Before your first visit to the gym, you need to prepare. Even a superficial acquaintance with the basics of strength training, types of exercises and rules of working on machines will help a beginner feel more confident in an unusual environment. This is especially true for those fans of a healthy lifestyle who do not plan to use the services of a fitness trainer. Before going to a sports club, you need to choose equipment, plan your training regimen and think through your nutrition strategy.
When is the best time to train?
But, unfortunately, not everyone can choose the optimal time for training. A working day from 9 to 6 or a completely irregular schedule does not leave much scope for sports. Although many experts argue that it is better to study early in the morning or late evening when there is no other time to study, than not to study at all. Yes, the body will be more tired, but this option is better than nothing.
The most important thing is to arrange your daily routine in such a way that there is time for proper sleep. What you definitely shouldn’t sacrifice, even for sports, is sleep. Consider not only the time, but also the duration of your workouts: it may make sense to do something more intense (HIIT interval training or Tabata circuit training), but shorter in time, so as not to lose the effectiveness of the exercise.
How to plan your daily routine?
This is what B. Franklin’s daily schedule looked like, which he posted in his “Autobiography”:
(image based on a fragment of the book by M. Curry)
Below are some guidelines for creating your daily routine.
How to create an adult's daily routine
1. Try not only to think through the schedule, but also to write it down. Use special programs, a diary, or just write it down on a piece of paper. A written daily routine will not only remind you of things to do, but also serve as a silent reproach if anything planned is not completed.
2. It is important that at first the regime includes only what you actually do during the day. Simply put, you should include items in your schedule that you are sure to complete, for example, getting up at 7 to get ready, have breakfast and, taking into account the road to 9, be at work. If you just want to go to the gym after work, but have never done it before, you shouldn’t include such an item in your daily plan. Later, when the idea can be implemented, the regime can be adjusted. Remember that you can accustom yourself to following a routine, and, consequently, self-discipline, only by fulfilling the actual points of the schedule.
3. In different components of your regime (primarily this concerns work), rank the tasks. Place difficult tasks first and complete them in the same order.
4. Try to take into account the physiological needs of your body, which were mentioned above. Maintain personal hygiene, don’t stay up late, eat meals at the same time.
5. It is also important that a few days after deciding to start drawing up a regimen, you begin to note the periods of time spent on certain actions. Find an average of how long it takes you to have breakfast, get to work, respond to emails, communicate with colleagues, etc. Based on the data obtained, you need to create the first daily regimen. The use of the “first” characteristic is not accidental - in the future, most likely, you will repeatedly adjust your regimen and it is important to learn during this process to rely on specific time frames, and not on subjective feelings of the time spent.
6. It is obvious that the daily routine is compiled in accordance with employment at work, which is more or less defined. However, it is important to plan not only work time, but also rest, time for household chores and other matters. This is sometimes difficult to do, but over time you will learn.
How to create a daily routine for a schoolchild (teenager)?
1. The first thing to start with is conducting the “field stage”. Some time needs to be spent on observing: how long it takes to get to school, to a class, to prepare homework, etc. If a student makes up his own schedule, the data obtained needs to be agreed upon with parents, who will help take into account the characteristics of age and allow sufficient time for rest .
2. School education is structured taking into account pedagogical, psychological methods, and age nuances. The number of lessons and electives are given in such a volume as not to overload the student. But rest time needs to be planned separately. It is recommended to rest at least 1.5 hours after finishing classes and another 1.5 hours after completing homework. It is advisable to spend part of this time outdoors.
3. It is unacceptable to spend most of your free time watching TV or playing computer games. This problem can be solved by enrolling in sections and clubs, performing chores assigned by parents and other more useful things.
4. It is important to motivate the child to follow the daily routine at first. It all depends on the parents.
5. For elementary school students, it is imperative to set aside time for naps during the day. High school students can go to bed a little later, as well as independently make adjustments to their routine in accordance with their busy schedule. The best time to prepare written homework is between 16.00 and 18.00. It is better to read books and textbooks in the evening.
6. Below is one of the options for an hourly daily routine for a 3rd grade schoolchild, approved by pediatricians:
- 7:00.
Climb. - 7:00-7:30.
Exercising, washing. - 7:30-7:45.
Breakfast. - 8:30-13:05.
School lessons. - 13:30-14:00.
Dinner. - 14:00-15:45.
Outdoor games, walks, spending time outdoors. - 15:45-16:00.
Afternoon snack. - 16:00-18:00.
Self-study, homework. - 18:00-19:00.
Free time, rest. - 19:00-19:30.
Dinner. - 19:30-20:00.
Free time, housework. - 20:00-20:30.
An evening walk. - 20:30-21:00.
Preparation for sleep. - 21:00.
Dream.
How to create a student’s daily routine?
1. Start by collecting and analyzing information about time spent. If the daily routine was drawn up while still at school, then nothing will change radically in the daily routine of a full-time student.
2. Compared to schoolchildren, students often increase the amount of information they receive and the time for self-preparation. It is worth considering that mental activity should alternate with physical activity and spending time in the fresh air - to maintain health, these items should not be excluded from the schedule.
3. The student’s activity is associated with constant tension of mental forces, and in order to use them fruitfully, one must remember not only the alternation of work and rest, but also some other features. You need to get into work gradually, first repeating already known material and only then starting to study new things.
4. The daily routine for the duration of the session must be drawn up separately. Preparation should begin in the same time periods as classes take place throughout the semester - the brain is already accustomed to activity at such times. Particular attention should be paid to nutrition and rest.
5. A properly designed and thought-out daily routine, no matter how difficult it may be to adhere to at first, will soon lead to the development of a dynamic stereotype, which will make following the routine easier.
6. Surveys and observations show that those students who set a daily routine have up to 5 hours of free time for personal interests. Following a routine will allow you to maintain a healthy balance in your activities: do not spend all your time “cramming” on the one hand, but also do not go for walks, constantly catching up on sleep in classes, on the other.
Workouts and sleep patterns
It was not in vain that we mentioned that it is better not to sacrifice proper sleep if there is nowhere else to find time for training. The restoration of absolutely all cells of the body occurs during sleep. And if you exercise, more of these cells are damaged than if you did nothing.
These include microtraumas in muscle fibers (due to which muscle mass increases), and the breakdown of fat deposits (which also involves active tissue cells), and even damage to neurons (brain cells). Therefore, without full recovery as a result of your training, you will only get overtraining, chronic fatigue, exhaustion and depression.
For the average adult, leading a normal and habitual lifestyle for many, 7-8 hours is enough to get a good night's sleep. In this case, you need to sleep in the dark. If you have an irregular work schedule, and you often work at night and sleep during the day, this is fraught with disruption of the normal biorhythms of sleep and wakefulness.
If you exercise at least 3 times a week, your workouts include both cardio and strength work, and last about 1.5 hours, you will need to sleep more - about 9-10 hours a day. You yourself will notice how much you want to sleep, and how the quality of your sleep has improved (naturally, provided you get enough sleep) when you get into a regular training regimen.
Tips for parents
- Talk to your child. In fact, this advice can be given on any issue in raising children. There is no better educator than conversation. But remember, the style of endless instructions will not work. It’s better to tell a sports fan how his idols grew up, what sacrifices they made and are making, what daily routine they followed all their lives and what they achieved. Talk about adherence to the regime, about proper nutrition, about how he differs from his non-athletic peers in a positive way. Throw away fears in the style of “you won’t achieve anything like that,” and just make him fall in love with your own life, with overcoming and achieving.
- Independence. This is what having a routine helps achieve. The regime organizes the personality and makes life easier. Only the first time is enough to form the habit of monitoring adherence to the regime, and then it becomes the responsibility of the youngest athlete. Therefore, it is very important not only to create a routine for your child, but also to teach him to do without you. He must do his homework himself, pack his bags for school and sports, send dirty clothes to the wash, go to the shower, take care of things when traveling (to training camps and competitions), eat on time and say goodbye to friends on time.
- Be an example. You should always remember that children usually look like their parents - that’s just the way the world works. And your child is no exception. And to make it easier for your future champion to follow the regime, you will have to follow it too. There is no secret here. If all family members live in the same rhythm, then no one will violate it, because there is no temptation or alternative development of events. Sleep - everyone sleeps, breakfast - together, etc. This will not only help your child, but also preserve the health and warm relationships of the whole family. One of the main mistakes is to set an example for your child and not follow it yourself. For example: “Your uncle does exercises every morning! Look how athletic he is! How good you feel!”, while you yourself never do any exercises. For a child, you should be the first and most important example. Do you want your child to do exercises in the morning? Alas, no “uncle”, “grandfather” and “Cristiano Ronaldo” will help here. Get up and do some exercise. Yes, yes, exactly you.
Workouts and diet
Remember that the desired results in changing your appearance cannot be achieved through training alone. About half of the success rate also goes to nutrition. It must be complete and balanced so that the body is filled with energy for the necessary physical work, but at the same time does not consume extra useless calories, which are only stored by our body in fat deposits.
In addition, when planning to exercise on a regular basis, it is very important not only to adjust your diet and eat fully and balancedly , but also to think about your food intake.
If you prefer to work out in the morning on an empty stomach, all you can afford is a low-intensity cardio workout. If we are talking about strength training, it is necessary to eat before class. It is advisable to eat food an hour before training, and if you feel heavy in the stomach during a workout, eat 2-3 hours before the workout, and before the workout you can eat half a serving of a protein shake.
After training, if it was cardio on an empty stomach, a full meal should immediately follow. If you want to lose weight and get rid of fat deposits, you can drink a protein shake after a complex workout, and eat a full meal after 1-1.5 hours . And, of course, don’t forget about water - you need to drink it before, during and after training, as well as during the day in sufficient quantities.
Sports activities are moving online
Starting this week, fitness clubs, sports studios and ballet schools began conducting online training and broadcasting on social networks. “Kommersant Style” talks about the most current offers.
With the introduction of quarantine, attendance at fitness clubs has come to a standstill; there has been an increase in demand for home exercise equipment and equipment such as mats, dumbbells, rubber bands and online applications, including fitness-related ones. Online training in today’s situation for clubs in general and personal trainers in particular is an opportunity not only to keep the business afloat, but also to retain clients and motivate them to exercise, even at home. Historical photos with Jane Fonda and Cindy Crawford, who at one time became the personification of this type of activity, went viral on the Internet. Today, this “old school” no longer looks like that, but rather reconciles with the current reality and gives hope for positive changes.
World Class
Starting March 23, the network of clubs switched to training sessions live on Instagram. According to the new schedule, five to six classes are held per day - yoga, functional training, abs, stretching, salsa, Pilates and even meditation. Outdoor training also continues: running, Nordic walking, roller skiing and cycling.
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Posted by World Class Fitness Clubs (@worldclassclubs) March 24, 2020 at 11:05 PDT
What's important and completely new: you don't have to be a member of the club to join the training. “Since not all of our clients are on Instagram, we duplicate some of the training by broadcasting on YouTube. All broadcasts are saved so you can practice at any time. In the near future we plan to organize the sale of personal training online with a trainer. This will be a special platform where the trainer will be able to monitor the technique of performing exercises live and give recommendations. After all, many of our clients are accustomed to constant training and do not want to part with their mentor for a long time,” says Alexander Martynov, fitness director of World Class.
Encore Fitness
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Posted by Encore Fitness (@encorerus) Mar 24, 2020 at 10:59 am PDT
The Encore Fitness chain also has free online access to classes. The fitness club conducts workouts and meditations live on Instagram and IGTV - all you need is a gym mat. In addition, consultations with psychologists and nutritionists are held live, where each participant can ask a question. Experts will tell you how to establish a routine at home and not lose heart. All entries then go to the Instagram stories of the club account.
#SlimFitClub
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Posted by #SlimFitClub (@slimfitclub_) Mar 24, 2020 at 10:35 PDT
The sports studio #SlimFitClub began posting exercise videos on Instagram even before quarantine, so it has amassed an impressive set using the hashtag #training_slimfitclub. “Quarantine is not a reason not to exercise. Even if you choose social distancing, classes are still possible outside: according to WHO recommendations, it is enough to keep a distance of a couple of meters. If you are in a stricter regime, spending time at home in social quarantine, then this is not a hindrance. You can do a huge number of exercises for both the abs and back, as well as planks. The most effective are all kinds of push-ups, lunges and squats, because they involve large muscles, which burn the most calories and consume energy. This means that we lose the most weight by doing these exact exercises,” says #SlimFitClub founder Polina Kitsenko.
SM Stretching
The network of fitness studios SM Stretching, within 24 hours after the imposition of Rospotrebnadzor’s order to close all gyms and studios in Moscow, completely redid all platforms, websites, landing pages and updated online courses on stretching and barre. The network also launched several online activities: a marathon, streaming, personal training on Skype and Zoom.
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Posted by STRETCHING/TRX/BARRE (@smstretching) Mar 25, 2020 at 9:20 am PDT
“All this allowed us to immediately gather an audience. Now we are not talking about profit. Our task is to be flexible and open to everything new in order to save the business. The fact that the number of people online has increased does not mean anything. Now everyone is trying to save money because of the crisis, they are afraid and do not know what will happen next. Understanding this, we have reduced the cost of online activities, but this does not affect their quality in any way. We are still filming training sessions, developing programs, and developing additional areas for the marathon (for example, proper nutrition).
People are rethinking everything and adjusting to new realities: working remotely, Live training, education and everything else that is now only available online. Overall this is good. Perhaps, after quarantine, many will stop distrusting such things and will regularly exercise online,” says Samira Mustafaeva, medalist of the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship, founder of the network of fitness studios SM Stretching and the Project by SM studio.
Central Ballet School
The Central Ballet School for children launched an online marathon with Bolshoi Theater artists. While classes are suspended, the school’s Instagram account now publishes various exercises from big stage stars, which children repeat, posting the results on social networks. Already now in stories you can see exercises from Evgenia Obraztsova performed by children.
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Posted by Central Ballet School (@centralballetschool) March 25, 2020 at 11:39 PDT
Not only students of the school, but also of any other choreographic schools can take part in this marathon. Maria Alexandrova, Olga Smirnova, Anastasia Vinokur, Ksenia Zhiganshina, Daria Khokhlova, Anastasia Meskova and other stars of the big stage also confirmed their participation in the initiative.
Reboot
The network of sports studios has launched the online platform Reboot Live, which is a site with private access to 12 recorded video workouts in the BootCamp format. The 30-minute classes are a set of dynamic exercises accompanied by music. In the videos, the lead trainer demonstrates the exercises, explaining the technique, and the second trainer demonstrates the options.
Each workout in the video gallery is available for viewing only once within 24 hours. You can pause and rewind. Access to the online studio is valid for 30 days. Reboot members have a promotional code and the opportunity to write off up to 20% of previously accumulated bonuses in their personal account.
Fitmost
The fitness service, which offers a single subscription to more than 1 thousand studios, has given its users access to online training. They take place via Zoom. You can select a suitable lesson from the schedule on the service website. On the day of the training, 15 minutes before the start of the training, a Zoom link will appear on the booking page, which you need to follow.
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Publication from FITMOST Single Subscription (@fitmost) March 24, 2020 at 5:23 PDT
“Our training takes place in Live mode, it’s practically a live broadcast. We deliberately chose this format, since it allows us to maintain contact with the coach and training participants. While online classes create the illusion that you can start training at any moment, and therefore you put off training and put it off - and in the end you never train. In the Live format, it is impossible to postpone the lesson: you will simply miss it. For now, the price for classes is fixed and amounts to 5 of our points, which, depending on the cost of the subscription, ranges from 300 to 500 rubles. The studios willingly supported our initiative, because everyone is now trying to support their business, and users are also actively joining the classes. We expect that the number of studios connected to the new service will only grow every day.
We also expect to launch corporate training in the near future. There is an agreement with a number of companies that want to support their employees who have been transferred to home working in this way. Now our platform allows you to organize simultaneous training for 200 people, if the corporate training service is in demand, we are ready to expand the capabilities of the service,” says Alexandra Gerasimova, CEO of the Fitmost fitness service.
My Place
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Publication from The Place of Sports in Your Life (@myplace_msk) March 13, 2020 at 4:50 PDT
Wellness space My Place adheres to the concept of individual training, so it transfers this format to the online space. “My Place is a boutique club with classes in mini-groups or individually. We provide an individual approach from the trainer to the guest, even during a group lesson. We have transferred the same format to online training. We hold mini-conferences of five people, the trainer conducts the class live and controls how the participants perform a set of exercises, while simultaneously commenting and correcting the participants’ movements. In addition, before and after training, participants can chat, share news and how they are feeling. The main thing for us is to preserve the community and the club format, especially when guests stay in the confined space of their apartment,” explains Ksenia Nikitina, head of the My Place sports and beauty club.
Daria Bogomolova, Irina Kirienko
List of exercises
The workout will track the exercises in the current workout (it's grayed out in the workout list). All exercises included in the current workout will be shown in the exercise display area. In this case, the exercises in the list are always ordered in such a way that the next exercise to perform is displayed at the very top of the list.
The card for each exercise contains information about the exercise: approaches (under), repetitions (rev) and weight of the apparatus (weight). If a comment has been added to an exercise, it will be displayed below the name of the exercise. On the “Perform” button, the number of approaches for the exercise that remains to be completed is indicated in parentheses.
Physical means of recovery
Temper yourself and keep your body clean, this also promotes recovery. Water procedures with cool water tone muscles, give vigor, and increase performance. Do them in the morning or afternoon. After training, use warm water, it has a relaxing and calming effect.
A steam bath is very useful, it enhances metabolism and eliminates fatigue. But remember that dehydration and high temperature lead to some loss of muscle strength, so do not go to the sauna more than once a week and before competitions.
We will tell you about additional recovery methods, in particular, pharmacological support in kettlebell lifting, in the following articles.
Training mode
First week
- Monday - Easy cross-country 20-30 minutes
- Tuesday - Pull-ups on the bar 2×10-12 (or max.)
- Push-ups 2×15-20 Squats with a barbell 2×12-15
- Standing barbell press 2×10-12
- Standing dumbbell biceps curl 2×10-12
- Crunches (press raises) 2×20-25
- Wednesday - Rest
- Thursday - Easy cross-country 20-30 minutes
- Friday - Pull-ups on the bar 2x10-12 (or swing)
- Bench press 2×10-12
- Leg press 2×12-15
- Seated dumbbell press 2×10-12
- Standing dumbbell biceps curl 2×10-12
- Hanging knee raise (press) 2×15-20
- Saturday – Sauna
- Sunday - Rest
Secrets of sports nutrition
To quickly restore strength after a workout, you should eat a teaspoon of honey or drink a glass of milk. The choice between these two products should be made based on the level of acidity. If it is elevated, then the ideal option would be milk, which will protect the walls of the stomach from the effects of acid. It can easily be replaced by a banana. Similar to honey in terms of effectiveness are nuts, dried fruits and dark chocolate.
In order to make joints more mobile and ligaments flexible, you can eat carrots as a side dish every day. It has a rejuvenating effect on the entire body and activates digestion processes. This product has no contraindications and does not lose its properties both in its raw form and after heat treatment. To make carrots better digestible, the salad should be seasoned with sour cream or vegetable oil.
Food calorie table
Product Compatibility Chart
Notes
If it’s hard for you to run for 20-30 minutes, then sometimes alternate between running at a brisk pace, but as soon as you regain your breath, run again. In pull-ups, you don't use any extra weight. If you can't do the required number of pull-ups, do as many as you can. If you can’t do it at all, ask a friend to help (as if pushing you up), the same with push-ups. If you are a girl, replace pull-ups with seated vertical rows of a block to the chest (the instructor will explain to you what this is). The working weight on the barbell and dumbbells should not be very large, so that the last repetitions are difficult for you. If absolutely necessary, you can replace the cross with a treadmill or something similar.
Be sure to warm up well before training!
Second week
- Monday - Easy cross-country 20-30 minutes
- Tuesday - Pull-ups on the bar 3×10-12 (or max.)
- Push-ups on parallel bars 2×10-12 (or swing)
- Dumbbell flyes lying on a bench 2×10-12
- Squats with a barbell 2×12-15
- Standing barbell press 2×10-12
- Standing dumbbell biceps curl 2×10-12
- Crunches (press) 2×20-25
- Wednesday - Rest
- Thursday - Easy cross-country 20-30 minutes
- Friday - Pull-ups on the bar 2x10-12 (or swing)
- Bent-over barbell row 2×10-12
- Bench press 2×10-12
- Push-ups 2×10-15
- Leg press 2×12-15
- Leg extensions while sitting in the simulator 2×10-12
- Seated dumbbell press 2×10-12
- Standing dumbbell biceps curl 2×10-12
- Hanging knee raise (press) 2×15-20
- Saturday – Sauna
- Sunday - Rest
