Advice on designing a workout plan

[jovan09]

Tldr - looking for assistance in structuring a fitness plan unique to my lifestyle & injuries - please redirect me if this is an inappropriate forum, happy to visit paid resources (Fitness coach? Nutritionist?) just let me know what you think is best. Very much appreciate your help and the insight of this subreddit!

Key question: What is your recommended workout routine given the information below. What can I change/improve upon? Any and all thoughts welcome.

Context

• Sedentary life style (work 70+ hour weeks, including weekends)
• Physically fit once upon a time; played contact sports in college, did the major lifts religiously; post college reduced activity significantly to less rigorous activities 0-2 times a week, mostly squash golf peloton etc
• Herniated a disc ~8m ago and that has reduced activity to bare minimum
• Have gained a significant amount of weight (have gone from 205lbs to 230lbs over the past two years; 6ft M for reference)
• Have started and stopped prioritizing fitness multiple times over the past decade and I'm ashamed of not being able to stick with it; it's now starting to become a potential health concern and I want to get ahead of it

Goals

• Make fitness a habit (3x week min)
• Lose weight (210 by EOY '24)
• Regain QOL / reduce pain during light sports (e.g., play golf without severe pain the next day)

Constraints

• Committed to carving out 45 minutes before work every morning, plus additional time on the weekends as needed
• Have been unable to squat given pain/discomfort from herniated disc

Challenges

• Feel lost in prioritizing the below activities in only a 45m daily slot
• PT exercises for core - have been really bad about keeping up with this, but need to incorporate to help take pressure off the disc; can be done daily and is 15-30m depending on how much of it I complete
• Cardio/biking/running - running 10m miles seems inefficient in taking up the whole slot, but is immediately helpful and beneficial to health; have tried using stationary bike and HIIT to get more out of it (30s on, 30s off 5x getting heart rate to 190)
• Strength training - rebuild muscle which will help lose weight passively over time; want to do starting strength as recommended elsewhere in the forum but can't squat; can focus time on regaining core strength and slowly working in to something like this; compound lifts most efficient
• Stretching/mobility - also helpful to reducing pain but time consuming

Potential approaches

• 1 - Rotate between two workouts
• A - Cardio + PT day - 5m stretch, 25m cardio (bike hiit), 15m PT exercises
• B - Full Body Strength - 3x5 - Bench, Row, Dips, Pull-ups, Lunges, Ancillary if have time
• 2 - Rotate between two workouts, but split up strength
• A - same as above
• B - focus on push one day, pull another day
• 3 - Every day is new
• A - Cardio Day
• B - Push Day
• C - PT Day
• D - Pull Day
• 4 - Focus on Cardio/PT every day until strong enough to squat, then switch to something like starting strength

Questions

• Any thoughts on best approach to start? What can be improved?
• Does splitting up each 45m day into both cardio and PT or full-body not give me the full benefits? Should each individual day be dedicated to one of these activities?
• Is it too much to start with all of these?

 

[ljhope]

@jovan09 At minimum, (once per week) you should have:

1 horizontal compound push (like bench press)

1 horizontal compound pull (like a row)

1 vertical compound push (overhead press)

1 vertical compound pull (like a pullup)

1 compound leg movement (like squats)

X I would usually add deadlifts here for a compound hip hinge, but you probably shouldn't. I don't do them either due to disc injuries.

All of these together still neglect calves, forearms, lower back, and abs. You'll have to add something for those. The compounds will give you the biggest bang for your buck because they hit the most muscles in one movement and are the best for overall strength. When you settle on a routine, do the compounds first, then acc and isos.

Next, check off redundant accessories and isolations for biceps, triceps, delts (side & back / maybe front), quads, hams, and chest flys. Add as you see fit depending on how much time you want to spend on the gym. Then you can dig deeper and deeper adding specific exercises for trapezius, brachialis, etc if you decide you really want to get into bodybuilding.

For your herniated disc: avoid anything that causes you to bend with a weight in your hands.

1. Leg press instead of squats. Foot placement is important to keep your waist from bending. Keep your feet low and more than shoulder width apart.
2. Only do seated rows if you have a machine with chest support. Do not attempt cable or bent-over-rows.
3. No tricep kickbacks. Only work triceps on a machine, standing (like with cables), or lying flat (skullcrushers)
4. All ab machines are different and will effect you differently. You'll have to experiment and be careful. Some bother me, some don't.
5. Work your glutes somehow. Your glutes help strengthen and stabilize your lower back.
6. Most importantly! If the disc is in your lower back, work your lower back erector muscles on a roman chair or back extensions machine.

You can split all of this up however is most convenient for you. Try to hit each item at least once per week, then you can add the isos or duplicate compounds as you see fit to fill in your time.

The compounds + core work (abs, erectors, and glutes) will help improve qol and keep it that way as you age. The rest will help with bodybuilding esthetics. Weight loss happens with diet, but exercise helps.

PPL is probably the best split if you're going to go 3 days a week. You should be able to fit about 25 sets into a 45 minute workout (depending on breaks). Two compounds per day can take up 6 to 10 of those sets, then you add complimentary movements until your time is full. Or just use that time for cardio.

There are many variations for most of these lifts and you should redo your routine and swap some of these out periodically. (So it doesn't matter that much which type of bicep curl you choose). I redo mine every 6 months. In January I'm dropping cross body curls for seated incline hammer curls. In July, I'll pick something else. It's okay to experiment or just pick your favorite and stick with it.

For clarity; all of this is just the starting point for building a "routine" which is just something to do everyday that will improve your body to an extent, but its not meant to get you into competition shape. (It can if you know how). This is not a "program" which is designed to improve strength or performance by x amount within x number of weeks. Those are designed by professionals, which I am not. I'm just a 47 yr old gym bro who watches too much Dr Mike and has been in a gym for 20 of the last 30 years.

 

[jovan09]

@ljhope This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much!

 

[jbrad01x]

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