The ABCs of setting up back to school work outs

Well, now that the kids are back to school you can start organizing your day to ensure you have the time to work out. If you’re a stay at home parent, plan your workouts for the beginning of the day right after the kids are in school or later in the evening when the smoke has cleared and all of the homework, dinner, bed time stories, etc is out of the way.

I am a big believer in the benefits of the evening workout even though many women would disagree. Moms make up the vast majority of stay at home parents when compared to dads and the ladies will tell you come 8:30 PM, they’re wiped. The thought of getting to the gym for a hard workout is the last thing on their mind, whereas for us men, we love them.

The upside to the evening workout crosses several levels. A good example of this is you won’t be pre-occupied with other things that need to get done afterwards so no need to rush. It makes for a much more enjoyable training session. You also don’t have to worry about potentially being tired for the rest of the day which will happen from time to time even with individuals used to the morning workout. In fact, push super hard when training at night, it makes for a much deeper sleep.

Another huge benefit is the fact that you would have eaten your last meal of the day earlier on and the last part of your day was doing something physical, allowing your metabolism to kick into overdrive whereas normally you might have eaten the huge dinner and sat on the couch to watch some TV. Those who train at night also tend to eat less in order to prevent any number of digestive issues i.e. indigestion, gas, bloating, etc. Nothing like pushing hard only to have the acidic taste of meat sauce burn its way up your esophagus. Gross but true.

Because they eat less, people who do evening work outs take in fewer calories, hence less work needed to be done during the workout to achieve the desired results. The satiation centre of your brain, the part that dictates whether your hungry or not stays in check anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour after a workout so sipping down a good quality, low carb protein shake post workout, will satisfy your thirst and keep hunger at bay until it’s time to hit the sack not to mention the fact that your putting back in the nutrients your body is screaming for after a workout.

If you only get to train two to three times a week, try and make sure you work your whole body with a blend of stretching, abs, resistance and cardio. I have seen great results in people of all ages in my facility who start off with a very light five minute cardio warm up on the elliptical machine followed by stretching all of their body parts including their calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, hips, lower back, shoulders and neck. This usually will take five to seven minutes. From there, move into some dynamic movements such as jumping jacks, running high knees, quick lunges, squat jumps, etc. ( 3-4 minutes )

At this point get on the mat and get in at least 15 minutes of various abs exercises. May I suggest you do these before the more strenuous parts of your training session since most folks tire out and don’t get the full abs workout in when they save it for the end. From there get to the weights and do the major muscles. Choose a single exercise for each major body part and do three to four sets of 12 to fifteen repetitions. This should take about 30 minutes if you don’t start chatting up the one your significant other would frown upon if he or she knew about.

Follow up with a brisk 10-20 minutes of brisk cardio and a 5 minute cool down stretch and you’ve got yourself a fabulous, results guaranteed workout. Add in the 10 minute sauna with a few drops of eucalyptus oil into that ladle of water being poured over the hot rocks and you have the end to a perfect day.







Steve Frischman-president

245 K/M Boul. St Jean

Pointe Claire, QC, H9R-3J1

Tel: 514 674-0822

Fax: 514 429-3107

www.powercofitness.com