How to Structure Your Workouts

Saturday mornings are, for some reason, my favorite mornings to work. I still rise and shine at 4:30 and work while the family sleeps.

Then around 9 or so, we take a trip to my old high school football field and track. My wife lets Champ, our 20-month old son, cut loose and walk just about wherever he wants to.

I usually jog 2 laps before I get my sprints in. I’ll typically do 6-8 sprints on the straight-aways, while I walk the curves.

But this past Saturday, I got on the field and pretended to be 20 while I ran 10-12 routes on the field. I would run as fast as I could for 20-30 yards and then cut across as if I was playing in the NFL.

Yep, I pretended I was 20, and today, I feel like I’m 80.

See? It truly is about balance.

Ha… OK, seriously, the trainer in me saw a group exercising on the field and the guy that was leading the group had great intentions I’m sure. But the truth is that the structure of his program was … well… a little whacky.

First, as soon as everyone was there, they immediately started doing jump squats… yes, with no warm-up.

Then they went into the warm-up, which was just jogging around in a big circle.

I won’t get into the rest of the workout. Let’s just say it was whacky the WHOLE time.

I’ve had the fortune of working with people like Craig Ballantyne on projects like the MRT TT Bootcamps.

We knew when it came to bootcamp workouts, we wanted to get the best results in the least amoount of time (by the way,your bootcamp workouts shouldn’t last more than 45 minutes).

We also knew that not every bootcamp coach or trainer has access to all kinds of miscellaneous equipment and fancy stuff like prowlers and sleds.

But more importantly, when it came to structure, we knew we had to get you warmed up for the fun, yet challenging metabolic resistance training workout ahead. So that’s why short, but effective bodyweight exercise circuits were the best way to warm up.

We didn’t do jump squats right off the bat, asking you to get an injury.

So how do you structure your workouts?

It’s simple….

Warm-up
Metabolic Resistance Training
Metabolic Conditioning (optional)
Metabolic Workout Finisher
Cool-Down and Stretching

First, the warm-up

This should be a circuit of 3-5 “easier” bodyweight exercises such as bodyweight squats, pushups, planks, bird dogs and more. This is NOT the time to introduce the harder moves.

You want to warm up, not get fatigued. This will impact your main workout, which is what you DON’T want to do.

Second – Metabolic Resistance Training

This is when you bring in the harder, more “resistance” exercises. And don’t worry. If you don’t have equipment, you can still get a hard workout with just your bodyweight.

For example, there’s the eccentric pushup, where you take 5 seconds to lower yourself.

Then there’s the Bulgarian Split Squat (1-1/2 rep style). This is when you go all the way down, halfway up, all the way down and then all the way up.

This puts more tension on the muscle being worked, making the exercise more difficult.

Set your MRT circuits or supersets in non-competing fashion. That means you’ll do a lower body exercise followed by an upper body exercise.

I like to do do 2 supersets (sometimes 3) or a MRT circuit with a tough leg, back, chest and ab exercise.

Metabolic Conditioning Circuit - This is optional of course.

This is when you use higher reps with slightly easier exercises.

For example, you would do a circuit of KB or DB swings, close-grip pushups, jumping jacks and more. I also like to plug in a variety of planks in the metabolic conditioning circuit.

You can read more about metabolic conditioning circuits here

My favorite part – the Metabolic Workout Finisher

This is when you “Bring It”. This is the grand finale and when you hold nothing back. You leave it all on the floor.

This is also when the set and rep scheme goes crazy, but they are effective. In fact a recent study came out from
Canadian researchers showing a 4-minute bodyweight circuit is more effective than 30 minutes of cardio.

I’ll share that study another day… stay focused on the workout yo.

So, the finisher can be a challenge like this. Do the following circuit as many times as possible in 5 minutes, resting only when needed.

Jump Squats or Total Body Extensions (5)
Superman Pushup (5/side)
Skater Hops (5/side)
Burpees (5)

That’s ridiculous. But awesome. But ridiculous.

That’s the most efficient way to set up your workouts. It’s also how Craig and I designed 61 done-for-you MRT Bootcamp workouts.

Simply hit print and you have your workout for the day.

Discover 61 done-for-you workouts here

Now where’s that foam roller…
Mike Whitfield, CTT

Mike Whitfield
Mike Whitfield is a boot camp workouts and metabolic resistance training expert.