Creating your ultimate workout plan!

Finding or making the ideal workout plan can be tough; remembering which exercises to include, figuring out when to stop and how long to work out for can all cause your head to spin! We have come up with the ultimate plan to help you figure out what you're supposed to be doing!

The ultimate fitness plan:

Figuring out your fitness goals:

You need to work towards something; whether it's growing muscle, losing weight or just staying fit! Having goals is also a great way to keep motivated, you can see how far you have come, and this can push you to achieve more. We recommend you make your goal specific too, so you have something you can measure. It may be getting to a size you're comfortable with, or it may be as simple as being able to play football with your kids for 30 minutes without feeling knackered!

Choosing your fitness level:

Fitness levels are personal, no one person has the same stamina, muscle strength etc. and so you need to find out what is perfect for you. Don't push yourself too hard, make sure you're using a high enough resistance or weight to work yourself but not to the point where you could get injured. When choosing a fitness level, it's trial and error. You kind of already know what too hard is, it's the levels on the machines that scare you. Finding out what too little is can be harder, so try and keep your weights to a moderate strength - you can always change these if need be!

Deciding where you will be working out:

Where should you workout? Pretty much anywhere you like! Usually, people choose the gym but mix this up a little and add swimming into the plan - or even a fitness class and bring a friend along. Of course, you can also work out at home! If you don't have an hour to head to the gym for a full workout, pull out a yoga mat and try out some mat exercises for your core, legs and arms. This is still a workout, even if it's for half an hour!

How many days you'll workout a week:

Trying to aim for three days a week is a great place to start; by doing this, you'll be able to start creating a routine of exercise that will fall into a habit. If you're struggling to find the time, try half an hour before work, or even after work for time to yourself. Head out at the weekend with friends for a game of badminton. Even an hour of badminton can count towards your workout regime.

Choosing your exercises:

Choosing your exercises can often be seen as the hardest part of creating a workout plan, but we have some great tips on how to start your plan! You can adapt and change this at any point to help improve one part of your body more than others if you need to; this is just a brief outline. To start with, there are five different areas of the body that you should work on.

1. Quads
2. Bum and hamstrings
3. Chest, shoulders and triceps
4. Back, biceps and grip
5. Core

With these five areas, try and find five different activities that test these out. For example, quads can be exercised with activities like squats, lunges, leg press etc. Bum and hamstring exercises are deadlifts, hip thrusts, and wall sits; targeting your chest, shoulders and triceps, barbell shoulder press, push-ups, and chest dips. For your back, biceps and grip, try things like seated rowing, close-grip pulldowns and chin-ups. Finally, for your core, try anything like crunches, sit-ups, mountain climbers etc. Once you've written down around five exercises for each body area, start writing the number of reps down next to them.

Knowing how many reps to do:

Knowing how many reps you should be doing of each exercise comes with trial and error, you want to push yourself so you can feel your body getting somewhere but not to the point where you cause injury. Start yourself off with a lower number of reps, within the first two workout sessions you'll be able to see how well you can complete the workout and then start to raise the number of reps. By doing this you can also work on the area you want to tone, build muscle etc. and increase the number of reps in those exercises! Once completing all of these steps, you'll have the ultimate workout plan, tailored to you and your needs! Don't forget to keep adapting the plan as you grow stronger and get fitter, but make sure to keep yourself safe and not pushing your body too far. If you ever need any help with exercises or want to try something new, you can always grab one of our wonderful staff members in the gym, and they can help show you something new!