Finally! The Plan

Yes, the plan I refer to is otherwise known as your routine.  When will you work out?  What exercises will you do?  How will you split up your workout?  In what order will you do your exercises?  These are just a few questions for you to consider when creating your exercise routine.

You should consider splitting your workouts into 3, 4, or 5 days in the week.  For example, a 3 day workout would look something like this.

• First day – 20 minutes of Cardio –> Chest, Back (with some other muscles used but primarily target these two) –> core session (abs) –> warm down
• Rest Day
• Second day – 30 minutes of Cardio –> Abs, Legs, Calves (lower body) –> warm down
• Rest Day
• Third day – 20 min of Cardio –> Triceps, Biceps, Shoulders –> core session (abs) –> warm down

You might have noticed I split up chest, back and triceps, biceps, shoulders.  That’s because many of the exercises you do will overlap these muscles.  So to maximize gains, you might want to consider letting the muscles rest a day or two before reworking them again.

Also try to incorporate a full body workout session every other week.  Why you might ask?  Here’s a short list of reasons:

1. Only one exercise is performed for each body part, so your muscles will be fresh with no accumulated fatigue, therefore you can train with stronger resistances/heavier weights.
2. Conditions the entire body.
3. Less deep soreness.

My personal opinion when planning your workout is to always make sure you find a comfortable time to perform them completely.  For me, I like to do my entire workout at night since that’s when I’m most flexible and awake.  Others might advocate cardio before breakfast and resistance training in the afternoon, but it’s truly up to you.  You should try out several routines before deciding what is most compatible with your schedule.