Favourite Fitness Routines - Customer Insights

Everybody has a favourite way to work out. Whether it’s a particular movement, training technique, or using the most efficient exercise, it’s normal to find a favourite fitness routine and stick with it. 

In this article, we explore why fitness enthusiasts stick to their favourite routines, the most popular types of workouts, and what basic resources you need to get going. Our customers give us insight into what techniques inspire them to reach their personal fitness goals and keep their motivation levels high. 

 In this article: 

• Why is it Important to have a Favourite Exercise? 
• What are the Most Popular Types of Workout Style 
• Basic Resources to Get the Job Done
• What our Customers Say Keeps them Productive in Fitness 
• Find an Exercise Routine You Enjoy and Stay Consistent 

Whether you love swimming, running, lighting weights, or a heart-raising HIIT session, many people have a favourite exercise routine in their daily workout. Although it’s good to add variety to your workout to challenge different muscle groups, it’s helpful to have a staple routine that you can rely on. 

When you have certain exercises that you can do well, you can monitor your progress over time. As you exercise more, you can refine your skills and keep your levels of endurance, stamina, and enjoyment high. A love of exercise or a sport can help to keep your motivation high and increase your productivity. When you focus on the same technique, you can continue to enhance it and refine your skill while noticing improvement.   

What’s great about exercise and fitness is that there is such a huge variety of workout types to try. If you’re still looking for your favourite workout, you can try out different fitness classes or gyms to test run various types of workout styles. Although trendy workouts come and go, there will always be exercise styles that stand the test of time. 

As you get older, it’s normal to lose muscle mass. Regular strength training helps you maintain muscle mass as you get older and help you feel more confident and toned. Strengthening muscles also helps with weight loss and management, reduces stress, and supports joints. 

Resistance training is similar to strength training but slightly different. In a resistance workout, you’re building muscle through resistance from your own body weight, exercise machines, and dumbbells. Strength training is where you are lifting heavy weights at low reps to become stronger. The two terms are often thrown together. 

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning workout that aims to improve daily functional movement. You perform specific exercises at high-intensity intervals for an effective workout. It usually includes movements like squats, jumps, push-ups, lunges, and jump squats. 

HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training. A HIIT workout contains short bursts of intense exercise followed by a quick resting period. The workout focuses on cardiovascular exercise to produce optimum results in a short amount of time. HIIT workouts are ideal for those short on time but who want to see results. 

If you’re looking to incorporate more fitness into your routine, or maybe you want to add HIIT training to your favourite workout, it’s useful to get some basic essentials in your home gym. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on fitness equipment to get more exercise into your week. For workouts such as strength training, it makes sense that you need some sort of weights to get going. Here are some essential pieces of gym equipment to get the job done: 

• Dumbbells - great for full-body workouts and building lean muscle mass. 
• Barbells - set a strong foundation for lifting weights and strength training with a barbell. 
• Bumper Plates and weight plates - add weights to your barbell for lifting heavy and getting stronger. 
• Rig - you can invest in a rig to store weights and increase workout versatility. 
• Gym mats - set up a safe base for exercise with solid gym matting to absorb shock and reduce the risk of slips and falls. 

Staying committed to fitness is tough. Many of us start with good intentions, but it’s hard to continue to show up for yourself every workout. Three of our customers share their favourite fitness routine and give an insight into how they stay productive in their fitness journey.

"My favourite workout, currently, is a research-based upper/lower split, with a day dedicated just to arms on Saturday (which is also usually my diet cheat day). Mondays and Thursdays, I focus on four upper body lifts"

Bench press

Bent over rows

Overhead press

Chin-ups

On Tuesdays and Fridays, I focus on three lower body lifts plus one core movement: 

Squats

Bulgarian split squats

Romanian deadlifts and cable woodchoppers

My Saturday arm-focus consists of four primary lifts:

Chin-ups

Dips

Barbell curls

Skull crushers

"Compared to my chest, back and shoulders, my arms are a lagging body part, so that extra day gives them a bit more frequency and volume. On Wednesdays and Sundays, I will usually do 35-minutes of HIIT cardio. For me, being an advanced, completely natural lifter, this split provides me with the volume and frequency needed to maximise my results".

"I stick to the basics: barbells, dumbbells, calisthenics (dips and chins) and one cable exercise (the woodchopper).  I feel those basic tools, combined with a focus on compound lifts, provide the most value for my time in the gym".

My routine also satisfies all of the basic human movement patterns: vertical/horizontal pulling, vertical/horizontal pushing, a squat, a lunge/gait, a hip hinge and a rotation movement. I do not train all too heavy, but I do train intensely. You see, I am 40, so my body just doesn't handle going absurdly heavy as much as it used to, plus I need to be more mindful of my form. I use my 20-rep-max and perform 4 sets of 15 per exercise. The pump is mind-blowing, as is my perceived work effort. No cruising through sessions with that routine! It forces you to grind through the pain and progress."

As I age, health / longevity and function are incredibly important.  Don't get me wrong, I also want to look good, but I will never sacrifice my health or my ability to live life to its fullest for looks.  I feel that a lot of people believe that if you look good you must be fit and healthy, but that is simply not the case.  While, yes, how we look on the outside can be an indicator of how we are doing on the inside, lean and muscular bodybuilders dropping dead of heart failure in their 30s and 40s (sometimes even 20s, like Dallas McCarver or Zyzz) demonstrates that how someone looks on the outside does not necessarily represent their health status on the inside.  Furthermore, one of my friends (not naming names) who is a professional model in NYC, who is sub-10% body fat and quite muscular, attended one of my Karate classes once; he was tanking so hard during pad work.  To the naked eyes, he looked fit as can be, but his cardiovascular fitness and stamina were not at all in keeping with his appearance.  He had the physique, but he did not have the fitness / athleticism.  He's since changed dramatically, though.  I think that was a wake-up call for him.  HAHA!

 "I use the Mirafit power rack with cable attachment along with my Proud weight plates. Also, I was given quite a nice - shirt, so I thought I'd add it to my videos. I love a burnout at the end of a workout, so thought I'd share a few of my fave burners." 

“I use mostly the Hex dumbbells for most of my functional training as it's so versatile, can be used for cardio style movements as well as strength and more bodybuilding focuses. I can be using a 15/20kg dB for a single-arm snatch or using a pair of dumbbells for some chest presses or doing curls!

Burpees

Dumbbell Snatch (each side) 15kg 

Slam Balls

Push Press

Deadlifts

Press Ups

It's a release from the pressure and stress of work-life and allows me to spend some time releasing endorphins, sweating and, in turn, that boost of feeling like I've accomplished something, which is good for mental and physical health. Training at home has really supported me through the pandemic, and it's now part of my future routine.” 

The key to seeing results in exercise is consistency. When you keep working out and showing up for yourself, you’re taking care of your body and mind. By finding a staple routine that you enjoy, you have a go-to fitness session that you can perform easily. Your favourite fitness routine can help you achieve results and benefit from regular exercise.