The perfect workout

I haven't talked much about my interest in bodybuilding, but here's a little lesson I learned just the day before writing this regarding it. Now quickly let me explain what I mean by "bodybuilding". To me, bodybuilding is building a strong, healthy and attractive body inside and out that can function fully as a whole. And by inside and out, I mean mind, body and soul.

Anyway, I have recently narrowed my workout down to just three exercises. The squat, overhead press and weighted chinup. In no particular order, just whatever order I feel like that day. However, because I don't have lots of weight (125lbs at most) I have to do very high reps (repetitions) for squats. I usually load the barbell up to approximately half my bodyweight and squat it as many times as I can, taking all the breaths I need between reps. This takes a lot of energy and concentration though. So much, in fact, that it caused me to not workout for nearly two weeks in a row because I knew what would come. So instead, I dropped the squats and just did overhead press and chins.

Recently though, I decided to incorporate additional bodyweight exercises into my lifestyle. So I have it out that I do either some Hindu squats and pushups everyday or some ab exercises, along with the days that I weight train.

Many people, including possibly most of those who are reading this, have heard that keeping in shape has to be complicated and maybe even boring. I call whoever says that either stupid or ignorant, depending. It is completely untrue. I also see lots of advertisements for the "perfect" workout and all that crap. Well, let me tell you the two steps to the most perfect workout that man can make.

Step 1: make is simple, after all, "Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" That is way I brought my workout down to three, and now two, exercises. I picked those I needed the most, and the ones that would benefit me the most. That way I can go all out on those two.

Step 2: make it something you will do. This is the most important step. It doesn't matter how great, long, short, easy, hard, complicated, simple, fat burning, muscle building, cheap, expensive, elaborate, boring, entertaining, or whatever type of workout you have. If you will not do it, the workout sucks. The perfect workout, for whoever's doing it, is the one that is as simple as possible and one they will do. It should be a given that it works to, therefore put together smart and done properly (with intensity and intelligence).

So for me, right now, I have found the perfect workout. Just two exercises, and I do them. I do them hard, with proper form, and I go all out. Hopefully when summer is done, and I have grown stronger and accustomed to more heavy lifting (and maybe have more equipment) I can gradually move up to six exercises, overhead press, bench press, deadlift, squat, weighted dips, and weighted chins. These are all big, compound movements. They will allow me to build strength, size and speed. But right now, I'm sticking to my "perfect" workout. One day this six-exercise workout may be perfect, but not right now. It's still plenty simple, but I wouldn't do it. That screws over step two, the most important step in my book (which I should probably write).

And I still train my legs because of the bodyweight Hindu squats I do, I just don't hit them nearly as hard as I did with the rest/pause weighted squats I did before. I also don't have quite as much testosterone and growth hormone flowing through my veins... but that's my choice for being a wimp. And I'll still be a bit of a wimp until I can be doing all six of those exercises at full intensity, meaning to where I push myself so hard that I possibly even throwup in the middle of a workout.

So, once again, how to achieve the perfect workout. It first must have the base of being put together smartly and you (or whoever's doing it) being willing to actually do it, with proper intensity and form, but that's all wrapped up in step one. To make any workout perfect for the person working it, you must:

1) make it simple and

2) DO IT!

I think this was one of my most simple posts yet. So by definition... or at least the one I'm using... this is nearly a perfect post!