Are you a do it on your own kind of person? Do you want to plan your own workouts?
Here is a simple plan to help you build your own workout
Here are the steps
Figure out what your goal is and narrow it down
Determine your roadblocks
Decide how much time you have
Determine the type of workout that will help you get to your goals the fastest
Decide where you want to workout
Decide what exercises you should do
Decided how much weight you should lift
Decide how many sets and reps you should do
Decide how many days to train
Pick a method to record your workouts
Help! Just build me a workout
Figure out your goal
Ok the first thing to think about is what you want to accomplish. Do you want to #loseweight? How much? Is this weight that you have gained recently or have you been struggling a long time?
Or do you want to focus on building muscle? Are you more about getting bulked up, adding definition, looking ripped?
Or are you training for a sport?
Do you want to keep going on a sport that you have always loved but are now doing recreationally?
Do you want to prevent injuries or heal an existing injury?
These are all key questions that help you decide the objective of your workout plan and act as a starting point for the types of exercises you will include
Now quantify your #goal
Losing weight isn't a goal on its own its just a thought. You need to quantify your goal.
How much weight do you want to lose? By when? How much fat loss do you need?
Do you want to look lean? Lean and muscular? Lean and curvy?
If you want to gain muscle how much muscle? Do you have certain aesthetic goals? Do you want to look shredded, ripped, bulked? Compete?
By when do you think you can do this? What is your time frame?
Determine your roadblocks
What has been holding you back until this point? Have you been struggling with certain things that are stopping you from exercising? Or have you been exercising but just not reaching your goals?
Did you get injured?
Do you have something emotional or work related that is getting in the way?
How will you change that?
Decide how much time you have
Think realistically about how much time you plan to dedicate to your workouts
And....don't be stingy unless you really have to. People often say that they have to find the time or make time. But we really have the time. Its more about priorities.
As in how high do you want to prioritize your health?
Then look at what windows you have availble. Are you a morning person? Great then get up and sneak out of the house to the gym while everyone else is asleep.
Are you stuck at your desk all day? Maybe a lunchtime workout would give your brain a rest and get blood flowing.
Are you super stuck for time? Try doing 3 x 10 minute workouts throughout the day
Ok so I am biased. I think that exercise is key for mental and physical health (well its not just me the research says that too).
If you have been looking for time now is the point to have a serious conversation with yourself.
BUT keep in mind. You do not need hours per day to be fit. You can do a full out fat blasting muscle building workout in 15 minutes if you know what to do
Determine the type of workout that will get you to your goals the fastest
Depending on your chosen goal your plan will look different.
But here is a tip. It will ALWAYS INCLUDE #STRENGTHTRAINING. Yes, no matter what you must have a strength component. Cardio will never get you to all of your goals.
If you are wanting to lose weight then you will most likely focus on strength training first and then cardio last
If you want to build muscle you will need to increase your calorie consumption with high quality nutrient dense foods and train appropriately.
If you are trying to lose weight it is ususally recommended to eat 250-500 fewer calories per day to create a calorie defecit. Usually this wil mean a weight loss of around 1-2 pounds per week.
If you want to gain muscle mass then eat about 250-500 additional calories per day and you will probably gain around 0.5 pounds per week.
Keep in mind that the mix of food you eat (protein, carbs, fat) will also affect your gain/loss.
Also think about whether you want your journey to feel comfortable and easy or whether you want to jump in and get this done as soon as you can (keeping in mind that this will take more work)
Then decide where you want to workout
Do you want to be around a community of like minded people ding the same thing? Do you want a supportive environment? A place where you can focus (with no TV, no laundry sitting beside you, no Zoom calls)? Then a GYM probably works
Do you want to be in the comfort of your own space? Do you have equipment available? Do you live a long way from a gym? Then likley your HOME works for you
Decide what exercises you will do
First think about what your goal is. Do you need access to professional equipment like a leg press or squat rack or can you meet your goals through body weight exercises and using small home equipment?
Now the BEST workout is the one that you will actually do. A fancy workout on paper wont get your goals smashed. But a simple workout you can follow may just.
Keep the workout simple. Start by choosing 5 exercises.
If you are doing full body workouts think of doing one exercise for each of these body parts
Quads (front of your legs).
Butt and hamstrings (back of your legs).
Chest, shoulders, and triceps: (“push” muscles).
Back, biceps, and grip ( “pull” muscles).
Core (abdominals and lower back).
You can either do one exercise for each of these or do what we call "compound movements " where you can do a full body workout with only 4-5 exercises
Here are some examples using these 5 body parts
Quads – squats, lunges, one-legged squats, box jumps.
Glutes and Hamstrings – deadlifts, bridges, good mornings, step-ups.
Push (chest, shoulders, and triceps) – pushups, dips, chest flat bench press, shoulder press, overhead press, bench press, incline dumbbell press
Pull (back, biceps, and forearms) – chin-ups, pull-ups, rows, bent-over rows, flys,lat pull downs
(abs and lower back) – planks, side planks, mountain climbers, pilates 100s
Here are some examples of compound movements using body weight
Push ups
Pull ups
Squats
Dips
Lunges
Here are some examples of compound movements using weights
Squat & curl to press (where you combine a squat with a bicep curl & a shoulder press)
Barbell squat (back squat, front squat, kettlebell squat, sumo squat, plie squat)
Deadlifts ( two leg, single leg, Romanian)
Barbell overhead press
Walking lunges holding dumbbells
A good idea is to pick 5 exercises>one from each of the body part groups and then do these 3 x per week
If you want to train more than that then pick 10 exercises. 2 from each group and do them on alternating days so you dont train the exact same muscle back to back
Ok it can get more complicted than this
But.....keep in mind the best workout is the one you do. So if keeping it simple works then let's do that
Decide How much weight you want to lift
This will be based on a few things
How long have you been working out? Are you a beginner or just returing from a break? Or have you been training a long time?
Do you want to put on muscle and train for physique or do you want to train for strength only like a power lifter?
Do you have any injuries?
A few thoughts
Do a warmup set with body weight only
Start light then add weight. You can always add more weight if its too easy
If you get to 8 reps and you feel nothing then the weight is likely too light
Decide on the number of sets and reps you will do
Sets and reps means the number of times you do an exercise. The set refers to the number of cycles of reps that you do. For example if your plan says do 3 x 15 that means do 3 sets of 15 reps. A rep is doing the exercise one time as in 1 pushup or 1 squat
There are some other generally accepted ‘rules’ – as pointed out in Starting Strength – about how to determine how many reps you should target per set, based on your goals:
Reps in the 1-5 range build super dense muscle and strength (called myofibrillar hypertrophy).
Reps in the 6-12 range build a somewhat equal amount of muscular strength and muscular size (this is called sarcoplasmic hypertrophy).
Reps in the 12+ range build muscular endurance.
Decide on the number of days you will train
So this decision starts again with how much time you have plus your goals
Make sure you can commit to what you decide. 2 days that you actually do is better than 4 that you plan
Keep in mind that if you have lofty goals you will need to train more-for example if you want to gain a lot of muscle to go on a trip this Winter or you are competing than you will need to really focus and train regularly
But-you can get fit and reach your goals in 15-30 minutes per day if you plan right and eat right. Workout 3 x 30 minutes per week and eat right and you can lose weight and become a lot healthier and fitter
There are guidleines out there that say you have to exercise 150 minutes a week to get benefits but a lot of writers and organizations have misinterpreted this. It can be shorter than 150 minutes per week and any amount of exercise helps
Pick a method to record your workouts
What gets measured gets done and what gets done leads to results
You will want to make this as easy as you can
Some people like tech so an app is the way to go
Others like paper so a journal can be great. SImply record each workout in your paper workout journal and keep it in your gym bag
Help! Just Build Me a Workout
So you may want to get started but not really have the time to do all the planning but you know that you want to use your time well because after all who has time to waste!
You could start by just focusing on the 5 main muscle groups we suggested and doing 3 x 8 reps of each exercise per workout and do that 3 times per week
Then you will need to make sure your nutrition is in check and you should see some results
Or if you want a done for you plan then you can reach out and we can make one for you
BONUS
Top nutrition tips to start your jouney
Start by eating to #80% full
Be sure to get enough protein
Drink 2-3 litres of water per day depending on your bodyweight
Take a multivitamin
Eat the rainbow (eat a vegetable from every colour of the rainbow each day)
Follow these nutrition tips & do 5 exercises 3 times per week and you should see some results......
Reference: Starting Strength Mark Rippetoe
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