Sporadic exercise or routine?

Bettsy_A

Hi all!

I realised I tend to be very random and all over the place with my exercise and no day is ever the same.I have 2 rest days, then manic 5 days of random exercise! I just want to try EVERYTHING!

Just wondering, is it ok to be all over the place with various exercises, or is it better in the long run to have a strict routine? Do cardio certain days and strength other days and stick to that schedule?
Or, in the end, as long as I'm doing something active, will it all work out?

Pardon if this is a silly question :P

pkw58

I think it is great you are trying a lot of different things. I am not an expert, but if you get a trainer or start to do a schedule, it sounds like you need to do a really big variety of things.

Moving doing anything is better than sitting!

jimmmer

I spent years doing what I felt like on whatever day I felt like it! Unfortunately, over time, I tended to gravitate towards things I enjoyed more and my training became one-sided. I kept an exercise diary for years and when I looked back I was surprised to see that although I thought I was doing equal parts of everything, I was in fact lying to myself!

Anyway, I tried my hand at P90X, which has a defined, rigid schedule and put all my normal training on the back-burner. It was a bit of an experiment to see if I could tighten up my structure and how it would affect me.

Long story short: The structure approach really worked for me and as a result Post-P90X I've settled into three days total body (M,W,F). I do some cardio/running/cycling/martial art based stuff the other days (T,T,S) and save Sunday for a bit of mellow Yoga or Stretching/recovery. How I cash out those total body sessions can be different every time (currently I've gone a bit mad for kettlebell training). Likewise for the cardio. Likewise for the Sunday recovery. Every 4-6 weeks I drop the total body stuff and just do some mellower cardio days alternating with recovery days for a whole week.

This training block approach has given me

a) a bit of discipline (so no missing workouts or overtraining one aspect!)
b) no injuries (by avoiding overworking body parts day-to-day and letting my body chill out once a month or so)
c) faster results

Anyway that's my 2p!

BelindaDuvessa

It'll all work itself out. Variety is the spice of life, and that's true in fitness.

Bettsy_A

Thanks guys! I might try to round up my routines. Even if it's monthly rather than weekly :P
I forgot to add, I also wait tables on my "rest" days at a very very busy cafe.
So that's a lower form of cardio that I am guaranteed every week. That's really the only scheduled workout haha!

PS I think someone should go a waitress/waiter workout. It's cardio, strength, stretching, a bit of pilates haha!