Regular exercise can improve your quality of life and reduce your risk of disease. Planning your workout routine may take a little time, but will help you reach your goals more quickly and efficiently. Included each week should be cardiovascular exercise to raise your heart rate, resistance exercise to challenge your muscular fitness and stretching to improve your flexibility.
Goals and Measurements
Step 1
Record your health and fitness goals in a notebook. Be detailed in what you want to accomplish with your workouts. Write down as many goals as you want.
Step 2
Step on a scale and record your weight. Write down the day of the week, time of day and what you are wearing so that the next time you weigh in, you can match it for the best comparison.
Step 3
Take circumference measurements around various areas of your body. Measure around your chest, ribcage, waist, hips, thighs and arms. Record the results in your notebook along with the date and your clothing.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Step 1
Choose one or more cardiovascular activities that you would like to perform. Examples include walking, running, swimming, cycling and aerobic dance.
Step 2
Decide how often you will perform cardiovascular exercise and record a schedule in your notebook. If you want to lose weight, do cardio at least five days each week. If you want to maintain your weight or just improve your health, do cardio at least three days each week.
Step 3
Schedule the duration of your cardio sessions and record it in your notebook. Start with as little as 20 minutes to get your body used to exercise. Increase the duration up to 60 minutes if you want to lose weight or improve your health.
Step 4
Record each workout in your notebook upon completion. Make a note if it was too easy or too challenging so that you can adjust next session.
Resistance Training
Step 1
Write down your resistance training split. You can perform full-body workouts or upper/lower body workouts, or just work two to three muscle groups in each session. Decide what will work best with your schedule and time availability.
Step 2
Choose exercises for each resistance training session. The minimum you want to do is one exercise for each major muscle group. If you are looking for hypertrophy or increased muscle definition, you may want to do two to three exercises per muscle group.
Step 3
Plan your set and repetition ranges for each workout. If you are a beginner, perform one set of eight to 12 repetitions. For hypertrophy, perform three to six sets of six to 12 repetitions. For muscular endurance, perform two to three sets for 12 or more repetitions. For strength, perform two to six sets for no more than six repetitions.
Step 4
Record each workout, resistance used, sets and repetitions in your notebook upon completion. If your workout becomes too easy, make a note to increase resistance next session.
Stretching
Step 1
Stretch each muscle worked at the end of every exercise session. Perform multiple stretches for the same muscle, if you choose, or at least one stretch per muscle group.
Step 2
Hold each stretch for 15 to 20 seconds. You can repeat a stretch up to three times if you choose.
Step 3
Hold the stretch at the point of pull or slight discomfort. Do not bounce, but hold the stretch in a static or non-moving position.
Tips and Warnings
- Weigh yourself once a week. Gradually increase the duration, frequency and intensity of both cardio and resistance workouts. Measure your body every four to six weeks for comparison. Change your workouts every eight to 12 weeks to see continued progress. Consider hiring a fitness professional for a personalized workout plan or to evaluate your plan.
- Avoid over-training by planning rest periods in your workouts and during the week. Start with light weight and perfect your technique before adding more resistance. Properly warm up and cool down at each workout to avoid injury. If you feel pain or are dizzy or light-headed, stop exercising immediately.
References
- "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2010
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; National Strength and Conditioning Association; 2008
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