The Whole Body Intuitive Workout
I wanted to take a few minutes before I head to the gym to share a type of workout I have been experimenting with…and getting AMAZING results.
I call it “The Whole Body Intuitive Workout”.
I’m not a big fan of structured and repetitive workout plans, as they are limiting not only in excitement and variety, but also in range of motion, dexterity and flexibility. Exercise should be fun! I started playing with this after I was frustrated with following a typical “3 sets, 8-12 reps” kind of workout routine. I got bored, wasn’t getting the results I wanted, and felt like another “sheep in the herd” lol.
Please note: many people get great results from following structured workout plans, and I’m not saying they’re all bad, I’m just saying they weren’t for me at the time and this is what I’m playing around with that’s getting me the results I’m personally looking for in a surprisingly short amount of time.
Now, let’s dive into what this is all about…
What is a “Whole Body Intuitive Workout”?
It’s exactly what it sounds like 
It’s a workout that gets your heart rate elevated, hits most or all of your muscle groups, and is determined solely by how YOU feel throughout it.
Intuition is powerful, and those of us who believe in following our intuition in certain realms such as business, relationships, or new encounters with people will jump on this and start seeing results within a short period of time (1 week for me to see a noticeable result). Anyone who is not familiar with intuition, I highly suggest you look into it. Google is your friend 
Being in tune with your body is essential to overall health, awareness, and prevention of negative health issues. Plus, it’s a really cool feeling to have knowing where you are in relation to the rest of the world around you. Navigating reality in physical terms is drastically improved.
Growing up, I tried using weight machines without proper training and technique, which resulted in a few injuries. Not fun. I have been in Martial Arts from a very young age, studied gymnastics, and am active in sports such as Le Parkour and snowboarding. All sports requiring a serious amount of body awareness, intuition, focus, and commitment. If you don’t train in any realm such as these or similar, not to worry…you can always start! Even cooler, is that you can play around with the Whole Body Intuitive Workout regardless of being involved in any other activities.
By now you might be asking, “Ok, so how do I do this Intuitive Workout?”…Let’s get started!
You’ll need a place to workout. It doesn’t have to be a big fancy gym, but they do help. Your living room floor can work just fine. I’ll share with you what has been working well for me, and I highly suggest you play with this as much as you want to customize it to your body type, physical goals, and availability of equipment. Not having a gym, weights, or equipment is NOT an excuse, so don’t even try it. I’ve worked out in a closet before to prove this point to a friend.
What do you want in terms of your physical fitness?
This is the first question you need to answer before getting started! By knowing what you want, you have a greater advantage over the majority of the people around you (this principle goes for many other areas of life too, but that’s another blog post).
Once you have identified what you want in DETAIL, as specific as possible, you can start learning some basic exercises to get started with. If you want 6-pack abs, look up different ab exercises. If you want larger pecs, look up pectoral exercises. Remember, we have the most powerful repository of knowledge on the planet at our fingertips…use it!
I’ll give you the basic flexible format I use, and then some of the various exercises I interchange throughout the week.
- Light Stretching. Just get loosened up, nothing deep yet.
- Get moving, elevate heart rate. A quick jog or jumping jacks work great.
- Alternate working muscle groups. Example: Arms, then legs. Back, then Chest.
- Do as many reps as you can, at the weight you feel is doable, but challenging.
- Do as many sets as you feel like, paying attention to how you feel.
- Think of exercises, then do whichever ones pop out at you first. This is Intuitive.
- Explore “extra curricular activities” away from your usual workout location. Hike, bike, etc.
- Stretch to cool down after workout.
Ok…so there is the basic outline, now onto some actual exercises I use that you can try and see if they work for you.
- Jogging/Running
- Jumping Jacks
- Yoga (Stretching)
- Pull-Ups
- Push-Ups
- Jumping Squats
- Handstands
- Free weight bicep curls
- Dips
- Bench Press
- Leg Press
- Rows
- Tricep Extensions
- Rope Climbing
- Ab crunches
- Hanging Ab Raises
- Backflips, Handsprings, Free Running (Le Parkour)
There are a lot more exercises out there than I listed here, but half the fun is finding new ones to try out on your own! These are just some ideas to get you started. A great way to learn is by asking someone you see with the results you want and ask them, “How did you get those washboard abs?” or whatever it is that you admire and desire for yourself. I really enjoy natural bodyweight exercises over machines, but that’s a personal thing. Try them all out and FEEL what works best for you! Oh yeah, the last ones I listed like backflips, handsprings, and Le Parkour are for advanced people who have some previous training on the essential basics of doing those things. Please don’t go out in your yard and attempt a backflip by yourself. You’re smarter than that The reason I mention them is because they are an integral part of my own workouts, and are excellent “full body” exercises. One backflip engages almost every muscle group. Plus, they are fun to do! Start with Bridges and Backbends and see how they feel, then go from there if you choose.
That covers the “Whole Body” part of the workout, and now for a quick bit on the “Intuitive” side…
Following your intuition is described in many different ways, one of the most well known being “gut feeling” or “trusting your gut”. For the sake of working out, I’ll describe it as being aware of how your body feels from moment to moment, exercise to exercise and “Flowing” through your workout. There is some pain involved in getting fit, but there is a difference between “the burn” and “painful”. It’s different for everyone, so push yourself and learn your own boundaries. If something hurts, don’t do it!
As a society, we have a tendency to feel we must complete things the whole way through or we fail. Not true in this case. I have been in the middle of a benchpress set, my shoulder felt a little “off” and I stopped right then and there. My friend asked, “What? You’re not going to finish?” and I replied, “Nope. I’m good for now.” LISTEN to your body. It knows what is good and what’s not to a certain degree. If something feels really good, keep doing it pushing farther each time. For example, I love pull-ups and push-ups. They feel really good to my body, so I tend to do a lot of them whenever I can.
As for how long your workout should last, go with how you feel. I can get in a full body hardcore workout in 20 minutes, and sometimes I’m at the gym for 3 hours…it’s up to you.
I’ve gotta get to the gym now myself, and I’m excited to mix things up and try some new exercises I learned about today
Remember… have fun, know your outcome, push yourself, ignore other peoples opinion of how you do what you do, and pay attention to how you feel. If you like variety, mix things up. If you like structure and routine, identify what will help you achieve your fitness goals and make a plan of action to implement. Either way you go about it, I commend you on making the effort! Play around with it, and you’ll start seeing and feeling results after a couple committed weeks. Go forth and rock on!
If you have questions, comments, or feedback that will be valuable to others, or to yourself, please leave a comment below. I will answer them as soon as I can, and if you have anything to add to what I’ve written here that will be valuable to others as well as positive, please do so in a respectful way. Be cool.
