How To Create a Workout Plan

There are plenty of self-help books and websites full of cookie-cutter workout plans. However, to get the maximum benefits out of your workout, it can be better to design your own. This guide will help you design your workout plan.

Clean Up Your Diet

You can't exercise away a bad diet. What you eat plays a huge role in how well you achieve your fitness goals. If you don't get your diet right, all your hard work in the gym may be wasted. Build your diet around lean high-quality protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats. Reduce the amount of highly processed foods you eat. Cut back or eliminate alcohol, soda and foods with high amounts of added sugar. Consider adding supplements, such as the Thrive Patch, but be sure to review Thrive side effects, before deciding if it is right for you.

Choose Your Goals

Not every exercise or routine makes sense for every goal. Before you start designing your routine, determine your goals. Do you want to shed fat? Are you trying to increase your muscle mass or definition? Do you want to increase your strength or flexibility? Are you trying to improve your performance at a specific sport? Once you have your goals, choose exercises that will help you achieve them.

Pick Your Schedule

The best workout for you will depend on how often and how long you plan to workout. If you will be doing three or fewer workouts per week, it will be most effective to focus on total body workouts. If you plan to work out four or more days per week, you need to work different muscle groups on different days to avoid overtraining. Schedule at least one full day of rest each week and don't do high-intensity workouts on back-to-back days.

Inventory Your Equipment

Whether you plan to workout at home or in the gym, you need to take into account the available equipment before you settle on exercises. Also, consider how much access you have to the equipment. If you plan to use a gym during busy times of the day, it may be better to plan on using one piece of equipment at a time, rather than trying to do circuit training. If you will be traveling frequently, consider what types of exercises you can perform in a hotel room or gym.

Choose Your Set-Rep-Rest Scheme

Your goals will be the main determining factor in the best set-rep-rest scheme. If you are trying to build strength, low-rep, high-set schemes are ideal. If you are trying to lose fat, high-rep schemes and circuits are good choices. As a general rule, whenever you decrease the number of reps per set, you should increase the amount of weight you are lifting and vice versa. How much rest you need between sets depends on how you are lifting. If you are lifting to failure or near-failure, you need two to three minutes between sets. If you are doing high-rep, low-weight sets, 45-60 seconds of rest will help keep your heart rate up and burn calories.

Work Larger Muscles First

If you are doing both compound and isolation exercises, do the compound exercises first. Otherwise, you risk tiring out smaller muscles before you get around to doing the exercises you will see the most benefit from.

Change Your Routine Every Eight to Twelve Weeks

It takes the body about 12 to 14 weeks to adapt to a new stressor, such as a workout routine. To keep making progress, you need to keep changing your workout. However, you don't have to start from scratch. You can perform the same exercise, but using different equipment, changing your sets and reps or doing variations of the same exercises.

There are a lot of good workout routines available to you. However, designing your own routine based on your specific goals and needs can be more effective in the long run. Use this guide to custom build your perfect workout.