#007 - World Cup 2030 as a travel itinerary? Planning the perfect workout plan, plus Foodstagrammers you should follow if you have taste

get it? Taste! haha

and

Oct 09, 2023

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How to Create a Simple and Effective Workout Plan.

Let’s look at how to structure an efficient and effective strength training plan. For almost all my client workouts, as well as my own, I use a circuit training structure, which I’ve found to be the best for most people. It offers the widest variety of benefits - things like improved strength and hypertrophy, better cardiorespiratory and metabolic fitness, and increased anaerobic capacity. I’ve also found in my years of training clients that most people find it enjoyable because of the nice variety of exercises that you move through. So let’s talk about what this looks like.

Workout Template:

A typical circuit training workout will be 3 circuits of 3 exercises. Each circuit will have 3 rounds - so this means a total of 9 different exercises for the workout. Each exercise in a circuit will work different muscle groups which allows the exercises to be performed consecutively without overworking a given muscle group.

If we look at the Workout 1 template, you’ll see that the first circuit is comprised of a squat, lunge, or step up - so working primarily quads and glutes, a horizontal push - so working chest, shoulders, and triceps, and a horizontal pull - so working the lats, biceps, and other back muscles. The second circuit is comprised of a hinge or knee flexion movement - so working the hamstrings and glutes, a vertical push or pull - so working the shoulders and triceps or lats and biceps depending on whether its a push or pull, and the last exercise is supine core work - so maybe a hollow hold or dead bug working the abs. The last circuit consists of a lateral movement like a lateral lunge or a dynamic movement like a ball slam. Lateral movements are important to work frontal plane movement patterns and dynamic movements are good for athleticism. You also have some prone and lateral core work to finish off the circuit, which work the other abdominal muscle groups. Also, you’ll notice if you look at Workout 2 for that week, the push and pull exercises switch to vertical so you’re getting some of each for the week. This workout template gives a well rounded strength workout in a succinct amount of time. A workout like this will usually take around 1 hour with 1 minute rests between rounds and circuits. These workouts can always be shortened by taking out a circuit and maybe redistributing an exercise or two to another circuit. So that’s the general workout template.

Weekly Schedule:

As far as a weekly schedule, I recommend strength training 2 or 3 days a week. Since my programs are always full body, working out on Monday and Thursday or Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, will give enough time between workouts for muscle protein synthesis to complete. Here is an example of a two and three day a week schedule.

2 Days/Week

3 Days/Week

You’ll notice there’s not much difference between the two except that some of the vertical and horizontal forms of exercise are distributed on alternating workouts. Now of course this schedule doesn’t need to be super rigid and sometimes for exercise C1 I’ll just do some front squats or for C3 I’ll do some face pulls. So this should be seen as a general structure to use in order to make sure you’re getting a well rounded program throughout the week, but feel free to add in specific things you want to work on. You can definitely individualize these templates.

Monthly Cycle:

So if we zoom out to what the month looks like, it’ll just be four of the weekly cycles that we’ll go through and then those will change when a new monthly cycle starts. Each week we’ll try to add some weight, reps, range of motion, or slow down the tempo or add pauses. Something to add a challenge. Remember, progressive overload is necessary to improve the benefits of strength training. (Read the progressive overload section of Substack #003 if you haven’t already.) So every week try to add something. It doesn’t have to be every exercise for every workout because that’s probably too much, but at least for 1 or 2 of the exercises of a workout, in order to increase the challenge.

Takeaway:

Circuit training is efficient and effective and in my opinion the best strength training structure for most people for whom fitness and longevity are the goal. If you’re a bodybuilder or powerlifter, you’ll structure your workouts differently, but if you’re someone looking to get stronger, move well, and feel good, then circuit training is the best way to do it. Use the templates above to structure a workout that helps you get the most out of the time you have for training.

A Visual Supplement

too long; didn't read? - watch this video.

The Moroccan Riad

It’s been announced that the 2030 World Cup will take place in 6 different countries to celebrate the tournament's 100 year anniversary. The first World Cup took place in Montevideo, Uruguay and therefore the first game of the 2030 Cup will kick off there. In addition to having some early games in Paraguay and Argentina. Then the bulk of the games will be played between Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. This is an unprecedented move and ups the ante from the 2026 games, which will be shared by Canada, USA, and Mexico. It’s exciting to see the World Cup come to this part of the world and I hope we’re still living in Portugal or at least nearby when the Cup rolls through. This is a great way for smaller countries like Portugal to host a World Cup without putting so much burden on them. Sharing the financial responsibility seems like a smart way to go.

This announcement got me thinking about Morocco and if you were paying attention to the 2022 World Cup, you know that they did quite well. They will no doubt be a great addition to the host list and I’m sure will provide a festive environment. But soccer aside, Morocco has been high on my list for a visit for quite some time now as we’re only a few hours away by plane. I’ve been to Morocco once, Tangier to be exact, but it wasn’t the most pleasant trip as I arrived from Spain with a stomach bug that laid me out pretty good. I didn’t get to do much exploring and I didn’t get a chance to relax in the coolness of a riad, sipping mint tea and eating the sweets made of honey that you see in mounds in markets.

The riad is an intriguing idea and is a traditional courtyard in the center of a building usually with a water feature and a lot of plants. Generally it is covered or shaded and provides a cool outdoor escape from the hot weather. As we’re all about vibe here at Mazama Wellness and think leisure is as important as working out, riads seem like the type of place that would be a great environment for a workout followed by a soak in the pool. I can’t think of a more enjoyable morning activity. These courtyards are usually tiled in beautiful colors and patterns, which adds to the striking design. Just add a comfy chair and a book and you’ve got yourself a lazy space or maybe a desk and you’ve got a nice place to work from.

It seems that most hotels in morocco have this feature and some are quite large and even have full sized pools and plenty of room to lounge. Whether a hotel or residence, I can imagine the cool dampness of the plants and water as an amazing oasis in that arid environment. I can also imagine the playlist I’d put together to enhance the experience - maybe some Washed Out or John Talabot? Either way, I’m looking forward to experiencing it sometime soon and hopefully before the 2030 World Cup.

Keep Fit Craze!

We’re heading back in time to 1966, Kensington, London to check out the “Keep Fit Craze.” This video from British Pathé really captures the gym scene of the era, but also shows how little has changed.

The thing that stood out to me most is at 00:14 the guy is doing some squats (in flip flops?!) and he’s using a white pad to elevate his heels. Great idea here! Elevating the heels, especially on a back squat, can really help keep the torso upright and put the emphasis on the quads. Squat wedges have come back in vogue recently and personally I use them often in my workouts. Everything old is new again. I’m sure at some point the whole massager, jiggle your body thing will come back too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Other highlights include the roller massager at 00:47, my grandparents had one of these in their bedroom and I was always fascinated by it as a kid, also another thing that’s making a comeback. They have new high tech ones and it’s now called lymphatic drainage. Also, the ab rollouts at 01:09 are pretty impressive although I wouldn’t want my face getting that close to the carpet that everyone’s been sweating all over. At the end of the video they talk about eating low carb and vegetarian - definitely some apropos topics. Anyways, just a fun peek into the past and a little insight into how things cycle through history. I mean, I’m writing on Substack, which is basically a blog, which is basically an online diary or magazine article. We listen to podcasts that are basically just a different form of listening to the radio, and lots of people use heel wedges for squats, just like they did in 1966.

Food is life!

The way I take pleasure in watching others enjoy their first, exploratory bite of a dish that was made with love and artistry, you’d think I prepared it myself. It makes me giddy. What an absolute fucking privilege it is to not only have access to food each day, but to be able to bask in the beauty of flavor. Eating delicious food is an act of gratitude for life, in my opinion. Praise be the foodies and chefs around the world!

I say all this to preface my share today. I love to explore food and restaurant recommendations through the medium of food blogs (Instas) and food shows! It never gets old. Like I said, I love watching people’s eyes nearly well up in tears because of a sensuous bite and I love when folks love a dish enough to speak on it. TELL ME!

(Ps. This love fully excludes the world of Mukbang, or other types of binge eating contests or displays. Gluttony is gonna be a no for me.)

Please enjoy my list of IGs to follow and shows to watch. I’m feeling inspired to start documenting my plates too. I miss that era of Instagram. I like seeing what you had for lunch. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ However, I’m a bit intimidated because it takes a special skill to be able to nearly capture the way a plate tastes through an image, but these food-lovers below NAIL it!