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Military Muscle: How you can benefit from a standardized workout

Q. What are the pros and cons of a standardized workout?

A. I am not a one-workout-fits-all trainer. Everyone has different capacities and needs. But I do use standardized workouts in two specific instances:

• As a gauge of one’s improvement (or lack of improvement).

• As a standardized architecture, used on a more frequent basis, in which you have a variety of exercises.

In the first example, either you have a specific set of exercises at a set weight and you look for improvement in reps, or you set the reps and improve in the weight category — or a hybrid of both.

It is important to choose a set of exercises that will test you completely. That means including strength, cardio and flexibility in the mix.

The second example is one I have been integrating into my clients’ programs. The architectural framework is standardized at a 15-14-13 … 3-2-1 ladder.

Periodicity is standardized every seven or eight sessions, unless I have the client in an unload cycle, where they’re working out, but at a lower intensity. I keep the number of exercises to about five or six with one (usually the last one) at about five reps, regardless of where you are on the ladder. This last one is usually a combination exercise on the intense side, such as “man-makers” (a CrossFit kettle bell workout used by the actors in the movie “300.”)

My clients both dread and look forward to “ladder day.” There is a warm-up workout lasting seven to 10 minutes before the actual event. Then, set the weight, understanding that you have 120 reps of everything that is “on the ladder.” The following is a total-body workout:

• Complete rounds of 15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

• Deadlift.

• Two-handed kettle bell clean-and-press.

• Weighted sit-ups. (Use a weight plate).

• Back squats.

• 5 x man-makers (five reps only throughout the ladder).

• Dumbbell shoulder press.

• Drop and thrust to push-up position with your hands resting on the dumbbells.

• Push-up.

• Left or right row-and-twist into a side-bridge.

• Push-up.

• Other side row-and-twist into a side-bridge.

• Back to push-up position, pulling your feet underneath you.

• Stand up and repeat.

It looks compact, but it will still take the better part of an hour to get through. Good luck!

Bob Thomas, a fitness trainer and retired naval flight officer, is director of the Navy Wellness Center in Pensacola, Fla. E-mail him at jomof14@cox.net.