The thing about exercise is that people tend to have disdain for people who train in forms other than their own. Powerlifters make fun of bodybuilders, people who want to be as big as possible make fun of marathoners, blah blah blah. Here's the thing... No exercise is bad exercise. And the ideal routine would borrow from the best of all worlds. Most importantly, it would be designed around a person's goals and interests.

There are a lot of ways to skin a cat, and most advice only looks at one of those ways. Say someone wants a big back. I could tell them to deadlift, or do lots of pullups, and they may do it. But what if they try and really don't like it and lose motivation? Ever seen a frequent swimmer? Those people have big backs. Just an added benefit to the fantastic endurance workout swimming gives you.


For myself, I love working out, but at the same time, I happy with my size. I don't want to get gigantic, plus bodybuilding stuff bores me. So I started looking at other options. Thus my recent foray into one legged squats, one arm pullups, and eventually killer gymnastics stuff like the planche and the front lever. And I can't forget the olympic lifting I am going to be embarking on soon. All of these will serve to increase my strength and fitness without creating incredibly bulky muscles. There will be some gain, of course. But all of the things I listed depend on lower bodyweight. It's a lot easier to pullup a lighter body, for instance, and olympic lifting is done by weight class, so you are look for strength per bodyweight.

What are your goals? Lose weight? Gain muscle? Gain endurance? Just find something to do to get off the couch?

What do you enjoy? Being outdoors and seeing the countryside? Playing teams sports? Demonstrating feats of strength?

Think about all of these things, find an activity that fits, and get to it.