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Advice
|4 Nov 2019|5 mins

How A 'Capsule' Fitness Program Takes The Thinking Out Of Moving

Re-usable workouts

The idea behind a capsule wardrobe is that you clear out the items you barely wear, freeing space for a key collection of quality pieces you wear regularly that can be mixed and matched effortlessly.

If we could apply the same thinking to our workouts, Greg Stark, exercise scientist at Better Being and author of Sweat Equity: Peak Performance for the Leaders of Today and Tomorrow, says we may find it easier to maintain a regular fitness routine that covers all body bases.

"Having a structure to your workouts takes the thinking out of it. It means you schedule it, like you would any other important appointment in your diary," he tells us. "The people that are the most successful [at keeping fit] are the ones that value it and make everything else work around their health and fitness."

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How to make a capsule fitness program

Ultimately the goal is to religiously schedule your exercise sessions, working around your personal timetable and exercise goals. 

It might mean booking into particular F45 classes or locking in a regular Tuesday evening yin yoga class – the key is having a timetable that you know you'll adhere to no matter what.

"You want to be moving every day – a good way to structure it is to do three days of more intense work and three days of recovery, whether that's walking or stretching or yoga," Stark explains.

"We talk about 'activate' days and 'regenerate' days. You activate with strength training or high intensity cardio – the more demanding stuff where you have to push yourself really hard – then you regenerate with lower intensity exercise where you might get a gentle sweat on and a bit of movement, but it's not overly strenuous to the body."

By having that regular balance, Stark says exercise becomes more enjoyable and more manageable.

"It gives you sustainability in the way that you train rather than trying to train at 110 percent every time you train [because] you'll just end up injured and burnt out," he says.

"You want to keep your structure consistent, but the micro parts of what you might do on those different days could be mixed up."

Capsule principles for strength training

A good way to get results and keep things interesting in the weights room is by always incorporating a push exercise, a pull exercise and a leg exercise.

"Your 'push' could be a push-up or a chest press or shoulder press and your 'pull' exercises would be your chin-ups and your rows," Stark explains.

"It means that you're covering all bases and getting a comprehensive workout."

Stark says he personally relies on a regular workout that he can knock over without thinking, but has the flexibility to tweak if he craves something different.  

"For me, I have my 'go to' workout that I really enjoy and do the majority of the time, then when I have more time I might mix it up and do something different," he says.

"It's about creating your standard program that you can do frequently – because frequency is key." 

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Your Capsule Workout Wardrobe

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Your Capsule Workout Wardrobe

Your Capsule Workout Wardrobe

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Kimberly Gillan
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