How Do Personal Trainers Personally Train?

I get a lot of emails from people asking about my own personal workout regimen, how I'm currently training, etc. When inquiring about my personal training regimen, readers often write something along the following lines: "You're a personal trainer so you must get to workout all day, right?"

The reality of the situation is that, as a husband and small business owner, when it comes to exercise, I face the same demands and obstacles that other "real world" hard working people face. I work 55-60 hours/week, have to maintain my house, my marriage, and I have social and family obligations as well. The reason I decided to focus my training business and blog on the "real world adult" population is because I am a "real world adult", and I can relate to and sympathize with this demographic in regards to leading a healthy lifestyle.

Also, I use all of the same training principles, methods, and protocols I write about on this blog because they are practical and they work. I can assure all my readers I'm not engaging in some "secret" training regimen I'm not sharing. Trust me, on most days, trying to find an hour to exercise can be a daunting task, but, I value and prioritize training, so I find a way.

With all of the above being said, for those who are interested, I've outlined what I'm currently doing below. Keep in mind, this is a very liberal template, and, about 1/3 of the time, it is adapted, as my schedule can change at any time. In fact, sometimes, I have to split the workout into 2 or 3 20:00 segments because I don't have a full hour to devote all at once. This is the nature of the real world and you just have to make it work, even if it's not ideal.

Monday: upper body strength training and possibly a long walk in the afternoon or evening

Tuesday: moderate intensity cardio using a ladder, 30/90, or steady state protocol + direct core training

Wednesday: lower body strength training and possibly a long walk in the afternoon or evening

Thursday: see Tuesday

Friday: see Monday

Saturday: high intensity interval training (usually sprints on the turf) and/or metabolic resistance training (dumbbell or body weight complexes etc)

Sunday: off or a long walk or other type of recreational activity (long bike ride or something like that)

*foam roll and dynamic warm-up precedes every workout

As you can see, I'm not doing anything revolutionary. At times, I might change the proportion of strength training to conditioning or vice versa (lift 4 days per week and condition 2 days per week for example). In future blog posts, I'll outline specifically what I'm doing on each day listed above in order to give readers a little more detail. I think readers will find the programs I engage in are simple in regards to the structure. However, they are not easy. I can assure you I bring the effort, and I'm always attempting to progress. This is what counts. Stay tuned for details and thanks for reading.