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- When you started your first workout routines, chances are you thought more and harder workouts translate to better results.
- Overtraining can cause weight gain. Daily rigorous workouts send signals to your body that there’s chaos in your environment, and that you should hold onto body fat.
- Exercise does much more than make you lose weight or build muscle. If you do it right, exercise can skyrocket your energy and sharpen your mental focus.
- Here are four different programs you can use with different goals in mind. Choose the most important goal for you, or mix them up to keep things interesting.
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The right type and level of exercise does wonders for your brain and metabolism, and it helps you detox. You’ll find that you can do infrequent strenuous exercise once or twice a week to get head-to-toe benefits.
When you started your first workout routines, chances are you thought harder was better. You went harder than you needed to, and stressed your body. You may have seen results at first, but soon you ended up right back where you started.
Conventional recommendations aside, overtraining can cause weight gain. Daily rigorous workouts send signals to your body that there’s chaos in your environment, and that you should hold onto body fat.
That’s because your body responds to strenuous exercise by giving you a surge of cortisol, a hormone that increases blood sugar and messes with your immune system. Short bursts of cortisol are fine, but it’s well established that elevated cortisol for extended periods make you gain weight and lose muscle.
That’s not to say you should become a couch potato. You should get out and move every day, and every so often, go hard.
For the most part, your workouts should look like play, with a brief rigorous workout once or twice a week to get the benefits that people look for when they’re working out every day. To keep your functional movement abilities in tip-top shape, you should incorporate strength, cardiovascular, flexibility, and balance exercises into your rotation.
Here are four different programs you can use with different goals in mind. Choose the most important goal for you, or mix them up to keep things interesting.
Head on over here to instantly download the illustrated guide to these no-equipment workout plans, plus recipes, grocery guides, and more.
Workout routine to build muscle
What: Resistance training
When: Mid-day, after eating
How often: 1-2 times per week
What to do:
Circuit of weight-bearing exercises for every major muscle group.
- Push-ups
- Squats
- Pull-ups
- Deadlifts
Do 10 reps of each with a rest in between. Cycle three to four times. You’ll know when you’re done.
For squats and deadlifts, use enough weight that you’re spent by the last rep.
To increase pull-up and push-up intensity, experiment with different variations on each: close-grip push up, one-leg push up, pull up with knee raise, etc.
Workout plan to increase focus
The key to increasing focus with exercise is boosting your circulation so you get more oxygen to the brain, and moving in a way that requires thoughtful positioning of your body. Yoga meets both requirements with its focused, intricate movements and the stretching, flexing, and inversions that get blood pumping.
What: Sun salutation
When: 1-2 hours before you need to concentrate
How often: 1-2 times per week, or as often as you need to concentrate
What to do:
Do the following poses in order for one minute each:
- Mountain pose
- Upward salute
- Forward fold
- Halfway lift
- Plank
- Low plank
- Upward dog
- Downward dog
- Halfway lift
- Forward fold
- Halfway lift
- Mountain pose
Workout to effectively lose weight (finally!)
One of the biggest mistakes people make when they want to lose weight is thinking that long workout sessions burn calories and in turn burn fat.
Truth is, what you eat makes more of a difference for weight loss than what you burn. In fact, excessive exercise can actually work against you, spiking your stress hormones like cortisol, and making you hold onto excess weight.
What: No-equipment HIIT (high-intensity interval training) sequence
When: Near the end of your intermittent fast (or whenever you have time, but not 2 hours or less before bed)
How often: 1-2 times per week
What to do:
Do each exercise for 60 seconds, and in between do an active rest (walk in place) for 30 seconds.
- Jog in place
- Walk in place
- Bodyweight squats
- Walk in place
- Push ups
- Walk in place
- High jumps
- Walk in place
- Sit-ups
- Walk in place
- Burpees
- Walk in place
Repeat until you’re spent. Work up to 15 minutes.
A quick exercise routine for more energy
Notice that your energy tanks when you haven’t been up to move around in a while? The right exercise gets your heart pumping to give you a surge of energy when you need it, no equipment required.
What: Tabata style workout
When: Right before you typically need an energy boost
How often: 1-2 times per week, or as often as you need to keep your energy up
What to do:
Burpees* 20 sec
Rest 10 sec
How to do a burpee:
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms at your sides.
2. Drop into a low squat.
3. Put your palms on the floor directly in front of you, between your feet.
4. Jump your feet straight back and land in a plank position.
5. Jump your feet forward as they were in step 3.
6. Straighten your arms over your head and jump upwards.
7. When your feet touch the floor, immediately start the cycle again by lowering into a squat.
The kind of exercise that will make the most impact on your physique, your mood, and your overall well-being is anything that brings you joy. Be sure to make plenty of time for any activity that lights you up, whether it involves slow, leisurely movements or high-intensity, explosive action.
Oh, and play outside as much as you can. You can find fun no matter what the weather forecast says.
Ashwagandha, one of the most common adaptogens, translates to ‘smell of horse,’ — it is used in Ayurvedic practices for all kinds of things, most notably for reducing stress. (Remember that stress comes from exercise, diet, infection, fear of stuff, and even your mother-in-law…and your body doesn’t care about the source.)
Astragalus is a fundamental adaptogenic herb used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and is primarily used for longevity, to fight inflammation, and for kidney support. It can also reduce levels of c-reactive protein, one of the inflammation markers that you can drive down with the Bulletproof Diet. Astragalus has 126 useful components, mostly flavonoids, saponins and polysaccharides.[31]
Bacopa monnieri is a creeping marsh plant that is traditionally used as a nootropic (cognitive enhancer), for longevity, and as an adaptogen to help with anxiety and depression. It’s possible that the improved cognition is likely a result of the reduced anxiety. Bacopa is an effective adaptogen and can help you cope with stressful situations and decrease stress in all regions of the brain.[25] It’s also an antioxidant.
Chaga mushrooms can be found growing in the forest on birch trees resembling a large clump of dirt. But the benefits of this fungus are astounding. Those who live in Russia and Siberia have used this adaptogenic mushroom for thousands of years. Known as a folk medicine in the past, it is now being recognized in research and has shown its power in supporting cellular health. While mushrooms are not part of the Bulletproof Diet, well-sourced, high-quality medicinal mushrooms do serve a purpose as supplement. You shouldn’t, however, eat mushrooms as part of your meal plan.
Cordyceps is a rare combination of caterpillar and fungus found in Sikkim, India used in traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine to promote longevity. Folk healers use this adaptogen to treat 21 different ailments including cancer, colds, low libido, and low energy.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3121254/”]
Holy basil, or Tulsi, is an herb used in Ayurvedic medicine and is traditionally used as an adaptogen, aphrodisiac, and liver supporter. It’s also used for longevity!
Maca is a Peruvian root that grows in the Andes and is becoming known for its abilities to support sex drive and boost fertility, which can go down in times of stress.
Mucuna pruriens, also known as the dopa bean, has a high content of L-dopa which is a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine. This adaptogen is known for its ability to boost your mood, lower stress, improve mood, reduce anxiety, and help you focus. Some people with ADHD find it works as well as Adderall at keeping them calm and productive.
Panax ginseng is probably the most well-known adaptogen. Traditional Chinese Medicine has used ginseng for a wide variety of treatments, especially in preventative practices and as a performance enhancer and immune booster. You may have also heard that it enhances libido, although that aspect is way over-marketed.
Boosts the immune system: Reishi contains antioxidants which protect cells from oxidative damage. With this protection comes the ability to be more resilient and respond to threats properly.
Like other adaptogenic herbs, rhodiola rosea is known for helping your body adapt to stressful situations, by keeping fatigue and exhaustion at bay. Also known as arctic root or golden root, this potent root contains more than 140 active ingredients, the most bioactive ones being rosavin and salidroside.
Traditional healers have used Siberian ginseng (not to be confused with panax ginseng) to fight fatigue, maximize physical performance, and improve overall immunity and longevity. Research backs their practices.
Before we dive into the best back pain stretches, let’s talk about why stretching is such an effective treatment for back pain relief.
Stretch: Begin lying on the mat with knees bent. While maintaining upper back flat on the ground, rotate legs towards the floor until a stretch is felt. Repeat the stretch on the opposite side. Hold each stretch for 5 seconds, repeat 10 times.
Stretch: Begin on all fours. Sit your hips back while reaching out your arms forward until a mild stretch is felt in the back. Hold the stretch for 10 seconds, repeat 5 times.
Stretch: Begin on all fours. Arch your back towards the ceiling and hold. Then arch your back towards the ground and hold. Hold each stretch for 5 seconds, repeat 10 times.
Stretch: Begin sitting on the floor with one leg straight, and the other bent. While maintaining a flat back, lean forward by hinging from the hip until a stretch is felt behind the thigh. Repeat on the other leg. Hold each stretch for 10 seconds, repeat 5 times.
Stretch: Begin by kneeling on a mat. Lean forward towards the bent front knee until a stretch in front of the opposite thigh is felt. Hold the stretch for 10 seconds, repeat 5 times.
Stretching is one of the most effective ways to relieve back pain — if you’re consistent with your stretching routine. In order for stretching to work — and for you to get the most pain-busting benefits from your stretching routine — you need to stretch every day.
You’ll want to go through a full stretching routine in the AM and PM — but if you really want to maximize the pain-relieving benefits of stretching, you should also plan to take small stretch breaks throughout the day.
