat burning) toward a catabolic state (muscle burning and fat storing). This is due to an inordinate amount of physical stress, as well as a lack of rest and recovery in-between workouts.
A good analogy would be walking up a down escalator and wondering why you’re not getting to the top.
Now before we go any further, I want to be clear that there really is no perfect exercise program and there certainly isn’t a one-size fits all program. However a truly good exercise program considers you as an individual by taking into account the following factors:
- Level of exercise experience.
- Equipment availability.
- Past or current injuries.
- Nutritional habits.
- Sleep patterns.
- Stress levels – emotional, physical, mental.
- Digestion and detoxification systems.
- Mental roadblocks to success.
- Family or friends support structure (or lack thereof).
- Focus and specify goals and the reasons for those goals.
- Proper evaluation of posture, muscular imbalances, balance, flexibility, mobility, strength and aerobic capacity.
- Any chronic health conditions including medications or supplements you are taking for those conditions.
- Incorporate primal human movement patterns of squatting, lunging, bending, twisting, pushing, pulling and gait.
- Use high intensity interval training if effective fat loss in less time is your goal.
- Keep workouts to no longer than 45 minutes, 3 days per week.
- Do 3 sets for each exercise, which is 1 warm-up set, and 2 working sets.
- Focus on compound movements using as many muscle groups together at one time. These include the following:
- Deadlift: http://tinyurl.com/y3h9es
- Squat: http://tinyurl.com/c8e43
- Bench press: http://tinyurl.com/yshpg or http://tinyurl.com/69jb5
- Push press: http://tinyurl.com/km4ldl
- Pull-ups: http://tinyurl.com/map2qg
- Bent over rows: http://tinyurl.com/len2lk
- Lunges: http://tinyurl.com/kmwmmf or http://tinyurl.com/n5sdam
- Core: http://tinyurl.com/ncje7q or http://tinyurl.com/ndv3la or http://tinyurl.com/6fp3e or http://tinyurl.com/m2knv3
“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”
~ Bruce Lee
An example of a scaled down exercise program that I design for clients (after full evaluation), whose goal it is to burn body fat fast and build a respectable amount of lean muscle in the process looks like this:
Workout (1)
- Deadlift x 3 sets of 8-10 reps. (1 min. rest in-between each set)
- Followed by high intensity intervals on treadmill or bike (1 min. fast / 1 min. slow x 2 rounds)
- (A1) Bench press of 10-12 reps.
- (A2) Pull-ups of 10-12 reps.
- Followed by high intensity intervals on treadmill or bike (1 min. fast / 1 min. slow x 2 rounds)
- (B1) Lying leg raises of 12 reps.
- (B2) Swiss-ball crunches of 12 reps.
- Followed by high intensity intervals on treadmill or bike (1 min. fast / 1 min. slow x 2 rounds)
- Alternate A1 and A2 back to back for 3 sets. Rest for 30 sec. between each round.
- Alternate B1 and B2 back to back for 2 sets. Rest for 30 sec. between each round.
Workout (2)
- Barbell squat x 3 sets of 8-10 reps. (1 min. rest in-between each set)
- Followed by high intensity intervals on treadmill or bike (1 min. fast / 1 min. slow x 2 rounds)
- (A1) Bent over rows of 10-12 reps.
- (A2) Push press of 10-12 reps.
- Followed by high intensity intervals on treadmill or bike (1 min. fast / 1 min. slow x 2 rounds)
- (B1) Hanging leg raises of 12 reps.
- (B2) Cable push-pulls of 12 reps.
- Followed by high intensity intervals on treadmill or bike (1 min. fast / 1 min. slow x 2 rounds)
- Alternate A1 and A2 back to back for 3 sets. Rest for 30 sec. between each round.
- Alternate B1 and B2 back to back for 2 sets. Rest for 30 sec. between each round.
Workout 1 and 2 can simply be alternated throughout your training week. For example:
Week 1
- Monday (workout 1)
- Wednesday (workout 2)
- Friday (workout 1)
Week 2
- Monday (workout 2)
- Wednesday (workout 1)
- Friday (workout 2)
By applying Pareto’s Law to your exercise program design, it will give you better direction and efficiency, helping to strip away the inessentials and achieve your goals in less time and with less total effort. It is in effect working smarter, not harder.
Who knew that being lazy, could make you look so good!
I have to admit it... I have an intense fear of getting old. I suspect that I'm not alone in my fear and that most people feel the same way at one time or another in their own lives. 
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