Smart Strength Training

Vol. 14

Calling all Office Athletes!!! We’re gathering our community for the Sky:30 fitness challenge. This fitness challenge includes:

• Personalized 1:1 goal setting & workout programming

• Online coaching & accountability sessions

• Wearable Data Analysis to help make your fitness goals efficient, attainable, & fun!

Interested in having your wearable data analyzed, receiving specific insights and training recommendations, and getting better together? Fill out this form!

In This Article, We Will…

1. Overview smart workout splits that help maintain longevity and health span

2. Using your wearable to improve your strength training

3. Break down the most optimal strength training routine for us Office Athletes

Let’s Talk Gainz

Alright, That’s Enough About Running. If you’re new to the newsletter, welcome aboard! Over the past couple of weeks, we have done a deep dive into how to optimize your running training to be more better. If that feels like more of your pace give our full guide a read here.

Getting Mogged

Strength training is a crucial component of a healthy lifestyle. It can help you build muscle, increase bone density, and help you live longer.

A workout split is a way of organizing your workouts throughout the week. A good workout split should be balanced and allow for adequate recovery time.

The 3 Types of Strength Training Workout Splits (kinda)

• Full-Body

  • Best if you can only strength train 2-3x/week

• Push-Pull-Legs

  • Best for muscular balance and mobility (3-4x/week)

• Bodybuilding Split

  • Typically muscle-specific (arm day, back day, etc. 4-6x/week)

Don’t get confused! We’ll dive into each of these splits over the next couple of weeks.

Your specific strength training workout split should reflect your long-term fitness goals and your long-term health goals so you can live a long, healthy, mobile life.

Let’s Talk Wearables

We’re gonna keep it real here, wearable devices do a reasonably fine job tracking activities like running, walking, and biking. However, there are gaps in their effectiveness in measuring the short bursts created by clangin’ and bangin’ of weights.

Ok… So Why Even Mention It?

While the data that is tracked during weight training workouts is not as accurate as other forms of exercise there are still some great reasons to use your device while weight training.

1. Monitoring your heart rate: When doing strenuous weight training activities, your heart rate will elevate as you put your body under stress. We’ll dive into the different benefits of various heart rate ranges and strength training over the next few weeks. For now, aim for 90-120 seconds between your sets.

2. Holding yourself accountable: There are days that you may not feel like moving, or times you want to be able to look back and celebrate your consistency. Give yourself some credit and log those times you show up for yourself.

We’ll dive in deeper to some specific measurements over the next few weeks (HRV, Oxygen Concentration, Phosphocreatine levels, etc) that relate to strength training, and how your wearable can help you understand them better.

Let’s Talk Structure

If you are an athlete exercising 3-5 days per week, here is a high-level strength training routine that you can follow:

1. Warm-Up: Start with a 5-10 minute warm-up that includes light cardio and dynamic stretching.

   • Check out this YouTube video for an example warm-up

2. Compound Exercises: Focus on compound exercises that work for multiple muscle groups at once. Examples include squats, deadlifts, bench press, and pull-ups.

   • Here’s a 3 min video about compound exercises

3. Isolation Exercises: After completing compound exercises, move on to isolation exercises that target specific muscle groups. Examples include bicep curls, triceps extensions, and calf raises.

   • You only need 1-2 isolation exercises per workout

4. Optional - Cardiovascular Exercise: Finish your workout with 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise such as running or cycling.

   • If you’re strength training 3+ days per week, we’d recommend 3 days of cardio on top of that… more on that in the weeks to come.

In conclusion, smart strength training is an effective way to support living a long and healthy life. By following a healthy workout split, using wearable technology to improve your strength training, and following an optimal strength training routine for athletes exercising 3-5 days per week, you can build muscle, increase bone density, and improve your overall health.

If you’re interested in having your wearable data analyzed by us, receive specific insights and training recommendations, and get better together, fill out this form and train with us!

- JT & Phil

Want to learn more?

Something we missed or misspoke?

Want to hear on a specific topic?

Reply to us here and we’re happy to chat and help you learn more about your wearable.