What you Need to Know About Creating a Workout Plan
Creating a workout plan that is right for you is a trial and error process. There are many things that you need to take into account including gym/at home option, type of exercises that you like, and your body type. There is so much you can do. Where do you start?
Set your goals
As all fitness professionals say, you need to set your goal before doing exercises. What type of goal do you have?
Is it to lose weight?
Is it to build muscle?
Is it a performance goal?
From there, you can research what exercises will help you achieve these goals. Now, it may be overwhelming to start making a routine because of how many exercises are out there. I know when I go on Instagram and look at one of the fitness influencers pages, I am overwhelmed by how many exercises there are. You can always learn more!
Finding the right type of exercise for you
There are 4 main types of exercise: endurance, strength, balance and flexibility. For each of these types, there are tons of workouts you can do such as strength, cardio, HIIT, pilates or yoga, which are either aerobic or anaerobic. My trainer has always told me that the best type of workout is when you pair aerobic exercises with anaerobic exercise. Look, there’s a start right there!
The next step is deciding how you want create your split. Split means that you are dividing each day to work different muscle groups. An example of a split is doing chest/triceps one day, back/biceps another day, legs/glutes and so on.
Variation is key.
There are countless workouts out there and if you don’t have a trainer I suggest your first move is to visit a fitness influencers Instagram account because, man, do they give you some options! Some of my favorite fitness influencers that I have incorporated into my workout plan is @Alexiaclark, @Hannaoeberg, @kaylaitness, @samiclarke and @britmanuela ‘s fitness instagram @workoutsbybrit . When you get on these pages, you want to narrow in on what muscle group you are looking for. They usually label the video with what muscle group they are hitting.
Plan out in an easily accessible place
When you plan out a workout, I suggest finding a good way to sort these out so you can use it when you are working out. If you prefer to exercise at home, you can use your computer. I do not recommend bringing your computer with you to the gym, so I suggest finding an easy alternative. I plan out my workouts in Spreadsheet and text it to myself afterwards. I always have my phone with me so I can easily pull it up while working out to be able to see what I need to do.
There are also many apps available for workout planning and it is just as easy to navigate. I have seen a few of these including Future, MyTraining Workout and FitBod. Within the apps, there are already preprogramed exercises that you can choose from, and the app will actually put it in order for you. Another cool feature that these apps have is the ability to track the amount of weight that you are using for each workout. It will tell you how long you should be using that amount of weight for before increasing weight.
What if I just can’t find any workouts to my liking?
That is not a program. WIth the amount of fitness influencer out there not a days, it is so easy to join an exercise program where you just follow along. These programs are great for people just starting out and need that extra push by someone else. Another plus is that you are paying! Now, why is that good if you are spending money on this? Not only are you allowing that influencer to live out their dreams, but the money itself is incentive for you to commit to the program. Without you paying, you would have less of a motivation to do it after a few times. When you are paying for a program, you want to get your money’s worth. I would check out @wearewarriors, @alexiaclark, @melissawoodhealth, @kaylaitness, @fiton, and @onepeloton for great workout programs.