My minimalist daily routine

[rafeandersen]

Hey,

Thought I'd share my current routine, just in case it could be of benefit to somebody in some way. So far I've really enjoyed this routine (admittedly it has only been 2 weeks) as it enables me to train every day, requires very little time for each session, and hopefully can be combined with my bouldering hobby. Also, these rep ranges automatically include some daily undulating periodization.

With this routine I hope to cover most major muscle groups while keeping it simple and short, and being able to do all of it at home. I basically rotate through 4 different sessions on a daily basis:

A:

• 5x2-5 ring dips
• 5x2-5 single leg squats

B:

• 3x5-8 ring rows
• 3x5-8 ab wheel rollouts

C:

• 3x5-8 ring pushups
• 5x2-5 nordic curls

D:

• 5x2-5 chinups
• 3x15-30s reverse planks (on shoulders and heels)

Each session I alternate between exercises (one set of dips, one set of squats, etc.) with 2 minutes of rest in between sets. Each last set of each exercise is an amrap set (as many reps as possible), while gradually building the first 4 sets up to meet the top of the rep range.

As soon as I reach that amount of reps on all sets, I return to fewer reps while increasing the intensity by slowly adding weight. When I fail to equal the amount of reps of the other sets in the amrap set, I decrease the total weight (including bodyweight) by 10%, so that next time my amrap set will consist of more reps for building it back up; if my last set is double or more of the top of the rep range, I will double the weight increase next time - this was inspired by the Greyskull LP program.

Just thought I'd share this, but also feel free to discuss/criticize.

Have a great day

Edit just to be clear: I don't do A, B, C, and D all on one day! I train daily, doing either A, B, C, or D on one day.

 

[followerofchrist27]

@rafeandersen Thank you for sharing. I started with the Nick e primer and I really enjoyed the simplicity of it. I prefer compound movements because I have no time for hours at the gym every day.

 

[rafeandersen]

@followerofchrist27 Cool, looks good too. Gotta love the compound movements.

 

[monyean]

@rafeandersen missing some kind of hip hinge movement

 

[rafeandersen]

@monyean Yeah good point, I find that a bit more difficult to do at home, so I hope to cover most of that with the Nordic curls and the reverse planks. I've thought about kettlebell swings but I don't really enjoy them, and I dislike that it's not easy to increase the intensity without having a whole bunch of them. I did single leg Romanian deadlifts with a dumbbell for a while though, I might put them back in at some point.

 

[pablotorres]

@rafeandersen Nice workout! Do you only do chin-ups or do you do pull-ups as well? Thanks for sharing, might do something similar when I buy rings!

 

[rafeandersen]

@pablotorres I currently only do chin-ups, as I've always done pull-ups almost exclusively, and I like the extra bicep work. I might switch it up at some point. I'd definitely get rings, they're a gamechanger!

 

[auly]

@rafeandersen How do you manage to do nordic curls? What kind of equipment do you have? I never could understand how to do them at home

 

[rafeandersen]

@auly I sit with my knees on a rug and put my feet under my couch. Of course the couch doesn't weigh enough so I throw all my dumbbell plates on it. I just started with this exercise though, so I'm currently doing the hip hinge variation; when I move on to harder progressions I'll definitely have to figure something else out, as this is barely enough even now.

I think there's Nordic curl benches you can buy, but it probably shouldn't be too difficult to build something yourself for much cheaper. I mean, a sturdy wooden board with a strap attached to it should be enough right?

 

[auly]

@rafeandersen Thank you

 

[seneca_s]

@rafeandersen Why do you call this a minimalist routine?

It is a full body routine that takes a while to finish. It is actually close to the recommended routine.

If you wanna go more minimalist then cut out the dips - nearly the same muscles worked as push ups, but safer for you.

Also how do you warm up?

 

[rafeandersen]

@seneca_s Oh oops, I might not've been clear enough: I train daily and on each day I do either A, B, C, or D, not all of them! Thanks for the tip but I really love dips too much to cut them out. I've also never experienced any shoulder trouble with them, luckily.

My warm up is just some basic things like arm swings, neck rotations, some hip mobility stuff, cat cows, all that kind of stuff. And then just one or two warmup sets for each exercise with an easier variation.

 

[kuda]

@rafeandersen Since you plan to work out daily you may want to look at an even more simpler approach by Kyle Boggeman: https://www.youtube.com/@Kboges

 

[rafeandersen]

@kuda I'm familiar with his channel, great stuff! Thanks for the tip though