I’m only one day late posting, getting better. I’ve made some changes in my workouts recently, I’ve cut back somewhat to make greater gains.

What?? Do Less To Get More Results?

Yes, exactly! You see building muscle, either for strength or show, and yes, you do each differently, is a two-step process. Let me clarify that remark, either way you’re going to get bigger and stronger but where a body builder is trying to define each muscle, like a Greek statue, a weight lifter is trying to move as much weight as possible, sometimes a large belly is useful to counter balance the enormous weights they move.

But I digress, I’ve been trying, and failing, to do three upper body and three lower body workouts a week, I was actually doing it at first but not with the necessary intensity or effort.

The first step in building muscle is pushing it beyond what it’s used to, a lot or a little depending on your goals. That breaks the muscle down a little, actually causes micro-tears in your muscle fibers. Step two is rest and recovery. The soreness you feel after a good workout are those micro-tears and lactic acid. The micro-tears heal a little bigger and a little stronger, after you rest.

That’s why I’m cutting back on weight days, two upper-body workouts and one or two lower-body workouts. The reason for less lower-body workouts is I’m running more and my stretching and calisthenics five or six days a week work my legs enough.

As for running I ran three miles today, way slower than even a couple of years ago. Use it or lose it, I lost it. At fifty-eight it’s hard to get back.

Stretching and Calisthenics Routine

Ab Wheel Ten sets of Three
Standing Bicycle Crunch Five sets of Eight.
Horse Stance Cross Punch Five sets of Eight.
Oblique Knee Raise Five sets of Eight.
Front Kick Five sets of Eight.
Leaning Knee Raise Five sets of Eight.
Round House Kick Five sets of Eight.
Front Kick Five sets of Eight.
Back Kick Five sets of Eight.

Michael Cole