Day 15: Change the Game
Alright, alright, alright, I haven’t changed any game, I’m just trying to change some things in my life to be a better man.
Day 15 was the start of the second half of my 30 Days. Yea, yea I know the actual second half would be Day 16, but the early bird and all that noise... Also, if it works with where my energy is on this particular day, why wait til tomorrow just to be mathematically correct? As my man Russell Westbrook says, “Why Not?”
Westbrook has made a career out of doing things differently, and it’s worked out pretty well for him:
So why not do things a little differently? Maybe the more appropriate question is: Why do you keep doing things the same way?
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
If something’s not working, try something different, or if something is working, why not try to make it better?
Case in point: I’ve been writing these posts early in the morning after I read my Bible and spend some time in prayer. It was working really well for a while — I had flow in the mornings, the posts came easy, I was on fire. Then, the inevitable slowdown came — I had trouble thinking of things to write about, things that I thought people would be interested in hearing about, and the posts were taking longer and longer to write. So for Day 15, it was time to switch it up: I wrote in the afternoon/evening and let me tell you it’s been…
Second case in point: Time to graduate from the Body of the Spartan beginner routine . The beginner routine was really working well for me, but on Day 15, I was ready to change things up and make them better. So without further adieu, as promised in yesterday’s post:
BODY OF A SPARTAN’S “THE REAL DEAL NON-BEGINNERS ROUTINE”
The Real Deal Routine is based off the following principle:
Each day can be summed up like this: Pick 1–2 main exercises, pick 1–4 supplemental exercises and go to town. It is OK to work the same muscle group more than one day in a row
A typical week’s workout schedule, then, looks something like this:
Monday: Legs / Shoulders — Squats: 10 sets of singles / Behind the Neck / Push Press: 5 sets of 5 repetitions, 3–5 singles / Supplemental exercises: 1–4 supplemental exercises for Arms/Abs/Calves as needed
Tuesday: Chest / Back — Deadlift: 10 sets of singles / Bench Press: 5 sets of 5 repetitions, 3–5 singles / Supplemental exercises: 1–4 supplemental exercises for Arms/Abs/Calves as needed
Wednesday: Legs / Shoulders — Squats: 5 sets of 5 repetitions, 3–5 singles / Military Press: 5 sets of 5 repetitions / Barbell Curls: 3–5 sets, adding weight each set and performing reps to near failure
Thursday: Chest / Back — Bent Rows: 5 sets of 5 repetitions (singles not necessary for bent rows) / Close Grip Bench Press: 10 sets of singles / Supplemental exercises: 1–4 supplemental exercises for Chest/Back/Arms/Abs/Calves as needed
Friday: Legs / Shoulders — Front Squats :10 sets of singles
Push Press: 5 sets of 5 repetitions, 3–5 singles Supplemental exercises: as neededSaturday: Chest / Back — Bench Press: 5 sets of 5 repetitions / Chinups: 5 sets to failure / Supplemental exercises: as needed
The best thing about this workout is that you can get it done in 45 minutes or less if you’re doing it right. There’s no time to sit and mess with your phone, and definitely no time (nor should there ever be) to flex and preen in front of the mirror like you just found your first chest hair.
Along with the minimal time commitment, the way that you actually work out in this program is something new for me and something I’m really enjoying. As you see in the sample weekly workout above, the sets and repetitions are either 5 sets of 5 repetitions, or singles.
A singles routine looks like this:
Warm up set, add weight and do a rep, continue adding weight and doing an additional rep until you reach your limit for weight for the day. So, for example, you deadlifted 255 pounds and that was your limit for the day to the extent where you didn’t think you could lift 5 more pounds. Next, you do 10 singles at 90% of your one rep max. Here, that’s 230 (255 x .9 = 229.5.. 230 rounded up). Now you do your single rep with that 90% weight, with no more than 1 minute between reps.
The 5 rep (5 x 5) routine shares the same philosophy as the singles:
Warmup set for 5 reps. 2nd set, add weight and do 5 reps. 3rd set, repeat. With each set, you add weight until you get to the point where you don’t think you can add weight and do 5 reps. Do this until you’ve finished 5 sets. BUT then, after that 5th set, you add weight and do singles reps only, continuing to do so until you reach your limit.
So that’s the REAL DEAL Spartan workout.
Now, before you go getting any ideas, I’m no musclehead. I don’t get off on grunting and staring at myself in the mirror while wearing cut-off Ts (although I do love a good tank) and saying “brah” to anyone who will listen. I’m pretty average sized and haven’t lifted weights in years. For me, as a man in my early 30s, it was time to make a change. If I didn’t start a lifestyle 15 days ago, it was probably never going to happen for me… (I’ll explain more on that in a future post).
So it was one of those now or never situations, and thank God, I chose “now.” And here we are, 15 days later, and I feel, look, and move better than I have in years.
That can be you.
Think about it… Decide now to make a change in your life. Start small. Make a plan. Form a system. Commit to it. Don’t hold back. Don’t make excuses. Don’t play the victim. And for the love of it all, make changes as you go along that make things easier — there’s no martydom or extra points for degree of difficulty. If something doesn’t seem to be clicking, try doing it a different way.
Right now, if you’re reading this, you can and it’s only a question of whether you want to or not. Do something different.
Why Not?
Stay tuned tomorrow for more on change, the ways that we see the world, and…zombies… (How’s THAT for a tease…)
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Quote of the Day
That’s the thing about zombies. They don’t adapt and they don’t think. Literally, you could have a zombie on one side of a chain link fence and you could be on the other side and they could be trying to get to you and six feet down could be an open door and they will not go through that door in the fence. That’s why they’re so scary.
~Max Brooks
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Links to Past Episodes/Resources:
Introduction Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10
Manfield’s Book of Manly Men: An Utterly Invigorating Guide to Being Your Most Masculine Self
If you have any feedback, please send me a message or leave it on my Facebook page: Thirty Days. This is a new project and I’d love to hear your thoughts. It is a tremendous encouragement to know that someone is reading this. Encouragement, comments AND criticism are welcome.
