Couch to Healthy 101...Ep. 4

Director of Online Programming Aaron Duvall (@jaduvall) dives into how to get back to exercise after long periods of inactivity.  Aaron makes getting back to a healthy lifestyle simple, and easy to digest.  Follow Mejoria Training (@mejoriatraining) for more valuable insights into how to improve your health!

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Hello everyone and welcome to the busy fit podcast. So this is episode four and I'm going to be today's episode host Aaron Duvall. This episode we're going to be talking through what do we need to focus on after periods of maybe long inactivity. So life happens, everyone has kids, we may move, we may acclimate to a new job or even take over other people's job or maybe we just lost like

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trainer or strength coach that we may have had years ago and we're just not sure what to do and we've fallen off of that consistency of some sort of training or activity. It happens to the best of us. Sometimes we have a good enough background where we can pick up where we may have left off or some of us may be knowledgeable enough in our own minds at least to start back over and rebuild what we may have lost. But this episode is really for more of the people that...

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need the extra guidance on what it is to do and how to really get back into training after not training for an extended period of time. So what is foundations training? Well foundations training is it's a base program for individuals who really just need a good starting point or that restarting point if they've been inactive for a long period of time. You know, this is something that is going to be relatively universal and it's going to have common goals or themes.

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regardless of training background or prior activity level. It also doesn't matter if, you know, my goal is gonna be, well, I wanna become a really good cross-fitter, or if someone else's goal is, well, I want to become a really good marathon runner, or I wanna be a powerlifter. The fact of the matter is, we all need some sort of foundation that we can build off of to get to what those more maybe specific goals of training may be. So...

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This is really just a building block for what we may see for more traditional or individualized training programs. So a few questions we may want to ask. What qualities are going to need to be introduced to get someone acclimated or reacclimated to training and how do we introduce these qualities safely, efficiently and still gain performance? You know, if we're going to take a period of time, if I haven't trained for a couple of years and

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I come back to the gym and I go to the gym for three or four weeks and I see no change in my performance or my strength or anything else. That's going to be pretty discouraging. So we still want to have that elevation of performance while we are doing it again safely and efficiently. So a few bullet points or check boxes that we want to have for a program of foundation straining are going to be the following.

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does it facilitate proper mechanics and a strength base for what will qualify as our main movement categories? So five main movement categories are gonna be your squat movement, hinge movement, push movement, pull, and core. So squatting, just, you know, we think of a back squat or a front squat or body weight squat, some sort of knee and hip dominant squatting exercise, hinging being more just strictly hip dominant, like,

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in RDL or bending over, doing a deadlift, something like that. Pushing and pulling can be either horizontal or vertical movement. Pushing being something like pushup or bench press, pulling something like a pull-up or maybe a row and core could be just about anything that we can think of correlated, it could be a plank, could be sit-up, could be Russian twist, could be whatever. So again, program that we make when we get back into training needs to do that.

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We wanna make sure that we're facilitating those proper mechanics in those five categories, squatting, hinging, pushing, pulling, and core work. Second thing we wanna make sure of is that it's scalable. So this can't be a program that is only for a seven-year-old that has never worked out before and just wants to increase longevity in their life. It also can't just be for...

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an 18 year old or 20 year old athlete that may have been sidelined from training because of an injury or something, we've got to meet somewhere in the middle. So it's got to be something that anyone could do while still gaining performance and it's still being safe. We'll go over a couple of methods of how we do that here in a minute. Next thing is we want to make sure that we progress weight room volume and density. So a lot of this that we'll be talking about is going to be strictly weight room related.

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When we talk about volume, this is the total amount of work that we do. So when people talk about sets and reps, this is what volume is. So when we start out the program doing, you know, minimal sets, one or two sets of maybe, you know, a handful of exercises for just four to six reps. Well, by, you know, week three or four, we're doing a few more exercises. We're doing.

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one or two more sets and we're doing reps of six to eight per set. The density that we have in the training program is basically while we increase that volume, we want to do that higher amount of work in the same amount of time. So when we add those extra sets and reps, can we still accomplish that those more sets and reps in the same, you know, 30 or 40 minute session that we're trying to build out here?

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What that's doing is one, we're still gaining that strength, but two, it's gaining our quote unquote fitness as well. Notice I don't mention intensity. So intensity or amount of weight is something that can really be built more in later training programs. So again, if my goal is to be, I wanna be a really, really good cross fitter or power lifter, okay, I'm not gonna start putting on as much weight as I can week one. We're gonna get to that.

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in the subsequent training phases. In this foundations phase, we want to build off of just building that volume and density first. Another big factor in the foundation training program is going to be that we're trying to emphasize tempo training. What I mean by that is adding a lot of either isometric or eccentric tempos to the movement. So isometric meaning we are holding different positions for an extended period of time.

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Eccentric meaning in the lengthening portion of a movement. So when I am lowering myself down in a squat, as I'm squatting down to the ground, that's the eccentric portion of the movement. Instead of just falling down to the bottom of the squat, can I institute maybe a five or six second eccentric tempo to that? Or when I'm at the bottom of the squat, holding my body weight while my knees and hips are bent, can I add a two or three second iso tempo at the bottom there?

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And this is one of the things that makes the workout scalable. So we can have, you know, two different athletes or two different people that are of varying abilities. And one person, if they have a bigger training background and the other doesn't have any training background, then one of the things that we can do to modify, you know, the difficulty basically, or rate of perceived exertion that both of these people have in the training program is going to be that adjustment of that tempo.

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or that ISO and eccentric tempos. And last thing is we wanna make sure that we, it's simple as it sounds, that we start general and build to complex. We don't wanna just start and say, okay, well, it's day one, I'm not gonna do very much of it, but I'm gonna start with a barbell split snatch, even though I'm only gonna do a few reps. That's our super complex movement with very high level of specificity that, you know, we...

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don't really need to start off at that point. We probably need to scale that back, go like 10 steps of regression before that. Again, working on basic patterns, going back to that squatting, hinging, pushing, and pulling. So again, we wanna make sure that we hit those main movement patterns. We wanna make sure that it's scalable. We wanna make sure that we increase that volume and density, that we're adding tempo where it's appropriate.

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and that we are going from very general to more specific later on. So when we're building out this program, what are our goals? Number one is we want to bulletproof the individual. And what we mean by that is we want to instill some sort of structure and resiliency in main joints that we're operating with. This is going to be applicable, whether you are that 18 to 20 year old or you are a 70 year old. We all use our joints. We all want to make sure our joints stay healthy. So we need to use the tissues that operate those joints to bend and extend.

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or rotate or whatever. So in doing that, going back to those main movement patterns, getting that structural resiliency in the squat hinge, push, pull, and core is going to be done by simply repetition and very good repetition. Obviously, we want to make sure that we look good, we keep form right, and things like that. But we need exposure to going through different movement patterns so that we're using these joints and we're using the tissues around.

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Second one is we already kind of talked about it, but increasing that work capacity. So we want to make sure that by the end of, you know, three to four weeks and some sort of foundations training, we are capable of handling higher volumes of training. We are capable of handling higher density of training. We can do more work within a given amount of time. We want to build that base strength. So when we add tempo or body weight holds and those remedial movement patterns, we're getting really optimal acclimation

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building up to where we can tolerate resistance. So the goals by the end of this program, and not to say that you can't start with some sort of barbell or dumbbell in day one of the program, but again, we wanna be able to where three or four weeks after we start a program like this, we are able to introduce more external resistance like dumbbells and weights safely and appropriately. So goals here, bulletproof the individual.

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increase the work capacity and build that base strength. So all sounds good. All sounds appropriate, right? But now how do we go into how we do this? So I'm going to go into the steps. We'll go through four different steps of how we build a foundation training program. So the four steps of how we develop our own foundation's training plan. Number one,

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as simple as it sounds is we need to take inventory of what we have available so that we can create some sort of a library of potential exercises that we can do. When I say take inventory of what we have available, I primarily mean what equipment do we have? So one misconception that some people have is that we need this, you have to have a membership to a gym.

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fancy one trick pony machines at your local planet fitness to be able to get some sort of workout program in. All of those things are really great tools to have, but that doesn't mean that they're essential. If all you have are bands and maybe a couple small dumbbells, you can get a lot of really good work done with just that. Even if all you have is your own body weight and hopefully maybe a yoga mat to lie down on, again, we can still get a lot of really good work done.

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If all you have are bands and a dumbbell, that's completely fine. That just doesn't mean that you're going to be doing things like hang cleans or dragging sleds around, which at this point in time in a foundational training block probably wouldn't be super appropriate anyway. So take inventory of what you have. This next part with that is tough to do.

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we need to develop some sort of library of potential exercises that we have with that inventory that we have access to. So it's cliche as it seems, Google can really be your friend here. So if all you have are, again, those bands and dumbbell, okay, great, look up band exercises online. Look up upper body dumbbell exercises. You can self-categorize those squatting movements, hinging movements, push or pull.

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by just looking at things, seeing what there is. Most movements are gonna fall into one of those five categories, that squat, hinge, push or pull. So start to build a library based off of what you have access to and what you know that your personal ability is. So if you have those bands, okay, maybe you can do a mini band squat as your squat pattern. For a hinge, you're just doing bodyweight RDLs.

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For your push, you can do just a regular push up or if you have dumbbells, maybe a seated shoulder press. For your pull, you can tie that band to a door and do some sort of band rows or you could do a standing bent over row. And core movement, again, not a whole lot of equipment probably needed for a lot of core movements, but you can do different things with bands or.

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do oblique twists with the dumbbell or weighted sit ups with the dumbbell or something like that as well. So again, step one, take inventory of what you have available so that you can create that library of potential exercises. Step two is going to be take inventory of the time that you have available so that you can make a plan and make a schedule. This also sounds really cliche, but if we just say, okay, well I have this and

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I know I can do these exercises and do this workout, and that's where you stop? That's not a plan. You need to take that inventory of your time, make a plan, schedule an appointment with yourself, so to speak, so that you know that in your weekly calendar you're devoting 30 to 40 minutes at a time to these sessions. Prioritization of your health and fitness.

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time management strategies, et cetera, et cetera. That all is a whole nother topic that I think we will dive into later on. But at the end of the day, something that we do need to do when starting back into a training program after we've been out of it for a long time is develop a plan. That doesn't mean that it needs to be every day for an hour a day. Again, if all you have is 30 minutes, three times a week, that's great.

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Lock in those 30 minutes three times a week. Make a date with yourself and your bands or dumbbells and make that your time that you're gonna devote to getting back into this system of training, building back your foundation for training. Number three is gonna be put your first workout or workouts together. And I say that like it's as easy as like putting a two piece puzzle together, but it's obviously not quite that simple, but

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the more you play around with it, the more that you try things out, the more that you learn. It's an example of how to build kind of your first workout is number one, it's good practice to start with some sort of a simple warmup. You know, with a lot of the examples that I've put together so far, talking about like pushups and body weight squats, or maybe some dumbbell exercises, that in and of itself may be good enough just for a simple warmup.

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But it's still really good practice to get some sort of time devoted to actually warming yourself up So for something like this and a foundations plan this may just mean hey get your heart rate up a little bit Implement a few dynamic stretches like knee hugs quad pulls Cross your arm over your body do a couple golf swings Whatever you got to do just to kind of get your body moving before you actually devote yourself and your time towards those actual Exercises with the equipment you have

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So first workout step one, add that simple warmup to it. Then when you're actually putting the workout together, starting off, I would aim for about eight to 12 exercises a day, and aim to try to get at least one of each of those movement categories in those exercises. So at least one push movement, one pull, one squat, one hinge, and one core. And the way you...

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you may need to prioritize some versus the others. If you have a really weak core or you have really weak legs and knees, that's how you can devote some exercises from that eight to 12 towards a few more of one of those different movement categories. When you're building out your sets and reps, it's always smart to start very low. So start with low repetitions, be conservative, maybe four to six reps per set.

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for two to three sets, but also add that tempo to what you can, so that eccentric or isometric tempo. So if I know, okay, well I'm gonna try to do three sets of four pushups. Okay, if that sounds super easy to you, okay, great, add a four second lower into those pushups. If that's still easy, okay, great. Add four second lower in those pushups.

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add a four second pause at the bottom of those pushups with your chest off the ground and then push yourself up. If that's still easy, either add more reps or you can put a small weight on your back again, but make it scalable and add that tempo to where you can. So we have our warmup. We've built those eight to 12 exercises. I would not worry too much about how you order one thing versus another. So if you have two push exercises together versus going a squat and a hinge movement,

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Or if you have all core in one block that you're doing, one after another with three different exercises, that's fine. That's more than you were doing before implementing some sort of program like the foundations program. Again, we can get more specific and more complex later on, but we need somewhere to start with. And that's just going to be getting that warm up in, getting those 8 to 12 in. And then lastly,

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It's a good idea to get in some sort of a good habit of post-exercise recovery. This doesn't mean like, okay, you need to go on a 20 minute cool down. Like, you know, some long endurance runners or swimmers may have to do. This may just be, Hey, grab a foam roller, roll out for a couple of minutes, or make sure you get a protein shake after you finish. As simple as that sounds building good habits early on so that when we do

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for lack of better words, graduate from this foundations plan. We're already in that good habit of things like getting a warmup in, devoting time to that, getting a cool down in, or something post exercise recovery related so that we're setting ourselves up for success with our next session. So that's step one. Take inventory of what you have available. Step two, take inventory of time, make a plan. Step three, put your first workout together.

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And step four is just progress. As simple as that sounds. So linear progression is really easy when our room to grow is at its highest. So if I haven't worked out in a really, really long time, I'm likely going to make a lot more improvement from week one to week two than I would week 12 to week 13. So when we're adding reps and tempo to exercises, we can add complexity.

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later on in the week. So for example, if we start off with bodyweight squats, okay, then try grabbing a dumbbell, doing a goblet squat. That's really easy. We're past that. Grab a barbell, try doing a front squat. Increase the amount of work done within the given timeframe. Again, that's adding that density to the session. So if I come in and I'm starting off with two sets of five of an exercise and by week...

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three, I'm doing that same exercise, but I'm doing three sets of 10 within the same given timeframe. That's great. Not only are you getting stronger, again, you're building that fitness base through a higher density of training as well. After a few weeks of this program, one thing that we're getting is just that general neurological strength. So one example,

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never really lifted weights before. I was a female athlete. She came in. One example is we started her with some sort of a dumbbell bench exercise. She had never done that before. So we started with 10 to 15 pounds for her first week. And it wasn't difficult for her. It wasn't subjectively heavy, but it was difficult in the sense that it was new. So we started off low on that. After a few weeks,

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of her just kind of getting used to that movement. Next thing we know, we're going up to, we're using the 35 pound dumbbells. So going from 15 to 35 pounds in just a few weeks, that doesn't mean that she gained over twice the amount of muscle or that she got over twice as strong. It just increased her neurological control of that movement, which is really what we're trying to chase here from a strength perspective when we're putting together this foundations program.

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building block for training. Once we go through these movement patterns, those basic movement patterns, then it's setting ourselves up for success when we want to graduate to something that may be a little bit more specific or advanced or catered to what our specific goals may be. So we've established that building block. We've put ourselves in a better place and something that shouldn't go unnoticed is that we've also

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built the system, we built consistency with ourselves so that, you know, we've created a habit with ourselves. If you can make something sustainable relatively easy enough that you can still get benefits and performance gains from, and you do that for three to four weeks, great. You've built a habit of you're back in the weight room or you're back in your garage or you're back on the road jogging, whatever it may be.

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You've built that consistency back and you're back into a better spot where we're no longer in that period of long inactivity. You're at the start of a period of great activity. So to sum it all up, I'd say first off, something I didn't say is, you know, if you're in a spot where you have been in a period of long inactivity, where you're not sure what to do next. And it's been so long since you've done this. Number one is.

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Give yourself some grace if you're in a period where you haven't trained in a long time. That happens. Life happens. What we don't want to do is let that dictate what our future is or what our present is. So give yourself some grace for that, but then make it a priority for yourself to make a change and get back to building that foundation back. Second,

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Again, prioritize at least a few, maybe 30 to 40 minute chunks of your week to put yourself and your body back into a point where you can tolerate higher levels of activity of training without it being, one, dangerous, or two, even if it's not dangerous, maybe it's non-sustainable. You know, you don't want to be in a point where you go to a gym and you follow a workout class and, okay, maybe you don't get hurt. But

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After you finish two of the workouts, you go home feeling like crap and beat up and you're like, well, this wasn't fun at all. It just gets you right back to the point where you were before. Making sure that we devote that time, but we devote that time to safe and effective training that isn't either dangerous or non-sustainable. We want to master the basics by starting small.

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building up in that volume or that tempo, that eccentric or isometric tempo, adding complexity where we feel necessary, and again, just rebuilding that foundational strength. And once you're comfortable with that, again, after three or four weeks, move on. If your goal is to become, well, I wanna try weightlifting and I wanna learn how to snatch or clean and jerk, or I wanna get into running a 5K, great.

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Use that, use the new foundation that you have. You have that structure of resiliency. You have that base strength. You have the habit of actual training and move on to whatever it is your more specific goal might be. So again, give yourself some grace, move forward and reach the goals that you may have set in front of you, but do it safely.

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So if this sounds something like you or you're someone that has been inactive for a long period of time and you need that extra step or that extra little push or help to get you back to that point of being active, building those habits and getting back to a training program, send us a message, reach out to our team at Majoria training. We'll link our Instagram to this episode as well as potentially an application or something that you can follow up with someone with our team with, but

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Above all else, just prioritize it for yourself, for you, if this is something that you've been struggling with. If you have any questions, please let us know. And above all else, happy training and have a great week and thank you for listening.