My Current Training Routine
Each year my lifting and running tapers off in the months surrounding MLB's annual draft.
Since covering the draft is my primary work responsibility, it makes sense that my workload increases in the summer months. I always try and maintain a training routine leading up to the draft, but it never quite works out how I'd like it to.
As the days cool down and we get closer to the start of fall, I'm putting some real effort into dialing in my training and trying to get consistent again.
If you want or need some inspiration to lift some heavy things or get moving, here's what that looks like for me.
I follow a hybrid training routine that has been inspired by Andrew Russell and a lot of the concepts that Peter Attia mentions in his book Outlive. It's extremely simple and involves alternating days of running and lifting. It might look boring but it works for me.
Here are the specifics:
Day 1: Push Day A
- Bench Press: 4x8-12
- Squat: 4x8-12
- Overhead Press: 4x8-12
- Cable Triceps Extension: 3x10-12
- DB Lateral Raise: 3x10-15
- DB Triceps Extension: 3x10-12
Day 2: Run Day
Day 3: Pull Day
- Pull Ups: 4xMax
- Deadlift: 4x 8-12
- Seated Row: 4x8-12
- DB Hammer Curl: 3x10-12
- Cable Face Pull: 3x10-12
- Seated Incline DB Curl: 3x10-12
Day 4: Run Day
Day 5: Push Day B
- Bench Press: 4x8-12
- Squat: 4x8-12
- Incline DB Press: 3x8-12
- Chin Ups: 3xMax
- DB Lateral Raise: 3x10-15
- Cable Triceps Extension: 3x10-12
Day 6: Run Day
Day 7: Pull Day
- Pull Ups: 4xMax
- Deadlift: 4x 8-12
- Seated Row: 4x8-12
- DB Hammer Curl: 3x10-12
- Cable Face Pull: 3x10-12
- Seated Incline DB Curl: 3x10-12
Day 8: Run Day
And then repeat.
A few notes:
- This is a modified push/pull lifting split that doesn't have a strict leg day and just adds squats to the push days. With all the running, that makes sense to me. Mentally, it feels like there's never a true leg day—and who doesn't love that?
- Both pull days are exactly the same. I just try and do one push day, then one pull day, etc.
- Each of the lifting days have three main compound lifts followed by accessory work. I'm placing the lifts I'm currently prioritizing at the start of each workout—IE bench press and pull ups.
- I'm not a good enough runner yet to have strictly programmed mileage or specific run workouts. I basically try and get as much zone 2 running as possible and go based on how my legs are feeling each day.
- I generally enjoy lifting and dislike running, so this alternating schedule has been good for me. I knock out a run day and "earn" a lift the next day.
- I definitely miss days. I'm not perfect and I'm not a professional athlete. I'm just a guy in his 30s who wants to stay in shape. Mostly I'm just shooting for consistency because that makes everything else matter less.