How To Plan A Workout
It’s easy to walk into the gym and just make your way around each machine - but just how effective is this?
When you go for a training session, having a proper plan in place can really help to get the most out of your workout. Simply taking 10 minutes to decide what and how you want to train that day can massively improve the quality of your workout - how do you plan a gym session? Keep reading to find out….
Deciding what part of the body to work
Usually it’s easier to first decide exactly what you want to work to avoid the sporadic training style of just picking a random machine. Sometimes you can pair up muscle groups and create a more specific training programme such as:
Lower Body and Core
Chest and Triceps
Back and Biceps
Glutes and Hips
Upper Body and Abs
Having a clear idea about what you want to focus on will help.
2. Planning the timing of your session
How long you have to train will affect what exercises you do - for example if you only have 20 minutes you might want to focus more on cardio - whereas if you have 45 minutes to an hour you can do a good weight training session with adequate rest breaks. Try not to squash too many exercises into one session - it’s better to focus on one or two exercises properly than six or seven that you don’t do properly.
Try planning your week on a sunday evening so you know which days you will have more time to train - then you can plan your sessions effectively.
3. Working Out Your Training Plan
So you’ve decided what you would like to work on and how much time you have that day - time to decide how to structure your training. Let’s look at an example:
You’ve decided to do a lower body session and you have 45 minutes to train.
You could start your session with a 5 minute walk on the treadmill to warm up, you could them use 3-4 machines and Bodyweight exercises such as:
Leg Press
Hamstring Curls
Bodyweight Squats
Glute Bridges
Try to complete 3 sets of each exercise with 2 mins rest between each set. Say this took you 25 minutes, you could spend 5-10 minutes on some core exercises and then 5-10 minutes stretching to finish your session.
This is a basic example of how you could plan your training - if you had an hour you could increase the time you spend on cardio or add in another weighted exercise.
There you go! You now have an idea of how to effectively plan a workout! If you are unsure about your training or you don’t feel you are exercising as effectively as you could be - get in touch with a trainer for some help and advice!
For some more information on your training sessions - check out the following articles:
Why You Should Be Tacking Your Metrics - https://www.elevatefitness.uk/blog/why-you-should-be-tracking-your-metrics
What Are Heart Rate Zones? - https://www.elevatefitness.uk/blog/what-exactly-are-heart-rate-zones
Should I Switch Up My Exercise? - https://www.elevatefitness.uk/blog/switching-up-your-exercise-VwAIA
