I've gone through a ton of different routines through the years here and I have been undisciplined - doing something for a while until something else catches my attention. Then I do that for a while. But lately it has become crystal clear to me that I will not make progress and remain interested if I don't start to measure progress and then try to beat my last stats. So I have gone through the archives and pulled out the approaches that I like the most, and that lend themselves most to measurement. I now have about eight different schemes, and I am planning to record my work in each and rotate through them, attempting to beat the scores from the last attempt (where possible). Here they are:
Volume: as many sets as I can of high quality reps of push, pull and squat (super set) in a day, done all together or spread throughout the day. I have minimum rep counts in mind but am not being militant about it. So for pull-ups it would 10, squats 30-40, push-ups 30-40, dips 20, etc. Last week when I did this I did 10 total sets.
Escalating Density Training: I am very excited about this one. I do two 15-minute sessions a day and in each I pick two opposing exercises and do as many reps as I can of each in that 15 minute period. You don't worry about the number of sets or the number of reps per set, just the total. So it behooves you to keep the sets many and the reps per set few. I do push/pull for one session and squat/core for the other. I've done this with push-ups, rows, leg lifts and air squats but I'll have to look up my totals (I think 129), a few days ago I did pull-ups (19 sets, 58 total) and dips (19 sets, 76 total) and then I did split squat (15 sets each leg, 49 total each leg, and regular sit-ups (lying flat, feet not held - 63). Most of this was in sets of 3 or 4. Next time I do this I will do push-ups and rows, air squats and leg lifts because I have done this before. I will have to find the counts in order to beat them.
Grease The Groove: Choose a difficult move from each category and do sets of singles or doubles as often as possible throughout the day. Here the goal is not rep totals or sets but just getting stronger and better at the movement. Last week I did assisted one-arm push-ups, one arm rows, and one leg squats (hover, pistol).
Pump: Here I am trying to do the traditional pump style of weight-lifting, the object of which is to pick a resistance at 20-rep max and then do sets of 12 with minimal rest until the muscle is as pumped with blood as you can get it. So for this, light weights work well or exercises where 20 is challenging (dips, for example) and do sets of 12.
True Pyramid: I love this one. When you write out each rep it looks like an actual pyramid, with the point at the top. Pick an exercise and do one rep, then do two, then three, and keep going like this until you can't do any more and mark the rep count for your final set, try to beat that next time. The other day I did this with ring dips, pull-ups and split squat. The last time I did this was about a year prior and I reached 12 dips, 9 pull ups and 8 or 9 squats. This time I got 16 dips, 12 pull ups and 12 squats!
5 x 5: An approximation of the starting strength approach. Pick an exercise where it will be difficult to do 5 reps and do 5 sets of 5 reps. I did assisted one arm push ups, assisted one arm rows, and assisted pistol squats. I like this and wanted to make sure I include a low rep day.
Traditional Pyramid (Bodybuilder): The idea here is to try to do a pyramid workout the way bodybuilders do, with "light" sets at the beginning and increasingly heavier sets at the end. But I am not using weights, so I am varying the difficulty with a new leverage or a new exercise or a new angle. Or maybe I'll use weights also. I have the most recent totals detailed in another post.
New Exercise Day: The idea here is to pick three exercises that I am repeatedly reading "you really must do" and that I don't do and, well, do them! This week it will be Farmer's Walk, Dumbbell Clean and Press, and
Sore in Six: Here's a new one that I haven't tried yet but I am very excited about, coming from Athlean-X. Pick an exercise grouping (push, pull or squat) and pick three exercises in each with decreasing intensity, do a minute of the first then a minute of the second then a minute of the third until you've reached 6 minutes and you are lying on the floor gasping for air.
I will post my stats as I go along.
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