So you want to design your own workout? Do you know what the most important details in designing a workout are? You might think it doesn’t matter, just do anything, its all exercise right. Sure, you could do follow that haphazard approach and you might get some results. However, I have a better way. Create a workout plan, and get the results you want easier and faster than you ever thought possible.
Design Your Own Workout Guide
PART 101: Your Goal Determines Your Workout
If you plan to design your own workout, you need a different workout routine for every goal. A few of the most common fitness goals and the primary
workouts to achieve those goals are as follows:
Goal: Lose Fat Workout: Circuit Training or Interval Training, Fat Burning Workouts.
Goal: Gain Some Muscle/Lose Some Fat Workout: Intense Workouts, Circuit Training Workouts, Fat Burning Workout.
PART 201: Full Body Warmup
Warming up prepares your body physically and mentally to exercise. It raises your body temperature and also serves to lubricate your joints which helps prevent injury. What makes a good warmup:
10 minute of moderate exercise such as stationary biking, running in place, elliptical machine, etc. Enough to build up a slight sweat.
PART 301: Stretching
Stretching elongates the muscles and tendons and serves to prevent injury. Combined with a proper full body warmup and you’ll likely never have an exercise related injury.
PART 401: Workout Length
You can workout for as little or as long as you want really. However, to obtain optimum results from your workouts, 45-60 minutes is perfect. This workout length is easy mentally to perform and it’s the timing at which the maximum growth hormone is released during exercise. The more growth hormone released, the more youthful your appearance, the more fat you’ll lose and the easier it will be to gain muscle.
Perform your compound movements first and earliest in your workout to put the most energy into the exercises that will produce the most muscle and strength gains. Eg. Squats, Leg Curls, Calf Raise, Reverse Wrist curls, Incline Sit-ups, etc.
Select exercises that you can go from one to the next with minimal time to switch weights. Choose workout exercises that you are comfortable doing and that do not cause your body any unnatural pain. Also be sure to provide an even mixture of upper and lower body exercises, optimally exercising each body part either directly or indirectly.
Bodybuilding Workouts/Strength Training Workouts:
Most of your workout exercises should involve compound movements, such as the Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, etc. As above, select exercises that are comfortable and don’t cause any unnatural pain. Also like above, optimally choose enough exercises to exercise each body part either directly or indirectly. Optimally select one exercise per bodypart.
Final Thoughts There are a lot of things to think about when you design your own workout, aren’t there? Hopefully, I have given you enough basic information about designing a workout that you’ll be able to create a great workout for yourself.
Want to design your own circuit training workout?
You're in luck, cause I made an online spreadsheet so you can do just that, for FREE. Check it out:
An important thing to remember when you design your own workout is, it’s your workout, based on your goals and so is very individual. If you follow the tutorial about workout design I laid out above, you’ll be that much closer to realizing your fitness goals. Now, all you have to do is Work Your Workout!
*If you have any questions about this Workout Design page, please feel free to contact me and I'll be glad to answer your questions.
“I choose to experience life in the best shape of my life. How do you choose to experience life?”
