Big, Strong, and Fit Workout - The Path to Physical Freedom

What does it mean to be fit? Well, that's a debate I'm not sure I want to engage in. I will say this though: For far too many years my only concern was muscle and strength.

Fitness wasn't on my radar screen and at times my eating habits aligned with this degree of disinterest.

These days my life is different. Yes, I still enjoy the pursuit of powerbuilding (building muscle and strength). In addition to my obsession with compound movements I've also added: 

• Calisthenics
• Bodyweight exercises
• Hiking
• Trail running

Now, I look better and feel better. I'm certainly healthier and my overall degree of fitness is rock solid. 

Related - How to Run Your First Mile Without Stopping

This might tick a few people off but it's a reality. You'll get over it. Building muscle doesn't really make you very fit. Yes, resistance training is good for health. No doubt about it. When combined with a solid nutrition plan you're in a very good place.

But you're still not very fit. That's certainly OK if your goal is to simply look better and feel healthier. It's absolutely OK.

You're just not very fit.

Strength training has improved my vertical leap, sprint speed, ability to hit a baseball for distance, and so many other things. The pursuit of strength also nearly killed me.

The obsession with strength can lead some folks down a dangerous path where they eat more because it's a great way to pack on strength. Over the short run, and to a reasonable degree, this is fine. But in my case, I reached 346 pounds and type 2 diabetes nearly took my life.

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A post shared by Steve Shaw (@bendthebarman) on Jul 31, 2019 at 4:17am PDT

Not an exaggeration, sadly.

What's the point in all this? To run down muscle and/or strength training? No way.

Let me repeat: I love building muscle and strength. It is my primary obsession. With that said, after 30 years with a barbell something was missing.

I was strong. I was big. But I was not fit. I lacked conditioning. I lacked control over my own body. I was not well-rounded, so I decided to make a few changes.

At that time I started hiking. This passion eventually drove me to hit the woods 50 to 70 times a year. I also began to incorporate more bodyweight exercises into my programming. I liked the feeling of being able to control my own bodyweight.

Eventually, my weekly routine also featured calisthenics exercises. I found value in being able to efficiently move my body through space.

Five years ago I was simply another mediocre fuscular powerlifter. Today I am in the best shape of my life.

I feel "physically free." On any given day I can go run, hike, jump, squat, crawl, climb, or move my body through space with a reasonable degree of efficiency. To have a quality degree of physical freedom is life-changing. Basically, you can wake up on any given day and do what you want to do.

The opposite of this is not fun.

The Fear of Losing Gains

Before I present a few workout templates for you to consider, let me address the elephant in the room: the fear of losing "gains."

There is a misguided view that if you do anything outside of resistance training that you risk losing gains. If you're training properly, and hard enough with the weights, this won't be an issue.

Could a diverse fitness plan potentially restrict you from reaching your true natural muscle and strength limits? Possibly, but I doubt it.

Let's be real here though. Most of us aren't even close to our limits to begin with. Even if a diverse fitness program would cost you 5% of your strength and muscle would that really be a big deal? That's for you to decide, not me.

It's a decision I had to make.

I've hit deadlifts over 660 several times in powerlifting competitions. Am I sad that at age 51 my deadlift is slightly down but I am more fit? No.

I'll be 52 in a few months. Guess what? My deadlift will be 600 pounds (plus) and I am now an ultra runner. In fact, last month I ran the equivalent of three trail marathons over the course of four weekends.

I'm certainly no fitness rockstar like David Goggins, but I absolutely love the combination of being big, strong, and able to run for 12 hours in the woods.

The choice is yours. If you want to take a step in the "more fit" direction, here are a couple of workout plans to get you started.

Get Big. Get Strong. Get Fit.

Below are two workout options:

• 3-Day Fullbody Workout
• A/B Split Workout

The three-day workout can be performed as followed:

• Day 1 - Workout A
• Day 2 - Off
• Day 3 - Workout B
• Day 4 - Off
• Day 5 - Workout C
• Day 6 - Off
• Day 7- Off

The four-day A?B split workout can be performed as followed:

• Day 1 - Workout A
• Day 2 - Workout B
• Day 3 - Off
• Day 4 - Workout C
• Day 5 - Workout D
• Day 6 - Off
• Day 7- Off

If you need a more flexible schedule, the A/B program can also be performed with more less-restrictive rest days. Simply cycle between the four different workouts resting no more than two to three days in between lifting sessions.

The bodyweight work, or complex, is as follows:

• Bodyweight Lunges - 50
• Push-Ups/Push-Backs - 50
• Bodyweight Squats - 50
• Jumping Jacks - 100
• Dips - 50
• Squat Thrust - 50

Run, Walk, Hike

I also suggest adding five miles of walking or hiking each week or 10 miles of running/trail running. This should not be optional.

Fullbody Workout

4 Day A/B Split

Bench press - The first set should be with a weight you can perform about 5-8 reps with. When you are able to knock out seven or more reps, add five pounds to the bar. 

For the second set, drop the weight by 7.5% and perform as many quality reps as possible. Do the same for the third set, dropping the weight by an additional 7.5%. 

Side Laterals - Perform these rest-pause style. Use a weight that allows you to perform about 15 to 20 reps. Resting as needed, but only briefly, knock out a total of 50 reps.

Biceps/Triceps - Alternate between a biceps exercise and a triceps exercise every other workout. You will not work both of these body parts each workout.

Abs/Calves - Alternate between an abdominal exercise and a calves exercise every other workout. You will not work both of these body parts each workout.

Deadlifts - For trap bar deadlifts perform two sets of ten reps. For regular deadlifts perform five sets of three with exactly one minute of rest in between sets. Alternate between these two exercises. They are not performed in the same workout.

Shrugs - Perform these rest-pause style. Use a weight that allows you to perform about 15 reps. Resting as needed, but only briefly, knock out a total of 30 reps.

Pull-Ups - Performa total of 50 pull-ups, rest-pause style. If you can't do pull-ups, use assisted pull-ups or rest-paused lat pulldowns.

Arnold Press/Face Pulls - Alternate between these two exercises. They are not performed in the same workout. For the Arnold press perform two sets of 15 reps. For face pulls perform three sets of 15 reps.