I had been trying to come up with an exercise routine when I came across a couple of articles on a new website I had found, The Art of Manliness. So based on the fact that I have no exercise equipment of any sort, I pulled from the two articles and created my own routine, which for the past few days I've been running through every morning before jumping in the shower.
Here is the routine (the articles explain each exercise):
- Glute Bridges - 3 sets of 15
- Tin Men - 30 each leg (alternating)
- Piriformis Stretch - 2 sets of 5 (each leg)
- Spine Stretch - 12 reps
- Deep Knee Bends - 3 sets of 10
- Calf Raises - 4 sets of 10
- Leg Raises - 4 sets of 5
- Push-Ups - 3 sets of 10
- Bicycle Crunches - 3 sets of 20
The whole thing takes me about 15 minutes. I only started the routine a few days ago, so I've not noticed any great change yet.
I do want to note three deficiencies in my new routine. First, it's very light on arm and upper body exercises. I don't have a pull-up bar or weights, so I'm not sure yet what I can do to work out the upper half of my body more.
The second problem is that this is not going to increase my flexibility much, especially in my legs. For most people, that would probably be fine, but I also do karate, so I need greater flexibility in my hips in order to do proper kicks. I have recently pulled my hamstring trying to do proper kicks anyways, so I know that my current flexibility is not sufficient to do good kicks. The best stretches I know of for this are partnered wall stretches. You brace yourself against the wall and your partner raises your leg out in the different kicking positions. This allows you to stretch beyond your natural limits while maintaining a proper kicking stance. You can also have your partner compress the leg into the kicking chamber. I just need to find a partner.
The third short coming is that these short exercises are not going to build a lot of endurance. They're not really designed to, but it needs to be said so I know to find something else to do to build aerobic endurance. Like a 2 hour karate class where you don't stop moving. I've been jogging for a while now, and after a few karate classes, I went from huffing and puffing after two miles to just starting to breath hard. It's amazing how much more you can do when somebody else is pushing you.
Now I just need to keep at it every morning and not slack off.
