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Strength Training Hacks: Maximizing Your Gains with Minimal Time · FitMitTuro Fitness Podcast

• 1:09
  Turo Virta: Hey and welcome to this fit me to our fitness podcast. In today's episode, I'm talking about how to build efficient strength training program and how you can do it by yourself. And as this is a topic I get so often in Christmas and because it's a bit complicated topic, and there's so much information available, but my goal is like that, to give you, provide you strategies so you can build your effective strength training program. I'm talking about exactly how many sets, what kind of exercises depending on your time. Like that to you are not wasting your time when, while doing workouts, because the birthday probably what you can do is to just take some random Tiktok, YouTube or Instagram workouts, do them change every time your workout.
• 1:55
  Turo Virta: And of course, that is, that is a strategy you will obviously, maybe in the beginning it will work, but in the long run, it won't lead to most optimal results, and you are basically wasting your time, because you would see much more progress when you would follow the simple principles what I'm about to talk today. So this topic is also I recognize myself, like, what is with myself? Going on?
• 2:26
  Turo Virta: The end of January, 2025 when I'm recording this episode and and I have to commit that I haven't been last, let's say, two months, yeah, from beginning of December until now, I haven't been motivated at all to strengthen. And this is like a phase, like I'm doing my workouts in my basement. It's a winter time here in Italy, and it's freezing in my home gym. I don't have any heating, or I have been too lazy to put heating on, and that obviously, it's not very tempting to get into there. I still have been able to get there, like one two times per week, doing a very short workouts. But now recently, I was, I love to follow myself. I have created 100 different or, let's say that there's like 15 different workouts what I have, and every workout I have what I have created for my balanced like blue lifestyle blueprint program for my coaching program for my it's kind of membership coaching. And I have went through all those programs myself. And when I'm creating something, I want to try them myself. And that's why I always I love to change my objective change for my goals, and this is what kind of for me, is keeping things interesting, but also it have bring them best results, but only, not only like I don't work out of strength training, it's maximum three times a week if everything is going well. And honestly, it have been lately, it has been at most two times per week, 30 minute, 40 minute systems. And of course, I know that's not the most optimal, but at this point of the year and everything, when I'm personally, I'm still ice hockey referring I'm playing myself in a in a free time team. So there's a lot of auto sports, what I enjoy doing, and it's kind of on maintenance where I am at the moment myself with my own program. But what I recognize now that it was in in at the beginning of January, my old program was finishing, and I was kind of thinking that what I should be doing, which program i i would get started, and I ended up not adding any program for myself. Of course, I still went to my gym like because I learned that consistency it's it matters so much more than perfection, because earlier I know that in these situations, I would talk myself out of even starting that strength training is that I would talk myself and out of it by saying that, what is the point? If I, if I can do it's 20 minutes, one two times per week, that it's so little training that it's not even worth of it to get started. And now what I have learned that that consistency, it's it matters so much more than that. Perfection, because it it's relatively or it's really low. Amount of exercise is what you have to do to maintain everything or to not lose your progress. And this is kind of what I'm avoiding. And now this week, I finally added strength training program that now, actually I'm sorry as hell as what I recognize is that I when I didn't have a program, I was just kind of picking exercises, doing three, four exercises in one workout. But exercise selection. There was no plan behind and of course, like I don't enjoy personally doing some leg exercises. So of course, I was all leg exercises.
• 6:15
  Turo Virta: And now, when I started, I really feel it, it's it's been, for sure, a month when I have done some form of a leg exercise to my strength training. And now, of course, when I get started, I had a program. First time, I was like, totally this exercise, no, but that's what it is, and that's what is the benefit of programming, that there is some exercises, what you need to be doing, what you probably don't enjoy that much, or at least that's the case with myself. And it's as to having that plan, it's the first that that you have. You have a well structured program so you have exact amount of exercises like, what, what? What are those exercises going to be how they are laid out over the week, if it's going to be two sessions, if it's going to be one, if it's going to be 345, whatever the number is. And that you have, like, when you are going to going to work out, what is your goal? And this is so important to know, that when you when you know that you are doing, also that work, what you kind of know you should be doing, but you are not doing at the moment. And and that is, that is, it helps so much more with results. When you are when you have a plan, first of all, that you know exactly what to do. It takes that kind of that case, work away like myself. I have a simple goal.
• 7:45
  Turo Virta: It's, at the moment, it's a two strength training sessions per week. And if, in some case, I have a third program, kind of more focused on mobility and core exercises. And that is kind of for me at the moment, it's kind of addition, if I feel like it, I have to do it. But if, if in weeks that I have a lot of other things, if I don't do it, that's totally fine. Two times what I said call for myself. And that is, that is the most beneficial thing that you have.
• 8:26
  Turo Virta: First of all, some kind of plan.
• 8:26
  Turo Virta: Even the plan is not good, because what happens often is that if you follow some YouTube workouts or something, it's that you pick up every time single it's a new workout program, and then you are not going to you don't have any structure behind so how it's, why it's so important, like, because this is often how, like I, I like to use my programming. Usually it's around four weeks. Sometimes it could be three, sometimes, in very rare cases, it's two weeks, and sometimes it could be five, but barely, never longer. The reason why you should have the same workout program, because this is, this is the way how you are going to feel often, it's that you are getting new workout.
• 9:21
  Turo Virta: You're doing new workout, and your body is not used to it, so you are doing first workout, you that kind of learning exercises.
• 9:31
  Turo Virta: You don't you you know how to do it, you make sure that your form is correct, and then you are doing it, it's going to feel hard. You are most likely feeling some soreness. Week two is that if you do the same workout, you are going to feel that okay, it's getting better.
• 9:46
  Turo Virta: It's you might still have a little bit soreness, but it's going to be a lot less than week one and week three. Is that usually, I like it like that.
• 9:56
  Turo Virta: That's the best week like that.
• 9:56
  Turo Virta: You know now you are saying that you know the exercises. You know, if you have been tracking your weights, how much weight you have been using, how many repetitions you are doing, you are always getting now you know exactly what to do, how much weight you should be using, and then you are kind of on top of that program, and it feels like, wow. Now I finally get it, and you are really excited. Week Four, it kind of feels already easy, and it's time also where you can kind of push yourself little bit, and then it feels that now you know you get it.
• 10:30
  Turo Virta: And then what happens is that after that week four, usually you start with the new programs, you start learning new exercises. And this is also like people often ask that, are you using, like, some de load weeks?
• 10:45
  Turo Virta: If you are burping out harder to deload week, it means that you have kind of easier workout week, because it's not the strength training. You shouldn't be pushing yourself to your limits every single week for throughout the year. So you need there is actually a benefits of taking week easier and often. I like it. I like to use week one in always when there is a new program, kind of deload week a bit easier week. And that is, that is often when you get a new program, you learn new Excel.
• 11:22
  Turo Virta: Make sure that your form is correct. How much weight you can use. You can test it. Okay, this feels easy. I could be doing more repetitions. I would add more weight for already, for the next set. And that is kind of that learning week. And it's, for me, what I like to use, kind of as a de load week, what is a kind of easier week? And that is, that is the kind of how to structure your program. And if you are doing it, if you pick up every time new program, obviously, in the beginning, like, of course, there's a three different phases. It's a situation is different for someone who is beginner, who haven't been working out for months or years or even decades in the beginning, basically, it doesn't matter that much what you are doing, so it's totally even in that case, I would say that even if you are someone who is Getting bored very easily, that's okay.
• 12:27
  Turo Virta: Type of workouts. But often, what I hear and see a lot is that, you know, you get started, you start with some YouTube workouts or something, or taking your workouts from Tiktok or or Instagram. And of course, in the beginning, it doesn't matter that programming doesn't matter that much. Once you get some movement, it's some new adaptation for your body and programming doesn't matter in that phase that much. Once you get some movement in, you start to see results, you start to feel better and but the problem is that your body never basically knows, because your body is something what likes likes to get used to things, what you are doing, and if you don't, if you never know like, let's say that you want to get stronger, but you do the same exercise, maybe once in you do it today. Next time you do the same exercise, maybe in two or three weeks. That how you are going to get better if you do it every once in a while? Of course, it's better than nothing, but it's not the most optimal way. That's why I like to keep it in in a same exercises, adjusting, I'm talking a bit later about how to actually do it. But the thing is that if you, every time you change your workout program, your body, you don't give time to your body to adapt for those exercises and to actually become stronger in those movements. Of course, if you you you use the same muscle group something, it's it's still, you still get stronger, but it would be lot faster, and you get more optimal results. If you follow you have the same exercises, more or less same amount of repetitions. And it's so much easier when you know what you have done three, four days ago or week ago with the same exercises, you know exactly how much, how many repetitions, how many sets you have done, how much maybe you have been using, and it's so much easier to make that kind of to see how you are making the progress. Because if you take YouTube Tiktok workouts, it's really hard to know kind of if you are most likely you are not tracking your progress, you are not tracking your workouts, and it's hard to know what you have been doing, which we don't. I don't remember what I have been doing, like two months ago or or three months ago. I have to check it like, that's why tracking your workouts and tracking your progress, it's it's crucial, and because, like everything in life, what get what is getting tracked, what is getting measured is usually something, what is getting better. So if you are tracking your finances, if you are, that is a great example. If you your goal is to save money and but you are not tracking your finances, it's, of course, it's still possible to get the to have more bank account, but if you are not tracking where the money is going, where it's coming in, it's getting lot harder. And of course, it's still possible, you just say, save more than you consume, and you save money. But it's same thing with the workouts. If you are tracking it, you know exactly what to do, what you have done in the past, and you write down how much weight you were using each exercise, and like in my workout app, what I'm using from my for my clients and for myself, I can see I have, I have been doing this now for four years, myself five years and I have, I can go back when I do, for example, what I did yesterday, did lift I can, I can look back and see when I have done it, how many sets, how many repetitions, how much weight I have been using. So I have a pretty good idea where to get started and see how much within the past months. So tracking your progress is it's important.
• 16:36
  Turo Virta: And other thing like, obviously, you should aim for some kind of progressive overload. And progressive overload. It means always aiming for to add something. Obviously, this is something that doesn't happen every single workout or every single month even, but in over longer period of time, you should be aiming for something little bit more. Of course, if you are beginner, you are just starting this post progression, it's going to be a lot faster.
• 17:08
  Turo Virta: So you are going to, probably going to activates every single week, but then later on, like if you are getting more advanced and or intermediate workout person or exercise person, when your level is getting your body is getting used to it. It's not going to you are not going to be able to act every single week like more for your dumbbells or or your barbell, and that's not going to happen. What is the realistic realistically possible is that maybe you do if you found it this week. Simple example, 100 kilos, three sets of eight. Next week, maybe I can try to do with 100 kilos, nine sets with the first set nine repetitions with the first same amount of weight, one repetition more for first set. Maybe in two weeks I'm able to do that nine repetitions, first at nine repetitions, second set and third set is going to be eight repetitions. But it's always kind of aiming something more, maybe than week after, it's going to be three sets of nine, then maybe week after it's going to be 10, nine, nine. So one repetition more, without adding weight, obviously, I would be aiming for doing exactly same amount of repetitions, adding maybe 1234, kilos, and aiming for same amount of repetitions.
• 18:32
  Turo Virta: If I see that I can't do it, then, okay, then I reduce the weight for the next set. But basically, just thinking that, trying to adjust the weight every single set for because it's, it's really hard to know like, because what I see often that for my clients who are starting, they especially women and, but also men who are beginners, they they buy first time, maybe some dumbbells or something, and, and they do, they pick, like, let's say, four kilo dampers, and they do with the four kilo ramples, whole workout through so you might have a squats, you might have dead lifts, you might have a bench press, you might have some lateral raises for shoulders.
• 19:17
  Turo Virta: And then, you know, you are thinking that, Oh, that felt kind of easy for legs, but for your shoulders, it felt so hard, it was too much weight. And then you are thinking that, Oh, I'm too weak. I have a weak arms, but that is totally if you think like that, muscles like your glutes or your back muscles, which are bigger muscles, they are lot stronger, and you should be using more weight in those exercises, which where you are training, where the main focusing is in your bigger muscles, like glutes or or back muscle. So you need to access the weight every single exercise and based on like what muscle you are working. Because if you do, if you have the same dumbbells for each exercise throughout your program you are going to, you are going to your shoulders are going to get over, or, like, really hard workout and and your legs or glutes, they are, they going to get get easier, but you are not even close to your lineage. So good rule of thumb, this is, I thinking like that, if you can imagine to do like you don't have to go anti failure. Failure means that you can't, literally, you can't do any more repetitions. You are going to go close to failure, and that means that you are living like that.
• 20:38
  Turo Virta: If you can imagine to do more than two repetitions with same weight, then you are not going to You are That is okay, that is close to your limits, close to your close to failure, and are leaving kind of that one to two repetitions that, if you are, let's say that you are doing bench press, and you feel like that you your goal is to do 10 repetitions, and the 10th repetition should be so hard that you can't imagine you might get one maximum two more repetitions. But if you feel like that, you have done 10 repetitions, and you can imagine that I could do easily five more. But in the like the program says that I do then it felt kind of easy. So that is the time when you should be adding some weight. When you start to feel like that, you could be doing more than two repetitions. And this is, this is kind of important. The most important thing that is that you are like that, they feel relatively hard, and you are going close to failure. So how to then increase what matters?
• 21:45
  Turo Virta: What matters for that, how much weight you are able to use, is that also you need to have a rest time between the sets. And that is a different for every single workout, every single goal. Often, what I see is that you do kind of circle circuit trainings. I gotta say that I'm not big fan of doing like. I rather do like. Let's say it's a one exercise, if it's let's say, example, solar press. You have a three sets of solar presses. I rather do it with three sets with the solar press. And you I might be adding, if you are if your goal is to improve your strength endurance or something, you could pair it with maybe one exercise, maximum two, and do it like for different muscle group at the same time. And while using the rest time that you are your shoulders are resting, you are doing other exercise, let's say for your legs or or abs at the same time. But I'm not big fan of those, especially like a bigger exercises, like compound exercises, like compound exercises, it means that they are like kind of work, similar, like more muscles at in one exercise, and those are like the hardest ones, example, examples from bomb bound exercises are dead lifts, squats, bench press, I count also like shoulder press. Those are kind of all like a bigger where you work on more muscles in one exercise.
• 23:19
  Turo Virta: So, so those should be always very, I wouldn't personally add something else, like the reason why you why you should be doing and you should be doing, always, those exercises, workout program. So also, order of exercise is it matters. So first, always, like compound exercises, what are hardest, where you work your bigger muscle groups, and then they more later, that workout goes further. You kind of go more like isolated exercises, like doing biceps or or calves or or something. What are where you work, basically just one smaller muscle, and those should be like end of your workout program, and also core training, like all app exercises and those, they should be always, kind of end of your workout. The reason why, like, I always, I sometimes, of course, you can change these things up a little bit, but why you shouldn't be doing, for example, apps in the beginning of your workout is that, for example, if you do squats, which is a compound exercise, where you use your you need love your core as you do barbell squats, you you need to keep that tension, that or otherwise, if you you are not able to keep tension, then you might insure your back or or you can't use as heavy weights. And if you have done, for example, your apps, app training before you are doing squats, you can imagine, if your core is already tired, you are not able to maintain that strength in your core, and that that is causing that you are going to, you are not going to your techniques, is going to suffer. You risk, you put yourself into a risk of injury. And that's why your core shouldn't be tired at that when you are doing those kind of compound exercise where you are also using your core, and that is one of the most underestimated things, is those compound exercises. And because people who always like I put focus, I have a weak core, or weak apps, I need to work on more on my apps. And if you don't have like kind of straight app exercises, but you understanding that when you do those kind of compound exercises with heavier weights, where you go close to your failure, you are using already your core. You don't need so much like straight like a traditional like Francis or sit ups or up exercises, because you are already training your core in those bigger compound exercises. So when it comes into exercise selection, like, obviously, those compound exercises you shouldn't be doing, maybe I would say that one or two per workout, because if you try to do more of them, it's it's going to get so hard, because they are you work many muscles in the same exercises.
• 26:31
  Turo Virta: So, so those are, that is the principle, first principle, that don't add too many of compound exercises, but I would add one to two and always do the beginning of your workout. So this is shortly about exercise.
• 26:52
  Turo Virta: This is, it's so complicated topic. And it's not, to be honest, it's not easy to set a workout program. And this is, this is often like, of course, you can, you can find now there is a chat, CPT, there is so much information available, so you get pretty decent workout programs from everywhere, but just trust me, that don't take your workouts from some influencers from YouTube, because often what I see that what is actually working. It's very basic exercises, I would say, but that there is some kind of plan behind and often, what is with those YouTube Tiktok workouts? What is the goal?
• 27:38
  Turo Virta: Like, you don't say like basic strength program, what is actually working? Because the goal with the YouTube and Tiktok is to get attention. And you don't get attention if you do just some regular exercises, but you are you have to make something kind of show movements or That looks fun you make maybe they make you sweat, but it's not as effective as you would just pick some simple, basic exercises. So like in also in this simplicity, wheels always, and that, if it feels like that, because now it's more like attention what you get, and if you get, like some influencer who's looking great, and that they are doing some kind of training program in YouTube, it's not the way what they probably trained by themselves.
• 28:29
  Turo Virta: They just do videos, like I did it myself too in the beginning of my career, like putting some exercises what looked kind of nice. You should some just exercises, but you didn't really understand what I was doing or why I was taking it was just that, Oh, this feels hard. This looks funny. And, of course, people maybe love it. It looks that they have never seen before. So this must be something new, but with the strength programming there is, unfortunately, there's not too much new things like you don't need to start to invent something, because systems what are working they they are already there and that don't just tell them this trap and start to search some different kind of things. So then, when it comes to your coach, so for me, choosing workout program. It's always, it's it depends on, like, first of all, what are your goals? How much time you have a available? So if your goal is to get stronger, get leaner or more toned muscle, which is pretty common, common thing, especially for women, but understanding that there is not such a thing as a toning workout. So what means toning toning is that you are getting stronger, you exercise. Just a different term to use it. So even your goal is you get more toned muscles when you are getting stronger. So goal should be even. Goal is to getting more toned muscles, but how you actually reach that goal is by getting stronger. So if your goal is if your goal is to improve your endurance, if your goal is to remove pain. So usually those are the kind of three main goals. Is that if you have current injuries, or your goal is to prevent injuries.
• 30:27
  Turo Virta: Then there is a, there's a, it's called, like, I love mobility exercises, like, stretching is great, but mobility is for me, like, the key for everything.
• 30:36
  Turo Virta: I'm not going to talk the difference now at this episode about mobility and strengthening, but it's basically just that pain prevention, prevention, and then is that all kind of like a physical progress, like building muscle, getting stronger, getting leaner, and all these things you do, basically workouts are the same. It changes the way how you structure it, and then obviously improving your endurance. So if you are, you want to improve your heart health, something. So you said, first goal, what is it? And then you have to, kind of the road map. Next question, what I always ask, how much realistically you have time to work out? So if you have, let's say it's going to be realistic.
• 31:25
  Turo Virta: I would do two times a week, 30 minutes. Okay, that's the time what you have available. Then how to structure those workouts?
• 31:33
  Turo Virta: If it's going to be three times, it basically just setting a time what you have available. What you feel is that it's relatively easy, especially in the beginning, like I would not start too much, because the first goal is always becoming consistent, keeping promises, what you make to yourself. And then once you are doing that, and usually at least one month could be even two. And then if you still feel like that, okay, I could be doing I feel like that, I I can do more, then it's time to start adding things, but not in the beginning, like taking, like, that super code that I have to work out three times a week for an hour or or, then it's not perfect even to start. No, that's the wrong way to do it. So first time, what you would feel relatively easy to keep promises what you make to yourself, and then when you have approve it for yourself, that you can actually do it and still feel like that. Okay, I would do more, then it's time to add more. But always question is, what I love to say to myself, if you are happy with the results, amount of time, what you are investing to your workouts. Why to do more? I would rather do something else than than going to my gold basement. So I do basically just what is the bare minimum, and that consistently.
• 32:59
  Turo Virta: So this is, this is what, what recommendations is like usually strength training, it should be two to three times a week, lot more, maybe four times a week, but more it you don't need to do. Because strength benefits with strength training is that gaining strength it takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of effort. It's not happening overnight, but also benefits that once you have it, it takes also a long time to lose it. So so that's the little bit different with the cardio. So if you getting cardio, it takes also time, but it's also once you don't you something happens.
• 33:40
  Turo Virta: You can't work out for some reason, You get sick, unmotivated, whatever happens, you two weeks, it takes maybe one two workouts, and you are right back into your old strength levels, like for me. Because the reason why this is happening is that muscle memory, so muscle memory is something, what we have, so your body remembers if you have, at some point of your life, you have had huge good strength levels, it's relatively easy to get back to that same level. So so for me, by my example, personal example from this is I was playing a ice hockey professionally, and I was pretty strong athlete when I was in my 20s, mid 20s and but then once I retired at age of 30, I didn't I lost all motivation. I didn't enjoy strength training. I was almost decade. I didn't touch any weights. When I almost 40.
• 35:02
  Turo Virta: Uh, it felt I was like, holy shit. I when I was in my I was, I think, 25 or 20. I was watching 200 kilos, having 130 kilo bench press, 420 whatever was the number. And when I got started with the squats I was doing, like with the 50 kilo squats, 10 repetitions, and I couldn't walk for three days, and I was like the holy seed.
• 35:35
  Turo Virta: This is I'm I have lost all my strength, but it took, like I would say, two to three months, two three workouts per week, and I was pretty close to my old strength levels. So it didn't take too long time to get back to that same or close to that same level where I was at some point of my life. And it's, it's same thing if, obviously, if you don't, you don't skip decade your strength training like I did it come it's relatively giggly. Quickly back obviously, tend to gaining that strength.
• 36:09
  Turo Virta: That is a time, what takes time effort, but to get new personal best and everything. But once you have it, you, it's you, your body remembers it, and it's it's relatively easy to get back. So that is the benefit, first benefit of kind of strength training that it doesn't you don't need to do it a lot. And what is, then, in what how to actually structure your workout?
• 36:36
  Turo Virta: So what kind of exercises, how many sets, how many repetitions?
• 36:40
  Turo Virta: And this is also, of course, this depends a lot from your goals. What I always recommend is to changing things like that you don't need. Basically, I would say that if you have 1520, exercises, you repeat them every month. And the even if you don't chase anything, what I always like to recommend is to change amount of repetition so your workout should have some exercises that you are using heavier weights, doing lower amount of repetitions, like five, six repetitions, depending on exercises, and that is because there's three kind of different things where you focus on like improving your maximum strength, which is you work With one to six repetitions, one to five. And then there is like a kind of six rep range, six to 12. What is kind of like a building muscle or or getting bigger muscles, that kind of rep range. And then there is like muscle endurance, what is then 15 repetitions or more and that very simple muscle endurance.
• 37:48
  Turo Virta: And I thought for when you structure your workout program, you should include all of these references into your workout so how I love to do it? I like to use it different phases. Like, for example, one four weeks we are focused only on heavier weights, lower amount of repetitions. Next month, it's going to be that six to 12 rep rings. And month after that, it's going to be around 15 repetition, 1415 reps, maybe sometimes even 20, but depending a little bit on your goals, but you should include you could obviously other option is to do the same things within one workout, within one program. But the differences, and why it's important is that, because your muscle and your body is getting used to it, it's getting adapted, and that's relative, happens relatively quickly. How to do it when you do like, a lower amount of repetitions there, you need actually longer rest time. So rest time when you work on maximum strength, like, let's say five repetitions, which are really hard, you should have at least two minute rest between the sets. And often, what I see that people who are who have never done it, and that they go like, let's say they do, uh, it, and then they are like that. How the hell I should now wait for two minutes or three minutes, and it's getting boring, but if you of course, I could be doing, I could be doing next set already, after a minute or 30 seconds that it's way too long.
• 39:28
  Turo Virta: I I got my rest time. But the reason why you need actually that longer rest time, and you are using heavier weights, is that if you don't take that rest time then, or you are able to do same amount of rep repetitions with the 32nd rest you could be using so much more weight. So if you go close to your limits, close to failure, like I said, you don't need to go to failure, like I said in the beginning, but if you go close to it, you actually need you. You are not able to use same weight or do same amount of repetition. So you are you. You need that rest time to be able to do the same amount of like that. It's too easy. Then it's time to activate, because you are actually stronger than you believe. And this is often especially with the women who have never done it. It's really hard to cause you might feel that it feels already heavy so but trust me, women are stronger than they believe, and men, it's kind of little bit opposite. Men usually like to think that they are kind of much so, and working out in front of Miro and their form is not the ideal. They just want to add more weight, especially younger men. I was there too, so I talk from my own experience and adding more weight instead of focusing actually on your form. So this is that you need that wristband.
• 41:12
  Turo Virta: And when, like more repetitions you do, when you work more towards like muscle endurance, there is rest. Rest. You can rest. It's like 32nd rest. Go for the next second set and look where you use kind of lighter weights. That is the why you can use when you should be using, like slower rest or little bit less rest time. So that is why it matters for for kind of resting exercises to choose and exercises to choose. Like I said, first start with your compound exercises, like bigger or you use more muscles in one exercise, exercises like dead lifts, squats, bench press, shoulder press. Those are all great compound exercises, and they always in the beginning.
• 42:04
  Turo Virta: Then after that, you can move like more kind of isolated exercises and like pull ups, rows, bigger muscle groups, first, like back chest, and then in the end, you do move forward, like a shoulders, then maybe you have biceps, triceps. And in the end, what I do is, I guess smaller isolated exercises, like your abs, abs in the end, calves, biceps, triceps, smaller muscles toward end of your workout. So that's the order of exercises. And then obviously, what kind of workouts should you be following? Like a full body workouts, upper body, lower body, push, pull legs. There's so many different options, and this also it depends a little bit what is which weekdays you are working. So ideally you would do like for the same muscle group. What is the most optimal is to think like that you should be doing, depending on your if you are beginner, intermediate or expert level, two to three sets per week is or two to Yeah, two to three like for beginners, it's if you get the same muscle group, two to three sets per Week, you are going to see actually some great progress, so even one to two sets per week. So it's a relatively small amount of if you're a beginner, what you can get to maintain your strength, and if you want to improve it, it's like maybe three, four sets per muscle group per week is what studies have seen, that there's you get actually pretty good benefits, pretty good strength gains. You're getting stronger. So working out same muscle group two to three times per week, and if you your goal is to get three to four sets per muscle group per week, that is enough. So ideally it's around every five days, every four days. So two times per week, two set seats, exercise you are going to get, getting stronger then for, for if you are intermediate, like often, benefits are like a kind of six to 10 sets per muscle group per session. And if you train it like two to three times per week, so you get in total per week, 12 to 20 sets per week. So that is a kind of optimal for according studies.
• 44:43
  Turo Virta: What is the optimal for intermediate lifters, then for for advanced people, it's you might do eight to 10 sets per muscle group per session, and working each muscle group two to three times per week. So you get 1630 sets per week. So it's pretty big that trains. What is what? What is the amount I all often like to recommend. Like, it's always depends time, what you have available, what goals you are, how serious you are about it. But ever, don't never like why that consistency still matters? Because that is, it's a very small amount of exercise is what you have to do. Because, especially for older people, if you think like that, older people, you know, we start to lose our muscle mass around at age of 3035, if you don't fight against it and but to maintain that strength, so keeping your metabolism up so it makes but there's so many studies, I don't talk now about all these benefits, but it's relatively small amount of exercises. So maintaining strength is one to even one, one to two sets per muscle group per week. It's if you go like which are, which are relatively hard sets, that is enough for maintaining your strength. So if you get one thing about one set per muscle group, so it's you, you get like five exercises done in a week with the one set you are able to maintain your strength. And that is, it's like a 15 minute workout. So it's very little what you need to be doing just to maintain your strength. And if you go close to your close to failure, and it's not, it's, it's, it's what matters that if you keep consistently doing that, you are at least maintain in the worst case that you don't, you don't lose your progress. You maintain everything. And then when you have more time, when you are feeling more motivated, whatever reason that you are ready to go back, you are starting from the same level. You don't need to build it up. So maintain it. And that consistency, it's especially with the strength training and basically with everything, it matters so much more than that perfection, because in the worst case, you're maintaining everything, and then weeks when you are feeling do more and then starting to gain that you don't go back forward, back forward. So that's the kind of like, how many sets, how many reps you should be doing. And obviously this is it.
• 47:42
  Turo Virta: Often it depends so much on every individual. So there is no like, a straight line, like, what you should be doing. So in these kind of cases, like I always was, it's, it might sound like it is way too overwhelming, and this is often what I recommend, that getting somebody who is taking casework per day from your your workout. So having that you have that kind of structured workout program, what I like to call it's always like my programs. I love to create them for usually, like 12 weeks. So you have four weeks focusing on one phase. It would be maximum strength. Next week is going to be building muscle mass. Next next four weeks is going to be for muscle endurance. So you work kind of through all these phases which are important. And then you might have a different kind of goals, like if you have, often what I say that you have stronger left arm than right one or opposite, and focusing on single joint exercises and changing that kind of that goal, or what I use for myself, like, I work with several athletes.
• 48:52
  Turo Virta: I'm kind of semi professional athlete myself, still with the referee, so focusing on different type of goals. Like, sometimes I work out like an athlete, working like doing like a professional hockey player program, just to see, because that's what I used to do, what I love to do, what I still kind of need little bit. And especially for me, when I work with professional puppy players, like with the Women's National Team and creating programs, it's so important for me to know how it feels, and that's why I go through myself with every single phase. So I have at least an idea what I'm programming, how it feels and when, what kind of proper problems there could be like with the exercise selection. And so it's not just that getting workouts from somewhere i i love to try myself and going through all those programs. So to having, obviously, my questions are maybe different, my knowledge is little bit different, but still having that feeling and to know how it feels to go through these phases, it's so valuable as a coach from for myself to know what I'm actually doing, so that I'm actually doing things, what I ask from my clients, from my athletes, to do so i i have done them myself too. So, so that is, that is number like thing, what is? What is often beneficial that you are actually, you have a program, you know what to do, and it's it's not just for plan for a week, but you have like, kind of longer period of time.
• 50:32
  Turo Virta: Like, obviously you you should have planned for every single day, every single week, but then there's like, kind of that longer plan, how it looks like in a next 12 weeks, what you're going to do after. Of course, you can always change those objectives. But this is how I feel. Like, if you do one year like, focus on different type of programs. Like, I have a programs focusing on power lifting. I have program focusing on athletic performance, simply getting stronger. I have a program, what is, what is for like, kind of stronger man, stronger man, like that, kind of athletes, which is, it's little bit different, but I, actually, I loved it for some reason. It's totally different. And this is, this is how, like, how you get, how you keep, keep, how I keep things kind of interesting for myself. And what I found that my clients appreciate so much that they are doing different kind of things and and they are. Then they are, you get you, you work toward different kind of goals for longer period of time. And then when time is passing, let's say one year, two years, you are getting so much better results when you when you focus just one thing at the time. So even your goal is to build muscle mass, get the most leanest body. Don't do just workouts. If you have heard somewhere that it's six to 12 repetitions is the most beneficial rep range to build muscle mass. But if you do only that, your body is adapting, and you are getting so much more benefits when you follow through all different type of workouts, you work. Maybe some months focus is more on cardio. Some months it's more on mobility.
• 52:13
  Turo Virta: And then that's why you get kind of all results in a longer period of time. But don't focus, don't try to do everything at the same time. So I think that's the kind of key point when doing this program, and of course, then it's adjusting the program so it sounds maybe more complicated, and as it is kind of complicated. So what I like, I said, I recommend to get help doing it, get some professional at least in the beginning, to understand. And if you want. I have my balanced body Lifestyle coaching where you have access all these workout programs, I thought. And in case you need help choosing the right one, I'm always there to support you, help you to understand where to get started and and programs which are amazing. So I put link for Sonos, for my parents, buddy training, if you want to join, it's affordable coaching program. If you need more kind of individual hand holding, especially in the beginning, consider one on one coaching.
• 53:18
  Turo Virta: Just shoot me email in my Instagram. Send me email, Turo at fit me turo.com and let's talk if you are good fit to work together, and if not, there's in my website, which you find a link from my in show notes, is there's a lot of resources, workout programs, to get started, and you can start having a plan, starting from there. So hopefully this episode was helpful. If it was helpful, really appreciate those, all those five star reviews, as they are helping so much with the podcast, so more people are seeing it, getting this information. So if you enjoyed it, please leave a five star review. And if you know you have a friend who is struggling, you want there. It makes such a big difference. And so thank you so much for sharing. Thank you so much for leaving those reviews and most of all, thank you for listening. Talking myself with weird way for 50 minutes. So thank you so much, and talk to you soon.