Exercise

The goal here is to find the most easiest and convenient exercise methods with the biggest health benefits. In order to get those healthy habits in, the method should be so convenient that it doesn’t make sense to skip it.

(1) Morning stretch and walk: If I could only stick to one exercise, it would be that one.

• Methods:

  • Part 1: Simple stretching (5-10mins)

    • Chest Stretches With Clasped Hands Behind the Back, then switch to front, clasped hand arm to sky

    • Horizontal Internal and External Shoulder Rotations

    • Arm rotations, neck rotations, ankle rotation

    • One leg squat arm straight in front, arm bended torso rotation

    • Lie down on mat arm reaching up and leg reaching down

    • Lower back exercises:

      • Knee together and rotate to the right, then left side

      • Baby pose rock side to side (knee to chest)

      • Bridge kegel exercise

      • Cat cow pose, Child pose

    • Bonus:

      • Stiff neck -> use massage ball

      • damaged hamstring -> use massage ball

      • Using elastic band or cables, Horizontal Internal and External Shoulder Rotations

  • Part 2: Morning walk (10-15mins)

    • walk 10-15mins on the treadmill at low intensity

    • or walk outside

  • Part 3: Massage the quad muscles (5 mins)

    • Massage roller stick (any stick on aliexpress or amazon works)

    • Massage gun (recommend the Theragun Mini)

• Key benefits:

  • Minimum daily movements for sedentary lifestyle (shoulder, neck, ankle, lower back)

  • Light intensity cardio exercise -> good for heart and weight loss

  • Not sweaty after the walk -> no need shower -> Easy to add in schedule

  • Can be done daily with minimum effort. Best time after waking up and before work.

  • Sitting all day makes the quad muscle tense, it’s good to massage them daily.

• Comments:

  • If you are really tired, focus on sleep.

  • If you are short on time, just do the stretching.

  • If possible, 10mins walk in the morning. It really activates the body.

  • Depending on body injuries, I like to stretch and massage the targeted muscles.

    • e.g.: stiff neck -> use massage ball and stretch movements

  • I like to massage the quads later during the day when I take a short break from work.

Morning exercise equipments

(2) Gym weight lifting: (30-60mins) 1 to 5 times per week

• Methods:

  • See workout plan below.

  • Rest time: 60 secs between sets

  • Reps range: 6 to 10

  • Use weights that allow you to get the desire reps with good form. The weight (lbs) section is just an example. I like to go very low on the 1st set to warm-up and gradually add 10 lbs

  • Progressive overload: If the weight is too light, increase 5 lbs each week.

  • Research how to properly perform each exercise

  • Choose exercise to fix your muscle imbalances

• Key benefits:

  • 30-60mins mindfulness, disconnected from the world -> let the brain process information

  • Resistance training -> increase muscle mass -> stronger body

  • Gym membership are usually cheaper than more complex sport fees.

  • Very convenient -> gym in your building or school or nearby

• Comments:

  • Cheapest, convenient and time efficient -> very hard to beat the gym

  • If you can’t go 4 times per week, you can just do full-body workout once per week.

    • 4 important compound exercises: Pull-ups, bench press, deadlift and squat.

  • If you can only go 2 times per week, I would do Week 1: Chest, back - Week 2 Shoulder, legs

  • If you are already doing a sport, one time per week gym to fix muscle imbalances

    • e.g.: Bouldering -> mostly pull movements, Good idea to go gym for “push exercise” (chest workout)

Workout plan

Part 2

(3) Main sport + use gym as complement:

• I enjoy sports from time to time and always have some gym to complement my physical training.

• Recently focus a lot on bouldering. Very addicting fun sport with tremendous health benefits.

• Ideally, climb 2 times per week -> it allows the hand skin and body to heal properly.

• Climbing really focus on “pull” exercise, so it’s good to have a once per week “push” exercise session. Chest workout and shoulder workout works the best.
  

Climbing action plan

General comments:

• The goal here is to find something convenient and effortless that you can do daily/ weekly for cardio and resistance training exercise.

“Don’t think, just do it.”

“True confidence is not about hoping that you can take this risk (that’s courage) and overcome this challenge (that’s perseverance); it’s about realistically expecting that you can do it, based on previously demonstrated performance.”

SimpleLifeBalancing.