Exercise: variation

I'm finding it important to vary my routine. 

A "full set" (which I must admit to not quite having completed, though I've come close a couple of times) takes 4+ hours.  There aren't many days I can afford that much time.  More critically, it can get boring.  Very boring.  Like, realise during a set I've forgotten how many reps I'm up to boring!  Doing shorter stints of sub-sets avoids this.

The pattern I've fallen into is to do upper body + core + flexibility one day, long walk + flexibility the next, then lower body + core + flexibility, followed by a day off. (In practice it's often another walking day, but I don't feel guilty if it isn't).  Core exercises are done more often, as I discovered mine is particularly weak.

Gardening, decorating, and shopping, make excellent workouts too.  My wife thinks I'm mad shearing the lawn rather than using the electric mower, but it's an excellent upper body workout.  Likewise the sanding of paintwork.  Treating each stroke of the sanding block as a rep means I get fitter, and the prep' is way more thorough than I used to do.  Shopping makes an excellent lower body session, both from the walk and the avoidance of prams, toddlers, mobile using cyclists, and the like.

Initially it felt odd going against the labour-saving ethos of our age, instead trying to find innovative ways of expending more time and energy, but I'm feeling better for it, both physically and mentally.