A commitment to regular exercise may cause you to tremor internally, but a workout schedule may help increase your desire to keep your workout appointments. A workout schedule may also help you set goals, monitor your progress and keep you organized. Your schedule needs to incorporate your fitness level, time commitment and goals. Include all aspects of training, including strength training, cardiovascular training, endurance training and flexibility training into your workout schedule to reap the most benefits.
Step 1
Find a weekly or monthly calendar that provides you enough room to write down workouts and track goals.
Step 2
Write down everything you already have scheduled for the week.
Step 3
Make a list of available workout times and the amount of time you want to designate each day for exercise. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that all healthy adults under the age of 65 participate in 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise on five days each week and participate in strength-training exercise twice a week.
Step 4
List your fitness goals, being as specific as possible. Ask yourself if you want to workout to lose weight, increase your fitness level, improve your strength, train for a particular event or improve your fitness.
Step 5
Write your goals on your calendar to increase your ability to track your goals and stay motivated.
Step 6
Add cardiovascular workouts to your calendar on most days of the week. Each workout should last between 30 and 90 minutes to allow enough time for 20 to 30 minutes of moderate-intensity or vigorous aerobic exercise and an additional five to 10 minutes before and after each workout for a warm-up and a cool down. The warm-up and cool down periods give you adequate time to work on flexibility exercises.
Step 7
Schedule two nonconsecutive days each week for strength-training exercises. A strength-training workout may take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes and should contain time for both a warm-up and a cool down. If you want to strength train every day in addition to your cardiovascular workout, schedule different body parts on consecutive days. For instance, work your upper body one day and your lower body the next.
Tips and Warnings
- Keep your scheduled workout appointments. Try to think of them as doctor or lawyer appointments to increase your probability of remaining on a regular exercise routine. If you cannot schedule a 30- to 90-minute block of time for daily exercise due to a poor fitness level or due to time constraints with your current schedule, work in two to three mini-workouts throughout each day. Increase your likelihood of following your workout schedule by finding exercise activities you enjoy or enlisting a buddy to workout with you.
- Consult your physician before you start any vigorous exercise program, especially if you have a medical condition or are over the age of 45.
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