with Personal Trainer Wylie Darden
Just as athletes approach their training with a well-structured plan, you should consider your intentions at the outset of your fitness journey. When you work out, what is the objective you’re trying to achieve?
For NFL players, the goal is clear—be at the top of their game and stay injury-free. For major league baseball players, maintaining peak performance and longevity throughout the season is key. Athletes develop their training routines with specific goals in mind. But what about the rest of us? Do we approach our fitness with the same level of thought and structure?
Whatever your objective, remember that your fitness routine is just one part of a larger lifestyle. The goal is to maintain a high-performance mindset not just during your workout but also during the other 23 hours of the day.
Consider these questions when designing your fitness plan:
- What do you want to achieve by going to the gym? It could be weight loss, better mobility, stress relief, strength maintenance, graceful aging, or something else.
- Is your current fitness program helping you make progress toward your goals?
- How much time can you realistically dedicate to your fitness routine each day?
- What forms of movement do you enjoy and will help you stay consistent?
Designing an effective fitness program isn’t rocket science, but it takes commitment, consideration, and experimentation. To make your routine effective and meaningful, consider various exercise modalities, including strength training, flexibility, and balance exercises. A high-performance lifestyle means striving to improve each day, just as athletes constantly push themselves to get better than they were a year ago or even last week.
Investing an hour or so each day in your fitness can yield incredible returns—both mentally and physically. And those returns compound over time: the more consistently you train, the greater the rewards. As a 64-year-old, I approach my fitness goals with the same dedication as an NFL player. While my speed, strength, and explosiveness may not be what they were in my 20s and 30s, I refuse to slow down. I like to think of exercise not just as a set of movements but as a process that helps me achieve my goals and bring my A-game in all aspects of life.
Sample Exercises for Your Fitness Program
1. Bent-Over Medicine Ball Push Press
Focus: Central nervous system activation, speed, power, and core stability.
(A) Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a 4-8 lb medicine ball in front of your chest. Bend at the waist so that your chest is parallel to the floor, knees slightly bent.
(B) Forcefully throw the medicine ball to the floor while extending both arms.
(C) Allow the ball to bounce and catch it with both hands. Repeat for 5-10 reps.
This exercise helps reinforce explosive movement, which tends to diminish as we age. It Also builds the core and enhances rapid force transfer
2. Single-Leg Squat with Rear Slide
Focus: Stability, balance, flexibility, and strengthening glutes and quads.
(A) Stand in front of a flat bench with your legs slightly staggered and your front shin resting against the edge of the bench. Bend your front knee to a 30-45 degree angle and place your other foot on a slider.
(B) Keeping your chest over your front knee, slide the rear foot backward as far as possible while maintaining control, then return it to the starting position.
For an added challenge, hold a kettlebell or dumbbell in the hand opposite your front knee.
3. Supine Plate Bench Press
Focus: Chest development with reduced stress on the shoulders and wrists.
(A) Sit on a flat bench, holding a weight plate in both hands. Lay down, holding the plate up to your chest.
(B) Press the weight up towards the ceiling, fully extending through the elbows, then lower it back to your chest. Perform for desired number of reps.
Using a plate instead of a barbell or dumbbells minimizes wrist strain while engaging the triceps and chest, making it a great warm-up or “pressing” exercise alternative. Just be sure to use only one plate; stacking 2+ plates could result in injury if one falls. Once you can complete 20 reps with a 45-pound plate, you may safely advance to a dumbbell or barbell bench press.
4. Trap Bar Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
Focus: Posterior chain development, balance, correcting asymmetry across the left and right side, proprioception of the ankles.
If needed, set your trap bar on blocks or another elevated surface to ensure proper form. Start in a slightly staggered stance with one leg in the center of the trap bar and the other leg behind you.
(A) Bend at the hips and knees to grab the bar and lift it off the ground.
(B) As you lower the bar, raise your back leg behind you, keeping the core tight and maintaining level hips. When you have completed your desired reps, settle your hips back and slightly bend both knees to lower the trap bar back onto the ground.
5. Single-Leg Hip Thrust Isometric Holds
Focus: Glute, lower back, and hamstring activation.
(A) Place your upper back on a bench, slightly tucking your chin toward your collarbone. Plant your feet side-by-side, lift the hips, and bend both knees to 90 degrees so your knees hover above your ankles.
Once in this position
(B) raise one leg, maintaining that 90-degree bend in the knee. Squeeze the glutes and maintain a straight horizontal line from shoulders to hips as you hold this position for a desired duration. Start with 3 sets of 30 seconds and progress to 3 sets of 60 seconds on each side.
Isometric exercises like this are excellent for muscle, tendon, ligament, and neural activation.
6. Standing Pallof Press
Focus: Core stabilization, particularly the abdominals, obliques, and lumbar spine.
This exercise can be performed with a cable stack or with a resistance band looped around a sturdy beam.
(A) Position your band/cable at chest height and step back, standing perpendicular to the machine. Hold the band/cable with both hands at chest level.
(B) Extend your arms in front of you while engaging your core to resist the rotational force. Hold for 10 seconds, then return the handle to your chest. Repeat for 3 reps, performing equal reps on both sides.
The Pallof press is great for building anti-rotational strength, which is essential for maintaining posture and reducing back pain.
